Q&A 44: My Workout Routine, NATO-Caliber Brownings, & Defend the Alamo!

00:59 – Is there a future in balanced recoil type systems?
02:05 – Does 8mm Kurz have a place today?
03:44 – Was there ever an M1 Carbine in .223?
06:05 – How is Floatplane working out?
08:30 – Is the gunsmithing profession in decline?
12:17 – Reprint of Chassepot to FAMAS
14:10 – Will the M14 make a comeback to defeat body armor?
15:00 – What was so bad about the M14 anyway?
16:43 – How to check out a Carcano TS carbine, and fuddlore gunsmiths
20:06 – Lightweight AR-10 as a scout rifle?
21:48 – (Literal) Silver bullets
23:33 – Elephant guns in the trenches in WW1
25:41 – If I were an armorer in the next John Wick film
27:31 – What is my daily exercise routine?
30:04 – Why was the .22LR designed with a rebated bullet?
32:11 – Firearm factory tours to show new and old machinery
33:35 – Is the move away form military bullpups permanent?
35:29 – Transparent handgun grip panels
38:30 – Constant recoil plus 3-round-burst
39:53 – You have one hour to equip and train the Alamo defenders with any guns. Go!
42:55 – Judging the OGCA display show
43:46 – Why night sights on pistols and not rifles?
45:19 – How much ammo and how many spare barrels did a German MG squad carry in WW2?
Folke Myrvang’s book is out of print, but available here: https://amzn.to/31zl6Lj

49:42 – Questions about my plans to film a particular gun
51:25 – Why didn’t the US convert the 1919 Brownings to 7.62mm NATO?
54:32 – CMMG radial delay system for intermediate or rifle calibers?

21 Comments

  1. Enjoy your Q&A. Wish you would do a video on the Winchester Model 12 shotgun. It was used by the American military in WW1, WW2, Korea and the Vietnam. It was also used by millions of sportsman. It was produced from 1912 to 1964 and was nicknamed the “Perfect Repeater”

  2. This will almost certainly be the only video on the entire internet that will mention my two favorite gun topics, the .22 Spitfire and the Remington Rolling Block.

  3. “(…)Does 8mm Kurz have a place today?(…)”
    Whilst 7,62 x 39 was certainly influenced by Kurzpatrone, Soviet cartridge from very beginning was supposed to do more, as it was supposed to use not only in avtomat but also intermediate-cartridge machine gun (competition finally won by RPD) and as such flatter trajectory was desired and achieved.

    “(…)Was there ever an M1 Carbine in .223?(…)”
    Gordon Ingram did developed weapon chambered for 5,56×45 NATO cartridge developed from M1 Carbine, namely SAM-1, see upper one-third of 1st photo from top: https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1440915
    I am wondering if anyone tried to mate M1 Carbine with .221 Fireball cartridge?

  4. A cameo of Ian in a John Wick movie, I’d love to see that ! Picture this :

    Sequence shot, raveling from right to left : John wick walks with determination in an underground shop to stock up on trendy high-speed low-drag tacticool next gen shooting devices and on the background, you see Ian handling a rifle back to the armorer and saying “surely, surely but… do you have something… older ?”

  5. Regarding the Israeli M1919A4 guns: I read recently that the M-60 belts can be used in one by loading it in the gun “brass up, links down”. As opposed to the M-60 being loaded “brass to the grass”. Can anyone confirm that? Or was that a Canadian commenting on it?

  6. Had an uncle who was an old-school gunsmith back in the 1980’s. He had a large shop behind his house: lathe, milling machine, a row of buffers, a complete bluing set up, etc. Besides custom builds and such, he had an arrangement with Remington (and others?) to do warranty work for them. Over time the factories took repairs in-house, probably solely due to legal liability (a gunsmith screws up, then Remington gets added to the lawsuit and pays it all). That was a serious bread and butter loss to the sole proprietor type gunsmiths. In the early 1990’s the ATF basically banned FFL’s for at-home businesses, so having a separate place of business was another expense. Gunsmiths have to have an FFL to hold a customer’s firearm.

    Monitoring the Brownells catalog over the years, every issue has fewer real gunsmith tools and more AR and Glock DIY parts. Their last “Gunsmith Kinks” book came out 19 years ago. Just the way it is, unfortunately.

    The total of two times I have used a gunsmith (not my uncle), they did not know what they were doing. Did not fix the problem or made it worse. Since then I have just done my own work, including fixing their screw ups. If I need something like rebarreling or refinishing I will send it off to a specialist.

    Other topic: Cooper was open to semi-auto scout rifles, but thought that going semi-auto would increase the weight over an equivalent bolt action. He was also of the opinion, right or wrong, that when shooting a “real” rifle cartridge a well-trained shooter could work the bolt by the time the rifle came down from recoil, so to him any extra weight was not worth it.

    Other other topic: Some people like the M14, even servicemen of that era I have talked to. Besides the box magazine, it was simplified a bit, and did have a built-in provision for a scope mount. A very fair criticism of the end result was it was too long — the massive flash hider made it longer than the M1 Garand, and thus cumbersome getting into and out of vehicles, helicopters, going through the woods, etc. And as Ian said, the idea it would replace the carbine, the subgun, and the LMG was stark raving mad lunacy.

  7. Ian should be aware that silver bullets are for use on werewolves, not vampires. These can be dispatched via a wooden stake through the heart. I wonder if a shotgun could be adapted to use a sort of wooden baton round on vampires? It would have to be pump action of course. Zombies just need a regular bullet to the brain, so I think Ian is well served there. As for politicians, you will just have to work out your own solutions.

  8. There are still some old school type gunsmiths around. I am one. But as Ian points out, the vast majority of people expect a gunsmith in 2020 to charge the same rate as a gunsmith circa 1950. So most of us have a full time job (I am a millwright/mechanic at a paper mill) and do gunsmithing on the side. This of course limits the amount of work we can take on as there are only so many hours in the day, and certain repairs (correctly repairing a cracked stock for example) require far more man hours than most people actually pay for. I also see alot of folks who want to restore grandpa’s break action shotgun, until they find out that the work involved will cost far more than the gun will ever be worth in a thousand lifetimes. This is where the passion for firearms comes in. In many cases, the tooling costs more than I will make on a repair, and it is left up to “hopefully I will get another repair on this type of rifle so I can reuse the tooling”. In many cases I have to make the tools myself on the mill or lathe. I still have about 20 years until I can retire from my full time job and actually support myself on gunsmithing. But I do so love the work. And yes, having to hold an FFL to be able to do gunsmithing is an absolute pain in the behind, 100%.

  9. One hour to equip and train to defend the Alamo?

    M79’s for everyone. And if I can find a half-dozen guys who display some aptitude, 2 or 3 MK19’s

  10. As far as I know eeoere ieeeeeee Austria makes factory tours but it’s neither a very old nor a very large manufacturer.

  11. “32:11 – Firearm factory tours to show new and old machinery”

    As far as I know Voere in Austria (Tyrol) does factory tours and is quite open with what they are doing but they are neither very old nor very big.

    But they made some interesting guns in the past like the AM180, the VEC 91 with caseless ammunition and electrical ignition and Versions of their current X3 long range rifle with a laser ignition system. So they are maybe still worth visiting.

  12. re: 03:44 – Was there ever an M1 Carbine in .223?

    Trick question, or is Ruger Mini-14/AC-556 not considered an answer.

    • “(…)Mini-14(…)”
      Wait. Is not this weapon off-spring of M14 rifle and therefore descendant of M1 rifle?

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