The French seem to have a habit of being ahead of the curve in firearms development and then being left with an outdated system by the time the next war comes.
The French invented the first practical smokeless powder rifle (Lebel), hydro-pneumatic cannon (model 75), "modern" light tanks (FT 17), etc. and unfortunately other countries would take these ideas further and better and leave France behind.
This pattern applied at sea all too often as well. They launched the first ocean going ironclad in the form of the Gloire, only to have HMS warrior launch soon humbling the design and cutting down the idea that France would suddenly have superiority over the wooden British fleets.
@@calebhu6383 the tank leclerc (french tank) is one of the best of the world, really better than the abrahams ! your aviation is really good too ! we are not behind dont worry x)
I always am impressed with the tool marks on these old guns, like someone cut that part all those decades ago and STILL there they are, never worn off. Really cool gun, by the way. I'd never heard of one. Thanks!
Ian I really want to thank you for your extremely thorough work on cataloging French firearms. I've become enamored by their quirky designs and "stop gap" background. You've made me a Francophile.
Hey that's fun, I'm from Châtellerault, you didn't butcher the name too much, good job. The gun factory's been turned into a museum "Auto, Moto, Vélo" (Car, Bike, Bicycle), an ice rink and a Music and arts school we call a "conservatoire". Yeah I don't know where I'm going with this comment but hi anyways
@@davidlacoste Opened on King's Order in 1814 and closed 1968 because it wasn't needed anymore. It mostly made blades and armor at first. Forgot to mention there's also a pretty good circus arts school in there.
@@Hockeygekko The more i listen to Gun Jesus, the more i get angry at our politicians who destroyed our military industry. The MAS, the MAT and the MAC were making so beautiful guns.
I love french arms because when I first started looking into history and historical weapons I was in love with english weapons the more I see and research the more I realise the french were in many ways better at it. And this from an American who due to shitty school history was taught to have bias against both those nations
Very good, I f***ing love german, french, american guns!! M1 garand was our best choice of all time (in ww2) kar98 was an absolute mule, m36 was an awesome rifle, m1919a6 and other variations of it, were pretty nice. Mg34/ mg42 were genius, chatelerault was great ←i apologise for poor spelling there
RIA estimated price ~$16k. Divided by ~5k Patreons = ~$3.5 per Patreon. You know if Ian went ahead and made a video like "guys I really want this gun, can you help me out with like three fiddy" that would totally happen. When is his birthday again?
Chatellerault: Doctor, I cannot get an ejection, I think my rod might be broken. Doctor: Hmm, let me see, a yes, you've put the rod in the wrong way, let me fix that.
I've learned SO much over the last few years from watching your videos, I truly feel that Forgotten Weapons should be played on monitors in break areas at Basic Training Bases everywhere 24/7 so that new recruits can get a better feeling of weapons. When I went through basic, I knew nothing about guns and simply memorizing the C7 (Canada) wasn't very helpful because it was forced knowledge that had no reference, historical or otherwise!
Masaharu Morimoto I couldn't agree more considering that when u.s. basic is allowing you to work with a wide variety, there is really no back drop on reference. Occasionally you may get reference to older u.s. guns but there is no explanation on how they got to that point and into now.
I love that mag release. This is *ideal*. You can do it one handed, smoothly, while keeping your trigger hand on the gun, and possibly even your eyes on the sights. The dust covers are a good addition and a useful application of the lessons learned in WW1. They are also sane and easy to use, which is a plus
+Forgotten Weapons : I've submitted a French translation for this awesome piece of history (and this great lecture). Dunno how the review system works (first time I've submitted subtitles for someone other's video), but I hope it passes and helps you widen a little bit your public. Also, even though I've tried to document myself, I am no gunsmith and I hope I didn't get things wrong when you go all technical on this stuff :) If you're interested, I can send you the subtitles in a separate file, so you can use them on another site.
According to an east german (GDR) handbook the french indeed tried to market this weapon abroad, e.g. to the Romanians and Yugoslavians. During a demo a weapon exploded (perhaps because of the wrong ammo?), injuring several members of a romanian military delegation. The deal did not come about.
@15.30 ,I bet in Vietnam several of those were operated with various bolts or screws to replace the lost takedown pin! That really is a pretty well designed weapon and especially for 1923. Great video!
Love how French guns usually have a lot of good ideas. It ends up being sometimes 'real good', but even when it's full of nice ideas ; and never perfect. There is always a stupid idea in the load of good ideas- Feels like the actual french government.
Kinda the same thing with Italian stuff. Decent concepts. Really emphasize on quality but either just aren’t as good as the other options or they can’t make enough of them.
Somewhere in Russia, in the home of a retired KGB agent is a bookcase filled with copies of Ian Fleming novels and a hidden Vss Vintorez rifle waiting to be baptized by Gun Jesus. I patiently await that day.
Joan Summers Hopefully with the matching briefcase, suppressor, and PSO-1 optic. I'm curious to see if they have their own reticle or if they just grabbed SVD Dragunov scopes.
Simply answered, yes, the VSS and any other 9x39 caliber gun has to have their own optical sight since the 9x39, being a dedicated subsonic round, has a very slow velocity. The VSS only has an effective range of 300 to 400 meters and the scope reflects that. This particular version of the PSO sight is called the PSO-1-1. Googling that shows you the reticle.
And somewhere else, in Germany, a century old hostel still stands, a survival of two World Wars. Down the stairs and underneath the concrete basement floor, is a cache of Gestapo SDK silenced rifles wrapped in cheesecloth... awaiting their recovery. However, I doubt that day will ever come. Too rare a find. Nice to dream.
Finland recived 100 Chatelleraults and one million rounds together with 5000 Chauchats from the French during the Winter war. Chauchats were distributed to trainingdepots during the Continuation war but these Chatelleraults stayed in warehouse. But there are official manuals etc for both guns.
Ian is the freaking best. While I might not remember all the history he has to offer on each weapon, if I ever get timeslipped back into either of the world wars, I’ll be a fucking pro with my rifle 😂
"And you'd go 'Oh, that looks like a Bren. That looks like a Nambu'" No that looks like a ZB-26. *gets to the part where he says it came out before the ZB* Oh. Oh. Well shitbiscuits.
Detonating a .300 Blackout in a 5,56x45 chamber would make a great short video on InRangeTV. Maybe you find some super cheap and old beater AR to demonstrate.
I've seen several photographs of this weapon being used by the FNL/Viet Cong guerrilla during the Vietnam war. Perhaps not so odd to find them in a former french colony, but interesting all the same =)
Saw this in a museum once in Normandy and wasn't able to identify it for a while. Which reminds me; in the same museum they had a slightly obscure US submachine gun, a United Defence M42. Any chance of a video on one of those?
It seems to me that there might have still been a mindset of "weapons should be disassembled by the armorer, not the shooter" in the design of this weapon. Still, for the mid '20s, this was a pretty forward-looking design.
Hi Ian. A number of these were found in the armouries in Zimbabwe, apparently they were donated by Gaddafi to the liberation movements in Rhodesia during the bush war. They are all rough but complete, all missing the rear sight and magazine. Apparently they were never used as the liberation movements had no ammo for them. They are packed in heavy axle grease. Interestingly, under the flip up butt plate, there is a spring metal sliding trap door that contains a spare set of the two loose-able parts, the take down pin and ejector.
how did the great depression affect this French small arms development? It seems all these guns were made in the 20's then not much happened in the 30's
Well the French political situation was not helped by the great depression... But there were a number of problems in the era for stability, and not all of it had to do with economics
Well, the French _did_ end up grabbing a bunch of neato new small arms during the 1930s, like the MAS-36 bolt-action rifle. They _almost_ got their own semiauto rifle, the MAS-40, which would later end up being redesigned into the more famous MAS-49 rifle.
colt and their BAR technical package... given that they still didn't have one years later during the Polish procurement fiasco, it must have been just a bunch of notes on someone's beer mat.
Yeggster Shane generally those flip up butt plates are designed to be rested on top of your shoulder when in a firing position. By placing your off hand on the butt stock and pressing down you (in theory) have a very stable grip for automatic fire. I could be incorrect for this particular fire arm though
That's one of the most interesting LMGs I've seen so far & as you say, very advanced for its time. Does anyone have information regarding its reliability in the field?
I believe I once read that it was really good in that regard. Nothing in this video has me questioning that either, as it seems relatively simple compared to other machine guns that were still also highly reliable.
I wonder how far back the idea of tool-less disassembly goes. I don't know why but it seems like a more modern idea, of being able to completely field strip a LMG without any tools.
Requiring tools to disassemble an infantry auto loading weapon is pretty much instant rejection from procurement. The ones you see that do require tools were built for vehicle or ship or aircraft mounted use but got re-purposed or they were just desperate for anything they could get their hands on. There are a few exceptions of course.
If one looks when he reassembles the gun, there seems to be a sear protruding from the front of the stock, at the bottom. That, I think, is a delay sear to reduce the rate of fire. The bolt strikes the protruding pin above the sear, knocking a weight backwards in the stock against its own return spring. When that comes forward, it strikes the delay sear, causing it to release the bolt.
Really interesting how most LMGs of the interwar years took on very similar form factors. Obviously the MAC-24 but also the ZB-26, ZB-30 (basis for the BREN), the Type 97. Even the Lewis, admittedly a WW1 system, got some interwar love and despite the pan mag largely follows the same form factor, likewise the DP-28 also follows this general shape. It speaks volumes for the thinking of these nations during that period and suggests something about the top feed, long stroke gas piston, rifle-esque concept was for the time the best way to go or perceived as such.
2:29, unless the guy is a mechanic who deals with screws like these all the time, I always screw the screw back in it’s place so I don’t loose them or mix them up.
Great video, and a very interesting weapon, just a couple of little notes. The Bren gun does have a very effective forward grip, it is the bipod legs folded back, the feet have a notch that engages a ridge either side of the receiver providing a very firm grip that you can get your fingers round, so it's good even with wet muddy hands. Alternatively you can use the barrel handle locked out perpendicular to the barrel. The FN MAG does not do this. Screwed in pins are not easy to make captive, the end of the pin cannot be made bigger because the pin body must fit its hole snugly, and you cannot have a groove to ride a retainer because the pin has to turn to come off. The solution is to move the thread (and lever) to a collar turning on the pin, which can then have a groove and a retainer. That and the extractor apart it seems to be a well-designed weapon, the links business is not actually that bad as long as they are strong enough, it is very difficult for dirt to work its way into the axles and cause wear, the links and axles should be case-hardened or just the axles and a spare set of links provided in the spares box. Certainly less prone to wear than sliding surfaces as in the Bren, BAR or FN-FAL which must be assembled dry (or graphited) in dusty conditions. The FN-MAG also uses toggle links to move the locking surfaces in and out of battery, it seems to work fine.
The hole in the bottom of the foregrip is made to fit the M.A.S.36 rifle's muzzle as a temporary monopod/rest. I have seen one or two pictures of this from the Indo-china war. I don't know of anyone else doing something similar, do you?.
It is amazing to hear you say the French made. high priority of testing existing LMGs after WWII, which ended in 1918, or 4-5 years after France had their big LMG testing competition. Should it really take 4 years to get examples of weapons from your friends and defeated enemies and try them all out? It doesnt sound like the French Army was in a great postwar hurry.
I wonder why didn't they adopt the 8mm Mauser outright, instead of developing a new cartridge to replace the obsolete 8mm Lebel. It was well tested and established, available in vast quantities and useful for the scores of captured German weapons. It was a darn good cartridge also.
Defensive thinking invites defeat. That is, to let the enemy have the initiative, decide when the action begins and where. Preparing to fight in your own territory is assuming that you will allow the enemy to invade.
The French had a long debate on whether to adopt a 7mm or 8mm cartridge and carefully weighed the advantages and disadvantages of both. They diplomatically split the difference at 7.5mm.
Candyrock87 Agreed that it might just be a matter of preference between this, the BAR and Bren and ZB. But what about the DP and MG34, surely they are superior?
MG42 was the absolute beast in that game. Terrifying accuracy. And about Chatellerault - I think there are no characters who have it from the start of the game
do you have to do much research before each video?... or do you just know all of this info? because i wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. good video btw
Shawn Anderson There is the LSAT machine gun, which was tested in the early 2000's. I hadn't heard much of it since 2008 but it was featured in a few video games. It essentially used the same ammunition technology as the G11 but beefed up the round.
Back in the 1970's Daisy had a caseless .22 that was ignited by a compressed air jet, so it was just a projectile and propellant molded together. Ballistically it was about equal to a .22 short. Usual story with a high tech, proprietory rifle/round combination, it just faded from the scene.
One variant of this added a bit of plumbing to spray in a teaspoon or so of water between each round for cooling. This was used in the Maginot Line as firing port weapons, and although the steam might obscure the view of the firer, it could fire indefinitely without overheating or needing a barrel change.
merci pour la presentation de cet tte arme ,mon grand pére avait ca en 1940 prés de lille dans l armée francaise ,il fut capturer quelques jours avant dynamo ,merci a votre nation de l avoir liberé de son camps et de nous avoir aidé,il me disait que cette arme s enrailler facilement et que la cadence de tir etait trop lente par rapport a la mg 34,par contre j ai une affection particuliére car mes grands parents m ont élevé ,j adore ce fm 24_29 malgré ces defaut ,merci pour cette video
i have a book that says that the exploding guns was because of poor quality metal but the 8mm vs. 7.5mm makes sense, the book didn't really have a good review of the gun but it wasn't exactly bad
weapons of world war II by Alexander Ludeke, Says the inferior metal was used in the barrels and would ignite cartridges when fed after continued fire, i like the book (maybe too much) large coloured pictures, interesting information. some problems with editing (i think) though like 3 inch instead of 0.30 inch for a rifle cartridge or muzzle velocity and firing range being the same number for and artillery gun.
Wonder if the 7.5 x 54 barrel could be replaced with 7.62x51 barrel and the magazines still work with modern 308 ammo - What do you think Ian is it doable?
The French seem to have a habit of being ahead of the curve in firearms development and then being left with an outdated system by the time the next war comes.
Seth Rich the french also seen to have a habit if having terrible commanders when war starts to.
That's because they didn't have mandatory retirement for Septuagenarians and Octogenarians.
The French invented the first practical smokeless powder rifle (Lebel), hydro-pneumatic cannon (model 75), "modern" light tanks (FT 17), etc. and unfortunately other countries would take these ideas further and better and leave France behind.
This pattern applied at sea all too often as well. They launched the first ocean going ironclad in the form of the Gloire, only to have HMS warrior launch soon humbling the design and cutting down the idea that France would suddenly have superiority over the wooden British fleets.
@@calebhu6383 the tank leclerc (french tank) is one of the best of the world, really better than the abrahams !
your aviation is really good too !
we are not behind dont worry x)
I always am impressed with the tool marks on these old guns, like someone cut that part all those decades ago and STILL there they are, never worn off. Really cool gun, by the way. I'd never heard of one. Thanks!
Ian I really want to thank you for your extremely thorough work on cataloging French firearms. I've become enamored by their quirky designs and "stop gap" background. You've made me a Francophile.
Hey that's fun, I'm from Châtellerault, you didn't butcher the name too much, good job.
The gun factory's been turned into a museum "Auto, Moto, Vélo" (Car, Bike, Bicycle), an ice rink and a Music and arts school we call a "conservatoire".
Yeah I don't know where I'm going with this comment but hi anyways
Do you know when the factory closed?
@@davidlacoste Opened on King's Order in 1814 and closed 1968 because it wasn't needed anymore.
It mostly made blades and armor at first.
Forgot to mention there's also a pretty good circus arts school in there.
@@Hockeygekko King's Order in 1814? Louis XVIII?
@@davidlacoste My bad I typo'd the opening date, it's 1819, works began in 1820.
Still, Louis XVIII was indeed the man on the throne back then.
@@Hockeygekko The more i listen to Gun Jesus, the more i get angry at our politicians who destroyed our military industry. The MAS, the MAT and the MAC were making so beautiful guns.
So a Bren walks into a BAR........
RandyLeftHandy I hope we C Z end of this joke
P3dro 2486 ...and refuses to pay child support
I see what ya did there... :)
Well played sir! :-)))
Frère Jacques
Frère Jacques
Dormez-vous
Dormez-vous
Sonnez les matines
Sonnez les matines
Ding, ding, dong
Ding, ding, dong
Congratulation to the guy who wrote the french subtitles, he did a pretty darn good job! Bravo!
I love french arms because when I first started looking into history and historical weapons I was in love with english weapons the more I see and research the more I realise the french were in many ways better at it. And this from an American who due to shitty school history was taught to have bias against both those nations
Very good, I f***ing love german, french, american guns!! M1 garand was our best choice of all time (in ww2) kar98 was an absolute mule, m36 was an awesome rifle, m1919a6 and other variations of it, were pretty nice. Mg34/ mg42 were genius, chatelerault was great ←i apologise for poor spelling there
@@farengarsecret-fire9597 M1 garand isn’t a American gun though it’s canadian
We should all donate hard so that Ian can buy that gun.
RIA estimated price ~$16k.
Divided by ~5k Patreons = ~$3.5 per Patreon.
You know if Ian went ahead and made a video like "guys I really want this gun, can you help me out with like three fiddy" that would totally happen.
When is his birthday again?
It's Gun Jesus! Make it an early birthday and Christmas gift all wrapped into one!
pdittrich Ian is a Goddamn loch ness monster
Shit I'll give him 20!
Seems appropriate since he's writing a book on french small arms.
16:20 "We can see that there is a smiley on the firing pin."
I love Devin Townsend. Lol
Chatellerault: Doctor, I cannot get an ejection, I think my rod might be broken.
Doctor: Hmm, let me see, a yes, you've put the rod in the wrong way, let me fix that.
Your French improved a lot, well done
Merci!
And YOUR english sucks
Your attitude sucks Karine, go bully someone else on Grindr
Couldn't hold a rictus at "Fusil mitrailleur" tho' !
Hi,
Despite some exceptions, or some proper nouns, when the last letter of a french word is a consonnant, it's mute. "Fusil" is said "füzi"
I've learned SO much over the last few years from watching your videos, I truly feel that Forgotten Weapons should be played on monitors in break areas at Basic Training Bases everywhere 24/7 so that new recruits can get a better feeling of weapons. When I went through basic, I knew nothing about guns and simply memorizing the C7 (Canada) wasn't very helpful because it was forced knowledge that had no reference, historical or otherwise!
Masaharu Morimoto I couldn't agree more considering that when u.s. basic is allowing you to work with a wide variety, there is really no back drop on reference. Occasionally you may get reference to older u.s. guns but there is no explanation on how they got to that point and into now.
Very good point!
I love that mag release. This is *ideal*. You can do it one handed, smoothly, while keeping your trigger hand on the gun, and possibly even your eyes on the sights.
The dust covers are a good addition and a useful application of the lessons learned in WW1. They are also sane and easy to use, which is a plus
+Forgotten Weapons : I've submitted a French translation for this awesome piece of history (and this great lecture). Dunno how the review system works (first time I've submitted subtitles for someone other's video), but I hope it passes and helps you widen a little bit your public. Also, even though I've tried to document myself, I am no gunsmith and I hope I didn't get things wrong when you go all technical on this stuff :)
If you're interested, I can send you the subtitles in a separate file, so you can use them on another site.
That is a beautiful gun, a lot of thoughtful engineering went into it. amazing for 1921.
According to an east german (GDR) handbook the french indeed tried to market this weapon abroad, e.g. to the Romanians and Yugoslavians. During a demo a weapon exploded (perhaps because of the wrong ammo?), injuring several members of a romanian military delegation. The deal did not come about.
Ironically, the Romanians who marched alongside Von Paulus' German Sixth Army were equipped with some of these! In lieu of more modern German weapons.
Probably should've came with notes saying that the 24 isn't meant for 8x57
@15.30 ,I bet in Vietnam several of those were operated with various bolts or screws to replace the lost takedown pin!
That really is a pretty well designed weapon and especially for 1923. Great video!
Love how French guns usually have a lot of good ideas. It ends up being sometimes 'real good', but even when it's full of nice ideas ; and never perfect. There is always a stupid idea in the load of good ideas-
Feels like the actual french government.
... and the problem is: one stupid idea can make the entire gun unreliable.
the french government is much more: "a good idea in a load of stupid ideas"
Kinda the same thing with Italian stuff. Decent concepts. Really emphasize on quality but either just aren’t as good as the other options or they can’t make enough of them.
@@thibaudduhamel2581
Connard. Regarde autour s il y a bcp mieux.
@@jeromenesa1787 Says the guy whose government has gone through several empires and five different republics since the US and UK have had the one.
Somewhere in Russia, in the home of a retired KGB agent is a bookcase filled with copies of Ian Fleming novels and a hidden Vss Vintorez rifle waiting to be baptized by Gun Jesus. I patiently await that day.
Joan Summers Hopefully with the matching briefcase, suppressor, and PSO-1 optic. I'm curious to see if they have their own reticle or if they just grabbed SVD Dragunov scopes.
And also hopefully an as val and a groza too
Lumadous as val😍
Simply answered, yes, the VSS and any other 9x39 caliber gun has to have their own optical sight since the 9x39, being a dedicated subsonic round, has a very slow velocity. The VSS only has an effective range of 300 to 400 meters and the scope reflects that. This particular version of the PSO sight is called the PSO-1-1. Googling that shows you the reticle.
And somewhere else, in Germany, a century old hostel still stands, a survival of two World Wars. Down the stairs and underneath the concrete basement floor, is a cache of Gestapo SDK silenced rifles wrapped in cheesecloth... awaiting their recovery. However, I doubt that day will ever come. Too rare a find. Nice to dream.
Finland recived 100 Chatelleraults and one million rounds together with 5000 Chauchats from the French during the Winter war. Chauchats were distributed to trainingdepots during the Continuation war but these Chatelleraults stayed in warehouse. But there are official manuals etc for both guns.
we did booby trap few of em but not even soviets wanted em
I guess Finland didn't bother recharmbering them to 54r or 53r
This show is the only decent thing on the whole f-ing internet. There is soooo much garbage, and this gem. Thanks Ian. Great job.
I've been waiting for this video for so long
Call Of Duty 2 The Big Red One PS2 ahhh memories.
Without that game i will never know this gun,other French firearms and some Italians firearms lol
Xanny I remember not being able to pronounce it so I just called it the "chatter-alt"
Haesu yoooo same goes for those Mas smg, Italian breta shitty stripper clip LMG and smg. That game is legit memories
@@l23fireye even as a clueless kid i thought the breda sucked ass, but looked neat.
Holy fuck, I played that game so many times over... It was legendary at the time 😌 I never knew how to pronounce it, so it was shit-rault
Ian back at it again with the French small arms videos
Ian is the freaking best. While I might not remember all the history he has to offer on each weapon, if I ever get timeslipped back into either of the world wars, I’ll be a fucking pro with my rifle 😂
"until you hit your tripod stand" XD that's why we love you Ian XD
this weapon brings back memories from CoD Big Red One
ANOTHER COD 2: BRO GUN!
Ian, I love this weapon so much. All praise Gun Jesus!
Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!
"And you'd go 'Oh, that looks like a Bren. That looks like a Nambu'"
No that looks like a ZB-26.
*gets to the part where he says it came out before the ZB*
Oh. Oh. Well shitbiscuits.
Count Spartula I
Count Spartula lol
Detonating a .300 Blackout in a 5,56x45 chamber would make a great short video on InRangeTV. Maybe you find some super cheap and old beater AR to demonstrate.
Walter Bishop That seems more like Demolition Ranch's area of expertise :)
Still could be incredibly interesting to witness
Try .308 in A .270 can be A bit hard to get the bolt open.
@@normanlesley1867 *Cries in industrial tolerances*
@@MarvinCZ or IV8888
I've seen several photographs of this weapon being used by the FNL/Viet Cong guerrilla during the Vietnam war. Perhaps not so odd to find them in a former french colony, but interesting all the same =)
They love baguette too
Love to see it, great work bros!!!
Saw this in a museum once in Normandy and wasn't able to identify it for a while. Which reminds me; in the same museum they had a slightly obscure US submachine gun, a United Defence M42. Any chance of a video on one of those?
Yes, I have one filmed but not posted yet.
Forgotten Weapons What are the chances of that? Great to hear!
Forgotten Weapons nice
There is a video of that now!
@FlyingScoots nice pfp
It seems to me that there might have still been a mindset of "weapons should be disassembled by the armorer, not the shooter" in the design of this weapon. Still, for the mid '20s, this was a pretty forward-looking design.
Many many years ago when I was young (and stupid), I could've cared less about most French guns, but even then I loved the Chatellerault.
Awesome gun and review.
Interesting looking weapon. For some reason, I love the look of machine guns that have top mounted magazines.
Cute pfp
I appreciate that you edited the description to add the sale price of the auction!
Hi Ian. A number of these were found in the armouries in Zimbabwe, apparently they were donated by Gaddafi to the liberation movements in Rhodesia during the bush war. They are all rough but complete, all missing the rear sight and magazine. Apparently they were never used as the liberation movements had no ammo for them. They are packed in heavy axle grease. Interestingly, under the flip up butt plate, there is a spring metal sliding trap door that contains a spare set of the two loose-able parts, the take down pin and ejector.
wow, only 5 comments yet?. Must've gotten here early.
Nice video on a weapon I knew very little about, Ian. Keep it up :D
how did the great depression affect this French small arms development? It seems all these guns were made in the 20's then not much happened in the 30's
Well the Great Depression start when the stock market crashed in 1929 and ended in 1939
Yeah that's why I said it seemed not much happened in the 30's I was wondering if stuff did happen
Well the French political situation was not helped by the great depression... But there were a number of problems in the era for stability, and not all of it had to do with economics
I just re-read you question and took it as you asking what happened in the 30's and im like "the great depressions my dude. lol
Well, the French _did_ end up grabbing a bunch of neato new small arms during the 1930s, like the MAS-36 bolt-action rifle. They _almost_ got their own semiauto rifle, the MAS-40, which would later end up being redesigned into the more famous MAS-49 rifle.
Neat piece , amazing for the eary post WW1 period !
I don't know who made the subtitles but congratulation and thank you!
80 years of service. Not perfect but gets the job done, I really liked what they did with the rear sight, cover, and mag release
I've only ever seen this gun in a video game. Ugh I love this channel
colt and their BAR technical package... given that they still didn't have one years later during the Polish procurement fiasco, it must have been just a bunch of notes on someone's beer mat.
Great video as usual. Any chance to make one for the Mat-49? It is both a remarkable and forgotten weapon indeed.
A pretty good LMG, rareish in the US and of French manufacture and usage...surely a shoe-in for Ian's collection :-)
You know you want this for your collection! Buy it Ian!
Hey guys ... 4:23 .. what is the purpose of the butt plate folding up like that?? Cleaning Kit? Access to a spring?
Yeggster Shane generally those flip up butt plates are designed to be rested on top of your shoulder when in a firing position. By placing your off hand on the butt stock and pressing down you (in theory) have a very stable grip for automatic fire. I could be incorrect for this particular fire arm though
Literally, unironically, a shoulder thing that goes up.
the french develop amazing stuff when they plan it out.
Thank you for finally touching on this wonky and Rare light machine gun, still holding out on a live fire video.
Looks like a beast
Iconic to anyone who played Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One
That's one of the most interesting LMGs I've seen so far & as you say, very advanced for its time. Does anyone have information regarding its reliability in the field?
I believe I once read that it was really good in that regard. Nothing in this video has me questioning that either, as it seems relatively simple compared to other machine guns that were still also highly reliable.
I wonder how far back the idea of tool-less disassembly goes.
I don't know why but it seems like a more modern idea, of being able to completely field strip a LMG without any tools.
Requiring tools to disassemble an infantry auto loading weapon is pretty much instant rejection from procurement. The ones you see that do require tools were built for vehicle or ship or aircraft mounted use but got re-purposed or they were just desperate for anything they could get their hands on. There are a few exceptions of course.
Awesome takedown and reassembly design
Damn, this thing looks like it has been made by a game designer... So many bits and bobs and details :D
Loved using it from the first mission of Call of Duty 2 Big Red Ine.
Ian, being a french guns lover, how do you rate french machineguns in general?
Ian, mate, you have got to put a bid down that! That'd be awsome!!
If one looks when he reassembles the gun, there seems to be a sear protruding from the front of the stock, at the bottom. That, I think, is a delay sear to reduce the rate of fire. The bolt strikes the protruding pin above the sear, knocking a weight backwards in the stock against its own return spring. When that comes forward, it strikes the delay sear, causing it to release the bolt.
Great video ! Speak about the manurhin mr73 it's very interesting french revolver
It is, indeed !
Really interesting how most LMGs of the interwar years took on very similar form factors. Obviously the MAC-24 but also the ZB-26, ZB-30 (basis for the BREN), the Type 97. Even the Lewis, admittedly a WW1 system, got some interwar love and despite the pan mag largely follows the same form factor, likewise the DP-28 also follows this general shape. It speaks volumes for the thinking of these nations during that period and suggests something about the top feed, long stroke gas piston, rifle-esque concept was for the time the best way to go or perceived as such.
French guns: the only thing slightly more interesting than French girls
The French Army: Interwar dustcover champions!
2:29, unless the guy is a mechanic who deals with screws like these all the time, I always screw the screw back in it’s place so I don’t loose them or mix them up.
That gun is just beautiful 🫠
The fortress version had a water injection system, boiling off about a teaspoon of water between shots.
Great video, and a very interesting weapon, just a couple of little notes. The Bren gun does have a very effective forward grip, it is the bipod legs folded back, the feet have a notch that engages a ridge either side of the receiver providing a very firm grip that you can get your fingers round, so it's good even with wet muddy hands. Alternatively you can use the barrel handle locked out perpendicular to the barrel. The FN MAG does not do this. Screwed in pins are not easy to make captive, the end of the pin cannot be made bigger because the pin body must fit its hole snugly, and you cannot have a groove to ride a retainer because the pin has to turn to come off. The solution is to move the thread (and lever) to a collar turning on the pin, which can then have a groove and a retainer. That and the extractor apart it seems to be a well-designed weapon, the links business is not actually that bad as long as they are strong enough, it is very difficult for dirt to work its way into the axles and cause wear, the links and axles should be case-hardened or just the axles and a spare set of links provided in the spares box. Certainly less prone to wear than sliding surfaces as in the Bren, BAR or FN-FAL which must be assembled dry (or graphited) in dusty conditions. The FN-MAG also uses toggle links to move the locking surfaces in and out of battery, it seems to work fine.
The hole in the bottom of the foregrip is made to fit the M.A.S.36 rifle's muzzle as a temporary monopod/rest. I have seen one or two pictures of this from the Indo-china war. I don't know of anyone else doing something similar, do you?.
It is amazing to hear you say the French made. high priority of testing existing LMGs after WWII, which ended in 1918, or 4-5 years after France had their big LMG testing competition. Should it really take 4 years to get examples of weapons from your friends and defeated enemies and try them all out? It doesnt sound like the French Army was in a great postwar hurry.
I wonder why didn't they adopt the 8mm Mauser outright, instead of developing a new cartridge to replace the obsolete 8mm Lebel. It was well tested and established, available in vast quantities and useful for the scores of captured German weapons. It was a darn good cartridge also.
Because it was German.
'Not Invented Here' syndrome, a very common malady in Military circles.
Defensive thinking invites defeat. That is, to let the enemy have the initiative, decide when the action begins and where. Preparing to fight in your own territory is assuming that you will allow the enemy to invade.
The French had a long debate on whether to adopt a 7mm or 8mm cartridge and carefully weighed the advantages and disadvantages of both. They diplomatically split the difference at 7.5mm.
There is a smiley face on the firing pin.
Merci pour la vidéo. Très belle arme encore aujourd’hui. Fallait de sacrés bras pour la tenir en main à mise à feu!😅
A fancy bar with a top feed mag and double triggers ,yet no quick change barrel and the mags center line so it is more than a little bit of a pain!
My go-to LMG in Silent Storm until you get your hands on the MG-42.
Candyrock87 at least I'm not the only one who played the game
Candyrock87 Agreed that it might just be a matter of preference between this, the BAR and Bren and ZB. But what about the DP and MG34, surely they are superior?
Dp has small mag and large ap usage for reloads with a somewhat rare ammo (depends on who you play as) the 34 it's superior, but less accurate
MG42 was the absolute beast in that game. Terrifying accuracy. And about Chatellerault - I think there are no characters who have it from the start of the game
shatik33 only mg anyone starts with is gator and he starts with the maxim
Which is also the only way to get that gun too
You can see one of these being used in the film day of the jackal . Near the start at the attempted assassination of Charles de gaule
do you have to do much research before each video?... or do you just know all of this info? because i wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. good video btw
Interesting, accurate documentation, good appreciation of military history. You are overwhelming your subject. Good french pronunciation also.
Besides the Vulcanic, has any manufacturer tried making a caseless ammunition firing gun? The m41a pulse rifle notwithstanding!
Shawn Anderson You could count paper cartridge rifles like the needle guns.
The most known is the H&K G11. There were probably other attempts.
Shawn Anderson There is the LSAT machine gun, which was tested in the early 2000's. I hadn't heard much of it since 2008 but it was featured in a few video games. It essentially used the same ammunition technology as the G11 but beefed up the round.
I thought the LSAT used a funkier cased but telescoping ammunition?
Back in the 1970's Daisy had a caseless .22 that was ignited by a compressed air jet, so it was just a projectile and propellant molded together. Ballistically it was about equal to a .22 short. Usual story with a high tech, proprietory rifle/round combination, it just faded from the scene.
www.municion.org/sinvaina/22caseless.htm
The ejector rod looks almost like something you could make a field replacement for if you have a thin screwdriver and a few files and pliers handy.
A pretty long nail IMO.
One variant of this added a bit of plumbing to spray in a teaspoon or so of water between each round for cooling. This was used in the Maginot Line as firing port weapons, and although the steam might obscure the view of the firer, it could fire indefinitely without overheating or needing a barrel change.
Huh
merci pour la presentation de cet tte arme ,mon grand pére avait ca en 1940 prés de lille dans l armée francaise ,il fut capturer quelques jours avant dynamo ,merci a votre nation de l avoir liberé de son camps et de nous avoir aidé,il me disait que cette arme s enrailler facilement et que la cadence de tir etait trop lente par rapport a la mg 34,par contre j ai une affection particuliére car mes grands parents m ont élevé ,j adore ce fm 24_29 malgré ces defaut ,merci pour cette video
Nice Video.
i have a book that says that the exploding guns was because of poor quality metal but the 8mm vs. 7.5mm makes sense, the book didn't really have a good review of the gun but it wasn't exactly bad
weapons of world war II by Alexander Ludeke,
Says the inferior metal was used in the barrels and would ignite cartridges when fed after continued fire, i like the book (maybe too much) large coloured pictures, interesting information. some problems with editing (i think) though like 3 inch instead of 0.30 inch for a rifle cartridge or muzzle velocity and firing range being the same number for and artillery gun.
Can you do a video on the Zb26 and the German production and use of them during the war?
I dig in Your lyriks a lot , have a good day , ur speakin / vids the very besto , thankU
Surely better than our Breda 30.
67claudius
It baffles how lmg design could go so wrong in a world that already contained the gold standard ZB.26
That bolt honestly made me think of the m240 bolt more than anything
Huh, the Dreamcast of its time/industry.
Didn't know Chatroulette got their start in firearms.
Pretty tight machine gun. I like the suggested price at RIA as well. Thinking.....
Can you make a video about the french mg AA-52 (if possible)?
i can definitely see the BAR in the charging handle
I'm gonna guess Ian's got a bid in on this thing. Dunno if he's gonna win, but I bet he's got a bid in on it. Let's hope he wins. :-)
i like how it looks like they bought a BAR and decided to put the mag on top and nothing else
Wonder if the 7.5 x 54 barrel could be replaced with 7.62x51 barrel and the magazines still work with modern 308 ammo - What do you think Ian is it doable?
This is beyond interesting