Welrod .32 ACP Range Test for Accuracy and Sound 

Thank you for sharing,great topic,and video.

Lovely. More please. Didn't spot the kit you're using but if you get the bug you'll see most devices fall down on crack and uncorking (140+ v short duration). I got a b&k 2250 from these guys for measuring down range crack: www.gracey.co.uk/sound-level-meter.htm. Better than buying kit (£8k!) and they're used to military applications.

Aren't you in Switzerland? You should compare it to the B&T VP9 with new and used baffels

Makes one wonder at the number of these Welrods that are still lurking about getting up to al kinds of mischief and skullduggery. >_< Good on 007, we'll have your Walther fitted for a Broush suppressor in less than a fortnight.

@@ditzydoo4378 Bond was originally armed by Fleming with a .25 Beretta. Geoff Boothroyd who worked for ICI and published widely on small arms wrote to Fleming suggesting he change to the .32 PPK. Fleming may have been aware of the existence of the Welrod as his brother Peter worked for Gubbins in the formation of the Auxiliary Units which certainly had Welrods. Could never put my finger on Boothroyd, who seems to have been considered an "expert" at the time, but if you read his books now he comes across as a bit of a billy bullsh1tter..!

Yup. Definitely. If the owner replaces them and we have the opportunity, we'll see what it does!

@@BlokeontheRange note the wipes were meant to be replaced every mag or so. since rubber wipes were often commercially found or the sheets, resistence groups were able to replace the baffles.

@NinjaRider777R actuallly not true. if they are just rubber washers then they are not illegal to have and can be legally used in the can. same with a sheet of neoprene rubber. you just cut out the rubber when you have to service the can and put in the recylcing bin the old rubber washers. the atf doesn't give a shit if you do this since legally rubber washers and a sheet of rubber you use a punch on to make rubber washers is not illegal. also there are silencers that are sold in the US that use a rubber washer and its not a silencer wipe since it is a rubber washer you buy at home depot.

NinjaRider777R Rubber washers and rubber sheets are not illegal. I saw some at Lowe’s yesterday.

@@nevadie133 buying them is not illegal sure. But actually using them without going through the proper channels and paying fees is a felony. Is it worth it?

Thank you! :)

@@BlokeontheRange Yes! I immediately noticed that, too. While I'm a raging libertarian and don't trust gummint narcissists to enforce nor determine safety requirements I have also seen too much Bubba type 💩 on open ranges (in the US this means public lands where shooting is allowed) so lately actually prefer formally run shooting facilities.

That just sounds like common gun safety.

@@HiroNguy Pro-gun or anti-gun, everyone should know how to safely behave around, operate, maintain, and handle firearms. I'm a Norwegian, and while I don't have the same access to guns like Americans have, I am huge on educating about safety in regards to firearms. Especially in a range setting, when around other people. Edit: I want to add that while being too strict isn't necessarily good, there are indeed a LOT of people who should NOT handle a gun.

@@HiroNguy That's where these dangerous toys belong. Not at political rallys like trumps acolytes like to turn up with. BTW - why do they all fetishise the AR15?

It also doesn't produce any noise from a cycling recoil or gas operated mechanism. It is not only an inexpensive design, but it adds to the quietness.

Is it just me or does the Welrod sound significantly quieter than that halfhearted clap? Amazing that even with the wipes shot out how well the Welrod can muffle the sound

@@MasonMagruder69 Probably because it's being shot far away from the tripod. Also I heard it being louder than the claps, so idk?

@@MasonMagruder69 It's just you. Welrod's shot volume is about 120 db - as loud as a jackhammer.

thanks

lol the Welrod was loud if you ask me

Peter Warholm a throw away Unicorn at that. Isn’t the world a strange place. I have a safe full of super modern and very excellent pistols that I would easily trade for this rubbish pistol without remorse and with little effort. In fact I may easily be convinced to trade my $3,000 hand built race gun for just the opportunity to shoot a dozen rounds from this dinosaur gun that I could make in my garage for $50 and a donor barrel worth of steel. (I dare not do it because Canadian gun laws and all that, but the same is true for the USA and many other free countries). 🤪

Yes, it was my favorite gun in the game.

But the rubber baffles are in shitty condition, so it would be a lot quieter as designed.

It's a bit louder than clapping. Still pretty amazing

Most video cameras automatically adjust the sound level. I'm sure it's much quieter than the recording makes out.

The weapon was meant to be shot around 15 times before the baffles had to be replaced. The baffles don’t actually have holes in them so the first shot is extremely quiet or “Hollywood quiet”.

1. It's an old weapon 2. The ideal method of using this is to shoot an isolated person in the back of the head at point blank range during a rainstorm or when other things are happening.

Just watched Gun Jesus showing off a Welrod then this pops up.

Considering it just used and punched a hole into rubber baffles it should be extremely easy to remake some

@@Legitpenguins99 rubber, plastic, aluminum... If that front-end can be disassembled then it is no job at all to replace those baffles.

@@Legitpenguins99 only three of the baffles were rubber. All the others were not.

@@videodistro check the forgotten weapons video on a modern Welrod inspired weapon as well as the real one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o7tP9s4mm5I.html

You can, in fact, buy "Welrod" silencers in UK, they're advertised under that name for hunting rifles. Funny how firearms are less freely available there but silencers are perfectly legal. I know they're prohibited here in Canada where guns are easy to buy. Funny old world. Cheers.

Matt is literally sitting just out of shot to the left of frame :) Maybe next year if we're feeling flush with Patreon cash, or find someone who's got one, we'll try a VP9.

@@BlokeontheRange i'll let you know if i ever bought one :D btw, i too was amazed how the trigger on the wellrod wasnt all that bad for a gun of that purpose, quality and age.

Sounds like a euphemism for gay sex.

That, or, "Rod . Noun. A thin straight bar, especially of wood or metal."

"Rod" was also contemporary American gangster slang, and appeared in a plethora of Hollywood movies in the 1930's and 40's. So I agree with the derivation as referencing well established slang on both sides of the pond.

I'm a brit never heard that term used. To denote someone carrying a weapon we have always referred to them as either carrying or tooled up

@@ste887 certainly in 50's and 60's.

Yes, not random at all, none of the Wel names are. Plus it is shaped like a literal rod. The single shot sleeve pistol version was "Welwand".

This guy shoots the old and new welrod with fresh baffles ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UOErri-3Z5E.html

@@gunsandblanks706 How dare you call Tim "this guy!" Such disrespect..... *Trying to detract from the fact that I somehow missed this video, despite watching MAC religiously*

@@gunsandblanks706 Would probably help if they put Welrod in the title.

This would be a poor representation, the rubber pieces are shot out that do most of the suppression

The issue with the Sterling was that you could not use downloaded 9mm as it would not cycle. The perforated barrel was designed to be used with issue Mk2 Z ammo which was supersonic. The perforations bled off gas to reduce the velocity to sub sonic. The spiral baffle was designed to slow down the gas pulse from the perforations as well as from the end of the muzzle. Parallel baffles would simply have blown out under the pressures involved.

@@felixthecat265 The MP5SD is also designed to use standard supersonic 9mm.

@@No1sonuk Yep.. however the MP5 has a Vorgrimler hesitation lock and fires from a closed bolt, which gives it a much more controllable action. The Sterling is a simple blowback, and is much harder to silence. The MP5SD silencer is made of much better modern materials, whereas the Sterling is made of pretty standard mild steel.. different generations.

@matt keese its called war not murder you fucking spazz. Also 70 ppl disagree with you. Piss off hippie

@matt keese you're* lol

Welrod wasn't a human name, please

@@BigBeerus hey let's not disrespect hippies. They gave us way more than conservatives did.

matt keese go back to watching family guy you spastic malaker

And the Welrod was built in a shed for a few shillings. Britain , back to the wall and its inventors given free range. OH, to be there again.

It is VERY important for one of these to have new, or nearly new, baffles. In fact, for the first shot, the baffles don't even have holes in them yet. Once a handful of rounds has been fired, the noise starts to climb. This video doesn't remotely demonstrate how quiet one of these things can be. With fresh baffles, and for probably at least a half dozen shots, the report is considerably quieter than the sound you hear in this video when he cycles the bolt to load a new round. If there is any background noise at all, you can't really hear one of these.

The downrange sound recorder hardly picked the conversation up at all.

You can listen to the whole file here: drive.google.com/open?id=17fe5WyHilUCO_7WGR_HTD42Fb3RTDI_Y

@@BlokeontheRange That's interesting to listen to for comparison, but I see (or hear I guess) that it wouldn't have worked well in the video

There could also be legal considerations, it could be legal as is, considering its design. But making wipes might be "manufacturing a suppressor" which could be illegal. No idea if that is the case there, but I've heard it talked about in various places.

There would be no legal considerations in Switzerland. It's up to the pistol's owner to decide if he wants to play about with making new wipes or not, it's not my place. You'd have to ensure the hardness was right to avoid any mishaps.

@@KarltheKrazyone Unfortunately when the GCA was enacted in the US there was zero debate on silencers. They hadn't really been used in crime, they were more or less novel. A politician called it a device for which its sole purpose is assassination and it was lumped in with machine guns. Meanwhile many countries recognized them as safety devices. I've heard that the UK encourages shooters to use them.

I m a bit disappinted. I came to hear a welrod fire. This will mislead people.

and its mentioned in historical sources that silence, and the welrod was possible. (timeghost has a few good sources) this ignorant stuff annoys me because its playing and misleading. No one ever willingly used a welrod like in this vid.

@@carlchallinor4933 He was lucky to find someone with a working Welrod that could feel comfortable loaning it for use on the show. I think he is just trying show how well the gun still works even though the disks are worn out. It was working well to fire the modern amo without hearing protection. If he found one to purchase and rebuilt the disks to show how amazing it worked would have been incredible. The cost and finding anyone who wanted to part with one may have proved too much for his budget. I imagine to, the gun would have worked very well, under a cloak or trench coat to dispatch someone in the street as you walked by. Probably some elder gents would have a lot to tell us about it but unfortunately the internet is not easy accessible to very elderly people. Have a great weekend.

Very bloody quiet. Here's Tim from the Military Arms Channel test-firing a modern remake and an original Welrod, both with fresh wipes. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UOErri-3Z5E.html

i remember having to aim low left because the crosshair isn't aligned properly.

Me and a mate always used to have "Welrod Only" splitscreen matches. I seem to remember they got it wrong in the game though, making it a single shot, manually fed pistol, rather than magazine fed.

@@bluesrocker91 i forgot about that, but imfdb says you're right.

singapore sling

In fact, it doesn't :)

Probably, but you'd need to get the hardness right. If Matt manages to reproduce them adequately, we'll see if we can't repeat the exercise :)

@@BlokeontheRange That would be fantastic obviously empire sourced rubber was used back then...none of that synthetic crap. Send your minions fo Malaya to tap a tree 🤣

Neoprene works well.. allegedly! You need to be careful with the metal baffles when you replace them and use a spud to make sure they are lined up. You get a distinct phut-hiss from the first few shots which are by far the quietest!

@@BlokeontheRange If the wipes currently in the pistol are original to 1940something the rubber will have hardened, which I can only imagine would reduce the silencing effect which to my mind makes this even more impressive.

SO true. Suddenly men who had all the weapons they wanted were denied hem. That is politics for you. If you are US you are lucky to have the second amendment. In the UK this stuff is out of bounds now. Yellow livered politicians.

J.Yossarian i was checking the comments to see if anyone knew what it was called. I have a jacket with the same pattern. Good to finally know what it’s called!

@@konatychuk the Swiss were crazy about it.

can tell you for a fact that no they aren't

@@michaelwarnock3988 How about a cutaway? _Silent But Deadly: Welrod Mk IIA_ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d12AjvEsaHg.html

indeed what is this fact that you are so sure of lol

An armourer with an HBM.... Hereford bad moustache lol

You mean kind of like he specifically explains in the first minute of the video?

Welyeah

No shit. No one was sniping with it

no

Perhaps, but the juice probably isn't worth the squeeze. The first shot through a silencer is usually louder than the following ones. That's because there is oxygen inside the baffle stack for the first shot and the burning gases continue to burn in the silencer and the pressure is still a bit higher than normal when it leaves the last baffle of the silencer. After the first shot, the oxygen is depleted and the powder gases don't burn anymore after entering the baffle stack; they just expand and cool down as intended.

@@mannys9130 Not applicable to the Welrod.. first shot is always the quietest as the first bullet punches the holes in the rubber wipes. If you get combustion in one of these, you have some real ammunition issues. Don't compare these with HV rifle silencers which are operating under completely different conditions. Adding any gas to the expansion space will make absolutely no difference! I think the only way you could use gas to affect the sound would be to surround the silencer in a vacuum (or shoot in space!) .. or go down the Russian route and don't allow the gas out at all!

You might be think of the De Lisle Carbine. An integral suppressed rifle made for a similar purpose

@@derekduffner6048 yes I think i used to think their magazines were interchangeable.

A few Welrods were made in .45ACP for the OSS, but were never taken into full production. There is one in the Spy Museum in Washington DC

The ATF tax is small potatoes...if you could find one for sale in the US, it'd be probably $5k or so given the scarcity of it especially over here. So the $200 tax isn't even worth mentioning. It would be awesome to have though...it is a simple design though and blueprints are very easy to find.

FWIW, if you want a suppressor, and you're willing to settle for one that ISN'T a collectible iconic weapon from 75 years ago, then you can find 22lr suppressors for $200+tax, and 9mm suppressors for $350+tax. They're not cheap, but they are achievable.

@@cymond I bought one in February. I got a rifle suppressor mainly because I don't have any pistols with a threaded barrel and have several rifles with them. But I got it through Silencershop and they made everything very simple. I ordered it online, did all the paperwork online, they even have an app that you take a selfie for your "passport photo." The only thing I had to do at the store was my fingerprints on the kiosk. It was very convenient especially considering that the store is 45 mins from my house and there was no running back and forth. I got a YHM Nitro .30 with the tax stamp and trust for like $840. I hope to have it October-November as the average lead times for approval was 8-9 months when I got it...but some are up around 13-14 months.

Both types of ammo landed 15 of 16 shots within a torso sized target at 25 M, that is damned impressive for what it was designed for.

All 32 ACP is subsonic.

There's been enough info around the web for a while now that anyone with the right tools could build one themselves.

A lot went into Europe during WW2 for resistance groups although they were never handed out like Liberators or Sten guns. It would seem that most got swept up by the new governments after the war and were retained by their SF and similar agencies, however some have evaded captivity! The only film available of the Welrod on Utube for many years was from a Norwegian resistance group. Fewer sleeve guns/Welwands seem to have survived, although these are pure assassination weapons and would not normally have been used by even resistance forces. I am aware of a few of these in working condition, but only in closed collections. More of the Soviet assassination weapon inventory has come to light after the breakup simply because the KGB/GRU was such a huge organisation. A number of examples came into the west after the fall of the Soviet Union, presumably to line the pockets of ex KGB armourers. I suspect the FSB has regained control of the inventory(..and the armourers!)

Check your assumptions ;)

@@BlokeontheRange I did, moved to Texas, No idiots with knives stealing here.The youth is controlled. Yes if we have an issue we can shoot someone attacking us, our home, our car. Most of the gun violence is not white on white.

I mean you totaly could own one just need a 200$ tax stamp well for now anyway knock on wood

A bolt action is quieter than semi-auto, so hypothetically, a modern version like the VP-9 could be useful in some scenarios. But yeah, I agree with the rest. It's extremely unlikely anyone would ever encounter that niche use scenario.

@@cymondi 100% agree that this weapon is a great solution for making the quietest pistol they could conceive,while still ensuring deadly consequence for the target.and there is value to its novel design beyond hypothetical in not just reducing but just about eliminating an often forgotten aspect of a firearms sound signature.BUT, it would be an unnecessary logistical NIGHTMARE,a political/legal SHITSTORM, and most notably unnecessarily dangerous to equip these in the modern theater of deployment .my point is not that this isn't SUPER QUIET these were an awesome development for the 30's and40's and the design was used to put a rapid end to some fascist scumbags.the point is that with the improvements we've made to the tech of both our sidearm options, as well as a vastly more profound understanding of firearm report mitigation, the niche this weapon did fill is overshadowed by 60+ years of improvements.the risk that it would put an operative in just to use it is just not worth the decibels of a slide cycling. look at the h&k mk23 development .they dumped the "slide lock" function that was put it to "fix" the same problem.but ultimately the decided that a suppressed semi auto , action noise and all, is vastly superior to a fumbly repeating mechanism that was a bit quieter. my point is that while this weapons design is REALLY COOL, an was historically used by some really badass guys doing really badass things.There is just NO WAY, with what we have developed since, not just in sidearms and silencers but the advancements in what we do, how we do it and what we do it with; it would ever officially be deployed as a military tool used for even the most decibel sensitive mission. im sorry if it seems like im crapping on the gun. im really not.i actually would buy a vp9 if they would chamber it in .380 acp. or .45(i just dont have room for another 9, and those 2 rounds are MUCH BETTER suppressed). my real problem is the youtube channel proclaiming that they alone have solid info that british secret agents ordered 500 vp9's with no serial numbers for assassinations. and after being called out for spreading false, and misleading information with evidence provided, they responded with more ridiculous claims.the gn is cool enough, you don't need to lie about its provenance to justify buying it.

@@earlycuyler2295 Could you have produced a gun like that for a few shillings in WW2 to kill Nazis without endangering yourself? If so apply to the UK ministry of Defence please.

@@Finglesham so you COMPLETELY miss the point... And then liked your own comment? Why? Just to hammer home you are out of your depth? Its not even a strawman argument. Youre just rambling, showing how little you know about the issue, and letting eveyone know you didnt even READ the original comment, or replies. And im about 90% sure you dont even understand that we are not talking about the liberator pistols. The welrod was Anything but a cheap pistol, they were all essentially made to order and hand fit to their magazine by a gunsmith. Not to mention the MASSIVE challenges its very concept presented to the engineers that designed it . the welrod is more than likely up there with some of the MOST expensive guns developed during ww2 considering how few were made, and even fewer used. those that DID use it were putting themselves in severe danger. These were made to be used VERY close to the target, if not pushed up against them, in situations where there would most likely be enemy reinforcements well within earshot, possibly arms distance. There was NOTHING " safe" about being issued this pistol.

B&T makes a "Veterinary" pistol that is basically a modern version