Forgotten Weapons: State of the Channel 2018

This video from Forgotten Weapons details the complex journey of Lithuanian rifles following WWII. Due to successive Soviet and German occupations, these arms were scattered, ending up in various national arsenals, with partisans, and eventually dispersed globally to regions like China, Vietnam, and Africa as part of post-war arms caches. The expert analysis highlights the geopolitical impact on small arms distribution.

This video explores the impracticality of a bullpup Chauchat design due to its long-recoil mechanism. Ian McCollum highlights that the bolt and recoil spring must remain behind the action, making a compact bullpup configuration impossible. The discussion also touches on potential handling improvements through shortening the original Chauchat.

The Stopper 37mm is a South African riot control gun featuring a simple break-action mechanism and a folding stock. It is designed for less-lethal applications, demonstrated with a crowd control bird bomb and a baton round. Notably, the recoil from the baton round was found to be surprisingly mild.

This video from Forgotten Weapons, hosted by Ian McCollum, delves into the effectiveness of YouTube thumbnails and content strategy. McCollum shares an experiment comparing his standard thumbnail style against an AI-generated, clickbait design for his PBS-1 suppressor video. Despite the AI thumbnail significantly outperforming his own in YouTube's A/B testing based on watch time share, McCollum opts to maintain his authentic, human-centric approach, valuing unique historical content over algorithm-driven engagement.

This video showcases a rare set of Lepage wax-bullet dueling pistols from 19th century France, designed to make dueling a safe sport. The pistols use a unique dummy cartridge system with a primer and a wax bullet, and require a special screw-on handguard for shooter safety. The demonstration covers cartridge assembly and the break-action mechanism of these historical sporting firearms.

The Coenders rifle features a unique bolt-less, forward-operating action where the barrel assembly moves instead of a traditional bolt. Its 5-round magazine utilizes a V-shaped compound spring, and the next round aids in ejecting spent casings. This design represents an innovative, albeit unconventional, approach to rifle mechanics.

This video details the unique 'French Finger Trap' issue with the MAS-36 rifle's bayonet, where two rifles can become unintentionally locked together. A 1951 French arsenal memorandum identified this problem, proposing a simple modification to the bayonet handle. Drilling a small hole allows a tool, like a firing pin, to depress the internal spring, enabling the separation of locked rifles.

The M134 Minigun is a scaled-down 7.62 NATO rotary cannon, requiring 24V DC power and consuming 1.5 kW. Its high rate of fire (3,000+ RPM) is essential for aircraft engagement windows. The complex delinker mechanism is critical for feeding ammunition, and practical hand-held use is impossible due to weight and recoil. Live fire demonstrates rapid ammunition consumption and the need for indirect aiming.

The H&K G11 is a revolutionary prototype assault rifle designed in the late 20th century, notable for its caseless ammunition and unique rotating drum bolt mechanism. Despite advanced features like a 2000 RPM burst fire rate and integrated optics, its development was ultimately halted by geopolitical shifts and cost concerns.

This video demonstrates the assembly and live-fire of the German 1936 pattern light mortar (L.Gr.W.36). It highlights the mortar's leveling mechanism for accuracy and the difficulty in visually tracking its 50mm projectiles after firing. The content showcases historical military hardware and its operational use.