Apologies - I was too interested in Ian's Czechoslovak border story to spot the obvious problem - vz58, not AK! I guess we can excuse it as being the same round from (almost) the same barrel length...
@@afalconnamedbob4805 I see. It's quite telling that they layed off the only guy who could bring them large amounts of clicks. I'm sure IGN would be thankful for clearing the niche for them.
@@afalconnamedbob4805 I see, thank you. It's telling that they layed off the only guy who could bring them large amounts of clicks on a regular basis. And I'm sure IGN would be thankful for clearing the niche of any competition.
@IrregularDave May I just say, you did a magnificent job with Jonathon. Few people have the capability to execute what you did with him, and fewer still, the ability to do so for a lengthy period. Wishing you the best.
@@triumphstagdriver not necessarily. duration is rather for specific amount of time. continuous doesn't specify the duration. so it is the more fitting term.
Many thanks to Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history.
For those of you that haven't heard yet: There will no longer be a "Firearms expert reacts" series on gamespot. Dave's position has been made redundant and they've gotten rid of the show. I know there are people here who are fans of both who may not have seen yet. Rest in peace to one of the best shows on the internet and previous highlight of my weeks. Love you Jonathan and Dave, hope you two can collab at some point in the future
I've heard people say that it was the only thing that made Gamespot relevant in their eyes, and I would personally agree with such a statement. It's incredible that their management didn't see where the wind was blowing all these years.
After he mentioned the use of ∞ for FA, I realized the sheer variety of selector markings out there would be an interesting video topic at some point. You've got the four letter words, you've got local versions of those words, you've got abbreviations of any of those words, you've got differences between American English and British English, you've got numbers, you've got H&K pictograms, and a bunch of other formats.
One of my favorites is Canadian markings being legible in English and French. So a C2 FAL is marked S, R & Auto, being abbreviated from Safe in English or Sûr in French, Repetition/Répétition instead of Semi & Automatic/Automatique for full.
Man, this was an absolute treat! would love for more videos of this type with people like Ian who can bring up historical stories relevant to the hardware you are showcasing.
I hate to be that guy, but I'm sure Jonathan is very familiar with the situation at Gamespot right now. Some people have mentioned over there that Jonathan and Dave should do their own thing on TH-cam. Wishing all the best for Jonathan and the Armouries, as well as much luck for Dave. Love from Canada ❤
Also from Canada, the experts reacts are the only videos I watch on gamespot, I really hope Jonathan and Dave somehow work together in some way. It’s really cool to see what your games get right and wrong from an expert
Speaking of AKs , G3s, and AK vs AKs, during 1971 India-Pakistan war, Pak army had POF G3P3 rifles as their primary weapon, and Type 56 as the weapon of the Section commander. Indian regular forces were armed with 1A1 SLRs, but many special forces were armed with Type-III AKs and AKMs. So that is an war where AKs faced AKs. USSR supplied a lot of AKs to Mukti-bahini i.e Bangladeshi Freedom Fighters.
The earliest example of two entirely Warsaw Pact Equipped Nations going at it would be the border skirmishes between Vietnam and China in 1979. Both sides rocking a large number of Type 56 AKs and Type 56 SKS Rifles.
@@zoiders Fun thing is China really didn't use much AKs by that time, arming most of the troops with SKS rifles. They quickly realized their mistake when Vietnamese reserve forces, armed mainly with AKMs and M16A1s absolutely mowed the PLA down.
@@dragonstormdipro1013If you read my post correctly you will see my reference to the Type 56 which is their AK produced on Russian supplied machine tools and the Type 56 Rifle which is the Chinese SKS. The Chinese refer to both as the "Type 56". China used a lot of Type 56 AKs. They did experience push back from the PLA in favour of the Type 56 SKS but on the whole they still used an awful lot of Type 56 AKs. The Vietnamese were almost entirely armed with Chinese produced Type 56 AKs. Not Russian AKMs.
Love the idea of bringing in people that study the history side of things when a particular weapon was made/popular! Different perspectives on things is always fascinating to me.
German guy here: "Maschinenpistole Kalaschnikov" - spot on. Dauerfeuer translates to permanent fire. Double fire would be Doppelfeuer - it obviously isn't. Greetings from Germany!!
Could I bother you with a question? Could you tell me how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not Maschinenkarabiner?
@@F1ghteR41 I think that's more due to their doctrine than for technical reasons. They used the Soviet system - wereby infantry uses a mix of bolt-action rifles and sub-machine guns/machine pistols. They planned to continue that system (as briefly mentioned) with the AK as submachine gun and the SKS as semi-auto rifle - but came to the conclusion the SKS wasn't worth the effort. Btw: The term "Maschinenkarabiner" was created by SIG in 1935 - for a weapon that was, technically - a sub-machine gun. At the end of the day - you can call any weapon anything you like. That's why there's no definitive clear separation - and a lot of overlap. The same goes for frigates and corvettes, btw.
Fascinating episode. I recall the East German border guard or soldier being photographed jumping the concertina wire with his weapon slung on his back. I believe he was issued a PPSh 41, however. A fascinating AK v AK encounter was the Chinese invasion of Vietnam. More accurately perhaps it was characterized as AK v SKS as the PLA’s main infantry weapon was the SKS at the time.
@17:42 I'm pretty sure there are more than just three countries currently with weapons on them: Barbados: trident Bolivia: crossed cannons(barrels only), muskets with bayonets, and an axe Ecuador: axe wrapped by a fasces Eswatini: Nguni shield and two spears Guatemala: crossed rifles and bayonets and crossed sabers Haiti: cannons, muskets with bayonets, and axes Kenya: Massai shield and crossed spears Moldova: flanged mace Mozambique: AK with bayonet Oman: crossed swords and jambiya dagger Saudi Arabia: sword Sri Lanka: kastane (sword)
Hoping there’s a future edition where Jonathan fires an M16, an AK47, a G3 and an SLR at the range so those of us who live in countries where these weapons are illegal can compare the sounds and hear Jonathan’s evaluation of the different weapons can be watched. Love the videos keep them coming 👍 🇬🇧✌️🇺🇸
it is pretty joyfull and nice to see someone that knows a little bit of history of Chile, evenmore when this comes to a person from outside of here 🇨🇱 (accurate btw)
For a non German speaker, your pronunciation of the word Maschinenpistole ,was absolutely great ! Way better then 98% of german speakers in Shows and Movies.
Great movie reference to Heartbreak Ridge... it was right to the top of my head as I watched it again, after decades, just last weekend.
29 วันที่ผ่านมา +1
07:51 German here. D for "Dauerfeuer" actually means something more like "Continous Fire", so full auto and not double shot. But the pronunication auf Dauerfeuer was good :)
Very much love this series. So interesting to hear stories around the guns and the history surrounding them. You promised us the links to those fascinating episodes! The late east german AK could've been such a movie bad guy weapon. Like in Die Hard the baddies could've really had that gun.
@Royal Armouries can you do a video on the patina and damage on guns? Do you have any guns that have damage or marks from being in conflict and have battle damage? Or some other interesting markings or weathering from an interesting history of the weapon?
Once again, I take a break for your channel, Mr. Ferguson, and I come back and you have not only really interestiung stuff to talk about but you show me another rabbit hoile to dive down. Thanks, BTW.
G3 - an absolute beast. Freaking love it. Just take good care of your mags, avoid alu-mags since theyre easy to warp and that will cause it to fail cycles
Here in Portugal you don't have access to weapons like that unless your in the military or the police... I can still recognize the cocking sound of the G-3 from 30+ years ago when i served in the FAP. I think in that context whatever weapon it is that sound alone will stop anyone in they'r tracks instantly! Thx!
Contrary to popular believe, you wouldn't find many G3's on the other sids of the Wall. As the wall was arround West Berlin and the Bundeswehr wasnt allowed in West Berlin, only french, british and american forces, their probably were a whole lot more M16's behind the Wall.
Hi Johnathan - this is Lin. Interesting episode. I was on the wrong side of an AK once (likely a T56-1 AK). A soldier fired at me from about 50 yards but missed. Sound is different when heard from the other side of the muzzle.
25:26min As an infromation from a german here. You showed the infinite symbol and thats how we call the firing mod „automatic“. Because you thought at 07:39min the „D“ firing mod translates to „double fire“, it stands for „dauerfeuer“ as you correctly said, but which translate to „duration fire/infinite fire“, not „double fire“. Thats why we used the infite symbol here i guess :) nice video
Can I bother you with a question? Could you enlighten me as to how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not a Maschinenkarabiner?
@ Sure. Im not an expert on that topic but i think because of the cartridge 7,62x39 which was an intermediate cartridge and was way smaller than the 8mm Mauser (7,92x57IS) which was used as standard in WW2. Also the First Assault rifle, the STG44 which was later re named as MP44 during the WW2, used a similar cartridge (7,92x33 Kurz) and people i think were used to see such a ammo as MP ammo ( 7,62x39 and 7,92x33). But thats just my guess.
@@Enigma1612 It just seems strange that MP.43's predecessors were called Maschinenkarabiner, and so were all the previous designs chambered in experimetal intermediate cartridges, yet the term completely disappears after the war, even in East Germany, where one could make an argument that it better reflects the Soviet terminology.
As for the statement from 3:44 - in fact not all of them end up with AK. There's Czechoslovak vz. 58 which only shares a cardridge compatibility with it, but is completely different from technical point of view. I know it is an "ackchyually" moment, but I think this channel calls for such a clarification :)
@@RoyalArmouriesMuseum Come to think of it I know too little to completely reject the possibility that Czechoslovakia used any AKs even though they had their 52s, 57s and 58s so I might have made a fool of myself after all :P
I carried the AK4 for quite some time in service (that's the Swedish version of the G3) and I have to say that the reliability and accuracy of that weapon is REALLY good. I don't know how many thousands of rounds we each put through them without any problems. It should be noted that our ammunition is of extraordinarily high quality so it's pretty much just up to the weapon. If I had to go back to war and could choose my weapons I'd carry the AK4 and have the P226 as my sidearm. Hands down. I'd pick the AK5 (Swedish version of FN FNC) as a close second and the AK 47 wouldn't be in the running at all. Not a bad gun for what it is but accuracy is abysmal and so is reliability (in my experience compared to the AK4 and AK5 (and why not throw in the K-Pist as well which we all know is just foolproof), of course). It should be noted that I'm quite tall (7'1) so the size of the AK4 may not bother me as much as it might others.
During the Mozambiquan colonial war the Portuguese used the G3, it lasted from 64 to 74, when the carnation revolution the Portuguese government to recognize the Mozambique people's right to independence, the civil war began in 77 up until 92.
Well in fact that were just so many in east German arsenals that they simply took what was a available for free back then. When I went through the firearms instructor course, we had early test rifles (later G36) for trials that took the NVA bayonets. And yes, we tested the bayonets as well. But as far as I know that option was dropped later(?).
Joe Bugner the boxer described his nightime departure from Hungary about 1956. He recalled the night being lit by fireflies as they crossed the countryside to the West.
Guy escaping Czechoslovakia COULD NOT have heard any AK fire, because, you know, Czechs were about the only WP nation that made their own, non-AK assault rifle, the Vz.58 ;)
The problem with the G3 was the cartridge it uses. 7.62 x 51mm is a battle rifle cartridge slightly trimmed down from the 30-06 WW2 cartridge. NATO and the USA should have the intermediate cartridge similar to the German MP44 7.92 x 33mm round or the British .280 round. The US Ordnance Dept forced NATO to adopt an outdated, overpowered, unnecessary cartridge. I have a HK91, semi auto version of the G3 and it's a good rifle, reliable, fun to shoot but it's overpowered for the post WW2 battlefield. The Spanish CETME with their intermediate cartridge was a much better rifle. It took too long for the Americans to figure it all out.
Century Arms or another importer nrought in a copy of the Weger stf rifle last mentioned called the STG-2000 i think was about 20 yrs ago maybe less. brought in 556 and 7.62c39. think got mixed reviews but stoll caught my interest still.
The East Germans were also known to be the first to implement polymers onto their AK’s, namely that pebble grain polymer stock, so that can also be an indicator.
Didn't Hungarians get there first with their AMD-65? And let's not forget the Soviets themselves, who experimented with polymer furniture and receiver cover already in the early '60s.
d for dauerfeuer means more like continuous firing i would say, if you translate only the words it would be like duration fire. i think the western counterpart of the gdr gucci ak ist either the sig550 and the galil from israel i think
In North East India Burmese copy of G3 and M-16 and their copy(chinese CQ) along with chinese Type 56 and 81 armed rebels regularly faced Indian soldiers armed with Bulgarian made AKMs, SLR(indian FN FAL)
Maybe not surprising, that East German 5.56mm AK, reading Katja Hoyer’s excellent account of the GDR in all its forms, ‘Beyond The Wall’, from the 70’s onwards a surprising amount of trade was done particularly with West Germany. Not that it could save them. Neither did the generous terms loan in the early 80’s arranged by the unlikely figure of Franz Josef Strauss.
Could I bother you with a question? Could you enlighten me as to how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not a Maschinenkarabiner?
@@F1ghteR41 Well the story I've heard was that East Germany wanted to obfuscate the fact that they even have an assault rifle like that and once the west Germans figured it out they at least shouldn't be able to tell actual SMGs from the number of Assault rifles. No idea if that's true though
Hopefully they won't be looked at in complete vacuum, but rather with their doctrine in mind(AK and RPD/RPK vs G3 and MG3). It's interesting to look at most famous assault rifle and battle rifle side by side when US army tries to force some battle rifle in .277 Fury into service by misnaming it as assault rifle 😅
Regarding AK reliability: in arctic conditions the legend for reliability is absolutely true.. anywhere else it's just a urban legend. I have shot 10s of thousands 7,62 rounds and to keep AK reliable you have to cover ejection port with one hand and even then sand, mud or gravel can sneak its way into action and jam the gun. And when AK jams it really jams and trying to clear it like AR will just jam it up even harder. With AR15 you just trust the dust cover and 99% of the time the gun will just work even in the most adverse conditions
Up to the advent of the AK, the most reliable rifle available to almost any organised bunch of disgruntled half assed neo anarchist or communist resistance fighters / poppy farmers / Afghan war lord etc. was the .303 lee enfield. The British empire scattered millions of them around the globe and I expect enough brass to Keep them going in reloads and fresh ammo. That the AK took over from a bolt action rifle that my father used in ww2 and his father in ww1 and my wife's father in Kenya in the 1950’s and well you get the picture - 60 years on the AK is still the weapon of choice and availability for most of the world. Has to be a reason. Perhaps it is just how many millions of them were made. Anything stops working if you abuse it enough.
Just started listening to the podcast... I think hundreds of hours of Cold War talk and me might be a poor combo when my friends' well-being is being considered
Yes ...more Ian. These two episodes were super interesting, and there is a lot of other ground to cover. Not to mention that Ian and Jonnathan rif very well together. Thank you both.
Very interesting and great to see informative videos along with Forgotten Weapons about firearms, as apposed to videos by presenters that think they are comedians and just want to shoot pumpkins
Apologies - I was too interested in Ian's Czechoslovak border story to spot the obvious problem - vz58, not AK! I guess we can excuse it as being the same round from (almost) the same barrel length...
Will you be doing expert reacts here since its been cancelled on gamspot?
@@darksars3622 Honest answer - we don't know - yet. But there will be gaming content from me one way or another.
@@darksars3622 i didnt even know this was happening, wow i just went down a rabbithole. and not the kind that gets you to Oz
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries👀👀👀
@@IrregularDave Gamespot did you dirty man.
They'll regret it.
gamespot made a grave mistake giving you guys the boot but at least now we'll all be here!
How did that happen?
@@F1ghteR41according to another comment, a round of lay offs
@@afalconnamedbob4805 I see. It's quite telling that they layed off the only guy who could bring them large amounts of clicks. I'm sure IGN would be thankful for clearing the niche for them.
@@afalconnamedbob4805 I see, thank you. It's telling that they layed off the only guy who could bring them large amounts of clicks on a regular basis. And I'm sure IGN would be thankful for clearing the niche of any competition.
Great work chaps! Always love seeing the OG type 1
@@IrregularDave Thanks Dave!
Sad no more firearms vid at Gamespot...
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries Good to hear, sad no more GameSpot vid about firearms in games...
@IrregularDave May I just say, you did a magnificent job with Jonathon. Few people have the capability to execute what you did with him, and fewer still, the ability to do so for a lengthy period. Wishing you the best.
vve love you and your vvork dave
Dauerfeuer = literally continuous fire
Einzelfeuer = single fire
Possibly a more literal translation is Dauerfeuer = duration fire.
Sustained fire?
@@triumphstagdriver not necessarily. duration is rather for specific amount of time. continuous doesn't specify the duration. so it is the more fitting term.
Funny on „my“ G3 was S, E and F imprinted! F for Feuerstoß! S for Sicher (safety on)
@s.h.6959 S E F markings were used later.
Many thanks to Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history.
For those of you that haven't heard yet: There will no longer be a "Firearms expert reacts" series on gamespot. Dave's position has been made redundant and they've gotten rid of the show. I know there are people here who are fans of both who may not have seen yet. Rest in peace to one of the best shows on the internet and previous highlight of my weeks. Love you Jonathan and Dave, hope you two can collab at some point in the future
I've heard people say that it was the only thing that made Gamespot relevant in their eyes, and I would personally agree with such a statement. It's incredible that their management didn't see where the wind was blowing all these years.
Where’s this from? Not doubting just interested
Guys… it’s GameSPOT not GameSTOP.
Also, the one who got fired is Dave Klein, not Dave Jewitt in the Loadout videos.
@@armkrokno dave jewitt is no there anymore. He got fired
After he mentioned the use of ∞ for FA, I realized the sheer variety of selector markings out there would be an interesting video topic at some point. You've got the four letter words, you've got local versions of those words, you've got abbreviations of any of those words, you've got differences between American English and British English, you've got numbers, you've got H&K pictograms, and a bunch of other formats.
One of my favorites is Canadian markings being legible in English and French. So a C2 FAL is marked S, R & Auto, being abbreviated from Safe in English or Sûr in French, Repetition/Répétition instead of Semi & Automatic/Automatique for full.
9:39 I love Jonathan's concerned fatherly glance at his AK and then the nod of approval when Ian cocked it properly
the bit where sanders cocked the weapon really stole the show, truly great to see i like the atmosphere
I'm always so stoked for these! Thanks for everything you do Mr. Ferguson
Man, this was an absolute treat! would love for more videos of this type with people like Ian who can bring up historical stories relevant to the hardware you are showcasing.
I hate to be that guy, but I'm sure Jonathan is very familiar with the situation at Gamespot right now. Some people have mentioned over there that Jonathan and Dave should do their own thing on TH-cam. Wishing all the best for Jonathan and the Armouries, as well as much luck for Dave.
Love from Canada ❤
I really hope they do! Absolutely insane decision.
Also from Canada, the experts reacts are the only videos I watch on gamespot, I really hope Jonathan and Dave somehow work together in some way. It’s really cool to see what your games get right and wrong from an expert
Speaking of AKs , G3s, and AK vs AKs, during 1971 India-Pakistan war, Pak army had POF G3P3 rifles as their primary weapon, and Type 56 as the weapon of the Section commander. Indian regular forces were armed with 1A1 SLRs, but many special forces were armed with Type-III AKs and AKMs. So that is an war where AKs faced AKs. USSR supplied a lot of AKs to Mukti-bahini i.e Bangladeshi Freedom Fighters.
The Iran Iraq war as well
The earliest example of two entirely Warsaw Pact Equipped Nations going at it would be the border skirmishes between Vietnam and China in 1979. Both sides rocking a large number of Type 56 AKs and Type 56 SKS Rifles.
@@zoiders Fun thing is China really didn't use much AKs by that time, arming most of the troops with SKS rifles. They quickly realized their mistake when Vietnamese reserve forces, armed mainly with AKMs and M16A1s absolutely mowed the PLA down.
@@dragonstormdipro1013If you read my post correctly you will see my reference to the Type 56 which is their AK produced on Russian supplied machine tools and the Type 56 Rifle which is the Chinese SKS. The Chinese refer to both as the "Type 56". China used a lot of Type 56 AKs. They did experience push back from the PLA in favour of the Type 56 SKS but on the whole they still used an awful lot of Type 56 AKs. The Vietnamese were almost entirely armed with Chinese produced Type 56 AKs. Not Russian AKMs.
Love the idea of bringing in people that study the history side of things when a particular weapon was made/popular! Different perspectives on things is always fascinating to me.
German guy here: "Maschinenpistole Kalaschnikov" - spot on.
Dauerfeuer translates to permanent fire. Double fire would be Doppelfeuer - it obviously isn't.
Greetings from Germany!!
Thank you - I simplified that translation too much there. "Continuous fire" is how I've translated it in the past.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries "Continous fire" is even more accurate.
Could I bother you with a question? Could you tell me how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not Maschinenkarabiner?
@@F1ghteR41 I think that's more due to their doctrine than for technical reasons.
They used the Soviet system - wereby infantry uses a mix of bolt-action rifles and sub-machine guns/machine pistols.
They planned to continue that system (as briefly mentioned) with the AK as submachine gun and the SKS as semi-auto rifle - but came to the conclusion the SKS wasn't worth the effort.
Btw: The term "Maschinenkarabiner" was created by SIG in 1935 - for a weapon that was, technically - a sub-machine gun.
At the end of the day - you can call any weapon anything you like. That's why there's no definitive clear separation - and a lot of overlap.
The same goes for frigates and corvettes, btw.
@@stanislavczebinski994 This, absolutely - well put.
Fascinating episode. I recall the East German border guard or soldier being photographed jumping the concertina wire with his weapon slung on his back. I believe he was issued a PPSh 41, however. A fascinating AK v AK encounter was the Chinese invasion of Vietnam. More accurately perhaps it was characterized as AK v SKS as the PLA’s main infantry weapon was the SKS at the time.
@17:42 I'm pretty sure there are more than just three countries currently with weapons on them:
Barbados: trident
Bolivia: crossed cannons(barrels only), muskets with bayonets, and an axe
Ecuador: axe wrapped by a fasces
Eswatini: Nguni shield and two spears
Guatemala: crossed rifles and bayonets and crossed sabers
Haiti: cannons, muskets with bayonets, and axes
Kenya: Massai shield and crossed spears
Moldova: flanged mace
Mozambique: AK with bayonet
Oman: crossed swords and jambiya dagger
Saudi Arabia: sword
Sri Lanka: kastane (sword)
not sure if that are all flags, as Jonathan mentioned, or Coat of Arms of those countries. Those might be different from eachother.
@@kommissarkillemall2848 In the ones I mentioned the coat of arms is on the national flag, therefore it would be part of the flag.
Einzelfeuer - Single fire
Dauerfeuer - Continuous fire
And your pronunciation is completely fine :)
It's always fascinating to see how the AK-47 stood the test of time, especially considering its simplicity and reliability.
Hoping there’s a future edition where Jonathan fires an M16, an AK47, a G3 and an SLR at the range so those of us who live in countries where these weapons are illegal can compare the sounds and hear Jonathan’s evaluation of the different weapons can be watched.
Love the videos keep them coming 👍
🇬🇧✌️🇺🇸
it is pretty joyfull and nice to see someone that knows a little bit of history of Chile, evenmore when this comes to a person from outside of here 🇨🇱 (accurate btw)
I really enjoy these historical collaborations. It gives more perspective into how these individual weapons have come into fruition
For a non German speaker, your pronunciation of the word Maschinenpistole ,was absolutely great ! Way better then 98% of german speakers in Shows and Movies.
This 2 part series of the g3 vs Ak for the Cold War era is one best series for the channel, thank you Johnathan and Ian
Great movie reference to Heartbreak Ridge... it was right to the top of my head as I watched it again, after decades, just last weekend.
07:51 German here. D for "Dauerfeuer" actually means something more like "Continous Fire", so full auto and not double shot. But the pronunication auf Dauerfeuer was good :)
I note your precautionary pull pack at 9:40 when they bayonet was getting a bit close to your nose.
Cheeky 'Kraut Space Magic' @ 27:00 🤣
You boys are doing a great job. A pleasure to listen to as always.
As soon as you said "I have one more AK" I was so so so much hoping for the Wieger - and pop, there it is! Love it, thank you Jonathan!
I felt like these videos were made just for me. Great work.
Very much love this series. So interesting to hear stories around the guns and the history surrounding them. You promised us the links to those fascinating episodes! The late east german AK could've been such a movie bad guy weapon. Like in Die Hard the baddies could've really had that gun.
I came here from a Brandon Herrera video and when Jonathan mentioned weapons technology at the end of the video my SDI alert went off.
AK Jesus for ATF Director!
@@jeffreyoldham55 that would be net positive indeed
@@jeffreyoldham55If in the US I'd shop at his convenience store. No chance of the same in our corner shops though. [Edit - but we can dream]
A fascinating series.
@Royal Armouries can you do a video on the patina and damage on guns? Do you have any guns that have damage or marks from being in conflict and have battle damage? Or some other interesting markings or weathering from an interesting history of the weapon?
Once again, I take a break for your channel, Mr. Ferguson, and I come back and you have not only really interestiung stuff to talk about but you show me another rabbit hoile to dive down. Thanks, BTW.
There's actually a US company tinkering with the Wieger - with the aim of getting it (finally) into the US market.
yay nother Jonathan Ferguson, keeper of firearms and artillery video!
Any chance of the rare East German SKS in the collection? That would've been a good preface.
G3 - an absolute beast. Freaking love it.
Just take good care of your mags, avoid alu-mags since theyre easy to warp and that will cause it to fail cycles
Here in Portugal you don't have access to weapons like that unless your in the military or the police...
I can still recognize the cocking sound of the G-3 from 30+ years ago when i served in the FAP. I think in that context whatever weapon it is that sound alone will stop anyone in they'r tracks instantly!
Thx!
Dauerfeuer = sustained [or continuous] fire
Man, I had to go back and pause it a couple of times, but I sure do love me some Kraut Space Magic.
Amazing series
This is the AK 47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy. It makes a very distinctive sound when fired at you.
These videos have been excellent
nothing but pure history, love to see it
Perfect timing, just picked up a G3K-ish myself.
I love you Jonathan Ferguson!!
Another great ep- thanks guys great insight and history lesson :-)
Contrary to popular believe, you wouldn't find many G3's on the other sids of the Wall. As the wall was arround West Berlin and the Bundeswehr wasnt allowed in West Berlin, only french, british and american forces, their probably were a whole lot more M16's behind the Wall.
No, D - Dauerfeuer stands for continuous fire. But you could also use automatic fire.
27:00 I see that reference to Ian's video. Nice.
I've subscribed to Cold War Conversations and am going through from the start. Enjoying it very much.
Good show
Hi Johnathan - this is Lin. Interesting episode. I was on the wrong side of an AK once (likely a T56-1 AK). A soldier fired at me from about 50 yards but missed. Sound is different when heard from the other side of the muzzle.
Making me regret selling my type 81 under-folder. Racking that action is some serious ASMR.
Dauerfeuer is "continuous fire", not "double fire" of course as it doesn't have a 2-round burst capability.
25:26min As an infromation from a german here. You showed the infinite symbol and thats how we call the firing mod „automatic“. Because you thought at 07:39min the „D“ firing mod translates to „double fire“, it stands for „dauerfeuer“ as you correctly said, but which translate to „duration fire/infinite fire“, not „double fire“. Thats why we used the infite symbol here i guess :) nice video
Can I bother you with a question? Could you enlighten me as to how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not a Maschinenkarabiner?
@ Sure. Im not an expert on that topic but i think because of the cartridge 7,62x39 which was an intermediate cartridge and was way smaller than the 8mm Mauser (7,92x57IS) which was used as standard in WW2. Also the First Assault rifle, the STG44 which was later re named as MP44 during the WW2, used a similar cartridge (7,92x33 Kurz) and people i think were used to see such a ammo as MP ammo ( 7,62x39 and 7,92x33). But thats just my guess.
@@Enigma1612 It just seems strange that MP.43's predecessors were called Maschinenkarabiner, and so were all the previous designs chambered in experimetal intermediate cartridges, yet the term completely disappears after the war, even in East Germany, where one could make an argument that it better reflects the Soviet terminology.
@@F1ghteR41 I really dont know for sure. Sorry 🙈
@@Enigma1612 No problem, thanks for your effort anyway!
Great series lads what about the fal vs ar for your next one please?
As for the statement from 3:44 - in fact not all of them end up with AK. There's Czechoslovak vz. 58 which only shares a cardridge compatibility with it, but is completely different from technical point of view.
I know it is an "ackchyually" moment, but I think this channel calls for such a clarification :)
We're always open for a clarification :)
@RoyalArmouriesMuseum I have no doubt about that :)
@@RoyalArmouriesMuseum Come to think of it I know too little to completely reject the possibility that Czechoslovakia used any AKs even though they had their 52s, 57s and 58s so I might have made a fool of myself after all :P
26:58 Editor is good, I almost missed it!
Would love to see you do one on the British infamous Slr. 🙏🏻🤞🤞🤞👍🏻
I carried the AK4 for quite some time in service (that's the Swedish version of the G3) and I have to say that the reliability and accuracy of that weapon is REALLY good. I don't know how many thousands of rounds we each put through them without any problems. It should be noted that our ammunition is of extraordinarily high quality so it's pretty much just up to the weapon.
If I had to go back to war and could choose my weapons I'd carry the AK4 and have the P226 as my sidearm. Hands down. I'd pick the AK5 (Swedish version of FN FNC) as a close second and the AK 47 wouldn't be in the running at all. Not a bad gun for what it is but accuracy is abysmal and so is reliability (in my experience compared to the AK4 and AK5 (and why not throw in the K-Pist as well which we all know is just foolproof), of course).
It should be noted that I'm quite tall (7'1) so the size of the AK4 may not bother me as much as it might others.
Something's odd about the comments about Czech border guards using the AK47? I thought they used the VZ58?
The snap of the charging handle is pretty intimidating. Similar to the 12 gauge pump sound, there's some sounds are iconically dangerous.
27:00 Kraut Space Magic!
During the Mozambiquan colonial war the Portuguese used the G3, it lasted from 64 to 74, when the carnation revolution the Portuguese government to recognize the Mozambique people's right to independence, the civil war began in 77 up until 92.
I like the fact, that Germany based it's bayonets for G36 on East Germany bayonets for Type 2 AKM
Well in fact that were just so many in east German arsenals that they simply took what was a available for free back then. When I went through the firearms instructor course, we had early test rifles (later G36) for trials that took the NVA bayonets. And yes, we tested the bayonets as well. But as far as I know that option was dropped later(?).
Joe Bugner the boxer described his nightime departure from Hungary about 1956. He recalled the night being lit by fireflies as they crossed the countryside to the West.
Guy escaping Czechoslovakia COULD NOT have heard any AK fire, because, you know, Czechs were about the only WP nation that made their own, non-AK assault rifle, the Vz.58 ;)
Such are the perils of oral history.
Absolutely right of course - apologies, I should have picked that up as Ian was talking.
The problem with the G3 was the cartridge it uses. 7.62 x 51mm is a battle rifle cartridge slightly trimmed down from the 30-06 WW2 cartridge. NATO and the USA should have the intermediate cartridge similar to the German MP44 7.92 x 33mm round or the British .280 round. The US Ordnance Dept forced NATO to adopt an outdated, overpowered, unnecessary cartridge. I have a HK91, semi auto version of the G3 and it's a good rifle, reliable, fun to shoot but it's overpowered for the post WW2 battlefield. The Spanish CETME with their intermediate cartridge was a much better rifle. It took too long for the Americans to figure it all out.
perfect commute noise
Good old time’s UK gun dealer’s had those in massive amount. Today only Robin Hood has those
Yes just before my bedtime
Century Arms or another importer nrought in a copy of the Weger stf rifle last mentioned called the STG-2000 i think was about 20 yrs ago maybe less. brought in 556 and 7.62c39. think got mixed reviews but stoll caught my interest still.
Why does the rust pattern on that bayonet give me the impression that it has been used and was not immediately well cleaned?
The East Germans were also known to be the first to implement polymers onto their AK’s, namely that pebble grain polymer stock, so that can also be an indicator.
Didn't Hungarians get there first with their AMD-65? And let's not forget the Soviets themselves, who experimented with polymer furniture and receiver cover already in the early '60s.
d for dauerfeuer means more like continuous firing i would say, if you translate only the words it would be like duration fire.
i think the western counterpart of the gdr gucci ak ist either the sig550 and the galil from israel i think
"Dauerfeuer" is "continuous fire" or "sustained fire", as "dauer" as a prefix is "continuous".
Cold War Conversations is a great podcast. Listening to it get's me through my working day. 😊
There are definitely more than three flags depicting weapons.
Also, the flag of Guatemala features two crossed rifles.
In North East India Burmese copy of G3 and M-16 and their copy(chinese CQ) along with chinese Type 56 and 81 armed rebels regularly faced Indian soldiers armed with Bulgarian made AKMs, SLR(indian FN FAL)
The AK of course is legendary , but I always love me a good G3
Jonathon you left out the crossovers like the Galil and Valmet!!!
Maybe not surprising, that East German 5.56mm AK, reading Katja Hoyer’s excellent account of the GDR in all its forms, ‘Beyond The Wall’, from the 70’s onwards a surprising amount of trade was done particularly with West Germany.
Not that it could save them. Neither did the generous terms loan in the early 80’s arranged by the unlikely figure of Franz Josef Strauss.
Sorry to hear they dropped you at GameStop. Eff those losers, you’re a great guy.
Dauerfeuer means "constant fire" not double fire but the pronunciation was superb :D
Could I bother you with a question? Could you enlighten me as to how or why did East Germans decide on calling the AK a Maschinenpistole and not a Maschinenkarabiner?
@@F1ghteR41 Well the story I've heard was that East Germany wanted to obfuscate the fact that they even have an assault rifle like that and once the west Germans figured it out they at least shouldn't be able to tell actual SMGs from the number of Assault rifles.
No idea if that's true though
@@desroin Interesting nonetheless, thank you!
"Kraut Space Magic" LMAO
Hopefully they won't be looked at in complete vacuum, but rather with their doctrine in mind(AK and RPD/RPK vs G3 and MG3).
It's interesting to look at most famous assault rifle and battle rifle side by side when US army tries to force some battle rifle in .277 Fury into service by misnaming it as assault rifle 😅
"Some battle rifle" it's been selected already...it's the SIG model.
@Manco65 sorry if my absolute disdain to flip-flopping equipment doctrine to match the last lost war didn't carry over properly in text form.
Regarding AK reliability: in arctic conditions the legend for reliability is absolutely true.. anywhere else it's just a urban legend. I have shot 10s of thousands 7,62 rounds and to keep AK reliable you have to cover ejection port with one hand and even then sand, mud or gravel can sneak its way into action and jam the gun. And when AK jams it really jams and trying to clear it like AR will just jam it up even harder.
With AR15 you just trust the dust cover and 99% of the time the gun will just work even in the most adverse conditions
Silly question.. Wouldn't these have first been on public display in the early postwar occasions of May Day celebrations in Moscow?
Up to the advent of the AK, the most reliable rifle available to almost any organised bunch of disgruntled half assed neo anarchist or communist resistance fighters / poppy farmers / Afghan war lord etc. was the .303 lee enfield. The British empire scattered millions of them around the globe and I expect enough brass to Keep them going in reloads and fresh ammo. That the AK took over from a bolt action rifle that my father used in ww2 and his father in ww1 and my wife's father in Kenya in the 1950’s and well you get the picture - 60 years on the AK is still the weapon of choice and availability for most of the world. Has to be a reason. Perhaps it is just how many millions of them were made. Anything stops working if you abuse it enough.
Just started listening to the podcast...
I think hundreds of hours of Cold War talk and me might be a poor combo when my friends' well-being is being considered
Yes ...more Ian.
These two episodes were super interesting, and there is a lot of other ground to cover.
Not to mention that Ian and Jonnathan rif very well together.
Thank you both.
Very interesting and great to see informative videos along with Forgotten Weapons about firearms, as apposed to videos by presenters that think they are comedians and just want to shoot pumpkins
COD dev after see STG 942 : write that down write that down!
Kraut Space Magic 33:07
CWC subbed 🤙
Will you do a BM59 video? I'd love to see that italian heap of outdated junk featured here. And I say it with affection.