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!?"
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.
@@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."
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!
@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
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! )
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.
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.
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.
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 .
@@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
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.
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!
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 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
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?
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Excellent presentation (surprised I hadn't seen this sooner). After reading some of the comments, I'm thinking that the company saying that the 10 round mag ''can't'' be disassembled is probably meant to imply that it SHOULDN'T be done because it could be illegal for civilians to increase its capacity. Manufacturers know that criminals are going to do whatever they want to do regardless of current restrictions, so it wouldn't matter how easy it might be to alter a magazine. I think increasing a magazine's capacity beyond legal civilian limits would be a risk that most law-abiding gun owners would not want to take.
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!?"
There's an old saying in engineering; It's easy to make something complex but it's hard to make something simple.
I don’t know any sayings but you are completely right.
What I still don't get is how it goes from single to doublestack.
@@shadowwolf2608 there’s a little plastic lip that forces them down from double to single stack. You can see it in the thumbnail
@@shadowwolf2608 Right here buddy 2:32
Me: *scrolling around*
TH-cam: "i bet you wanted to know how this worked"
Somehow i did and never knew
Sameeee
Its been years and i just knew how it works
I was talking about p90 mags 2 days ago and now this pops up in my feed. Wtf
Same
I've wanted to know ever since watching stargate
I understand how the universe works now.
Hes beginning to believe
I, too, understand the universe now
@Al Apone r/wooooosh
@nama anda r/woooosh
Did someone say Djent?
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 was also expecting something complex.
I had always loved this little, powerfull, simple genial rifle!
Probably the reason why it’s so reliable.
Parking garage ramp.
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.
I understand Belgium space magic now.
Have you heard of the h&k g11?
It was kraut space magic so powerful the Soviets ended the cold war before it could enter German military service
@@lincolndavis3472 what about the russian space magic which use pulleys
@@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.
They do make something better than waffles.
@@lordvader4089 chocolate
"Ten round mags cannot be disassembled" Lol
Shhhhh.
Am I missing something?
@@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."
Where can I buy that spring holder plate to convert it back to 50 rounds?
Breck Shortley pretty sure that’s the plate that came with the 10 round mag, he’s just saying it’s the same standard plate that comes on the 50
One of life's little mysteries explained, thanks for this.
The amount of work they had to put in the P90 to make it reliable must be insane
Yet its so simple. Direct blow-back, rollers its honestly really simple.
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!
A staff is a weapon of fear.
Looked for the first SG1 comment. Have a nice day ;)
That is just what I wanted to see.
Same haha
reload for a min, shoot for a sec
@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
@@skrrtycurty1606 not full auto in building
@@mark0183 "thats not full auto"
@@momoreview5555 "This Is"
BBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT
@@wallywest6099 dayyyyum bro!
Thank you. Ever since I've seen this weapon in action, that mag design have been driving me nuts. Great job, thank you.
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! )
I guess the guy really likes mre’s
Most of Steve1989's videos are about half as long, some 40 minutes, but I quite like them.
Think I’ve seen that video show up in my feed on occasion
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.
It's the difference between a necked and non necked cartrige, so long as a live round clears comfortably and a follower doesn't it's all good
@Louie Buoy Didn't really pay off, sales are very low and ammo is still extremely expensive after all this time. It was a design failure.
@@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.
I'm surprised that the US military never tried to adopt this design into service updated to 5.56 nato
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.
@@dragonsword7370 even if there were, it'll change into lower caliber, as alive but hurt people dont fight, while they take up space and resources.
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.
@@AngryGoose592 like reload time is a problem when a m249 takes like 1 minute to reload.
It has got to be the coolest mag in all of firearms history, and yes I'm including the Calico.
Excellent video, Doc. Gotta Love an imaginative design like that, especially when it works so reliably.
Thanks. Yes, complicated is easy. Simple is hard. I really enjoy when someone is able to engineer a simple, effective design.
Gun Sense (drmaudio) I’m trying to convert 5 -10 round magazines to 50. Where do I get that plate that holds the spring?
Always wondered. On another note. This was the most satisfying and relaxing video I've seen, nice soothing voice and guns.
I have been wonering about this since about season 5 of stargate SG1 and only finally looked it up now
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!
I don't even own a PS90 or 5.7 upper but knowledge is power! This answered all my curiosity for these innovative mags!
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.
Major respect for making this video. I’ve always wondered how these mags work!
What's really impressive is just how fast the PS90 fires with this type of magazine.
The full name is actually 'FN-Project90'
Germans make good shit
@@realdi-s-co3515 and we get petty if someone else does it better and veto
You'd think it would jam alot but no
@@Yokoto12343 the ps90 is the civilian version
Excellent video! The working of this mag has always bugged me. Not knowing how the bullets turn 90 degree is just maddening. Now I know thanks to you.
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 .
One of the clearest in-depth explanation so far. Amazing how surprisingly simple it is
Quite often simple is best. Have you ever hear of the KISS theory. Keep It Simple Stupid. Works more times that people realise.
@@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
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.
Yeah, I guess I'm showing my age there.
Thanks for the video, watching the sg1 show and the constant presence of p90s constantly bugged me just how these mags worked.
Brilliant
Nice engineering from FN. Pretty unique.
Thanks for the explanation. 👍
That's amazing, the working of these modern weapons and materials...way more advanced than I could have imagined... Humbling for sure...
My mind is blown how simplistic the pieces of the magazine are to make the bullets turn. Thought it was some sort of weird spring thing tbh lmao.
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!
Spend a couple hundred more and get the PS90
FN board members: So HOW does this work?
Stéphane Ferrard
and René Predazzer= HAHA! We have NO idea!
It just works.
I wasn't curious, but I'm glad that I watched it. Thank you.
this makes sense, i always though that was how it worked. it just seemed logical. it is still cool to see broken down like that tho.
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 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
Why am I only seeing this 4+ years after it was posted :) Nice explanation/demonstration.
Thanks for video mate! Great to see I'm not the only one that was wondering about this.
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.
One of those little things I always wondered but never googled. Thanks for this!
I showed my dad this gun and said it was fake look at the mag so I’m going to show him this to see what he says
What did he say
@Not Suspicious Human him or his dad?
@Not Suspicious Human oh, i was just memeing, but neato that you actually replied.
who doesnt know of a p90
@Not Suspicious Human yeah pretty much.
The quiet kid when you ask what kind of Play Station he has at home
The ps 90 in ball ammunition
The Bob Ross of magazines 👍
Good presentation. No superfluous chatter. Concise explanation.
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?
This was very fascinating. That's a very cool system. I always wondered how it worked and I would have never pictured that.
Great video, always wondered about the inner magic that goes on in these mags
The best description on these
I always wondered how these worked. Didn't realize the magazine contains dummy rounds.
Very nice explanation, this is the third video I've watched, only now do I understand how it works.
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!
It's pretty interesting how the same people that made the best waffles also figured out how to feed the mag over the top without obstructing the view.
I love this magazine design.
thanks for providing me an answer to one of my life's questions.
This video solved one of my biggest childhood questions.
Good job on explaining the mechanics of this magazine
This was actually a really cool video. Thanks.
I love the deceptively simple design of this magazine. It's effective and reasonable to mass produce
I recently bought a PS90 and was surprised that I could find 50 round mags for cheaper than a box of ammo.
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.
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?
You know if you tried disassembling under that much spring tension it would be an explosion of springs and parts but yeah you could do that I suppose
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.
Technically you can do that with any magazine.
@@bandit012339 0
What a great design. And nice explanation as well. Thanks.
Thank you for making this I was really dumbfounded when I saw this
I’ve been wondering how those mags worked for the longest time, thank you
What a beautiful piece of engineering.
I always wondered how bullets got turned around in p90 thanks
I've always found these compact magazines to be fascinating
Very well explained and in just the right pace! Superb! Couldn't possibly ask for more really.. Instant sub!
Best sub-machine gun of the 21th century, period.
Nice video, btw 👍
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
Great video! I wanted to get my hands on one to see this. I appreciate you explaining it.
I loved this gun from the first time I saw it on Stargate SG1! 😂
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.
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.
I have always wondered about this!
This is fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
Fascinating and well shot and explained. Many Thanks!
Amazing piece of engineering FN designs have always been good
Jesus this is so fuckin simple and GENIUS 😂😂😂😂 Engineers are the real gods of this world...
That is both and genius and incredibly simple.
Great explanation and visuals. Thank you for posting.
I have been wondering about this since the first season of Stargate SG-1!
Beautiful design, great video.
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
The P90 may be my favorite weapon of all time
I understand the final of Neon Genesis Evangelion now
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.
Fabulous video. I’ve always been interested.
Thanks for solving this mistery
I have always wondered thank you for this!
Very interesting I had always wondered about this myself thank you
Maybe that's why it's called "P90"
Because it feeds cartriges at 90 degrees
P90 stands for "Project 90", 90 being 1990, the year this gun was introduced.
@@pinetree8088 It was a joke bro
@@randomargument972 oh ok lmao sorry
Very good explanation.
This is next level engineering
Excellent presentation (surprised I hadn't seen this sooner). After reading some of the comments, I'm thinking that the company saying that the 10 round mag ''can't'' be disassembled is probably meant to imply that it SHOULDN'T be done because it could be illegal for civilians to increase its capacity. Manufacturers know that criminals are going to do whatever they want to do regardless of current restrictions, so it wouldn't matter how easy it might be to alter a magazine. I think increasing a magazine's capacity beyond legal civilian limits would be a risk that most law-abiding gun owners would not want to take.
That magazine is marvelous, cant belive anyone would bother with helical or drum after seeing this
Your content is useful, I would learn a lot from you.
I'm currently designing a sci-fi weapon for a mech and I might use this concept for the magazine because of how suprisingly sinple the mechanism is.
I've been curious how they work, but I've just explained it to myself as "Pure Belgian sorcery"
I'm glad my question have been answered professionaly after mw1 days