Original Volcanic "Rocket Ball" Cartridges

This video details the history and mechanics of the Volcanic pistol, Smith & Wesson's precursor to their later iconic revolvers. It highlights the innovative but flawed 'Rocket Ball' ammunition and the transition of the company through Oliver Winchester to the development of the Henry Rifle. The Volcanic's toggle-link action is shown to be a direct ancestor to Winchester lever-actions.

This review details a unique custom-cut-down Walch 10-shot pepperbox revolver, originally designed with a superposed chamber mechanism. The modification removed the barrel for extreme concealment, creating a derringer-style firearm. While offering high capacity and portability, this conversion significantly sacrifices muzzle velocity and power.

This review delves into the Colt 1848 Baby Dragoon and 1849 Pocket revolvers, highlighting their historical significance as the financial backbone of the Colt company. It details key design evolutions, such as the introduction of the loading lever and changes in trigger guard shape, and discusses variations like the 'Wells Fargo' model and London production. The video emphasizes their popularity for civilian self-defense due to their compact size and multi-shot capability.

The Whitney-Beals Walking Beam Pocket Revolver, designed by Fordyce Beals in 1854, utilized a unique 'walking beam' mechanism to index the cylinder, circumventing Colt's patent. Manufactured by Eli Whitney, this percussion revolver featured a ring trigger for operation and manual hammer cocking. Variations include 6-shot and .28 caliber models, with the standard being a 7-shot .31 caliber. Beals later contributed significantly to Remington's designs.

The Walch Revolver is a unique 19th-century firearm that achieves 10 shots from a 5-chamber cylinder using superimposed charges. Each chamber holds two loads, ignited sequentially by dual percussion nipples. Manufactured by New Haven Arms Company under Oliver Winchester, it served as a crucial cash flow between other firearm projects. Variants include the .31 caliber Pocket and .36 caliber Navy models.

This video compares the terminal ballistics of a .31 caliber black powder revolver against a modern .22 LR pistol. While the .22 LR showed greater hydraulic displacement in water jugs, the .31 caliber demonstrated more structural damage to soda cans and watermelons. Despite its surprising effectiveness on certain targets, the black powder revolver's slow loading and reliability issues make it impractical for most modern uses.

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.