I saw a piece where an elderly widow had turned in an old rifle to a gun buyback. They are normally destroyed, but a police officer recognized it as a late war 8mm full auto German paratrooper rifle. FG-42 I believe. Anyway, it was diverted to a museum. Shame there is not a mechanism for amnesty registration for guns like this. In a recent video, one was valued at $250,000. That widow would have been well heeled door her twilight years.
An old lady found a Chinese auto cannon in the basement of a museum, it was immediately plugged and placed on display... people, if you find a machine gun, don't break it, bury it in the ground with a couple belts of ammo and wait till laws change to unbury it, that way you are not ruining every machine gun you come across.
@@RageUnchained This is why I keep everything that isn't run of the mill hobby related well documented. Receipts, a general homebrewn estimate, everything is available in paper so that my obscure hobbies and the obscure items associated won't get dumped.
I have 5 rescued machine guns in my collection at this point a MG42, MG34, 2 Browning 50cals and a Maxim Gun all were gonna be destroyed via buy backs and what you so I offered them double whatever the government would and now they are in armoury all in perfect working order with enough ammo that should some idiot politician think he can take my guns his goons will be dodging heavy ordinance for 6 months including the reclaimed panzer 4 my grand father nicked and hid away in his village during the occupation.
There's another Universe. One where this was adopted. [Man reaches to shake a (prospective) employee's hand. He sees an intricate pattern burned into the man's arm] "McClean Gunner ,eh?"
The old knurling master walks into the McClean Automatic Rifle: "I see you have several radii surfaces left naked before Me. A pox on your unholy creation!"
Nah! In this part of "Podunk" we know what magazines are. And everyone knows that the best Homebrew air filters are crafted from a steel coffee can and an oily old sock. 😉
@@lewhanwen4302 Just a joke. It looks like a fictional "steampunk" firearm, and dirigibles and "Sky-Pirates" are proto-typical steampunk tropes. The joke doesn't reference anything specific.
There's a brass plate at the back of the gas piston that needs to be removed. After that's removed the oprod and gas piston can be removed from the gun. The oprod in this gun has some very interesting cuts and gates on it. The gate allow it to ratchet the feed gear in one direction. When I had this gun I was more amazed by the oprod construction than anything else.
@@george2113 these guns are little piles of ideas… ideas for solving a short list of mechanical problems, for the same reason we keep atleast one copy of every book we should try to keep a copy of every one of these solutions (available to everyone).
@@smokythebear9711 He should. Civilians have no need for guns with a capacity over 5 rounds. Self-defence? Well if 5 shots doesn't work, then a gun is clearly useless to you. The AR-15 is a military design, and has no civilian application. For hunting, 5.56 is a terrible cartridge. If you're a hunter, and you can't kill something with 5 shots of .308, you must be a terrible shot.
Think of how much more mass shootings you would have. And don't say that more "good guys with guns" would do anything, because it wouldn't. Only about 6% of guns owned for self defence have ever been used that way. All a gun does does is cause the user to escalate the situation beyond what is necessary. Like that incident where a black guy had parked legally, was then accosted by a white guy who had a gun. They argued, the white guy got pushed and fell over, and in response, drew his gun and killed the guy who pushed him, while the guy's family watched. The white guy claimed protection under the stupid "stand your ground" law, and got away with murder.
Check out the Stendebach rifle and the handmade auto revolver ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Qhoo_7v1ZK4.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r7me_z0Qdcs.html
Having watched how people deal with objects they know little about over the decades of my life, I would not hold out much hope for the return of the drum magazine. No doubt it would be extremely gratifying should it turn up but most likely it has been sent to a scrapyard or landfill by someone thinking it an old auto part.
@@RageUnchained quoted from the NYT: "That was good news for Donald Trump, who acquired the old Bonwit’s building and began demolition in 1980. He had promised the limestone reliefs of the dancing women to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which wanted them for its sculpture collection, although the offer was conditional on his being able to remove them. But suddenly workmen jackhammered them to bits. This act was condemned by, among others, The New York Times, which said: “Evidently, New York needs to make salvation of this kind of landmark mandatory and stop expecting that its developers will be good citizens and good sports.” The Trump organization replied that the two-ton panels were “without artistic merit,” that saving them would have delayed construction for months and cost $500,000." Maybe next time, when they want their store to look nicer, don't pick 2-ton slabs of stone?
He might well have gotten into arms design _because_ he was a doctor. Between about 1850 and World War I, there was a persistent notion among a lot of people who should have known better that one of the principal reasons for the high death counts in the wars of the time was because weapons weren't deadly enough. Seriously. The idea was that if weapons could be made sufficiently destructive, capable of killing enough men in a short enough span of time, it would a) reduce the size of armies, because you would need fewer soldiers to achieve the same level of military force, and b) so horrify public opinion and policymakers that war would no longer be seen as a viable instrument of foreign policy. That was Gatling's explicit motivation for inventing his eponymous gun: he thought that by making a weapon with which one man could kill a hundred, he could save the other 99, so to speak. It was a widely espoused view in his time. (One notable exception was Hiram Maxim, who was just looking to get as rich as possible.) World War I cured _most_ of this crazy idea's adherents of their illusions... eventually. Until the aftermath of World War II, when the same misconception put on a different shirt and became the core of nuclear deterrence doctrine.
The only thing sadder than an incomplete protoype is one that's been deactivated or demilled. Fascinating device, and I'm glad you presented it, but there should be some kind of legal protection against the dismamberement of unique historical firearms, even if it means surrendering it for storage by a licensed museum or similar.
It is moments like this that show us the fallacy of the machine gun ban of the post prohibition era. They tried to pin the disaster that was prohibition onto an object rather than the evil morons that were truely at fault. The government should have never been allowed to get away with it.
I don't find that one too bad. There are enough working guns out there and the cut open receiver makes it much easier to see on how it works. The engineering inside these weird guns is at least as interesting, as to see how they shoot. At least it isn't as molested as like disabled guns in Germany or so, where everything is milled/welded to crap.
Zealot Patriot Uh, no. ISIS was largely armed by Turkey and the Saudis, then captured large amounts of American-supplied weapons from our incompetent Iraqi allies. Let’s try to keep this a conspiracy theory-free zone.
Ian, I just wanted to say that you and everyone that works on Forgotten Weapons, including InRange, do great work. I’ve been watching since the early 100k subscribers and there’s never been a moment where I didn’t enjoy your videos. It really is cool to see these guns and the progression man has made with engineering over the years of firearms history. And it’s even better when you go into detail with the history of these guns, because you find ever last detail that you can. Overall Ian, keep up the good work!
Hey Ian, dunno if you plan on fixing the audio but one really easy way to do it is to mimic Mono hearing in your editing software on the audio track. It won't actually be mono, like you can kinda tell the difference but it should make the audio on each headphone a little better and get rid of that... unwelcome white noise coming from the right lol. Hope it helps!
It always makes me sad to think about how many historically important guns have been destroyed because of idiotic laws made by people who know nothing about firearms
I don't think it's accurate to say they know nothing about firearms. They know exactly the roles they want firearms to play in the kingdom they desire to construct. Their lack of concern for any other consideration is not strictly an indicator of ignorance.
mebsrea, Evidently the FBI has quite the extensive collection including some historic guns, i.e. Dillinger's gun etc... I don't think it's open to the public though. I saw it on a show called Gun Stories on the Sportsman's Channel or Outdoor Channel.
Paul Shayter Interesting. I suppose they’d have a forensic interest in maintaining a collection, too. Personally, I have no major problem with the NFA, but it would be nice to see it used as a numerical cap rather than a gun-specific registry. I’d gladly sacrifice a registered, dirt-common MAC-10 or AK to preserve a unicorn like this.
Bioshock(well, Infinite anyway) basically marked the end of "good games" as we know it, save a few notable exceptions. It's just insane how all the sudden every FPS has 'xray vision' on by default because apparently no one can handle getting 'surprised' by mediocre AI(I SWEAR in game AI has devolved over the last 5 years). Or, maybe just can't handle getting their ass handed to them...
It is truly disgusting to see a piece of history butchered like that but I am glad that some of it still survived. I was Also hoping to see how the ammo feed system works.
It would be nice to find a full set of blueprints or even photographs so we could re manufacturer imitation parts so it at least looks complete, better yet would be to fully fix it and make it operable
A true (almost) forgotten weapon and it's amazing. I love how many similarities with other weapons you can see there. Thank you very much for showing this to us, Ian.
I'll explain how the drum mag is loaded on. So There's no back grip only the one in the front. The images showing tripod use have it near the front grip. So that implies that it must load through the back and go through the section where the grip would normally be. That explains both the lack of a firing grip and the loading of the magazine
McClean: Okay I got this business model. You run the practice while I build weapons. People get shot up by them and you patch them up. It's a win win.......hmmmm maybe we should open a mortuary for the trifecta.
Large piston is dual purpose. In peace time the gun can be used to power a lawn mower. Its rumored there was only one sample mower ever made. It used a blank adapter and was said to be quieter than the competing Briggs and Stratton motor. I imagine much more fun to mow the lawn.
Art imiiating life imitating art... look at the 'guns" carried by some of the Stromtroopers in Star Wars... MG-42s...and a LEWIS. Appropriately dressed up of course. I thought that a brilliant touch! (And of course we musnt forget Solos pistol....)
This monstrosity literally looks like the kind of guns I drew when I was 12: weird proportions, uncomfortable, unergonomic design, multiple triggers and other doodads, and just completely impractical. Could your finger even reach that front trigger? Actually, looks more like an air rifle with that colossal gas assy. resembling a pressure tank under the barrel.
@@s.v.3641 the outward appearance. The tubular design mixed with the oddly straight stock and odd-looking dual-trigger thing just makes it look like something you could see in a Wakaliwood film.
Though it's really not the same, his beginnings reminded me of how the founders of BioWare spent years becoming doctors just so they'd have enough money to make video games.
I actually had my hands on another one just like this. It was at an estate sale this past January. No one knew what it was but it was complete except for a butt stock and the receiver was cut into pieces with a chopsaw. Aside from that it was a complete Rifle. There was no magazine there with it either but if the gentleman that purchased that kit, sadly not myself, where do you see this video and come forward it would confirm the existence of two of these. It would be neat to see if there was any difference between that one and this one
Actually, it would seem like the one shown in the video isn’t the same one used in the trials. So maybe you saw the exact gun that saw use in the actual US trials of 1919!
I was wondering if the good doctor's interests in recoil reduction in later firearms designs might not have been the reason for the seemingly oversized gas tube. If the tube, the gas piston, the port, was made to be able to perform multiple actions, in addition to cycling the action to load the cartridge, extract the expended case, but also to operate the clockwork for the magazine, but also to accomplish recoil reduction, or as a predecessor to the designs of constant recoil? Given Dr. McLean's predilection for complex firearms, could something like that be possible. Alas, due to the rather ham-handed DEWAT process, unless documentation explaining comes to the fore, this is something that never be explained.
Can imagine how the bullets velocity is effected by that gas by-pass hole. Love to know how much pressure was needed to force that gas piston? That was the biggest one, I have ever seen on a rifle.
A steam cooling system is really more efficiant than watercooling honestly. But yes, overly complexe for its time and cant be used on battlefield of this period. Because of this system need to be close without any breach, something hard in ww1 heavy bombardements.
That is one of the most striking guns I've ever seen. The trigger assembly looks like a 1600s wheelock. The buttstock and wood furniture reminds me of an MG 34 (or even more of a wheelock).The handle is pure bolt action and the rest could not get more steampunk. If you told me this was a steam powered machine gun I would believe you. It has a retro-futuristic feel about it, like the Edwardians invented a laser pistol or energy blaster. Seriously, I would expect this thing to be wielded by a time travelling Jules Verne character.
Based on the picture at 5:50 I would guess the magazine goes around the gun, and it is placed from the rear, over the butt. That would also explain the tucking down charging handle and the weird and unergonimical shape of the butt at the trigger. Also, to change the magazine from the front would require to take it off the tripod eververy time, that would be very slow. PS: This is the first timeyou forgot to tell what caliber it actually has, or did I miss this?
@@Lenn869 The Crown & King (Browning Auto-5, 1905) and the Dolch 98 (Mauser C96, 1896) are the only other ones I can think of, if H:S is set in 1895 like the devs said.
It's absolutely criminal that here, in the USA, there should ever be any legal reason for any machine gun or any gun of any type to be "mechanically destroyed", especially a one of a kind piece of history like that.
When locking lugs are your absolute favorite things: "I haveth a fever for which the only remedy is more locking lugs. Hasten, good sirs, to accommodate my ailment be cured and provide me with locking lugs too numerous to count! I beseech thee as well to provide the soothing sounds of my most favorite instrument, the calming melodies which may only be produced by more cowbell!"
I haven't finished the video but I've immediately decided it was a huge mistake for the nations of the world to adopt other firearms and everyone needed to adopt this steampunk contraption.
Is having so many locking lugs a good idea or a bad one. Can dirt affect function? Does having so many increase the chances that dirt could foul the action?
I did some preservation work on a 37mm 40 calibre Mclean Poole that had been mounted as a coast defence cannon in Finland. Incredibly it had exactly the same knurling on the barrel and recoil tube, it must have been incredibly expensive to do and really quite unnecessary.
