Also, your telling of the Niels Bjorgum story is hilarious. I know you don't intend to be a comedian but your delivery can be perfect. I just about lost it when you got to, "Neither one of these barrels is for a cartridge that actually exists...which is a problem..."
It was kinda hilarious to translate the source material xD Best letter in the whole thing: "The factory has by now for over a year developed a countless amount of parts. These will be very instructive to illustrate what one with skilled workers and modern machines can make out of steel, but the factory has other and better use of its machines and people than making such weirdness.."
Very insightful. Tragic that there was no public request to develop a service pistol through some announcement in Norway if it was really such a desired and necessary item. It would have been interesting to see some of the other alternatives that might have been built.
My bad "Colt, browning, parabellum, roth, mannlicher and mauser" Are mentioned. It was mentioned during the testing of Bjørgums m/1911 version that there was also 3 other Norwegian designs tested. But the names are not mentioned. I suppose one has to dig into the actual reports to find those.
I am Norwegian and have spent some time now reading trough our parliment logs from this period (1903-1937). I am absolutely stunned that you have this information. How do you research this? Some additional information: Niels Bjoergum (Norwegian: Nils Bjørgum) recieved funding in 1905 to produce 3 prototype pistols and 3 prototype selfloading rifles. Actually he recieved funding twice as he spent the first funding without completing anything. He was closed down at Kongsberg in 1915 due to the first world war and funded his endevours trough his private company during the war. The intention was that one would consider to commence production once a normal situation at the factory returned. From this point on there is no mention of the pistols as I have found, they were probably deemed useless. However the prototype selfloading rifles have been mentioned a lot. As the war drew to a close Nils tried to get back into the factory but a technical committe deemed that no results had been produced so far and shut the project down. By 1920 Nils had pleaded to the parliament to overturn the decision. Here it is noted that a millitary committee argued that due to the large investment of public money thrown into the project, one should throw more money at it until it gave results. Nils must have made some really good friends in that committee. The parliament decided to trust the technical committees decision and did not overturn their decision to stop the project. I found evidence as late as 1937 where Nils again tried to commence work on his selfloading rifle, so he obviously didnt forget his past as a.. well.. his past attempt at beeing a gun designer..
So basically, the "safety" on this thing, is actually more dangerous then not having a safety? This thing is an example of why the Chinese Mystery Pistols aren't actually that bad.
It really feels like there's something missing from the back of the pistol. A cover, something to keep the action from sliding when reloading. Him having presented incomplete guns for actual trials, I would not be surprised... But I do applaud the desire to make something of his own, and not just settle for... perfectly working solutions. Well.
This is admittedly a nerdy thing that only I'm into; but I would be interested in the history of stripper clips, speed loaders, etc. I think the evolution of reloading tech would be cool.
Just found this video! Glad to see a "forgotten" piece of Norwegian history, no matter how sad the firearm turned out to be. At least, he TRIED! Thank you, Ian!
I am an artist as well and many of the vintage handguns Ian has covered are *beautiful* extensions of human capacity. This one is not and I am very interested in seeing Niels' paintings as well. Keep these videos coming! they are fascinating.
so cool you got help from norwegian viewers !! i'm watching you from france and i just wanna tell you, you're videos are always a good time, interesting, and pretty relaxing! keep it up :)
SonsOfLorgar I have seen worst, It might be on the top ten list of the worst. but at least no Norweigan fells hurt and try to explain that it´s good somehow. for a Norwegian semiauto pistol.
Thank you, cool video. As a Norwegian, I find it really fascinating to find unknown pieces of our history. Just one small detail: Niels is the Danish spelling. The Nowegian spelling is Nils.
Full name: Nils Josefson Bjørgum. He was also editor av a newspaper and in what would be the equivalent of the state /"fylke" in Norwegian) leadership of a Norwegian political party (Venstre, meaning "left", but actually in the centre of Norwegian politics. At that time the largest party, now a small party). That would propbably explain why he got someone in the parlament (Stortinget) to fund his guns.
I think there's a fairly simple explanation as to why Bjorgum, an artist by training and experience, thought he could just switch to another field, an engineering field, and expected to be able to contribute. It was the 1890s. Norway got their telegraph system going nationwide by 1870, and as a result, Norwegians were undergoing the profound changes that are always triggered by the introduction of the telegraph - suddenly, instant communication over unthinkable distances is a thing. Bjorgum had been professionally active since the 1880s. He had seen these remarkable changes. He knew their cause: the telegraph. And he knew, undoubtedly, who was generally regarded in Europe as the main inventor of the telegraph: an American, Samuel Morse. An American _artist_ named Samuel Morse. Who, having already established himself as an artist - just as Bjorgum had done in Norway, only more so - decided, in 1833, that now he was an inventor, and electrical engineer, and he was going to invent a working telegraph. And, arguably, proceeded to do exactly that. Why _wouldn't_ Bjorgum think he had a shot? He clearly had a very high opinion of his own ingenuity. And it was very much the spirit of the age.
Being a Norwegian I am quite embarrassed that something that flimsy and bad came out of Kongsberg Arms. It looks like mr. Bjorgum has worked in a corner of his own and not taking any help or advice from anyone who worked at the Kongsberg Arms.
Nothing to be embarrassed for. Bjørgum did his best, and there's no stamps from Kongsberg våpenfabrikk (as far as I could see), so they did not approve it on any way. The gun commision tested it as little as possible, but still enough to satisfy the government. And by the way, if you look at the later stuff Kongsberg våpenfabrikk made, then you can start to be embarrassed. No finesse at all.
Donna Sachs Not being any kind of fan boy, but the P-51 analogy won't fly, so to speak. The world's best pilot in a P-51 isn't going to get anywhere near a modern fighter aircraft to even try to have a fair fight. Somebody who knows how to use a 1911, OTOH, can easily still win a handgun fight with someone armed with the most 'modern' pistol. Being outdated is a relative thing.
Obsolescent would be the more accurate term. Obsolete implies it would not be a viable service weapon at all in the present age whereas obsolescent suggests that there are better alternatives available today but it would still give a very good account of itself. Personally, I don't think it is even obsolescent. There is really nothing about a 1911a1 that is seriously limiting compared to "modern" handguns.
Well, compared to anything modern, the M1911 does seem a bit obsolete. It's big, has a low ammunition capacity, is single action, and heavy. I didn't mention anything about the ammunition, as many modern pistols use .45 ACP. However, it has excellent ergonomics and a solid locking system, which is copied on virtually every modern pistol.
Really its only practical drawback is its limited magizine capasity, which for millitary application, is an easy thing to fix. USMC just readopted a m1911 variant with a double stack magizine
I honestly don't know how they got through the effort of loading 16 rounds, much less firing 16 rounds through what looks like the most fragile handgun ever made.
My god, I could just feel that cover plate removing the webbing between my thumb and trigger finger. That's some fearsome pistol, but not to the enemy. On another point, I'd love to see Ian putting together a few episodes of 'Fugazi Weapons'...
The sad thing is that I understand the mindset here. An artist comes into contact with pistols and gets an idea of the aspects of automatic pistols without understanding the nuances to their engineering. Delaying mechanisms like rotating barrels and locking lugs but no real concept of pressure and kinetic energy. In other words he was very interested in designing things and seeing them machined to life. In another world, Bjorgum may have made some excellent kinetic sculptures had he taken the time and investment to learn how to machine.
I checked in my Kongsberg-Colten book, and it only refers to the 1905 as "Bjørgum's pistol." So I guess he never gave it a designation. It's amazing that this... thing tried to compete with modern handguns. In fact, all of the Norwegian designs are pretty amazing in that regard. Stick to rifles, Norway. You're good at those.
I find this fascinating sort of as a counterpart to the various Asian hand-made "mystery" and "counterfeit" pistols. Whereas you have rightly pointed out that, given an example pistol (or multiple examples of different models) it is both fascinating and impressive to see how a skilled metalworker can use only the most rudimentary tools to build something that is almost a pistol. In this case, we have a man who had all of the machining equipment and skilled workers available, but instead of starting with an example pistol to copy, started from scratch and did all of the engineering himself without the benefit of any engineering training or experience. And he DID, in fact, create a pistol, that DID appear to have worked a majority of the time, at least within the extremely small "service life" it had. Now of course, "a majority of the time" is not at all enough for a successful pistol, but it demonstrates that he actually engineered a mechanism that fundamentally did what it was supposed to, without being an engineering in any way, shape, or form. I find that fascinating.
Bjorgum, probably: "Its so light weight and so few pieces to malfunction!" Parliament: "Oh you mean the pieces that makes it functional? Those pieces?"
Amazing presentation and video in general. So well organized, told and your pronounciation is GREAT for the Norwegian names. Respected, liked and subbed ;)
he might have not been a successful gun designer, but he really did think outside the box and introduce some rather clever ideas. It would be cool to see how a group of engineers would build this concept into a functional design.
This guy was freaking insane to think it would work. It doesn’t look like it would "field strip" at all, and would probably need three people to disassemble.
Honestly, its really interesting to see what kind of ideas people come up with when they don't know the basics. That might be the most fascinating train wreak of a gun I've ever seen.
Haneviks book suggests there was supposed to be a top cover to the design to make it less funny looking. Also reading through Kongsberg-colten. He said in 2003 that no version of Bjorgums pistol was known to exist, but voila Gun Jesus finds one....
Thanks for bringing us this story Ian, I laughed out loud several times of the absurdity of this Niels character and his experimental solutions within gun design :)
Lieutenant Ole Herman Johannes Krag had a hand in these trails, he also did design a pistol that underwent trials. He was a fan of the big bores,so something around 11 millimeters was required.
I really loved the story part. What a guy this Bjorgum haha yet I respect his pursuit. Would have loved to see a picture of his face but couldn't find any
There is nothing wrong in principle with this idea. Rotating barrels are used to this day day in a number of successful designs, I'll cite the Russian GSh-18 destined for special forces. What poor Bjorgum did not understand is that he needed a heavy slide /bolt that could store enough recoil energy to cycle the gun reliably, not that flimsy sliding lid over the magazine. It was an easy fix to his design, but apparently even the folks he was working with at Kongsberg did not know any better and were probably offended by having to work for this amateur. At the end of the day, I like people who follow their dreams and passions even if the chances of success are slim. I'll check his paintings.
I could not find any painting. Looks like, apart from being the opposite of Frommer, he was also the opposite of Van Gogh: successful during his lifetime, totally forgotten after.
Perhaps you have visited the Dakota's, if not, I should explain a bit if tradition that is followed up here. You may be aware, the Dakota's were settled by primarily folks from Scandinavia and Germany. So it goes that the prejudices of those peoples came across the sea with them as they came to seek a better life in America. Dad was a full blood Swede, and very proud of it. In fact until he reached the 6th grade in school, he spoke only Swedish, both at home and in the Swedish school that was down the road from the farm where he was raised. Then when he moved to a new school, he was forced to learn English. This being back in the 1910's, Dad used to make fun of the Norwegians all the time, the Norwegian jokes were on the same line as th old Polish jokes else where in the USA back in those times. So Dad was quite taken aback when I married a half Norwegian girl but she did manage to pass on by since the other half was German, and dad had married a German girl so in fact I was half German, half Swede. I grew up never knowing if I should remain neutral or go to war with my enemies! All that said, this gun comes as no surprise to me, and I thank God that my wife is half German herself so she doesn't come up with some of the idiocy that the full Norwegians come up with (just joking, of course since now days such a premise is frowned upon everywhere) Mom's second husband was a full blood Norwegian, he used to always respond to my Norse comments with "20 thousand swedes running through the weeds," in reference to the war where Norway overthrew Sweden who was holding Norway as a colony of sorts. Now don't get me wrong, there was never really any hatred involved, even back in the day it was all done in a joking manner, the only ones who really fought over such things were all the Norse descendants and for some strange reason, the Irish.
6:02 Wait a sec... 10.15 mm cartridge did actually exist and was used in Norway and Sweden around that time period... but that 10.15x61mmR was designed for rifles. Was Bjorgum seriously such a nutcase that he'd fire one of those bad boys outta PISTOL? 10.15x61mmR slings out 21,85 grams (337 grain) projectile with muzzle velocity of 500 m/s (1640 fps). That's stronger than .50 Action Express, the biggest shot you can use on Desert Eagle!
The best thing that I can say about that gun is that it's better than I could have done and considering I don't know anything about designing guns that really isn't saying much. But there is one thing that I know I could have done better and that's the safety, I would have definitely made a safety that doesn't cause the hammer to drop when taken off safe. However, considering his lack of firearms knowledge, and probably usage as well, maybe it was intentional because he thought that it would be a good idea. Maybe he thought that it would allow the user to get a shot off faster, remove the gun from your holster, aim, take the gun off of safe, and BANG, you've just fired your first shot without spending time pulling the trigger.
This is the most hilarious gun review I have ever had the pleasure to watch. I was litereally laughing so often I had to go back and watch parts again just to get what Ian is saying :-)
Hey Ian have you ever thought about making a video about your collection of rare and/or forgotten weapons? Could make for an interesting episode of FW. Thanks for the great content and keep up the good work!
It was probably only capable of being fully loaded ONCE with 2 stripper clips. After firing 16 rounds the barrel and other components would have worn out. So in fact it's a very modern gun; it was the first "dispose_after_use" gun (But probably it wasn't intended this way).
With refinement in the right hands, I feel this could have potential to be interesting. Probably not much better, but who knows? As it sits though that guy must have been mad as a hatter thinking that thing was actually a good piece
Probably by replacing the sheet metal cover at the back of the slide with a solid machined piece to add mass to the system and fixing the safety, it wouldn't be a terrible pistol. I think the design as it stands it would kick like crazy, if Ian's description of how light it felt in the hand.
I do think the concept of a rotating-bolt, forward-chambered pistol could work, but yeah, like you said, it'd definitely need some more junk in its trunk to keep things controlled, and some more engineering done to make sure all the components worked smoothly and safely.
There is enough material. Steels and alloys especially exotic ones are insanely robust. And mass is enemy, almost always. Length wise it just have long barrel.
There are some successful short recoil rotating barrel pistols out there, the system is well known and an alternative to the tilting barrel system used in the Colt 1911. However, the way this thing was designed denotes an utter lack of understanding of physics.
This pistol reminds me of the gun shaped stuff i made from planks, plastic tubs and scrap metal to play with since my parents did want to buy me toy guns, that's what it looks like to me
Also, your telling of the Niels Bjorgum story is hilarious. I know you don't intend to be a comedian but your delivery can be perfect. I just about lost it when you got to, "Neither one of these barrels is for a cartridge that actually exists...which is a problem..."
11:15 "with your _third_ hand" . . . lol
The one ring pistol, when he says "if you can't successfully kill yourself, it's probably not dangerous" had me rolling.
It was kinda hilarious to translate the source material xD
Best letter in the whole thing:
"The factory has by now for over a year developed a countless amount of parts. These will be very instructive to illustrate what one with skilled workers and modern machines can make out of steel, but the factory has other and better use of its machines and people than making such weirdness.."
Very insightful.
Tragic that there was no public request to develop a service pistol through some announcement in Norway if it was really such a desired and necessary item. It would have been interesting to see some of the other alternatives that might have been built.
There was a public request. They set up a competition. there was a few competitors iirc.
VonGrav
Ah, thanks and thats good for future interest then. Are their examples included within the book Ian discussed?
My bad
"Colt, browning, parabellum, roth, mannlicher and mauser" Are mentioned.
It was mentioned during the testing of Bjørgums m/1911 version that there was also 3 other Norwegian designs tested. But the names are not mentioned. I suppose one has to dig into the actual reports to find those.
VonGrav
Thanks very much :)
This man had the earnest hopelessness that every British person dreams of having.
I am Norwegian and have spent some time now reading trough our parliment logs from this period (1903-1937). I am absolutely stunned that you have this information. How do you research this?
Some additional information:
Niels Bjoergum (Norwegian: Nils Bjørgum) recieved funding in 1905 to produce 3 prototype pistols and 3 prototype selfloading rifles. Actually he recieved funding twice as he spent the first funding without completing anything. He was closed down at Kongsberg in 1915 due to the first world war and funded his endevours trough his private company during the war. The intention was that one would consider to commence production once a normal situation at the factory returned. From this point on there is no mention of the pistols as I have found, they were probably deemed useless. However the prototype selfloading rifles have been mentioned a lot.
As the war drew to a close Nils tried to get back into the factory but a technical committe deemed that no results had been produced so far and shut the project down. By 1920 Nils had pleaded to the parliament to overturn the decision. Here it is noted that a millitary committee argued that due to the large investment of public money thrown into the project, one should throw more money at it until it gave results. Nils must have made some really good friends in that committee. The parliament decided to trust the technical committees decision and did not overturn their decision to stop the project. I found evidence as late as 1937 where Nils again tried to commence work on his selfloading rifle, so he obviously didnt forget his past as a.. well.. his past attempt at beeing a gun designer..
More sketchy than a Chinese mystery pistol, that's kind of impressive XD
yeah chinese browning-mauser-fn pistols atleast look like they could function :D
Yu mean the mauser mauser mauser brevet pistols? xD
CommissarZhukov I think id prefer the Wauser...
@@legobuchseTV chairman Maoser? 🥁
So basically, the "safety" on this thing, is actually more dangerous then not having a safety? This thing is an example of why the Chinese Mystery Pistols aren't actually that bad.
It’s not a safety. That’s the delaying mechanism in the gun.
That safety was the more ridiculous thing I've seen in a while. I was more of a surprise trigger than a safety.
@@art070769 He was ahead of his time(as an artist). The perfect setup for a "happy little accident".
It’s actually just a “Snooze button”
@@jackandersen1262 manually delayed blowback is the best operation, actually
It really feels like there's something missing from the back of the pistol. A cover, something to keep the action from sliding when reloading. Him having presented incomplete guns for actual trials, I would not be surprised... But I do applaud the desire to make something of his own, and not just settle for... perfectly working solutions. Well.
I had the same thought... images of cartridges sliding off the the side rather than seating in the chamber flashed by :-)
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again untill you waste all your money.
At least he was smart enough to waste other people's money first.
try until you make it.. or can convincingly fake it!
+Manny Owlstein A true Trumpian perspective.
*****... queue eyeroll
well that's just wrong ... in more ways than one... "accept"
This is admittedly a nerdy thing that only I'm into; but I would be interested in the history of stripper clips, speed loaders, etc. I think the evolution of reloading tech would be cool.
th-cam.com/video/G3zQb3KZpNM/w-d-xo.html
Thanks! I should have known you had something already. I guess after all the hours I have spent watching Forgotten Weapons I missed this one.
You know it's the worst of the worst when you can't even throw it at someone and injure them.
"It ain't a gun unless it weighs at least a hundred pounds!"-Gunner, Deep Rock Galactic.
At first I thought that was a single shot
I got a "what the hell am I looking at" moment.
No kidding! That was surprising.
A survivor I can't stand him.
wild bill I'll be waiting for that day.
wild bill Saw his slam fire shotgun. never in my life have I cringed so hard at a gun video.
Just found this video! Glad to see a "forgotten" piece of Norwegian history, no matter how sad the firearm turned out to be. At least, he TRIED! Thank you, Ian!
I am an artist as well and many of the vintage handguns Ian has covered are *beautiful* extensions of human capacity. This one is not and I am very interested in seeing Niels' paintings as well. Keep these videos coming! they are fascinating.
funny that it took a painter to make a gun this ugly, seemingly lacking any aesthetic considerations, huh?
so cool you got help from norwegian viewers !! i'm watching you from france and i just wanna tell you, you're videos are always a good time, interesting, and pretty relaxing! keep it up :)
his thought wasn´t in the box, It wasn´t even in the house the box was in.
SonsOfLorgar
he wasn´t that far of, it goes boom, most of the times and the bulit goes in the right general direction.
SonsOfLorgar
I have seen worst, It might be on the top ten list of the worst. but at least no Norweigan fells hurt and try to explain that it´s good somehow. for a Norwegian semiauto pistol.
Exploatores true. I'm from Norway very true
Thank you, cool video. As a Norwegian, I find it really fascinating to find unknown pieces of our history.
Just one small detail: Niels is the Danish spelling. The Nowegian spelling is Nils.
Full name:
Nils Josefson Bjørgum. He was also editor av a newspaper and in what would be the equivalent of the state /"fylke" in Norwegian) leadership of a Norwegian political party (Venstre, meaning "left", but actually in the centre of Norwegian politics. At that time the largest party, now a small party). That would propbably explain why he got someone in the parlament (Stortinget) to fund his guns.
I think there's a fairly simple explanation as to why Bjorgum, an artist by training and experience, thought he could just switch to another field, an engineering field, and expected to be able to contribute.
It was the 1890s. Norway got their telegraph system going nationwide by 1870, and as a result, Norwegians were undergoing the profound changes that are always triggered by the introduction of the telegraph - suddenly, instant communication over unthinkable distances is a thing.
Bjorgum had been professionally active since the 1880s. He had seen these remarkable changes. He knew their cause: the telegraph.
And he knew, undoubtedly, who was generally regarded in Europe as the main inventor of the telegraph: an American, Samuel Morse.
An American _artist_ named Samuel Morse. Who, having already established himself as an artist - just as Bjorgum had done in Norway, only more so - decided, in 1833, that now he was an inventor, and electrical engineer, and he was going to invent a working telegraph. And, arguably, proceeded to do exactly that.
Why _wouldn't_ Bjorgum think he had a shot? He clearly had a very high opinion of his own ingenuity. And it was very much the spirit of the age.
Being a Norwegian I am quite embarrassed that something that flimsy and bad came out of Kongsberg Arms. It looks like mr. Bjorgum has worked in a corner of his own and not taking any help or advice from anyone who worked at the Kongsberg Arms.
Nothing to be embarrassed for. Bjørgum did his best, and there's no stamps from Kongsberg våpenfabrikk (as far as I could see), so they did not approve it on any way. The gun commision tested it as little as possible, but still enough to satisfy the government. And by the way, if you look at the later stuff Kongsberg våpenfabrikk made, then you can start to be embarrassed. No finesse at all.
looks like scaramanga's golden gun without the gold
.. and without the gun
Probably the best Ian`s video, i`m rewatching it for the third time.
Thanks for another nice story. It's why I watch this channel.
me too.
Great content. As a norwegian I really enjoyed your take on this part of our history.
Ian: the norwegians adopted the colt 1911 which is a great pistol...
1911 fanboy: hell yeah
Ian: ...for the time period
1911 fanboy: *triggered*
Donna Sachs Not being any kind of fan boy, but the P-51 analogy won't fly, so to speak. The world's best pilot in a P-51 isn't going to get anywhere near a modern fighter aircraft to even try to have a fair fight. Somebody who knows how to use a 1911, OTOH, can easily still win a handgun fight with someone armed with the most 'modern' pistol. Being outdated is a relative thing.
Obsolescent would be the more accurate term. Obsolete implies it would not be a viable service weapon at all in the present age whereas obsolescent suggests that there are better alternatives available today but it would still give a very good account of itself. Personally, I don't think it is even obsolescent. There is really nothing about a 1911a1 that is seriously limiting compared to "modern" handguns.
Well, compared to anything modern, the M1911 does seem a bit obsolete.
It's big, has a low ammunition capacity, is single action, and heavy. I didn't mention anything about the ammunition, as many modern pistols use .45 ACP.
However, it has excellent ergonomics and a solid locking system, which is copied on virtually every modern pistol.
Really its only practical drawback is its limited magizine capasity, which for millitary application, is an easy thing to fix. USMC just readopted a m1911 variant with a double stack magizine
Andre Krumins I don't think so.
There's the MEU(SOC) pistol, which is basically modernized M1911A1 frames from 1945. Same basic design.
A locking bolt zip gun? Whoever fired it 50 times is WAY braver (or foolhardy) than I.
sixteen. ...presumably someone tested it before that...although judging by the 1914 one...I'm probably giving the operation too much credit.
I honestly don't know how they got through the effort of loading 16 rounds, much less firing 16 rounds through what looks like the most fragile handgun ever made.
At least it wasn't 3D printed?
I give him credit for trying, but holy mother of god that’s a scary gun
We need a Forgotten Weapons multiplayer shooter that uses all this weird stuff.
My god, I could just feel that cover plate removing the webbing between my thumb and trigger finger. That's some fearsome pistol, but not to the enemy. On another point, I'd love to see Ian putting together a few episodes of 'Fugazi Weapons'...
This pistol is *truly* a work of art.
The sad thing is that I understand the mindset here.
An artist comes into contact with pistols and gets an idea of the aspects of automatic pistols without understanding the nuances to their engineering. Delaying mechanisms like rotating barrels and locking lugs but no real concept of pressure and kinetic energy.
In other words he was very interested in designing things and seeing them machined to life.
In another world, Bjorgum may have made some excellent kinetic sculptures had he taken the time and investment to learn how to machine.
Oh god this is like me
*Sad noises*
I'll never create anything.....
It’s kinda tragic isn’t it
Well that's a pretty depressing gunmaker story.
ROFL. I bet that's how most of the gun makers ended, broke.
I don't know. Was a little happy to me. He got to have fun and just went back painting when he couldn't get any more funding.
I checked in my Kongsberg-Colten book, and it only refers to the 1905 as "Bjørgum's pistol." So I guess he never gave it a designation.
It's amazing that this... thing tried to compete with modern handguns. In fact, all of the Norwegian designs are pretty amazing in that regard. Stick to rifles, Norway. You're good at those.
Thank you Ian for the great video and a special thanks for those norwegian guys!
I find this fascinating sort of as a counterpart to the various Asian hand-made "mystery" and "counterfeit" pistols. Whereas you have rightly pointed out that, given an example pistol (or multiple examples of different models) it is both fascinating and impressive to see how a skilled metalworker can use only the most rudimentary tools to build something that is almost a pistol. In this case, we have a man who had all of the machining equipment and skilled workers available, but instead of starting with an example pistol to copy, started from scratch and did all of the engineering himself without the benefit of any engineering training or experience. And he DID, in fact, create a pistol, that DID appear to have worked a majority of the time, at least within the extremely small "service life" it had. Now of course, "a majority of the time" is not at all enough for a successful pistol, but it demonstrates that he actually engineered a mechanism that fundamentally did what it was supposed to, without being an engineering in any way, shape, or form. I find that fascinating.
That gun is the only one known, and I'm happy to say it is home again now.
Bjorgum, probably: "Its so light weight and so few pieces to malfunction!"
Parliament: "Oh you mean the pieces that makes it functional? Those pieces?"
The history on this page is incredible. As a historian it opens my mind to new topics of research
He tried to DaVinci but couldn't, but honestly these awful attempts make me wanna try my hand at gun designing.
elneutrino90 : He at least took a good hard stab at his dreams.
+tranq45 My phrase sounded harsher than I wantedd it to, but you're right that his story was inspiring.
elneutrino90 : Yes. He certainly had courage to try, and that counts for a lot. I think I would stick to single-shot long guns, myself.
I live in Norway and I can confirm that this inbreed looking pistol is indeed something a mind of a norwegian could come up with
"Its a happy box" "He did not want to be in the box"
Amazing presentation and video in general. So well organized, told and your pronounciation is GREAT for the Norwegian names. Respected, liked and subbed ;)
"It's a happy box" XDDDD ... I love all the vids Ian does, but little gems like this take it twice as awesome :D
he might have not been a successful gun designer, but he really did think outside the box and introduce some rather clever ideas. It would be cool to see how a group of engineers would build this concept into a functional design.
This guy was freaking insane to think it would work.
It doesn’t look like it would "field strip" at all, and would probably need three people to disassemble.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to the recent Elverum shoot!
Honestly, its really interesting to see what kind of ideas people come up with when they don't know the basics. That might be the most fascinating train wreak of a gun I've ever seen.
This looks like something a small child would come up with if you told them to draw a picture of a gun.
Looks like a gun some guy in Compton made in his garage.
After watching this, I feel like I need to go watch a video about the 1911 so I can remember what "normal" looks like.
Haneviks book suggests there was supposed to be a top cover to the design to make it less funny looking. Also reading through Kongsberg-colten. He said in 2003 that no version of Bjorgums pistol was known to exist, but voila Gun Jesus finds one....
“It’s a happy box” - Ian... my new favorite quote
Thanks for bringing us this story Ian, I laughed out loud several times of the absurdity of this Niels character and his experimental solutions within gun design :)
This gun is a Bork/10.
Super interesting pistol and video. Thanks Ian.
So the gun fires as soon as you put the safety to "fire?" Are we sure this guy didn't end up at Remington, working on the 700?
Ore the SPAS 12?
That part on the backflat when it slides out is kindof remeniscent of an interrupted thread breach block of an old naval gun.
Lieutenant Ole Herman Johannes Krag had a hand in these trails, he also did design a pistol that underwent trials. He was a fan of the big bores,so something around 11 millimeters was required.
So cool. That sliding dust cover and tiny hammer remind me of George Wilson's .45 prototype
A buddy in parliament was the kickstarter of a hundred years ago. All you need is an improbable promise, and a nice artistic rendering.
I really loved the story part. What a guy this Bjorgum haha yet I respect his pursuit. Would have loved to see a picture of his face but couldn't find any
this is like a real life elbonia story lmao
Very interesting to see different stuff like this
In my opinion the back story of this pistol is more interesting than the pistol itself
That is quite bizarre... but it utilizes some interesting ideas
That really made my day. Thanks.
There is nothing wrong in principle with this idea. Rotating barrels are used to this day day in a number of successful designs, I'll cite the Russian GSh-18 destined for special forces. What poor Bjorgum did not understand is that he needed a heavy slide /bolt that could store enough recoil energy to cycle the gun reliably, not that flimsy sliding lid over the magazine. It was an easy fix to his design, but apparently even the folks he was working with at Kongsberg did not know any better and were probably offended by having to work for this amateur. At the end of the day, I like people who follow their dreams and passions even if the chances of success are slim. I'll check his paintings.
I could not find any painting. Looks like, apart from being the opposite of Frommer, he was also the opposite of Van Gogh: successful during his lifetime, totally forgotten after.
Reminds me of those rubber band guns with the gear at the back you see at giftshops on vacation
Refined and made with modern materials this type of gun would be kinda cool imo.
i don´t Think you can save this gun Construction.
Perhaps you have visited the Dakota's, if not, I should explain a bit if tradition that is followed up here. You may be aware, the Dakota's were settled by primarily folks from Scandinavia and Germany. So it goes that the prejudices of those peoples came across the sea with them as they came to seek a better life in America. Dad was a full blood Swede, and very proud of it. In fact until he reached the 6th grade in school, he spoke only Swedish, both at home and in the Swedish school that was down the road from the farm where he was raised. Then when he moved to a new school, he was forced to learn English. This being back in the 1910's, Dad used to make fun of the Norwegians all the time, the Norwegian jokes were on the same line as th old Polish jokes else where in the USA back in those times. So Dad was quite taken aback when I married a half Norwegian girl but she did manage to pass on by since the other half was German, and dad had married a German girl so in fact I was half German, half Swede. I grew up never knowing if I should remain neutral or go to war with my enemies! All that said, this gun comes as no surprise to me, and I thank God that my wife is half German herself so she doesn't come up with some of the idiocy that the full Norwegians come up with (just joking, of course since now days such a premise is frowned upon everywhere) Mom's second husband was a full blood Norwegian, he used to always respond to my Norse comments with "20 thousand swedes running through the weeds," in reference to the war where Norway overthrew Sweden who was holding Norway as a colony of sorts. Now don't get me wrong, there was never really any hatred involved, even back in the day it was all done in a joking manner, the only ones who really fought over such things were all the Norse descendants and for some strange reason, the Irish.
Pretty good Norwegian pronounciation! I have now named the pistol. I hereby dub it "The Cooperation Pistol" because you need three hands...
Long barreled "liberator"!!
Makes one proud to be Norwegian!
Aaron TheDirtyDog That's Racist!
Breaking news!: Nationalism is on the rise in Norway! XD
norway is the retarded brother of sweden
Aaron TheDirtyDog So a prototype pistol that's more effective when thrown gives you pride?
It was a complete failure. You should really be proud of the Krag and the 1914, and Bjørgum's art
6:02
Wait a sec... 10.15 mm cartridge did actually exist and was used in Norway and Sweden around that time period... but that 10.15x61mmR was designed for rifles. Was Bjorgum seriously such a nutcase that he'd fire one of those bad boys outta PISTOL?
10.15x61mmR slings out 21,85 grams (337 grain) projectile with muzzle velocity of 500 m/s (1640 fps).
That's stronger than .50 Action Express, the biggest shot you can use on Desert Eagle!
Now that is a Forgotten Weapon, deservedly so.
You only put the "safety" on when surrendering hoping your gun fights on.
It's pretty interesting anecdotally. I've seen zip guns that inspire more confidence though.
There are some really interesting concepts in this gun but as you said it is very clear why this didn't work.
I really want to see this re-made and a little tweaked, and made right... it can deff be done. there is some great! idea's involved in that pistol
The best thing that I can say about that gun is that it's better than I could have done and considering I don't know anything about designing guns that really isn't saying much. But there is one thing that I know I could have done better and that's the safety, I would have definitely made a safety that doesn't cause the hammer to drop when taken off safe. However, considering his lack of firearms knowledge, and probably usage as well, maybe it was intentional because he thought that it would be a good idea. Maybe he thought that it would allow the user to get a shot off faster, remove the gun from your holster, aim, take the gun off of safe, and BANG, you've just fired your first shot without spending time pulling the trigger.
Now this is a truly forgotten weapon.
A big thank you to the two Vikings that made this video possible! It was really interesting!
"he did not want to be in the box" LMAO hilarious ending
I'm really happy to know that my country had experimental weaponry of our own.
"Its a garbage fire"!!! Thats great Ian!
Elbonia needs this guy to help them with their arms programs
Its amazing that this wackiness and the 1911 were being designed at the same time.
This is the most hilarious gun review I have ever had the pleasure to watch. I was litereally laughing so often I had to go back and watch parts again just to get what Ian is saying :-)
Hey Ian have you ever thought about making a video about your collection of rare and/or forgotten weapons? Could make for an interesting episode of FW. Thanks for the great content and keep up the good work!
What a crazy concept for a pistol.
This is a weapon that deserves to be forgotten. That safety design says it all.
Love these type of videos
Keeps it up
I have alot of respect for people like that. persistence is important lol
It was probably only capable of being fully loaded ONCE with 2 stripper clips. After firing 16 rounds the barrel and other components would have worn out. So in fact it's a very modern gun; it was the first "dispose_after_use" gun (But probably it wasn't intended this way).
Where others see a failed design, I see a man going all in with a passion. It didn't work out for him, but you have to give him credit for trying.
I will easily buy the book. I'm from Norway 👍👍👍👍
Very cool video, nice job explaining the very strange pistol
Can't wait for DICE to confirm this gun for the first Battlefield 1 DLC. A gun that existed before WWI? Clearly it should be in the game.
With refinement in the right hands, I feel this could have potential to be interesting. Probably not much better, but who knows?
As it sits though that guy must have been mad as a hatter thinking that thing was actually a good piece
Probably by replacing the sheet metal cover at the back of the slide with a solid machined piece to add mass to the system and fixing the safety, it wouldn't be a terrible pistol.
I think the design as it stands it would kick like crazy, if Ian's description of how light it felt in the hand.
I do think the concept of a rotating-bolt, forward-chambered pistol could work, but yeah, like you said, it'd definitely need some more junk in its trunk to keep things controlled, and some more engineering done to make sure all the components worked smoothly and safely.
There is enough material. Steels and alloys especially exotic ones are insanely robust. And mass is enemy, almost always.
Length wise it just have long barrel.
There are some successful short recoil rotating barrel pistols out there, the system is well known and an alternative to the tilting barrel system used in the Colt 1911. However, the way this thing was designed denotes an utter lack of understanding of physics.
This pistol reminds me of the gun shaped stuff i made from planks, plastic tubs and scrap metal to play with since my parents did want to buy me toy guns, that's what it looks like to me
Wow ! It's a Bjip gun
Hhe got that safety idea from the craig-jorgeson/ 30/40craig with a lot of sofety on safety off. Have seen many with this problem.