Enjoying Black Powder Episode 2: The Modele 1874 Gras 

Are your children texting about Forgotten Weapons? ROFL: Respect our Foreign Legion LOL: Love our Legion STFU: Send the French Up BOGO: Bayonet on Gras, Obviously YMMV: Yes, minimal muzzle velocity ISTG: Ian Shoots the Gras WTF: Watch Tom Fire IMHO: Ian Makes Hits Ontarget

Gras sounds like a sound a crow would make. "Graw! Graw!"

🎉 i have 2 of them fore repear 1 infanterie 1 Cavalerie bot 1866-74. The cavelerie is from the fabric of the german citry and i have the barjonet also 😊

The Hellenic Army adopted the Gras in 1877, and it was used in all conflicts until the Second World War. It became the favourite weapon of Greek guerrilla fighters, from the various revolts against the Ottoman Empire to the resistance against the Axis, acquiring legendary status. The name entered the Greek language, and grades (γκράδες) was a term colloquially applied to all rifles during the first half of the 20th century. 1877 - Greece purchases about 60,000 Gras rifles from Steyr. 22 March 1886 - Last recorded order (1,000 Gras rifles). In total 129,000 have been bought since 1877 (118,000 infantry rifles, 6,000 artillery musketoons and 4,800 cavalry carbines). 24 Jul. 1923 - At the time of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Greeks have 77,000 Gras rifles & carbines, which corresponds to about 25% of the total number of rifles. 28 Oct. 1940 - At the time of the Italian invasion, the Greeks have 60,000 Gras rifles, which corresponds to about 13% of the total number of rifles.

we have precedents that with enough pestering from gun Jesus, some manufacturer will soon be producing 11mm Gras ammo...

Tom - your grandfather is John F. Hasey? He was the first American in WW2 to shed his blood for Free France and was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Liberation by De Gaulle. That is an extremely rare and prestigious honor, with just over 1,000 given. John F. Hasey worked for Cartier in Paris before the war, selling luxury items. When the war broke out and he saw France falling apart, he escaped and decided he needed to do something. He was fighting in East Africa and the Middle East with the Free French a year before the US entered the war and was seriously wounded by a Vichy French machine gun in the Syrian campaign. The book he wrote about his service is a great read for anyone interested.

A lot of these where converted to 32 gauge shotguns for hunting in Greece. Due to the long barrel it can really reach out to birds flying.

3:26 "With the baïonnette on you are halfway to the target already!" :)

Really interesting when you have to make your own ammo. Converting cartridge cases to another caliber, fun! Just for fun i played with converting 9×19 to 9x18 Russian, used minimum loads that would still cycle and melted battery lead for projectiles. Here comes the "cant use battery lead cause its corrosive " comments. Really, by the time you wash and remelt battery lead it is not corrosive, just soft.

Seeing Ian as a Legionnaire is something I didn't know I desperately needed

When I was a kid, we moved into a new house and I found that specific bayonet in the basement. It was dated around that time and the writing on it was in French.

Ngl this series is a breath of fresh air along with “weapons of xyz war” new stuff is cool but I think a lot of us are here for the older weapons

I hope the Martini-Henry gets a run in this series!

"Merde" cracks me up, hearing Ian utter some profanities in my language

Episode 3? A truly ambidextrous contemporary of the Springfield and the Gras - the Martini-Henry .577/450.

So that's what rifle that bayonet goes to. My dad had picked one up at an estate sale some 15 or 20 years ago when i was a kid because he knew I would like it. I only ever knew it was French because it is engraved on the spine of the blade with a phrase and in that phrase it has the date 1877.

It never gets old watching Ian working a bolt action rifle left handed. Impressive

We’ve got a gras that has been converted to 28 gauge with a 2.5” chamber. I make my own black powder for it. Very cool gun.

I liked the points in the side-by-side shoot-off where they basically fired in sync.

And when the smoke did clear, gun Jesus was still there 🇺🇸

didn't expect to ever say this on this channel, but i've got one! edit: unfortunately, being british, my gas-venting safety feature isn't a scallop but a dirty big hole drilled through the breech.

It's slightly disappointing how there are aren't massive clouds of smoke - but of course in films they usually show a whole row of soldiers firing, not individual rifles.

shooting black powder is the second most fun i've had with my pants on.

Terrence and Phillip go to the range...

I finally got ammo for my Gras after nearly a decade of owning it. Still waiting for a special occasion to shoot it 'cause it's nine bucks a pop. Also gonna be fully decked out in French gear.

I thought this was the sequel to the 'Carry On' movie 'Follow That Camel' 😂

Damn it, now I just added *another* milsurp to my wishlist. Well, there's always ramen... 😂

I've recently become interested in black powder firearms due to @capandball 's channel. I'm really enjoying this series.

At 1800 meters, it's a tiny howitzer. :)

To anyone wanting to load ammo for an old rifle sometime in the future- .348 Winchester brass is very versatile. It can be made into shootable ammo, if not perfect, for a variety of calibers. 11 Gras, 8mm Lebel, .50-70 US, 10.15x61R Jarman, and with a little more work, .43 Spanish. There are also a plethora of European shells that can be made from the .43 Spanish, but as thinning the casewall is involved with the .348 conversation, l wouldn't recommend using the .348 for those. Winchester still makes a run of .348 brass every couple of years, so it isn't always available. Get some when you see it.

If you just squint your eyes you can pretend this is March or Die with Gene Hackman and Terence Hill.

Black powder is where it's at. I've been shooting muzzleloaders since the 70's and I only like them more as time goes by. My first was an H+R huntsman, which was just an Handi-Rifle break action that they converted to black powder by plugging the breach with a stainless plug sealed with 2 O rings. In the intervening decades I've discovered more of the historical and modern models available and I love them all. In recent decades I've also discovered air power. It's more expensive to get into than BP because of the specialized pumps, carbon fiber bottles and compressors one needs to create and store high pressure air, and they're not as powerful as some of the more powerful BP guns, but you get multi shot capability not available in most BP guns. What would make me happiest would be for a major manufacturer to make modern big bore airguns....at least a few...look more like a traditional muzzleloader, but that's me, I don't know how well they would sell in a market saturated with the "black rifle" look. By the way, your uniforms are magnifique. Excellent video as always.

Nice kepi and gun. 🙂

We need more reproduction models of these old classics.

French Foreign Legion: Monsieur Ian, on ne porte pas le kepi avec un queue de cheval.

07:35 "There we go, that's how it's supposed to come out" says Ian, as his belt pouch starts dumping all his reserve ammo on the mat! 😀

seems to be a really easy and fun way to dabble into black powder shooting 👍

I have a sword bayonet for that rifle for being over 140 years old it's in very good condition would still do the job no problem

I loved watching this video whilst cradling my own Gras. For those of you who are interested in getting 11mmR Gras cartridges, Bertram Bullet Co. in Victoria, Australia makes brass for the Gras and a number of other black powder or smokeless cartridges.

The French always thinking about logistics

Getting a gras soon and was looking to see if 32ga brass would work, thanks for confirming that for me. 🙏

The speedrun wasn't even fair! Sure, the rifle wasnt set up for a lefty, but Ian clearly had the power of an obscure French rifle on his side! It's his natural environment!

I always enjoy seeing historic arms put through their paces.

I will bet that receiving fire from 1800m (especially) in 1870 would be somewhat disconcerting and more so if it were 40 or 50 Gras in volley fire. Just the rounds impacting around you would be bad enough but if they get a couple of your buddies you are thinking "We are still over a kilometre and a half away, what will happen at 300m?" Area fire, even with bolt action rifles has its place even today. All you need do is get close enough that the impact is seen and heard, if you get one or two of them, even better.

One more teaching from the holy gun Jesus to his disciples.

I feel so cool owning my own gras bayonet watching this haha. Just imagine being in a 3 line deep ranks of men. You can see the bayonets of your comrades just passing your face

Never thought of it before but the one side of that bayonet is really going to be covered in soot! One more thing to clean. Someone get the water hot...

I liked that a lot

Ian, just a suggestion: keep your ammo on your left side, perhaps all the way back to your hip. After firing, with your forehand, tilt the rifle counterclockwise about 30 to 40 degrees, and work bolt left-handed. To reload, just lay your next round on the side of the open breech (which should fall down to the bottom), close bolt, and rotate rifle back to firing position. Practice makes perfect. Less hassle than the way you were doing it.

Note the paper patch/jacket-ed bullet.

Wait, you’re using 32 gauge brass because 11mm gras is too hard to find?! At least I’d heard of 11mm gras, lol.

So the proper brass is around $120 for a pack of 20... That gets real expensive real quick

I'd love to see a M1869 Werder in this series, though I'd assume getting 11×50mmR brass isn't the easiest thing these days.

Isn't this the same cartridge they adopted in a revised format for aerial machine gun use against balloons? With smokeless powder and incendiary projectiles?

Интересный ,прикид, на стрелках.🎉

That reload is pretty slick. With uh, “proper motivation” I could see these having a formidable rate of fire.

7:30 Ian's bicep? 🥺👉👈

This seems to be a useful defense weapon for today...with the right brass.

Jesus enjoying some fine french heaters.

I thought YooChoob stopped you doing "Mag Dumps"? :)

Tom's main problem is no beard. Can't be a proper poilu without one.

I was expecting Ian to lead a charge, Mle 1892 in hand

That long bayonet on a that long rifle is a reminder that there was a time when hand to hand combat meant that infantry wouldn't just be fighting a guy but also the horse he's riding.

Very enjoyable content, thank you.

Awesome gun. I sympathize with the left handers pain of right hand bolt, but we adjust. Looks like a lot of fun. Thank you.

Ian - is there such a thing as a left-handed bolt-action ?

So cool. I want to see so many more black powder cartridge rifles demo'd like this.

This and the 1871 are the only rifles left on my bucket list. Then its back to building custom muzzleloaders.

1800 meters is an expression of purest optimism.

COOL Kepi Blanc hello from Albuquerque

Thanks for making this video

Nous sommes des dégourdis, Nous sommes des lascars Des types pas ordinaires.

I’m rather fond of a paper patched bullet.

In Tucson/Three Points for at least a week visiting my parents and sister.🤠👍🇺🇲

Watching this familiarization video was very interesting, well done Ian and Tom. The 1874 Gras was a very exquisite gun to look at.

How big is Ian's period correct clothing closet?

Got one myself including original Gevelot brass wich I alterd from berdan to boxer primers. A very fine rifle to shoot. Thanks for the vid Ian.

Very very cool. It's modern enough I'd forgotten about fouling until Ian mentioned it during the speed run. Damn, very cool rifle and mechanics and knowledge on display here!

Ian doing the lefty version compared to all righties is like shooting another rifle 😂

C’est nettement mieux que le Springfield.

The Gras is a great rifle and fun to shoot - looks great too.

Gun Jesus touching gras.

Ugh. Undersized rims on donor brass for Gras is sad. Ian you should lobby Starline to make a batch of good stuff!

Did Germany invade again?

I wonder what's the angle of the bullet falling at 1800m, must be at least 45°, I can't imagine the hang time that would achieve

Légionnaires!

Gotta love when The Desert King of Guns is out and about firing old guns in period clothing

I am thoroughly enjoying this series. Single shot BP rifles are simple and fun to shoot.

I have this weapon and it only has one issue *WHERE DO YOU GET THE AMMO AND RELOADING KIT!!!* Buffalo Arms MAY have ammo in stock at $100+ dollars a box. That is $5 per shot. So, you're going to want to reload. I've only found one place in France that sells the reload kits, about 275 Euros, give or take. No bullets and no primers.

At least the crosswind cleared the smoke quickly.

"I See?" a lefty run this thing like a clock, running this things' perfectly! "clockwise?" Yes I do shoot Black Powder.

9:40 "Shots fired" counter doesnt use the profile of 11mm Gras. 0/10, literally unwatchable.

Somewhat paradoxycally I enjoy the trapdoor more. This is just like a bolt action without a magazine so the trapdoor is more interesting.

Doomtube put the time stamp over the last half of the last word i swear it looks like he's enjoying b_power ....😅😅😅

The logistics issue of the Chassepot paper cartridge is well illustrated by the French navy. Who did not change to the brass cartridge Gras post 1870 war but kept the paper cartridge Chassepot. They were ship based and had all the materials and tools to make them on board ship not to mention men to do the making. So could turn them out to the proper standard and the Chassepot paper cartridge, when properly made, was very adequate. Eventually replaced by the Kropatchek tubular magazine rifle.

Looking at how polished the Gras is as an infantry weapon for its time really gives you an idea about why exactly France, prior to WW2, was still considered /the/ military land force in Europe. That's a really polished action for the time, especially with the simple efficiency of the feed tray.

"Knowing how to make black powder brass ammo from an 1866 single shot bolt action french rifle is too dangerous for the masses" -youtube More totally reasonable rules from youtube 🙄

My cellmate at Folsom was called "Big Stabby". Nice guy, but keep him away from the cutlery tray...

Nearly as good as a .45 boxer Martini Henry😏🇨🇵🇬🇧🇫🇷🇬🇧🇫🇷

If the _Gra_ was fired with some kind of over-the-shoulders-harness, would it be called a _Grassiere?_ {I will see myself to the door now...😉}