50 rounds, and all of them sideways. I always wondered how this unique magazine worked. This is for the two or three other people that get curios about such things. As it turns out, it is simple, clever, and reliable.
This is my favorite type of engineering: the kind that seems incredibly complex, but when broken down it seems so simple it makes you say "why didn't I think of that!?"
@@lincolndavis3472 lol too much fanboyism for German arms. The caseless ammo of that is susceptible to moisture. its like one step to the space age and two steps back to gunpowder musketry.
@@zanpekosak2383 He disassembles the 10 round magazine (required by law in some states) and converts it to 50 rounds in about 45 seconds ... While FN claims the magazine "cannot be disassembled."
I had no idea the rotating mechanism was that simple, I thought there were mechanical parts which turned the bullets with springs and stuff, not just two round ramps Great video!
I've always wondered why they don't build similar weapons for other cartridges, but I suppose what makes it so reliable is always using their special 5.7mm round.
Every since I first saw this weapon in one of my favorite Sci Fi franchises (Stargate SG-1) I have been fascinated by it's design. Thanks for the awesome video!
The 5.56 NATO round would need to be modified for this style of magazine to work for it. There's a taper in the casing that helps with feeding the rounds into the bore, but that means when you stack the rounds into a magazine, they'll naturally form a curve. Hence the curved 30 round magazines, or the sloped bottom of the 20 round mags. you couldn't get away with that in a straight walled box magazine. It'd be tough to get to work with a standard pistol cartridge too, since the casings aren't necked. The difference in diameter between the neck and the body of the casing is part of what allows the free floating rollers to push the rounds through the helical ramp, without slipping out of the opening. Personally, I'd love to see a something like a necked 9mm cartridge for some sort of PCC, but the cost of the ammo might be roughly the cost of the 5.7X28, so it may not be worth it. But having a non NFA 9mm PCC at minimum length (16 inch barrel, overall length of no less than 26 inches) would be pretty cool as a truck gun, add in a folding stock and barrel, and you could have a pretty good SHTF backpack rifle.
The US military may adopt the firearms by FN but at this rate we'll never be switching away from the stoner/colt m16 platform. Unless there is a world War that creates that kind of sufficient need to force change.
This wouldn't be able to work for any rifle round. Imagine a 5.56 sitting sideways how wide the firearm would have to be where the mag goes. Just doesn't make sense ergonomically. Also reloads wouldn't be as easy. Current me platform you push a button with shooting hand, maybe give the rifle a shake and you're already grabbing your other mag while that one falls getting ready to put it in. I'm not familiar with p90 reloads but I'm pretty sure you have to remove the mag manually with your off hand which slows down reload time.
@ben dover no? Its a cqb submachine gun. Accuracy is not the priority its getting as many rounds on target as fast as possible. I'd much rather have full auto in a building than semi
The engineering tolerances in that helical turn are fantastic. I imagine during the P90s development that this was a make or break piece of the quote compact puzzle.
@@Turgz civilian sales, which wasn't the purpose of the firearm nor the ammunition. 5.7 has apparently been getting cheaper, haven't seen any examples of that tho.
One of the best video's I've seen, I especially appreciate that it is only 7 minutes. ( I tried watching a video about a MRE , the guy couldn't stop talking, it was close to 40 minutes long! )
you certainly werent the only one curious about it. im glad this vid popped in my recommendeds....i was always curious but it was just one of those things that you never really get around to it lol great video. ty cheersº!
Well now this is cool. I've always thought there was a mechanical contraption that rotated after each shot to grab a new shell, but the answer is a lot simpler and more elegant than that. Very well produced video, everything was presented in a very instructive way, very concise and to the point, I like it.
I'm considering purchasing a Kel-Tec P50 which uses the same magazine as the P90 and PS90 who's function you've explained in this video. I'm usually a "complicated equals I can't fix it in the field" kind of guy but seeing how simple the actual function of these "magic-zines" is and knowing how generally reliable other platforms that use them are makes me feel more at ease about my potential purchase. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCISE EXPLANATION!
Hahaha. That’s funny saying “speed up the tape”. I do that too yet I haven’t used tape for over twenty years. Good video. It shows exactly how the mags work. I never really thought about it but that last few round compression is very important. The engineers that came up with this are far cleverer than I. Thanks for showing us.
It's amazing that the P90 has such a high rate of fire yet has to rotate each round by 90 degrees quickly enough to achieve such a rate. You'd think engineers would avoid such an obstacle but they were able to overcome it nonetheless to achieve a high capacity as well. Awesome.
This is so weird... ...But it also is so incredibly intriguing and undescribable in so many different ways. This Design is just totally surreal in a Genius, but simple way. It really makes me wonder, what exactly gave this particular Idea to the Person who Invented it?
@@robertwillis4061 indeed, but I thought the simplest way to turn the cartridge 90 degrees twice in 2 different axes would require at least an additional moving part
That's pretty incredible. It's even more interesting that these magazines are as reliable as they are. I've heard that they, surprisingly, exhibit very few feeding malfunctions. Cool stuff. Great video.
Thank you I have been curious for years . My gun shop never had one to look at unless I bought one , could not see the cost just for my knowledge . Thanks again for sharing .
would it be easier just to disassemble the magazine each time and just dump all 50 rounds in the rear and re assemble it? vs pushing each round individually?
bandit012339 not necessarily. He disassembles a 10 round mag right there in this video and the spring comes out without fuss. He converts it to a 50, so you’d assume the spring is the same or similarly capable.
It's possible that you could cause a malfunction unless you get those first few rounds just right. Like he did with the rollers during reassembly. I assume that the weight of subsequent rounds can push them into position but it might get a little finicky. Also putting the spring back in when the mag is full is going to be a lot harder.
Thank you for this *excellent* video breakdown of how these magazines work. I've wondered for quite some time, and now I feel like I understand. Wonderful! :D
Fascinating, I’ve unloaded thousands of 50 round mags without even realizing how it works and how each round can come out so quickly. On CSGO of course, I’ve got over 4000 kills on my stat-track p90
H, GS. Your video was very well don't and quite interesting. The P90 series is one of my favorite designs, and the magazine has always puzzled me. Very clever design. I like the P90 even more. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!
Wouldn’t be less exited if somebody finally explained me how cold fusion works. I also was allways wondering how that magazine works. Thx a lot for the good explanation.
lol, I clicked this all like WTF why am I getting this in my feed. at the end of the video feeling amazed at the conversion of the 10 rounds and the mechanics of the mag.
Thanks ! My only watching of a P90 was in the tv serieis Stargate SG1 but I wondered how they work, you have answered that perfectly. I have limited hands on experience w firearms but I'm a decent shot when I have hands on. 10 points on a good vid.
that was a really fun video. i understood how if you had a bunch of bullets in the magazines, the springs would push the bullets, and then the bullets can push the other bullets up the ramp, but i didn't understand how it would work when you only had a few bullets left, then right as i was wondering that you showed the answer: They basically just put 2 bonus bullets in there! but they can't be fired or anything, they are just there to push the other bullets
@@Shadow_Hawk_Streaming it's actually the same spring in both versions. So yes, it would. It's not extending further, it's just compressing more! Therefore there's enough force either way
I always thought this magazine design would be super effective for 12gauge shells. turns our they made a prototype pump gun...for a 12 gauge magazine like this, held the oodles of shells like I thought it would, I have no clue why it was never done.. must have been a reason, but look up P-12 by monolith arms if you are bored. Such a nice mag design... consistent round presentation for feed reliably etc etc. I would have wanted semi auto though.