That's a safety feature, if someone takes your gun from you in a self defence situation, they won't be able to shoot you cause no-one can actually pull the trigger on the bloody thing.
It makes sense for the Formidable to be using the Army-style load because the type of man in France most likely to have a pocket pistol at all between 1895 and 1916 were military officers or men who had served as officers during their mandatory military service, so they'd be familiar with the M.1892 and its manual of arms. France was never really a country where a lot of men carried concealed firearms for personal defense, even before laws started to limit the practice.
it was mainly because of the price. at the time of ww1 the average monthly income for a specialized worked was 400fr per month, and the first price for a pistol was 800fr..... meanining only upper class peoples had guns. and a lot of them had pistol. the normal citizen in rural part had a lot of hunting rifle
@@ecarlate The cost of a Le formidable revolver in the Manufrance catalogue of 1912 it´s 49 francs. You can find revolver in the same cartridges from 30f. A Browning in 32 ACP by 45 francs, A Mauser by 100f or a Luger by 110f.
I absolutely love seeing these historical guns in 'real' shooting situations to see how they compare to more modern firearms. I might even like them more than your regular table-top content. Keep up the fantastic work!
1:45 Be careful with Fiocchi's 8mm92 modern ammunition! It's massively under-loaded, to the point that the bullet is likely to NOT clear the barrel on some guns... How I know? I inherited a Mdle 1892, and of the six rounds of Fiocchi ammunition I fired, three stayed in the barrel. I returned the box and lo and behold, the importer told my gunsmith it wasn't uncommon, and they weren't importing this product anymore because of those issues... (also the case is paper thin and nigh impossible to handload, joy) EDIT: 6:50 Ian, for this joke I know dub thee an honorary frenchman :')
Weirdly enough I was reading the 1925 Manufacture Française catalogue today. I'd love to see a 1913-1925 Daudeteau bolt action "Rebel" carbine on here one day.
The five rounds reminds me of Charl van Wyk who was visiting a church in South Africa. The church was attacked by terrorists shooting fully automatic rifles and throwing hand grenades. They were going to take everyone out at that church. Charl had a five round .38 special snub nose. He got two hits on the invaders and they ran off which saved a lot of people in that church that day.
Ok, that jab at Marseilles ( 6:39 ) is accurate XD It seems like this gun was a real pain to shoot. Hope you had some fun nonetheless, and thank you for sharing that experience with us
I was quite impressed with the performance of the cartridge out of the short barrel. I wasn't expecting any poppers to hit the deck, maybe just an anemic "ping"
I think modern defensive shooting expectations of one or two shots from a pocket pistol instantly dropping any man have kind of warped most people's perception of ballistic energy on the lower end. That said, you'll notice he had best luck knocking them down in single action, aiming to nearly miss the top edge, to get as much of a lever as possible.
Trigger like my P-64 (Polish) - trigger pull when out of thr box was 26 lbs DA/3.5 lbs SA. After a Wolff spring swap, I got that down to 19lbs/3.25lbs. Definately a Magilla Gorilla Trigger
As a lefty, the reason I don't really mess with revolvers, is the fact that the cylinders open to the left. I don't even mess with 1911's that don't have ambi controls.
@@Schrodingers_kid i knew a guy who was so used using the middle finger for the mag release that he didn't bother installing the lefty mag release on his Glock Service pistol.
I laughed when you said "this is clearly taking place in Marseille" ! xD I'm french and from the South-East, so I live pretty close to Marseille, so that was really a good one. x)
Yep, a year ago when my grandma died, i took preciously some old swiss cooking gears, a cooking scale from the 70s (with the good old 70s orange color), loads of ustensiles,... My cousins didnt cared at all and would have gave it or throw it. But they had them since before i was born (33y) and im pretty sure i can have it for at least a few decades.
I remember reading once that the original Walther PP in .22 had a very heavy trigger, too. Probably an early attempt at "safety through double action".
Nice Parisian touch, Ian, with the cap. :) The French call it "la bâche" (basically a "tarp cover", a "dust sheet"). Bonne continuation, salutations de l'Hexagone !
I so envy Ian; he gets to shoot all kinds of weird guns... That's what I like; shooting _good_ guns is boring. It's much more fun to shoot difficult ones and try to figure out how (whether) you can do it effectively... ;-)
Probably adequately formidable for use against dogs chasing your bicycle... Kudos to Ian for (a) actually hitting something, and (b) entering the match with a hopeless gun for our entertainment.
I love this channel and in my opinion the only thing missing is some bullpup shotgun action. Ive got a centurion BP-12 and is my all time favorite purchase. Ive had a Mossberg pump since 2006 and have sworn by pump action my whole life, but when i tell you it is the most fun and rewarding firearm i own, you'd better believe it. I love the videos and am not attempting to tell yall what to do, i just wanted to express my love for your platform, and also my love for an underrated and misinformed shotgun.
Might not be Forgotten enough, but that hasnt stopped Ian from showcasing interesting current production stuff before! Id like him to do a video on the many many models but seemingly the same design semi-auto shotguns that have come out of Turkey and China in recent years. Why so many different but the same designs and why now all of a sudden?
Something you might find fun is the Guns from the Lackadaisy Video: M1918 BAR, M1921 Thomson, M1911 (Might not be an A1), Colt 1908 Pocket Pistol, and a Revolver.
When it comes to firearm ive learned that everything was a thing at some point ...You just have to find that thing because it might be the only thing that does that thing
Some of my current awful dreams at night includes having to shoot somebody but the trigger is so long and heavy that I can't do shit. This "Le Formidable" is literally nightmare material for me, and I'm dead serious.
I'd love to see you try a H&R Model 925 .38 S&W in a BUG match! I'd be curious how the unique grip shape and top break action would serve you. Especially compared to this!
It strikes me this revolver might be something issued to plainclothes officers considering the caliber or even intelligence officers. I'm reminded of a passage from a Somerset Maugham's story of Ashenden where he states his character likes to keep a small revolver with him. Considering the character often works in France and goes into Switzerland it's conceivable the gun he carries could be the Le Formidable.
I've really started enjoying these odd balls taken to the BUG matches. You can't fully appreciate the quirks until you put it to the test under a bit of pressure!
That's quite a trigger spring! There I thought my Ruger SP101 had an atrocious trigger pull from the factory. It's only 11 pounds 😂 And that trigger guard is way too big
@@sergeantbigmac If I remember correctly, it has a decent trigger. What makes it inaccurate or slow is that it's so 🤬🤬 cumbersome. But it will hit if you have the time, this thing, nope.
A great very interesting and bright video and French revolver. The Gun Jesus' favourite math problem is how many cases of the MAS 40 rifles can one get for this revolver and how many FAMAS rifles can one get for one Manurhin revolver.Have a good one.
*Ian, playing DnD, asking a Genie what he wants while imagining a Manurhin MR73* : "I want to shoot an airline hijacking scenario at a BUG match with a French revolver." *Karl Kasarda as DM* : "Say no more." EDIT: he has also clearly been to marseille.
Ian, you have no idea how long I've been searching for right sided swing out revolver since I'm a lefty as well. I'll have to be on the lookout for one of these or the 1892 .
Enjoyed the video immensely, Ian. Thank you! Now - want to try a BUG match with my S&W 1 & 1/2 32 rimfire? I have 50 rounds available... 😆 Oh, and you could pair that with my Frank Wesson 32 rimfire carbine, for a pistol/carbine combo match. LOL
I thought about this long and hard and came to the conclusion that the ultimate collab would be with Gun Jesus and AvE. Ians knowledge of guns and AvE's knowledge of machining and manufacturing would make a great combo. Somebody will agree with me for sure.
When you make the, old guy getting off the couch sounds, pulling the trigger, it must be really heavy! That last round was awesome with that gun, laying on your gut!
To talk about this revolver you have to go back to the context of Paris at the beginning of the 20th century where the "apaches" nickname given to Parisian thugs were mainly armed with knives (or "surins" in the slang of the time) . The goal was to scare away the aggressor armed with a knife just by showing the revolver, shoot even without touching what could make you think. Hitting the target is not necessarily a profitable bonus with respect to your relations with the authorities.
Thats a very beautiful yet very simple revolver ! But my prefered french gun is still the one with a chain inside with dozens of shot. Useless but still amazing. I would love to see it in a video game.
Ian, this reminds me of the time I shot Major Revolver with a Webley Mk VI. A good piece in many ways, but the double action trigger scaled higher than a Thanksgiving turkey.
If you succeed at firing from "The Formidable" you can be sure you need no revolver at all. You're strong enough to just strangle your enemy with your bare hands.
I would love to know how "utterly insane" Ians friends think he is, turning up to these matches with all these wonderfully odd, wierd and outlandish firearms from centuries ago! 😄
I was thinking something like that. I imagine the new people at these matches are looking, like, "What the...? What?" The regulars and ROs going, "Just Ian, doing Ian things. You get used to it."
"I'm sunbathing on the beach, and there is a criminal gang trying to kill me. Which means it takes place in Marseille" I live there and never heard such accurate depiction of the city.
