When you spoke about the 81mm mortar production line I wanted to add the fact that this line was set up in a Kibbutz and the mortar bomb tails were made of the aluminium of a british plane that crashed nearby
A gentleman told me a story back in 70's about working in a Czech Weapons Factory at the end of war. He was laid off a few weeks after the war ended and about a year later, his old boss called him and asked if he wanted to make some money (silly question as he was barely scrapping by.) and he said Yes. He came in and for several months they were repairing and retrofitting German, Czech, Polish, Austrian machineguns (you name it, he worked on it). He wasn't bullshitting as he could talk about it in detail. I learned more about machineguns from him, then from the Air Force Small Arms School. You should have seen the look on my crew's face when I field stripped and reassembled a MG-3 (brought by the Germans for field testing) without even looking at the instructions. My acquaintance thought the guns they were repairing were for the new Czech Republic Army (and that's what they were told). About six months later, several unmarked C-47's and C-54's (even a couple of JU-52's) landed at the airport near his factory. He helped load the trucks and even drove one of trucks to the airport and they put all the machineguns on the planes. To this day he has no idea where they went. This kind of stuff went on for several years until the Soviet's finally put a stop to it (He said, they knew about it and didn't say anything). He said it was the best paydays he ever had. Plus, he got cases of American cigarettes and Rations to supplant his pay for a couple of years after the war. It was great trading material as he didn't smoke, and he definitely wasn't a fan of SPAM. The machineguns could have gone to Israel, the Arabs, or some independence movement somewhere. The Czech didn't care about your "cause", had severe money issues due to war (the Germans didn't pay for shit), and everyone wanted to work.
I wonder if some of those rifles ended up in Syria. Perhaps one day they'll migrate back to museums in Czechia. The Israeli Air Force started off with Czech-made Bf-109s, so maybe even the cargo planes ended up being sold off.
I converted dozens of .303" Mk1 and 8mm Mk2's into semiauto only rifles here in the UK in the late 70's & early 80's when we could have such things... Sidem International in Bridgewater, Somerset UK bought them from Israel for next to nothing together with a large batch of Israeli FAL's. The Mk1's were in much better condition than the Mk2's showing that the .303" guns were used less than the 8mm guns! They were not particularly scarce back then!
Absolutely, hope-killingly sad that countries I used to wish I could live in have become such bastions of authoritarianism and big government. Soz about the nanny state, loves, pip pip cheerio govna : p
I remember hearing anecdotes about some of the schemes used to manufacture arms in the pre-independence days. One was that they made a factory under a laundromat so that the sound of the machines would be masked by the washers above. Another was that someone set up a a lipstick factory to have a ready supply of brass tubes, which would then be diverted to cartridge production.
You are thinking of the Ayalon Institute! It was built in three weeks to resemble a kibbutz and even had people who had no idea about the ammo factory living there! The washing machine as well as all the equipment is still there and it is a museum. The washing machine was the main entrance for what would become the Israeli scouts, and underneath the giant brick oven in the bakery is how they got all the equipment in.
I was at those factory very fascinating place.The Israeli hid the factory under dryers and invited British officer over for beer .The British never knew what they were hiding
When the UN/leftists eventually institute a firearms ban here (and don't think it's not coming, not tomorrow but within our lifetimes) I hope we display the same dedication and ingenuity to our freedom.
Fun fact: The Isralies had an ammunitiomn factory, under the British Army Laundry in Jerusalem. It produced 9mm, so , how does one get a 9mm Brass past and suspicious Britsh goverment? You set up a lipstick factory! And import brass 'Lipstick cases' , that just happenm to be 9 mm wide.
It wasnt in Jerusalem it was in Rehovot which is south of Tel Aviv. It was built on a kibbutz and disguised as a laundry facility and bakery. Im not sure if british soldiers brought their laundry there but its possible becuase it was within walking distance of a british military base. It was such a well kept secret its existence wasnt known publicly until the 1970's, but after 1948 it was moved above ground. It still exists today as a museam where you can go and see what it looked like, its called the ayalon institute. Man, Israeli history is so fascinating, its crazy how a country only 74 years old can have all these crazy stories.
@@iwanttocry3212 before brass gets pressed into a shell casing it looks nothing like anything that would resemble a bullet, unless somebody knew how they were made it wouldnt look very suspicious.
@@iwanttocry3212 Im not exactly sure what was imported or if they were manufacturing the cases from scratch but a casing starts off as a little circle cut out of a brass sheet, there are several incredibly expensive machines required to press and draw them into their final shape, but they really dont resemble a bullet until the last few presses.
It looks as if the fiberboard tube over the barrel is the same outer diameter as the pieces over the stock tubes. That's a neat bit of production efficiency.
I agree with both of you about its looks. (Front sight and stock is from the Johnson machinegun.) (The bolt and its handle and the mag at the bottom is also a giveaway.)
The MMO Star Wars The Old Republic actually put in a blaster rifle that is almost a direct lift of the Johnson LMG/Dror, so clearly we weren't the only ones who thought of that!
It also looks a bit like the Sterling .308 prototype that appears on the website - it was a kind of "kriegsmodel" rifle for the Third World War that seemed to be built from a mixture of FN FAL and Sterling SMG parts.
Welcome to my country Ian, hope you have/had a nice stay :). Nice to see they gave you acces to our gun stores. Hope to see some more content from this visit
The safety was interesting to me, it said או short for אוטומטי (automatic) נצ short for נצור (safety for guns literally capture) and בו shirt for בודד or lone (semi)
That's one of those stories that's so insane to hear there's NO way it couldn't be true.. great one Ian thanks so much for sharing it!! You seriously are the Gun Jesus!!
The Israelis pulled a LOT of shenanigans over the years to get weapons. Look up the Cherbourg operation where they snatched some patrol boats that France had refused to release to them due to Arab pressure.
I think when the designers were told to adapt this to 8mm Mauser, they probably face palmed as they spent all that time redesigning it from 30-06 (which is very similar to 8mm Mauser)
the early history of the Israeli armed forces is utterly fascinating: I mean, their first proper fighter plane was the Czech copy of the BF-109G Messerschmitt. and they flew guarding the Three Israeli B-17s from attack by Egyptian Spitfires. I can now add this weapon to the story of the bizarre world of 948 Israel.
Not quite a Czech "copy" - the factories were the same ones that had produced the German ones. Just slapped-together planes with the wrong engines (which therefore had an unfortunate tendency to roll on takeoff and landing) and wrong propellers (hence a tendency to shoot their own propellers off). They switched to Spitfires as soon as they could get their hands on them 😅 Plus K98s with the swastikas filed off, also from Czech factories/stockpiles! So much old German equipment lying around and Czechoslovakia was eager to sell it all off.
The Israelis using Messerschmitt BF-109Gs is probably the most famous Plane Israel used from German Stock. I'm pretty sure they also ended up with some Fieseler Storch Planes and i think i vaguely remember also some German Tanks and/or other Military Vehicles that were used in early Israeli Military. Did Egypt, Lebanon and/or Syria end up using some of the same German Plane or Tank Models Israel was using while they were fighting eachother? It wouldn't surprise me at all, and that would be even more weird. Prost & Cheers from the Berchtesgadener Land in the Bavarian Alps (Yes that Berchtesgaden)
@@chartreux1532 IIRC the tanks were mostly British and American surplus; easier to find, easier to maintain. Israel captured some Panzer 4s from Syria in '67, but I don't think ever put them into service.
Melvin Johnson is evident every time we turn around. Took me 20 years to afford a 41' Johnson rifle. The moment I saw the caption depicting the video, I knew. Oh boy another one influenced by Johnson. I love the fact his designs are still used today in the AR.
Interesting that it says "מ.י" in the bottom of the crest engraving. Nowadays, it's an abbreviation for "Israeli Police". I wonder if that's where this particular gun ended up. By the way, your pronunciation of the names was perfect!
@@azypk the Border Guard (the name is historical) is a gendarmerie unit bureaucratically in the police chain of command, but equipped as light infantry. Think the Carabinieri. They're used for things like counter-terrorism raids in Israeli-controlled territory (ie not Area A), raids on organized crime where weapons are expected, security at sensitive sites, and with different equipment for riot control. They would absolutely have light machine guns.
There’s a great book, “The Pledge” by Leonard Slater, about David Ben-Gurion coming to the US at about the same time to seek the backing of rich Jewish Americans to help with arms as well It’s even more conspiracy-y than Ian’s story here
There is a copy sitting on my desk right now in front of me. My grandfather was heavily involved in the weapons buying and shipping during that time, but as my father told me, asked to be kept out of the book as his wife never knew and would never have approved of the laws he broke and risks he took. He bought a lot of the machines that were used in the clandestine bullet factory and likely for this gun. He was a mechanical engineer. His warehouse was also used to pack and ship a lot of the equipment marked also as "agricultural equipment".
I do enjoy the segments that have at least as much story (including interesting anecdotes about the parts) as raw technical disassembly detail. The teardown is nice, but the story is what makes the gun interesting.
I love videos like this that have such a rich history and backstory. When you get to see the actual weapon, it brings everything full circle and becomes tangible in something you (or Ian, rather) can touch, manipulate and interact with. All of Ian’s videos are great but these are particularly special.
Back then you could buy the complete technical data package for the Johnson light machine gun for $17k. In a matter of years, you’ll also be able to buy a single 9mm round with that kind of money.
@@samholdsworth420 Technically thank ol Ronnie Reagan, his admin passed the 1986 firearms protection act that banned any new machine guns and required strict registration and controls for any on the market that we all have to deal with today. Worth noting that since then neither Democrat or Republican administrations have made any attempt to undo it. If you are a single issue voter on guns neither party is your friend.
@@primarchvulkan5097 well presidents don't pass law. Congress does. Democrats passed gun laws under Reagan. Is what u mean to say. And out of 1000s of gun laws 99.9% were drafted and passed by democrats. 99% of gun laws were stopped by republicans. So yes republicans have problems but don't compare a pebble to a boulder.
"Excited about the potential of this gun" is a delicate way of putting "desperate for anything that will shoot and unable to wait", before the Czechoslovakian deal came through.
I live in Belgium, I've been to the museum a few times(including with my dad, who died years ago). Its unfortunate that they emptied their ww2 exhibits, many of them are an empty box with a picture now. Also have yet to reopen their medival exhibit, which got closed for rework years ago. They have way too much stuff stocked away, never displayed.
Exactly. Not a Swallow at all. the reason behind is that lieberty is also freedom in Hebrew, and these bird's ability to fly is a representation of freedom.
Dror is hebrew right,? not yiddish, hard to tell for me in that case. I'm german and most yiddish words and names are just a certain german dialect with another part being hebrew. Birds being usually the same in yiddish as i any other german dialect. It's interesting because some hebrew-origin words that are used in yiddish made it into everyday german language or became a mix of german and hebrew like: - Schlamassel (being meant as/used as the opposite of "Massel/Mazel") That word is widely used daily all over Germany and on the other hand you got german words that made it all the way to daily yiddish use in the USA like: - Schmutz (from middle german "Smuts" - meaning "Dirt") Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
@@eladorr4585 Im no expert on the subject but i do know alot of biblical hebrew words are not used in modern day hebrew which would make it understandably hard to translate.
@@abrahamm1325 Not as many as you would imagine. Spoken Hebrew may not use many but Writers use such words more often and if you read you'll come by most biblical words. Dror is one of these, but luckily it is used exactly the same way as at ancient times.
Ah, another fine addition to my collection of potential Star Wars guns. I use mostly your videos (plus a few other channels) whenever I need a blaster for my games.
My grandfather ran an auto parts factory in Windsor which was repurposed to produce firearms parts for the war. He siphoned off many of the parts and shipped them to Israel as “auto parts” to use in their war of independence in 1947-48.
I knew the second I saw the video thumbnail that this was going to be a Johnson clone/variant (either authorized or otherwise). The vented shroud and "sharkfin" front sight are very distinctive and instantly recognizable. I'm just not sure about disassembly: Having only a huge crossbolt sticking out the receiver side seems like a disaster waiting to happen in combat. I mean there's not even a fence around it, or heavy spring resistance or a catch or anything at all to stop you giving the thing a good bump by accident and having your gun fall apart.
Dror does indeed mean both a sparrow and liberty, although in modern language you'll hear it mostly referring to the bird since it's very common here. Jewish and biblical stories very often use words that have double meaning to convey symbolism or hints, and everyone knows both of these meanings which is probably why it was confusing to look it up
Great video as usual. Much of the information Ian is referencing can be found in The Pledge by Leonard Slater. I would recommend it if you want a more elaborated and fascinating story of the Dror, Chaim Slavin, the discovery of the 303 assembly line (very interesting story) and much more.
@@djl5634 True, but that's still "new production" and after the .303 Dror stopped production. Of course there are all manner of civilian rifles being made even today chambered in .303 (For instance, the Ruger No. 1 can be had in .303. I'd kinda like to have a Ruger No. 1 in 7x57 actually, but can't justify the price when I have plenty of other rifles that will do the same thing. I just kind of have a weakness for the falling block.)
I've pretty much said the same thing before. I save a lot of your videos are workout videos but decided to watch this one. Even though i'm not mechanically minded the technical aspects are still so engaging. You do a great job making these videos accessible to anyone. I also love videos one guns that have a lttle bit of a story like this. Some of my favourites have been the PTRD, Green meanie and the pancor jackHammer.
Every part of this project sounds like a black market smuggling ring or something along those lines. "We'll just do this hush hush and nobody will have a problem". Dror kinda makes sense when you think how dove is a symbol of peace and perhaps liberty in many places. Might as well mean both at the same time.
11:42 "Dror" is a duel meaning word in Hebrew - it means both the bird "sparrow/swallow" and "freedom/liberty", depending on the context of its usage in a sentence. The source for both meanings is biblical.
So basically a pun-ish name in the sense that "fast and agile" is associated with sparrow/swallow, but printed on a tool that's supposed to secure freedom/liberty?
Funny the selector is exactly the same as early AR-10 's and 15's. As Eugene Stoner lisenced Melvin Johnson's multi lug bolt every time I see a Johnson LMG I want to draw the lines of evolution from Johnson's BAR mag LMG to AR-10
If I remember correctly, there was a Johnson prototype that was mixed between gas and recoil operated. Shame his legacy for most people is the guy who came 2nd to the Garland and BAR, and not the grandfather of the ARs.
@@LoganJP0120 I'd love to see a schematic of both or the 44 Johnson LMG & AR-10 dissimbled side by side. Melvin Johnson's influence is there, if not Grandfather to AR-10 the Johnson LMG is either a great uncle or Godfather.
@@christinepearson5788 Yep. The recoil system is very similar (the buffer is integral to the carrier instead of a separate part) as is the lower (I imagine that's how an AR lower would look if it was reworked to take a side loading mag or a belt). The AR-10/15/18/180 are the children of the Johnson rifles- they are what you get when you adapt the design for a novel short stroke gas system (in the 15 and 10) and modern box mags.
Hey! If still in Brussels and want some snow around don't hesitate to contact!.. foreigner with a lifelong passion and love for rifles living in Bxl 5 years plus now. Anytime you'd need anything Ian, especially a triple beer 🍺 Mark
I have a book written by one of the men who participated in getting equipment for Israel directly after WWII, and this story is prominent in it. When I get home tomorrow, I'll try to dig it out and send you a pic of it on twitter. The title on the cover is spelled out in .30 carbine cartridges- very interesting story.
IAN, This story NEEDS to be written into a book. I'm talking headstamp printing production. Complete with interviews and photos. Sounds like the outline was done in the making of this video. Let's do this!!! I'm ready to pre-order another volume!!!
Hint: the AR10 takes a whole lot more from this gun than just the bolt. You can see it: uncanny valley similarities all over the machine. AR10 is quite possibly a reimagined Dror with a gas system and a bunch of improvements.
Hi Ian, i looked the name דרור up in the Gesenius dictionary for biblical hebrew, and it has actually three meanings: 1. sparrow, wild dove (Ps 84:4; Pr. 26:2). to flow (as in molten myrrh is flowing) (Ex 30:23) 3. release (n).(Lev 25:10; Jes 61:1) I find it really really cool that they used a name that has a wide semantic range. A small bird that is finding his home; the flow of ammo through the gun; or the perspective that the gun might release those who use it to fight.
it's also the "feeling" u have when I are released to freedom from a prison like...very jolly If you can imagine and that gives another meaning to a different expression "being free as a bird" (the dror bird) this expression is from modern Hebrew but it has its roots and connection to the biblical Hebrew awesome research bro
One point about the Dror issue. The word itself does translate to freedom and the bird sparrow. It is also a common first name to this day. However, Galil and Uzi are named after their inventors. I assume there might have been a guy called Dror in the process somewhere. Also, since sales began in the fifties, it means the hebrew name was given in the same period as the Uzi.... Just speculating
Ekdahl is a norwegian/danish name. Not to be pronounced «Ekkdahl» more «Eeek-dahl». But you got the sounds of the e’s and a’s more or less correct. Nice!
Interesting that the caliber could be changed with just 4 part changes. Barrel, mag assembly, and bolt/extractor. I wonder if anyone realized this when plans were being drawn up, or if it was intentional.
Slavin helped set up 9mm revolver production after liaising with S&W around the same timeframe. Reason being they had tons of 9mm ammo for the sten and wanted a suitable revolver to use the same ammo. Ended up being a stupid idea and only a handful of the revolvers were ever made. There's a good article on this on the Silah Report website
There must be more to the story with regards to the Canadian involvement. I can’t imagine that the British would’ve been particularly enamoured with the idea of anyone setting up a light machine gun factory in Palestine, at a time when Palestine was administered by Britain under a UN mandate. I also wonder if the British administration of Palestine was another reason why .303 British was originally selected as the ammunition?
I'd think so, it was occupied by the British after they invaded in 1918 so the overwhelming supply will have been of UK calibres and most ammunition & weapons captured from the British once they became the enemy after 1945 will have been, of course, .303 as well.
Hi Ian ! I've been following your channel without subscribing for some time but I finally subscribe to your channel a couple of months ago or weeks ? I don't remember. The reason is because your channel is very educational and informative. Good job.
It would have been interesting to see a shotgun version of the Johnson mechanism. Specifically the rotary mag, rifle type. The side feed would allow the shooter to top up at any time yet also the ammo would be in the middle of the gun so the balance would be much further back. A quick removable barrel would make it that much more appealing as well. The system could accommodate different barrel lengths easily, and maybe people would carry different choked barrels for different purposes. Today it probably couldn’t compete. But in the late 1940’s there really wasn’t anything on the market with all those features.
Excellent idea! The balance and the ability to top off... Yes How about a top rail, multichoke--- or threaded barrel FOR a multichoke--- and a bayonet mount on this fantasy piece? Seriously
In one of ians videos I think ian mentions that the multi lug johnson/ar-15 style bolt was originally used in a, like, 1800s shotgun design. I don't remember the details, it might be in ians johnson vid.
LOL.. great video and awesome story. I can only imagine any jews watching wincing every time Ian says "setting up a new Jewish homeland" rather then reclaiming their historical homeland. but I digress.
I'm curious what issues the Canadian authorities had with these guns. Machine Guns were not prohibited from civilian ownership in Canada until 1978. And even then, everyone who owned them were still allowed to keep them. I'm not sure what registration requirements there were for machine guns in the post war period, but since handguns have been registered in Canada since 1934, it's possible that there was a requirement for registration of machine guns as well.
Translation of the selector switch: It's most likely that או is short for אוטומטי, automatic And for נצ, most like נצור, or "hold" -- safe Not sure about the last one, probably בורר, "selective"
Interesting. I always thought that the whole closed bolt while semi open bolt while full thing made a whole lot of sense and I wish there was more of it
Thanks for a really interesting video on such a unique firearm. It's kind of fait accompli that anything to do with early Israeli weapons manufacturing would include some form of cloak and dagger, especially considering the opposition that they faced.
This is a very cool story, this is the kinda stuff that I come to this channel for. I believe Dror means both liberty and Sparrow considering they were in New York liberty seems to make more sense.
Dror/דרור is most likely a reference to the small brown sparrows (Passer) that are as common as pigeons here along with also being referenced in the mikrah as synonymous to "bird". Also is a pretty standard first name.
