Ep. 68 | Listener Special - WW2 Guns & History 

I wish this discussion was three hours long

Glad to see Nick and his dad sharing their knowledge. He’s helped me in researching for videos before. Beautiful collection of rifles.

I am glad I found this video. I actually have one of those pickle bayonets and have had a hard time finding information about it. Its not in good condition, ran into some rust issues and has some funky kinks or slight bends in the blade. I am glad I was able to get some more information. My grandfather passed away before I could ask him about it.

I’ve watched this 3 times and I pick up something new every time.

Great podcast here with a lot of history to digest. My grandfather served on the tail end of WW2 in the US Army and served in the South Pacific on the island of Peleliu and Tinian. He told my dad the need for soldiers was desperate as they were drafting 25 year olds with 3 kids when his number got pulled. When he shipped out, Army Basic training was only 2 weeks. The first week they ran his legs off. The second, they qualified with their rifle. My father talks about how my grandfather exclaimed to him while on the rifle range, “I wanted to get good with that rifle.” After qualifying with his rifle being able to hit bullseye groups out to 500 yards, he was shipped to Tinian. The story goes, “after I hit those targets on the range in basic, my commanding officer picked me up with one hand and the rifle in another hand and said, ‘you’re going to war son!’ ” He was dropped from Higgins boats on 3 different assault waves under heavy gunfire near the end of the war. On one assault wave he and his men were dropped early heading to the beach head. What he though might be the ocean floor under his feet quickly became water. He said he must have sunk down 10-15 feet underwater before his feet finally hit the ground. He goes on to explain how people think they can’t hold their breath for more than 4-5 minutes underwater…you can. After his feet hit the ocean floor he started walking. Once his face broke the water and his took his first few breaths, his mouth filled with what he described as a strong copper flavor (I can only imagine the horror of knowing that’s the blood of his comrades mixed with salty ocean water in his mouth). Rounds were cracking by his head, limbs, torso etc.. with every step he took to the base of the beach. He witnessed young men bleeding out screaming and yelling for their mothers and knowing there wasn’t much he could do but to grab one of them and drag them forward. And all the while with rounds whizzing by him during each assault wave he participated in, he never even as much received a briar scratch on his body during his time in the service. On one patrol he had to shoot and kill an enemy combatant. After a moments passed they searched him and found a picture in the shirt pocket of his uniform. The picture was that of a young Japanese woman and a small baby. My grandfather just stood there looking at the photo and looked back at the dead Japanese soldier and said, "Damn, she's at home and doesn’t know he's dead…." My grandfather was married with 3 babies at home at the time. It impacted him the rest of his life. Private Bert F. Alexander. 1919-1998.

While in Vietnam we captured a French MAS rifle from Vietnam Cong when I cleared it the cartrage I ejected was a 30 cal cartrage that had been forced to fit the Mas chamber which had a clapsed neck. I guess what ever worked?

Man, how did I miss this video. Very cool video.

Talking about the Swiss attitude in WW2. This is a story from WW2. At some kind of ball for diplomats & embassy personnel in Switzerland during WW2 a German military attached was talking to a high ranking Swiss General. " We know you have about a 1 million man army, what would you do if you were invaded by a 2 million man army?". The Swiss General replied, " Shoot twice." 😆

This is a fantastic video

This was very interesting to watch

The gunshot sound in the intro is really realistic. My ears are still ringing lol.

This is awesome

Can't wait to see what u guys brought to the table. I wish I had a Winchester 95 Russian musket.

Some of the shotguns that slam fired where, Winchester 1893, 1897, model 12 and Ithaca 1937,(still today). Hold the trigger to the rear, and pump the forearm .... slam firing.

It wasn’t the .38 spl that was found to be ineffective against the Moros in the Philippines, it was the .38 Long Colt.

Best video yet!!! Thanks for doing this!!!

The M14 had a pivot valve on the gas system to shut off the block the flow when firing the rifle grenade so the high pressure wouldn't damage the rfle.

I love my Ithaca slam fire

The jungle carbine flash hider was to prevent blinding the operator.

Love the old service rifles....I have an Enfield made by savage used in ww11 then brought back rebored to .308 from .303 and turned into a sniper rifle for the Vietnam war...

The Aussie's used the SMLE all through WWII

carcano 6.5 may lack accuracy due to the use of a 6.7mm (.264 in) bullet instead of the 6.8mm (.268 in) as originally loaded. without slugging the barrel before reloading, most people stuff up on actual projectile size.

So like a quadrant sight for an M203

I have a 1916 SHTLE III* manufactured at SSA SSA sporterised British 303 still operates just fine

I was told the blood groove was to help with extraction of the blade after sticking it into an adversary. But who knows, I wasn't there...

Ah man I was hoping to see a Finnish m39. If the Swedish mauser is the king of mausers, then the m39 is the king of mosins

6.5x55 Swiss is legendary straight pull

I use to bring my rifle to school in Nov so I could hunt couple hours after lol..different times

Love to see a cartridge talk on 6.5x55 Swiss k31

If I hear "dissimilar" one more time, I'm going to Ralph 😂

Blood groove, really! I thought you pros would have known better. That groove has nothing to do with blood flow, it's a metalogical process called a ''fuller''. In bladesmithing, fullers are often used in pairs. The upper fuller has a flat surface for striking with a hammer, while the lower fuller has a square peg that fits into the anvil. The fullers displace material in the blade, causing it to move sideways and bulge outward from the surface creating the area to make the blade edge.

Hey guys let's visit the 300 ultra mag aka.300 rum We do some serious long range with our Rem 700 long range rifle and a vortex scopes hand loads only ..hi bc bullets at over 1 mile and getting hits

Hahahaha Some Jack Wagon hahahaha

I should have kept my K31 even though I'm bifocal. NICE rifle !

2:30 Is it just me or does Ryan look pissed off in this episode?

USSR Snipers worked alone. No spotter or machine gun support. In rare situations they used someone like bate or decoy

You could use the ww1 bayonet as a sword to

Those French WW2 rifles, never fired, dropped once.

I think were they are on the map is why Swiss hasn't been in wars

1:27:40 Btw the japanse didnt have better steel than europeans especially in middle ages the steal quality varried greatly. But if you take the best european sword and best japanse sword they will be nearly identical metal quality. Its mostly a modern myth bc of the katana being worshipped by weebs.

5 guys could have bring us another gun history show How monotonous

The Swiss army guards the Pope!

I'm not listening to any of it