Ask Ian: What Rifles Were the M2-M13?

This review of the M4 rifle platform highlights its 5.56mm caliber, modularity, and performance. Key features include a 14.5-inch barrel with a 2900 fps muzzle velocity, chrome-lined barrel, and a 6-position collapsible stock. The video demonstrates both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire modes, emphasizing controllability during sustained fire.

This YouTube video features a "Bullet Point Profile" of the Bushmaster E2S A1 M4 Rifle. It highlights the specific model and provides a link for viewers to get an instant quote on the firearm through Gallery of Guns, indicating it's a product showcase or sale-oriented content. The video focuses on the rifle itself, its features, and potentially its historical context or performance characteristics.

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.