Hi Ian, I really enjoyed this Q&A video. The breadth of questions and the opportunity for you to answer them at length was really nice. I have signed up to support you with Paetron just because I love hearing you talk about cool and interesting guns. When I saw the length of the video (41 minutes), I wondered if it would keep my interest for that long. It did, and did it well. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, much more than I enjoy 99% of what is on TV today. I really think this is the future of "infotainment", where fans directly support people producing high quality video articles about things both the fan and producer share an interest in. It is very clear to me you love what you are doing. Keep up the outstanding work. I always look forward to hearing about the new and unusual guns you have found to show us. The best part about Forgotten Weapons is when I see the title and go, "I have never seen or heard anything about that gun." I love watching those videos for the "wow, that's neat," "huh, I wouldn't that thought of that" and the "Nice, I learned something" factors. All the best. Kerry
These Q&A videos are my favorite videos that you do simply because they're so long which means I get 40 minutes of interesting content instead of just maybe 10 or fifteen minutes with a regular video. I really enjoy the channel.
I love the ME tech background. doing math homework can only take you so far. doing actual hands on machining, casting, and engineering design is fantastic.
Thanks Ian. You approach to firearms and historic relevance is intriguing. I'm still fairly new to firearms and can appreciate the fascinating one-offs you bring to your channel.
The best way to find affordable "forgotten" weapons is to look over gun shops with a cell phone to reference values, and to give you an idea of whether or not the rifle is correct. I've ran across a few cool guns that way, most notably a Krieghoff Mauser with a quite nicely carved stock.
I gotta say that Forgotten Weapons is one of my favorite "gun channels". You are a very good presenter, and your subject is fascinating. I don't have any particular desire to own the weapons you review, but I do find many of them quite interesting. Keep up the good work!
one of the best channels on youtube right here! Thanks Ian, for providing such an awesome, informational channel, that us Gun aficionado can slobber over. We all greatly appreciate it! You're awesome
Got me a Swiss k31 for 300CAD, they are beautiful somewhat forgotten rifles that are not that uncommon. Which was part of the appeal for me as I can get a good amount of ammo for it for not much more than surplus 7.62x54R(Rimmed for the extractors pleasure). Thank you Ian for putting all this knowledge on the internet for everybody, as cheesy as it sounds you are making the world a better place.
I have a Star 30M handgun I purchased relatively cheap for doing the pistol tactical classes. I had features not seen on more modern guns until years later, like the slide that rode inside the frame. Very well made and very accurate. It was the Spanish military pistol for for yrs.
I love The Mosin-Nagant, and I have worked on loads of them. Honestly I love the engineering more then shooting them. I do like the fact they you have to engage & meet great people in order to learn this craft. I greatly enjoy that you explore a gun in all of is aspects. History, and it's engineering. I would ask you to do a show on the Mosin-Nagent, as it has such a history, and I will give you that it is not a "Forgotten Weapon" Kids who play games, or who use one as a cost effective deer rifle know little about the rich history of this weapon, and that it's not all the 91/30. Again I thank you for your content, and am gladly subscribed, and will ask friends to do the same.
Love these videos, covering all different subjects. I love the interesting items on the shelves. Always causes some thought. Best channel on RU-vid, along with In Range TV. Great video as always. Thank you
Hey Ian (and whoever else is curious), on the subject of new stocks for C&R guns, you can get custom wood stocks turned out by a number of woodworking "companies" (mostly just hobbyist dudes with lathes in the garage) that are very high quality. If you want something for a surplus gun and you can't find it elsewhere, it's possible to get one lathed. I live in OR and there's a fair bit of business in little orders like that, although you did say this and it's true: it isn't economically a great idea since the stock will probably cost quite a bit. Still, you can get super good stocks out of better woods (typically hardwoods). If you happen to live in a state where the practice is common like OR, you can just call a guy up and ask if he'll make a stock for your Mosin (or whatever) and just drive out to his place and pick it up.
I would love to have shootable reproductions of: -Gabbett-Fairfax-Mars Pistol -Volcanic Pistol -Schönberger-Laumann Pistol, -Early Bergmanns Pistol -in available cartridges -Mauser 06/08 Next to the Schwarzlose 1898 pistol, you mentioned already.
The SMG Suomi KP-31 was prone to jamming when dusty because of the very high manufacturing tolerances and practically hermetically sealing mass block locking. But I'd love to see you Ian to take it apart and shoot it on the Forgotten Weapons since it is a quite unique SMG mechanically. Just make sure you use the hottest 124gr full house loads or the weapon won't reload because of the weight of the mass block. High rate of fire too, 900-1000rpm with full house loads.
Such a great episode!!! I wish I was in a position to "kick in" but I scrape by (on SSID) as it is. Love your channel, Ian. At least you've go one broken-down old coot's appreciation, FWIW!!
I just wanted to say i know nothing about guns or even care for them. I happened across your channel and find my self enjoying the history of gun's. I now appreciate and find myself understanding guns. Thank's for making gun's enjoyable. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. This channel isn't political also and i find that refreshing.
There are sooo many cool "Forgotten Firearms" out there for affordable prices. Lots of neat military surplus is on the market right now, stuff like the Spanish Star Super B 9mm pistol, Polish Radom P-64 9x18 pistol, Romanian/Yugoslavian/Polish 7.62x25mm Tokarev pistol variants, Hungarian 9x18 Makarov pistol. I think one of the most under appreciated "Forgotten Rifles" is the Swiss straight-pull series of rifles including the Schmidt-Rubin and the later K-31, which are out there for 300.00-400.00 dollars, sometimes less.
Saw a Hembrug on the thumbnail... and just had to click the video. On a related note, the .303 Hembrugs are something to be extremely careful with because apparently some enterprising bubbas did similar conversions that are absolutely not up to spec (similar to the Bannerman .30-06 Mosins) and have horrendous headspace issues.
for what its worth, the "fast action" mechanism on the lionheart is also used on the commercial Hi-power's with the SFS (safe fast shooting) system. i do not know which came first but its an interesting concept.
Vid review that Steyr GB. They will cycle even with squib loads - I watched while one was fired until five bullets lodged in the barrel and it finally bulged too much for the slide to cycle. Once the bulged barrel was replaced it worked just fine.
to David Sharp who's question was about forgotten weapons that are economical and useful, YES some of the best rifles out there are way under-appreciated, for example my SAFN-49, it's very similar to an M-14 in use and feel, though it disassembles more like an SVT. look outside the box and you can find some great deals on firearms that didn't commercially make it
i have had chainfire. i had the front blow off. fortunately i had a wood barrel pin it only took me 2 hours to find the barrel. not shootable anymore but still pretty. just kinda bent. and as much as i love your vids and fascinating choices? i am not a collector, i shoot what i have. and use what i have for hunting or self defence. but i do love shooting what i have inherited.
Ian, about the Dutch Mannlicher. It actually is based of the 1890 model. The rifle was formally adopted on December 4, 1895, thus naming it M.95. Further the production from 1895 to 1904 was in Austria-Hungary because of distrust of local produced rifles. From 1904 all rifles where produced locally in the Netherlands for a much lower cost and with good quality. Most rifles therefore are made in the Netherlands. There was a commission in 1910 which recommended rebarrelling all the rifles to 7,92x57mm . That didn't happen because it would cost money and spending more money than strictly necessary on the army is a political sin in this country. So in 1940 the standard ammunition was round nosed 6,5mm FMJ designed before 1895. Makes you wonder why the Indonesian army preferred .303. :P
Although the AK-47 is most people's idea of a true mud weapon, I have to agree with you about the AR-15 being as good or better in the trenches. However I'd also give a shout-out to a bullpup design, especially the Australian F88S Austeyr. It could get kind crowded in trench raids, and a sharpened entrenching shovel was often found to be a better bet than a Lee Enfield, with or without a bayonet. The Aussies love their funny little bullpup rifles, especially in some very tight compound fights and they are apparently as reliable as the AR.
Fucking legend! I'm from Australia and we have had a very strong gun control laws here for some time now. I have never had the opportunity to fire any sort or fire arm really except on farms and that was a once off. I really enjoy listening and watching your commentary on guns and the whole disassembly / assembly process and the history of various manufacturers and developmental stages of various gun! keep up the good work!
Good video, saw that Steyr GB my all time favorite 9mm although most people think that its just weird. Has a very interesting. at least to me, mechanism and I had one in the late 80's that was very very accurate. It became an assault weapon where I live because it held 18 rounds in the magazine. I also had a chain fire on a brass framed Remington 1858 replica very exciting to say the least pistol actually was not damaged other than the loading lever screw, and it laid waste to the target for sure. Anyway sorry to go off on a tangent, liked the vid very much thanks.
Ian, what is an original 1873 Springfield 45-70 still in working order, everything is good and tight with expected wear on the stock and metal worth? a family friend and gun collector gave one to my father. also as for forgotten guns, one I haven't seen you do is a Husqvarna 1907, which he also owns. what do you think about Husqvarna guns, they've been around since the 1600s.
Hi Ian! I´ve been following you for a while and I do enjoy what you do. But can you plz remove the hiss noise/sound? Use a program like Magix Video Sound Cleaning Lab, and just click on DeNoiser. Should help you to improve the quality of your videos alot.
mr. ian its recently come to my attn. that marlin used to make a model 81 which is said to be identical to the jc. higgins model 10313 my higgins is chambered in .22 cal. i was just curious is this true ive searched online and only found a pic. of a marlin model 81 they do appear identical on the outside
Ian. I am a new Patreon contributor. Love your channel! Best content on RU-vid! The question about a modern rifle inserted into WWI. You said AR-15... I agree with you 99.9% of the time, but given that WWI, being a pretty universal .30 cal’sh war, wouldn’t an AR-10 derivative in .30 cal be the optimal choice? WWI had a lot of very prepared defensive positions. .22 cal versus .30 cal??? I’m just saying??? Thoughts??? What about SCAR-17 full size in 7.62?...WWI & WWII as a battle rifle???
forgotten weapons has put to bed the urban legend that the AK performs better than the AR in adverse conditions the AR laid the AK to rest and I love the AK but I saw it with my own eyes
Hi Ian, your channel is great! One question I've always had (and figure you could answer with your background) was how did machinists get perfect (or within tolerance) reproductions of parts in the early 20th century without cnc? Did they have a mechanical cnc analogue, or would they just rely on dudes on lathes pumping parts out enough that eventually they got it right? Thanks!
+Jonathan Stahlhacke Two ways. First, manual machines have dial indicators to tell you exactly how far you are moving, and a skilled manual machinist can make something just as precise as a CNC, just slower. Second, on a mass-production factory level parts were often made on a whole series of machines, with each machine pre-set to do a single operation. For example, FN still has the original tooling for making High Power barrels, which consists of about 30 shapers in a series, each one making a single cut. Start with a rifled blank, and by the time it has gone through each machine (which requires no more skill than swapping parts in a CNC today) you have a complete part made to spec.
I see a lot of people talking about the AR being a poor decision for trench warfare due to perceived reliability issues. What they aren't taking into consideration is the daily cleaning of rifles after the morning hate. This would greatly reduce the probability of a catastrophic malfunction, as if properly maintained an AR platform rifle is pretty reliable
Speaking of interesting, charismatic, but not particularly rare or expensive guns, I recently acquired an Ortgies, which (for those of you who may not know) is a smallish pocket auto made in Germany starting just after WWI. It's in 7.65mm (also known as .32 ACP) and has the oddest safety I can recall encountering on an auto pistol. Otherwise unremarkable (except that it's oddly heavy for its size), but well-made and comfortable if you don't mind using a genteel pinky-out teacup grip. Well worth the $300 worth of other stuff I traded for it, just for its "huh, I never saw one of those before" value. Also, I am required by Federal law to add, "An Ortgies was mentioned in a short story by J.D. Salinger, you know." :) (Which reminds me - Ian, I sent you a RU-vid PM a bit ago offering the loan of the Ortgies sometime if you have any interest in doing an FW item about it, but I have one of those weird pre-Google RU-vid accounts and I'm not sure PMing from/to those even works, so I may as well mention it here too.)
To mention another finnish weapons designer: Jali Timari and his Jati-Matic submachine gun from the eighties. Interesting mechanical concept ("Fire") and can be seen in "City Cobra" with a clumsy huuuge laser sight.
Ian for some time in the future if you ever get the chance would you like to do the DeLisle .45 Silenced Carbine?Id would be very interested in your opinion of it!
Its quite hard to get someone outside of Finland to pronunciate Finnish words or names correctly. One of the things my english teacher had to teach me was how to use completely different parts of my mouth/tongue to pronunciate certain letters compared to our won. Obviously this goes the other way around. A good tip is to pretend you have facial paralysis... yeah... try to use as few facial muscles when speaking Finnish. Thats a stop gap sollution really... we do like our consonants and double consonants so put a lot of empasize on them... As for Aimo Lahti... the H is not silent at all... open your mouth and breath out HHH-OOO... in Lahti it would be Lahhhhti... sorta... the emphasize is on the H as much it is on the T, maybe even more and the the T is very sharp like in Tikka masala...
One Finish rifle not mentioned was the Carcano 7.35. Probably just as well since front line troops didn't like them. Also I think stocks were made for rifles but after they went surplus they were worthless in their country of origin. I know a guy that found a barn full of Springfield stocks probably 50 years ago. He said the owner was using them as fire wood. They were worthless at the time. Although I haven't tried it some of the new CNC wood copy machines that a few wood working shops have might be able to make new stocks.
Yup I learned the rifle stock lesson on a Sporterized No. V mk 1 Jungle Carbine I picked up at a gun show. I figured it wouldn't be hard to find a replacement stock and I could restore it. I might as well have gone unicorn hunting because I would have had more success doing that. At least none of the parts were chopped so it still is a cool rifle and my first ever C&R purchase.
I have to ask about the WWI scenario. You said AR-15 I get your point and everything but you are talking about AR-15 with specific caliber 5,56x45. What interest me more is what kind of rifle/design would you choose if you had to combine it with WWI calibers like 30.06 , .303 , 7,62 or 7,92. In this case it will be still AR platform but combined with these cartriges? I dont know much about ammo of that era but it could be more dirt from the powder to make AR jammed? Simply you get yourself in WWI trench and you have to share ammo wiht others Is AR platform still a good option?
As an AR guy, I really thought you were gonna say an AK variant rifle for the WWI question. And it would have been totally justified, heck I want several AK's myself. But hats off for some AR love. A wise man once said, "An AR-15 is a lot more reliable than people think, and an AK is a lot more accurate than people think." I think those who have been doing this a while will agree.
Im surprised by the AR15 comment. Not because I dont agree with it but because you actually said it LOL! You know, everyone on the internet always tells me how unreliable the AR is and how much better the AK is. But honestly Ive never had a major problem with my AR. Maybe im just not abusing it enough? If I never read conjecture on the internet and just base off my personal experience, my AR is one of the most reliable guns I own. Although for trench warfare I think id want a -10 instead of a -15... sitting in a trench taking potshots, something like a semi-auto 308 with a moderate power scope would be ideal...
As a cowboy action shooter I agree with you on the Burgess shotgun reproduction. The Italians make a Colt Burgess rifle (which nobody uses), I wish they would make the shotgun instead. I'm sure there would be a huge market for a well made Italian repro. I've always wanted one and would prefer one to an 1897. If I could choose another it would be a Merwin, Hulbert & Co. open top army revolver. I think someone tried to make a repro in the US a few years ago and ended up walking away with his investors money instead. Pity, those where the best revolvers of the 1800's.
Here's a question that has been driving me to distraction since I purchased the rifle: I own a Savage 99E chambered in .308 Winchester....It's in excellent condition (from what I was told at the time of purchase I'm only the second owner).....I've checked on several Savage specific forums, and watched more RU-vid videos than was probably good for my eyes and there is one inconsistency in/on my rifle that I cannot find an explanation for. Unlike all the 99s (regardless of letter or caliber) that I have seen or read about mine lacks a "cartridge counter window" on the left side of the receiver. Was there a run of 99s that lacked the cartridge counter or is mine some kind freak that made it out of the factory without the cartridge counter? I feel special that at my age, now 61, I own a rifle I SHOULD have purchased back in the 1970s but passed over for several Winchesters and Marlins (OK, I'm also a victim of Old Marlinitus but that's another story altogether). Hopefully you can and will answer this question if you have time.
I know K&M is trying to bring it back, but could you do a review on the original Bushmaster M17s? or possibly the early Edenpine version of it? That weapon is becoming more and more forgotten.
Any idea why the industry standard for a civilian AR is the carbine-length gas system, even though that was designed for barrels shorter than 16 inches? Is there a higher cost in drilling the hole a couple of inches further up the barrel, and adding a little bit more gas tube?
+neanderthor66 That actually is a really good question! Something that never occurred to me but now that you mention it, is kind of weird... Ian this would be a good one to address if you know the answer, or history of it!
+Joel deSanto vulcans are not used as door guns, and the p90 would not be my first choice in a firearm, its still in its infancy. I would rather take a proven solid rifle
***** In reality I'm pretty sure its just a PTRS with the barrel removed (it came apart for transport IIRC), still, you can dream. i.imgur.com/RZRJjMB.jpg
Oh Ian here's another example of a successful gun design invented in a garage. The M1 carbine. It was invented by David Marshall Williams, a convicted criminal who actually made a primitive version of the M1 carbine in the prison's steel mill on commission from Winchester.
+556deltawolf Good point. Another example is the Owen gun. It was initially a guy tinkering in his shed. Ian actually did a nice video explaining all the problems the designer had with the Australian military before the weapon was accepted and served for quite some time.
Well there is evidence that he didn't really kill the sheriff. Some say it was another rum runner while others say it was caused by an accidental gun discharge. No one is certain Clipazine
On the hypothetical reproduction firearm; I would say something akin to a Dreyse needle rifle, I.E., a black powder, paper cartridge, single action bolt gun. While it would not be practical, modern steel would make it very durable and the paper cartridge would make loading much easier. Of course, the French version (forgot the name) would be closer to what you want. I think a complete redesign would be in order, maybe with a more modern firing pin design. Only question is, would there be a market, and how would you solve the gas seal issue?
1 short and 1 (i think) difficult question? What is you opinion on the Steyr AUG (since i'm from austria)? And would it be possible for you (or anyone for that matter) to take a look at the TKB-022PM prototype russian bullpup guns from the 60s? Would love to see how those work.
