Electrolux Charlton: Washing Machine Company Converts Bolt Action to Semiauto
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มี.ค. 2024
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The Charlton was a conversion of a bolt action Lee rifle into a light machine gun, designed by New Zealander Phillip Charlton. Some 1500 were made in New Zealand, but a bit later it appears that there was an effort to also produce the gun in Australia. The Electrolux company (the same one that makes washing machines and other home appliances today) made a few prototypes.
The Electrolux version is different from the original in a couple ways. While the basic conversion mechanism is the same, the Electrolux is more refined, with a shorter gas system and a fairly clean action cover oven the working parts. It is also semiautomatic only, intended to be a should rifle where the original was made for the LMG role. Electrolux also used standard No1 MkIII rifles as its base, where the originals were made from a variety of mostly worn out Lee Metfords and Long Lees.
The Electrolux contract was cancelled in June 1944, and only a few prototypes were made. This example is in the British Royal Armouries collection, to whom I am grateful for the access and the trust to take it apart for you!
My video on the standard production Charlton:
forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/video...
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/ forgottenweapons
www.floatplane.com/channel/For...
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! shop.forgottenweapons.com
Makes sense that a washing machine company can change the cycle settings
👏
You understood the assignment, bravo good sir!! 😂
One to clean up your clothes
the other to clean up the streets
BRB, can’t game today…gotta “do some laundry.”
That's the best thing I've read in awhile. Tasteful, clever, and funny. Well done.
there was a joke back in the day (80s Romania):
A man who works at a washing machine factory can't afford a washing machine - so, every day, for years, he brings back pieces of the machine.
when he finally has all the pieces:
"it doesn't matter how I assemble all the pieces, I still end up with a machinegun!"
Recycled joke from Nazi Germany in the days of the weapons production illegal under the Versailles Treaty. 🙂
There was a similar joke in Polish People's Republic, with bonus of name drop of the factory (Radom Łucznik)
But the machine in question was a sewing one...
It was then when he realized he should become a gunsmith
In the 80s at Land Rover in the UK the police raided a home and found an almost complete Range Rover in the garage made from parts stolen from the factory over 2 years.
This included the bodyshell, engine, gearbox etc.
@@nigeh5326A feller channeling his inner Johnny Cash! 😂
“Behold the horror that lies beneath.” - Ian McCollum
Its a really nice piece of sheet metalwork
'comes off'
oh my
Firearms equvalent of H.P Lovecraft?
I see the title of a new book on kludging bolt actions to semis...
This rifle looks like something Bethesda created for a Fallout game.
@XanthosAcanthus I was just thinking of all the prototype weapons Ian has covered that weren't adopted because of concerns about being too difficult to service in the field. Then we see this horror show. Shows how much priorities change when you are actually in a war as opposed to just being prepared for one.
From now on i'll look at my Electrolux washing machine with a renovated sense of pride.
Now you can find solace when that overpriced piece of junk breaks down...again.
And maybe a little suspicion if it starts making loud banging noises
Are their washing machines good?! I'm serious, If I want to buy one, should I consider this brand?
I had an Electrolux vacuum cleaner, it sucked.
Just don't let the gubberment know it's an "automatic" washing machine or they will be kicking in your door 😂
I love seeing semi-auto conversions of bolt action rifles. The ingenuity required to kludge together a working self loading feature onto an established manual platform will never cease to amaze me.
War is a great motivator to invention! 😎👍
Considering they are also the reason for the existence of Forgotten Weapons, we owe them a lot
The thing these designs always remind me of is that there are reasons certain types of guns look the way that they do. Purpose-designed semi-autos need room for the bolt and carrier to cycle without injuring the shooter, in a way that a bolt action doesn't, so you usually* get the distinctive hump-backed look and receiver cover over the area behind the bolt where the bolt and carrier will travel.
*The Garand family and related designs (M14, M1 carbine, BM 59, Ruger Mini-series) are pretty weird in their lack of a bolt carrier, below-barrel gas system, and in some cases, the way the bolt tilts when cycling.
Same here. These are some of my favorite videos.
@@chanman819
The 'Garand family' design starts to make since once you've seen john brownings 'flapper gun' prototype and in turn M1895 machine gun also 'potato gun'. The 'flapper gun' is just a winchester with a bulky gas trap at the end of the barrel and long rod conneted to the lever action and said gas trap, since the winchester doesn't have a trigger disconnect it shoots at full auto. The 'potato gun' is a refined version of the 'flapper'. There's no long rod connected to the end of the barrel, the action is powered by a port in the barrel but there is still a lever action cycling back and forth. There is a gas trap prototype of the potato digger that was created just incase of potential lawsuit by maxim, making it a more compact version of the 'flapper'.
The garand's design instead removes the flapper lever entirely but kept a long rod from the orginal instead. Beyond the rod and gas port they are functionally buillt like bolt actions, in this case straight pull bolts. I find it interesting that garand was originally designed a gas trap, meaning it was a lot closer to john browning 'original flapper gun' prototype.
"Electrolux Charlton" sounds like the name of a popular model of robot butler from a pseudo-Victorian sci-fi setting. "Ah, I see you've bought yourself a new Electrolux Charlton, Sir Henry. How do you find him?" "Oh, he's capital, old man. Makes miles better tea than the old Vickers Whitworth I used to have, you know. Better telephone voice as well!"
Very good choice to upgrade the butler from the Vickers Whitworth.
Mine had a tendency to commit crimes, and it was extremely tiresome having Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple poking their noses into everything each time a house guest wound up dead.
🤣🤣
hahahahahahhahahhhahhajajahha
The ATF in the 1910s classifying all bolt actions as “readily convertible” to full auto after seeing this and the Huot
"Nothing sucks, like an Electrolux"
Old vacuum cleaner ad 😂
When I was a small lady my mum had one that you could attach the hose to the exhaust of the vacuum and my dad used it to spray paint a car, it sucked and blows lol
@@scottorgan2255
We had an old Nilfisk, and could place the hose on top. Then it would blow too.
@@scottorgan2255Noice 😊
Best vacuum ever. My grandmother had one and it contained a singe rubberized bag that you would simply empty when done. Didn't need to buy bags as with the later disposable paper-bag vacuums. Much better than today's vacuums that can't pick up a crumb and require more time cleaning the filters and compartments than of a tiny room itself.
Slight correction - The "Broad Arrow" is not a proof mark, it is used to show ownership of the marked item by the British government.
The broad arrow was also used by the Australian Government, for the same purpose.
Do most countries names have that small mark?
It is also used in conjunction with a graven line, as a reference mark in the national ordnance survey (military provenance mapping).
I supply an example of original design. 4" X4".
I believe the term is "property mark". The famous IJA chrysanthemum served the same purpose; it does not necessarily indicate that the gun has been proofed, but simply that it has been accepted into the military property inventory.
The Broad Arrow is akin to the Viking Rune TYR, a Rune associated with Law/Government.
General Electric: "Write that down, WRITE THAT DOWN!"
GE was in the Manhattan Project, bringing neutron triggers to life.
Lucky for us they didn't use Lucas - "The Prince of Darkness"! 😅
GE makes miniguns too
Early Lucas stuff was good. As the British motorcycle and car building companies headed toward insolvency they demanded everything that their OEM suppliers made be cheaper, just so long as it lasted through the warranty period, with predictable results. That being said, I never had a problem with the ACR series car alternators, or the RM units on motorcycles. Simple, reliable and...cheap. @@lancerevell5979
"Why are you reading a washing machine manual ?"
I guess Jonathan is behind the camera with a sign that says "if you break my Charlton i will hurt this rare Berthier"-variation ! "
Lol He has Cletus the backyard gunsmith on standby to ' sporterise ' a rare Berthier 😂
There's probably a Berthier tied down with an electric saw ready turn it into a pistol
it's fine they can just file together a new one
You mean Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries in the UK, home to thousands of iconic weapons throughout history?
Be sure to thank Johnathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armories Museum in the UK, home to thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history for having you there, Ian
But not, as far as I can tell, the most famous piece of artillery in the UK: Mon's Meg.
@@aaronleverton4221That stands at Edinburgh Castle Scotland.
@@causewaykayak Where it is on loan from the Royal Armouries.
@@aaronleverton4221 I think it belongs to the castle. It blew up on a parade long ago and is now retired to the battlements.
You'd need to ask the armouries or the Castle Custodians.
@@aaronleverton4221
Sorry. I miss read you ! Apologies. I just clipped this from a search ... confirming what you just said.
Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Environment Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.
It has a barrel diameter of 20 inches (510 mm), making it one of the largest cannons in the world by calibre.
You know its rare when Ian breaks out the gloves.
He is a good guest.
Royal Armouries rules.
Husqvarna is another Swedish company that has made both home appliances and guns.
Husqvarna is owned by Electrolux afaik
And Soltam makes cooking pots as well as artillery, mortars and munitions. Their pots are really good, by the way, last forever.
Husqvarna is a weapons manufacturer that expand its products.
@@bjrnegillarsen1380 wrong, they were to 2006,then they split, husqvarna is it on company now
Westinghouse made guns too. Many companies diversified during wartime.
And.... IBM.
When your deadline is in an hour but gun Jesus uploads a new video
When your deadline is in an hour but gun Jesus uploads a new video, 17 minutes long -
then your deadline is in 43 minutes...
Not turning Australia into the secondary industrial hub for the British Empire was a huge missed opportunity, not just for the Empire, but also for Australia as well.
Australia’s manufacturing capacity is a story of fits and starts. Pre 1900 it was quite significant. Slowly tapering down to WWII to a point where the country was chronically short of machinetools. By the end of WWII Australia was manufacturing several aircraft types and engines and was relatively self sufficient in machinetool and tool manufacturing.
Didn’t want the competition
Britain made money by having the manufacturing and the colonies supplied the raw materials
Australia's population was too small and dispersed for it to become an industrial nation.
Shipping to and from there kinda sucks because it's the endpoint of shipping lanes, not between other destinations. Shipping raw materials and finished products costs more both ways and rules out a lot of industries with thin profit margins
@@StuSavilleno it wasn’t
Electrolux is a Swedish company that started up produktion in Australia in 1931 to meet the demand of vacuum cleaners.
Electrolux also own Husqvarna chainsaw and garden machinery too.
@@philhawley1219Yes they do. As a swede of course I have Elektrolux fridge, Husqvarna chain saw, Volta vacuum cleaner and a Cylinda washing machine.
@@philhawley1219 Not anymore they still own the name in their markets(household things) but Husqvarna is it's own company now.
@@panzarmannen5371 And I safely assume you own a Volvo. Or if you're really brave, a Saab!
@@md_vandenberg
I actually own three volvos. All militarys. 😏
"The outside fit and finish is good but it's a wacky kludge inside" very relatable
Truly, a great Mood.
Tossing things in the Yarra River is one of the greatest Aussie traditions
lets ogg adlay
Victoria's dumping ground, still find the odd car when I go kayaking
@@turnip5359spanian fan ?
Haha, NA pronunciation YAR-RAH, it's Yaaah-ruh!
This feels like a weapon from the Fallout Universe. Even the idea that a commercial goods manufacturers made this fits into the setting. Mad respect for the efforts of New Zealand to make this in their situation domestically.
Kiwi’s are inherently flightless bro…. They snuggle up to Australia’s bosom when they need to make genuine headway.
Electrolux heavily did door-to-door selling of their proudcts in my country during the 1990's.
Of conversion kits?
@@hond654vacuum cleaners actually. I never could sell a single one.
Madam, have you considered upgrading your vaccum cleaner?
No!
What about your Enfield bolt rifle?
My mother (in New Zealand) used to call vacuuming "luxing" the floor, I think quite common usage here in the mid 20th century because of the dominance or maybe monopoly of Electrolux in Australasia
@@inzana2 "Luxing" the verb to lux.
One thing I noticed was the ribs on the side cover. To me 10000 miles away they looked like the ribs that were pressed into the sides of old Vacuum cleaners of that era. Pitch and height being the same. Electrolux in Australia until the mid 70's were a one trick pony that made the same exact thing with only variations for fancy covers and hoses. They did it pretty well to as it was quite common to get reconditioned models on sale that just had motor brushes and bag replaced. It was much later on when they started the household appliance thing when by 2000 all the Aussie companies had combined into one to compete with the O/S stuff.
Can’t get enough of these semi/full auto conversions
You call it a kludge but that's probably the nicest bolt-action military conversion made, especially with the tightly fitted dust cover. Only a slight modification to the actual operating mechanism as well.
16:00 - this raises the question of whether he actually did toss them in the river, or if he "lost them". I wonder if there was a strange glut of semi-auto-converted Lee Enfields shortly afterwards.
As a young police constable in Brisbane, i was on duty as a guard for the auctioneer at the army surplus auction at the then supply depot Cannon Hill. I was also an army reserve trooper in an armoured unit.(2/14th Q M I) One lot on display was listed as scrap metal. An old bloke standing next to me saw me stareing at the items and asked if I knew what it was. He was a veteran tanker as well. It was the ring gear and drive motor from a centurian tank turret, wire strapped to a pallet and the centre was FULL of dismantled .50 calibre browning HMG's. Less barrels. That was 1977. And WW 2 surplus was still plentiful in Australia.
Famously the US dumped huge amounts rather than ship it all home. Around 1976 some individual in WA did their homework and dug up a collection of US Army side valve Harley Davidsons still in their preservative packing, buried in dry sand. Easier than gold.
Electrolux was more well known for vacuum cleaners than any other “household appliances”
For my grandma Electrolux was synonymous with vacuum cleaner and she lived in communist Poland!
My parents have owned a pair of them that are over 25 yrs old, bit clunky to move, but they still get the job done!
Fridges and washing machines, that's what I tend to associate the brand with seemed to be everywhere when i was a kid in the UK.
"Nothing sucks like an Electrolux".
Pretty fitting gun for Mad Max or Fallout like post-apocalyptic world where an old rifle has been converted into a semiautomatic rifle.
These conversions are always wild. WAY more complicated than a purpose built gun.
Yeah, at that point, why not call the British with "blueprints for bren gun please, for the common wealth" and use the amount time one used to design and get that cludge working to instead figure out how to turn bren gun blueprints into guns. Heck take the barrels from the old rifles and throw rest away.
Such cludge can't be any easier to make, than a new box section receiver for a tilting bolt machine gun.
@@aritakalo8011 government bureaucrats who know absolutely nothing about the policies they’re implementing, especially with guns involved.
Electrolux Charlton sounds like a Probibition-era dance
Ha HA! That made me laugh. Good one. ^-^
It's a precursor to the electric boogaloo
The alternate reality version, in a world with Tesla coils etc haha
Wife and I have had a Electrolux vacuum for thirty-five years still going strong.
Non military industries were quickly adapted to switch their production to military purposes. Another example was the allies Mk 24 mine which was actually an acoustic homing torpedo (known as "FIDO") which was used against diving U-boats in WW2 and which was powered by a 7.5 hp off-the-shelf General Electric Washing Machine electric motor.
7.5 hp washing machine?! What on earth did it wash?! That would disintegrate clothes.
@@brainkill7034 A commercial washing machine motor. for large commercial washers, for use at say prisons, coal mines or other establishments that would generate a large volume of dirty laundry.
Bodged. Proud of it.
Wait the Swedish electronic manufacturing industry Elektrolux? Had offices in Australia and new Zealand in the 40s?? I'm amazed by that.
Their line of absorption fridges were a big hit in places where rural households could be hundreds of kilometers apart. They did not require electricity, just a heat source, which could be anything. It was Electrolux's break out worldwide product.
@@lucidnonsense942 Gas (propane to some) fridges are still the go-to choice for those who have yet to be met at the front gate by their state grid and prefer not to burn diesel all day and night in, shall we say, more arid environments.
@@aaronleverton4221 also super popular for camping/remote trips here in aus
@@aaronleverton4221 I actually have a trailer with a propane powered fridge.
The ikea of consumer appliances.
Who else here thinks it would be an awesome idea for Ian to write a book on converted bolt action-to-autoloaders during the early 20th century? He’s mentioned how much he loves them. They’re interesting, novel, and are completely stuck in the time period in which they were needed. All the ingredients are there!
I lived for a while near the original Electrolux factory in Stockholm and of course know them well for their electric appliances of all sorts but had no idea their subsidiaries dabbled in making weapons during WW2. Truly fascinating info. :)
Electrolux used to make vacuum cleaners too.
Yeah i definitely remember- my parents owning a older model that had an anodized aluminum cover that was a wild blue color.
Was actually pretty powerful, was around for years, built pretty solid
My grandma gave me her old one when I first lived on my own.
In NZ it wasn't uncommon to hear someone say they were going to do the "luxing", which was an alternative to "vacuuming", Electrolux were the most available/popular vacuum cleaners 50 years ago. In the UK it's still called hoovering.
@@BillRoyMcBillyep, my mom gave me a maroon upright vacuum when I got my first place. it used to smell when it got hot. in the end I stripped it down and cleaned it out. had it years. bombproof
And freezers and fridges.
When Ian said there might be some still around in Australia I laughed.
There is indeed more than one here in private collections.
@@davidwalker6887
Two ?
Nobody knows what's stashed throughout Australia.
Can’t wait to see this one of a kind rifle on the Call of Garbage 38 re-remake and BattleTrash 53: return to WW2 again.
It’ll have a red dot sight, suppressor and be weilded by a disabled black woman soldier.
The first reported case of "I lost my guns in a boating accident" 😅
Semi/full auto conversions of bolt action rifles will always be a facinating watch ^^
This is the kind of content that brought me to this channel over ten years ago, and that I sometimes miss. The obscure outcomes of transitioning from older firearms technology to new inventions using whatever the nation had available.
"Electrolux Charlton" sounds like the name of a techpriest from 40k or a wrestling move
Looks very industrial. I like it
This wartime conversion of bolt action Lee Enfield is not a kludge or horror Ian, ingenuity at its best. Sometimes, when you have limited resources, you have to make do and adapt what you have got. This video is quite entertaining, and the comments are great!
The best I could with what I had. Quite a few very successful (for a given value of success) guns came out of that process. Some even managed to have iterations of ever greater success.
I am still not convinced that it would have been worse idea to say "Only reuse the barrel and bolt face. Rethink everything else from the ground up". Those are the only two components that a general metal working facility will have a hard time with.
This is the most steampunk irl weapon I've ever seen. It genuinely looks like it was plucked right out of a video game... even the patina finish looks like a texture from fallout or something lol
Oh, you should check out the Canadian effort along the same lines, I think it was called the Huon.
Gun Jesus has a video on it, of course. 😁
Wait til you see his video about the M1915 Howell Enfield.
"Steampunk" is the first word that comes to mind when I see any of these early bolt action to semi-auto conversions. Looks so cool despite looking a bit "cobbled together".
@@Hyperlingualism I have seen that one back when it first came out, I think. Wasn't the Huon another Howell conversion attempt?
“I threw all the parts in the river”
Uh huh. An unfortunate boating accident eh.
“Exactly!”
I have known about the Charlton for a couple of decades (it's existence and other similar "conversions" caused a bunch of quirks to be introduced into Canadian gun laws) but this is the first time I hear of a link with Electrolux,.
Am I the only one that is on the edge of my seat when Ian strips down these rare, complicated arms?
The new Zealanders must've been in kahoots with the Italians with the (albeit less horrendous) self oiling design
You’d probably be able to find another one and other WW2 oddities in any older RSL Club across Australia. An RSL is a Returned Serviceman’s League, which is also basically a bar, a bistro or restaurant, poker machine facilities and an auditorium of sorts, basically a mini Casino but with the emphasis on Veterans.
The older ones always tended to have SMLEs, Brens, Webley revolvers and the odd Vickers in a display case, along with trench art, cartridges, bayonets, war medals and commendation letters
The old Navy and Military club had a copy of the japanese surrender and a variety of ephemera.
The Bee Gees used to refer to their RSL days in the early 1960s
Oh yes! Another oddball bolt action to semi auto conversion! These are definitely some of my favourites!
I know that it was just a film prop but that added shell to hide “the horror that lies beneath” reminds me of the machine guns used by the Bad Guys in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
G'Day. Here in Australia .303 fire arms were illegal in some states because of the caliber. Non military caliber self loading fire arms such as Browning A5's, Browning take down .22's etc were legal in Australia and in some states we didn't even need licenses for them.
If memory serves me, that was a NSW law about military calibres not Australia wide. I think during the early days post war their was a glut of surplus arms and ammo becoming available. Certain people were worried about commie insurgents armed with .303s .
A washing machine company was able to build a Semi-Auto rifle that was less complicated than the G41(M) and presumably more durable than the G43. In terms of bolt action semi auto conversions they did a surprisingly good job.
Is that the royal armories museum in the uk which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history!?
And has a Dragon Keeper of Firearms and Artillery?
Funny thing is, I live in Erith and I've bought something Electrolux in Charlton.
Semi auto conversions of bolt action service rifles gotta be one of my favorite genres.
I feel like at that point, far all the metal and machhiening that went into that conversion, it would have made much more sense to just take the barrel, the magazine and just make a whole new semi-auto rifle.
As an australian im so glad to hear there is next to 0 chance of me being handed that thing during my future conscription
I've heard tales of this gun, from a kiwi mate of mine. The Kiwis are nothing if not, very good light engineers
He could bore for New Zealand about Charltons.
There's a thing in New Zealand known as, "Kiwi ingenuity". The amount of inventions etc to come out of NZ is nothing short of fascinating.
It's an inevitability that comes from being so far away from everywhere else in the world - importing pretty much anything (especially in the first half or so of the 20th century) is very expensive and time consuming so you get all sorts of ingenious home grown designs for various things popping up.
You take a perfectly good rifle and made it to something.
My mother has a Electrolux afridge that has been on constantly since 1983.
This is the only video-format of this weapon’s disassembly that I’ve found. I’m a machinist who has been trying to make an airsoft replica of this weapon for a few years now, and this video has helped tremendously. Thank you, ian.
Thank God it's simple... :) What a magnificent collection of random threshing machine parts masquerading as a rifle.
"why are you reading a washing mashine manual?"
"Camouflage."
"Because this bloody 'rifle' they gave me to fight off the Nips broke, and the stupid buggers sent all the washing machine repairmen to fight Rommel in bloody Africa!"
Amazing that guns like this even got past the evaluation phase, surely someone looked at this prototype and said..... hold on a minute.
An Aussie Franken-Rifle from WW2...which surely won't be winning any prizes in a Beauty Contest.
So i started watching this video while hanging up the laundry. While hearing Ian talking about this gun, i put my cellphone on top of a freezer we have outside. When Ian mentioned that the guys that made this gun would usually make fridges, washing machines and stuff i couldn’t help but have a look at the freezer’s brand, which i didn’t know. To my surprise, it was an Electrolux freezer!
Just a coincidence, really, but a fun one nonetheless.
They make amazing vacuums and panini presses as well!
Electrolux: Best vacuum ever. My grandmother had one and it contained a singe rubberized bag that you would simply empty when done. Didn't need to buy bags as with the later disposable paper-bag vacuums. Much better than today's vacuums that can't pick up a crumb and require more time cleaning the filters and compartments than of a tiny room itself.
The red fibrous material under the hand guard is probably asbestos. you see the same stuff on all kinds of old washing machines here in Australia.
Australian response to Ian wanting to tear apart a unicorn machine gun "yeah go on mate, she'll be right"
Did anyone ever make a conversion of the straight-pull Swiss K-31 into an autoloader? Or the Steyr straight-pull rifles? That would be very interesting! 😊
just love the engineering behind making a bolt action into semiauto rifle. they are just marvelous.
Oh you're in the British Royal Armouries?
Now I see why you had a video with Jonathan Ferguson The Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armories Museum in the UK, home to thousands of iconic weapons throughout history as well. Figured you would know out a few weapons videos while there as well.
After the war they went door to door:
"Mam, could we just make a quick demonstration of this superb select fire rifle?"
You know that scene in the film Fury (2014), there they are advancing in line against the German anti-tank guns!? While watching this video I had a metal image of Peter Jackson doing a New Zealand remake with a line of "Bob Semple" Light Tanks & a bunch of Kiwi troops armed with Electrolux Charlton semi-auto rifles 😆
Great that you are showing all these rare and sometimes pretty weird guns like this one. I had no idea these existed. thank you!
This was an amazing upload. As an Aussie, thanks mate!
That looks a lot like vacuum cleaner sheet metal of the era.
As far as I can see, almost every Commonwealth nation had a try at making a full auto version of the SMLE. British Howell, Australia with the Charlton, South Africa with the Rieder and Canada with the Huot.
The Charlton (in selectable single shot/full auto) was a New Zealand modification
@RB-qq1ky the Aussies are always ready to pinch kiwi stuff, see Phar Lap, pavlova, Crowded House...(they can have Russell Crowe though)
@@sauleddy1
Haha, yep. The Aussies get ‘AUSTRALIAN actor Russell Crowe nominated for another Oscar’ vs ‘NEW ZEALAND actor Russell Crowe involved in bar room brawl’
Should’ve also added the Charlton was an adaption of a much earlier rifle than the SMLE…
Fantastic! Thank you Ian.
This is a great video, thanks for showing us this.
"A rifle for clean a trench of enemies".
- Company advertising
After being intergral to the Desert War and stoping the Japanese in the Papua-New Guinea Campaign, the Australian Army really was a spent force by the end of 1942 and its size would decrease through the war. It would go from 14 divisions in 1942 to 3 in 1945. Units that were still fighting past 1943 would have been attached to US or British units and issued those forces standard weapons. Surprised something like this was developed into 1944.
Especially since the threat of a Japanese invasion was long over. This is last ditch stuff. Not “ we’re winning the war” equipment.
Had a small population
Couldn’t replace loses
Love to see one in operation !
Man even a German engineer would have a stroke seeing the inside of that thing.
you know, you can put this kind of weapon on a fantasy shooting game like fallout or bioshock and nobody will believe it's a real gun
Electrolux also sold vacuum cleaners too. I had one growing up that was from the 50's/60's and that was in the '90's! Dad cannibalized the vacuum and repurposed the cord winder!
Still do... Electrolux is like the second largest producer of home electrics.
Another awesome vid! Thanks!
Wow, talk about obscure. Thank you Ian!
Looks like if the Enfield and an SKS had three way love making with an M1 Garand. I don't know how that works for guns but thats the way it is.
The oiler makes think Zippo was involved as well.
As bodges go, this one seems much less bodged than most. Captive screws, with holes that are obviously for using a round to disassemble, no flying external bits of mechanism to catch vegetation or gouge off bits of soldier. How does it shoot, though?
this is an awesome video. I love learning about firearms made in the ANZAC era.
I am a sucker for Antipodean weapon profiles. Many thanks for these presentations!
"We have semiauto at home"
Home semiauto...
Alternative History: Would New Zealand have won the war with their washing machine rifles and tractor tanks?
We were busy teaching David Sterling how to SAS in North Africa at the time.
What a complicated design! Kudos to the engineers/armourers who managed to make that work!!
Credit for saying Melbourne properly mate!