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The Chauchat Challenge Episode 4: Pascal From Brutality
The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...
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Enjoying Black Powder Episode 3: The Martini-Henry MkIV
Sorry about the wind noise! We did our best to deal with it in post-production.
Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory amm...
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Enjoying Black Powder Episode 2: The Model 1874 Gras
Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so much for the Trapdoor) makes them seem like a ...
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Enjoying Black Powder Episode 1: The Trapdoor Springfield
Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so much for the Trapdoor) makes them seem like a ...
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Masters of the Air - Luger Bring-Back
In this video, Tom shows off an iconic World War II bomber jacket and pants, reminiscent of those worn by the brave airmen portrayed in the acclaimed series 'Masters of the Air'. He also shows us a remarkable World War II police Luger brought back by bomber crewman, Sergeant Lloyd Hauer.
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Simple method for polishing a rough rifle bore
This is an original M 1841 Mississipppi rifle in the original .54 cal. It has some rough spots, but all in all the rifing is saveable. Here is my method.
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French SIG-Manurhin 540 at the Range
Sorry for the poor audio - I was filming in an indoor range with a loud ventilation system running. But it was a chance to shoot a proper select-fire SIG-Manurhin 540, and I wasn't going to let that opportunity get away! It's a quite nice rifle, weighing in at 3.5kg / 7.75 pounds in 5.56mm. Frank...
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USAS-12 at the Range (w/ the Fun Switch)
The USAS-12, made by Daewoo in South Korea, is one of the better box-fed shotguns available (I use that term loosely; there are not that many of them around). It was available as both a semiauto and a fully automatic model - although the semiautos were arbitrarily defined as Destructive Devices i...
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Prototype Matra Manurhin Compact SMG at the Range
I came across this prototype (serial number 7) PDW/compact SMG in a collection, and had the opportunity to take it out to try on the range. I don't have any specific data about it, but it was made by Matra Manurhin, which only existed for 5 years, from 1985 until 1990. This was part of the repeat...
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Full Auto Glock 18 at the Range: Can I Hit...Anything?
I've fired a number of different machine pistols, but until today never a Glock 18. So, we're going to give it a try! This is an original factory example, not a conversion.
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The Chauchat Challenge Episode 3: Jari Laine
The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...
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What is this Weapon Christmas Special Unabridged
Enjoy this festive (Christmas) cracker of an episode that is specially unabridged and extended for History of Weapons and War, featuring two wise men, Jonathan Ferguson and Ian McCollum.
Check out our new exhibition Re:Loaded, open for free now.
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The Chauchat Challenge Episode 2: Neil Vermillion
The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...
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11mm Gras mle79/83 Reloading and history
Less known than the Martini-Henry but just as active around the globe at the time was the single shot Gras rifle in all its varients. It was chambered for the 11x59R cartridge, one of the many 11mm-ish cartridges of the era and quite close to the 45-70. In 1878 the French navy adopt a Kopatschek ...
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CZ-75 Automatic: The Czechoslovak Machine Pistol
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, CZ started exploring more commercial export options for its guns. In addition to resurrecting (well, attempting to) the vz.64 Skorpion in 9x19mm, they also developed a selective fire version of their landmark CZ-75 pistol. Production began in 1995,...
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How to save the nipple of an original muzzle loading rifle
19th century rifle nipples usually has odd thread sizes. You can make a complete new nipple on your lathe, but I show you now and easy and fast way to fix your nipple, if its threads are in good condition.
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M1866 Chassepot Cartridges for Dummies
Chappie demonstrates a really easy way to make M1866 Chassepot needlefire rifle cartridges.
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18mm Milbank-Amsler MkII: Machining Brass Cases
Chappie shows his Mk.2 version of making 18mm Milbank-Amsler rimfire ammunition.
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Making paper patch bullets for long range shooting
This is the way I make my paper patch bullets for my .45 calibre long range muzzle loading rifle. I used these bullets during the 2023 MLAIC Muzzle Loading Long Range World Championships, and they won me a bronze medal at 600 yards and a silver medal at 1000 yards in original class. So they defin...
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A Mystery MP-5 in .45ACP...Will it Run?
The fine folks at DSA had this rather mysterious MP5 in their reference collection, and we decided to take it out to the range to see if it would run. It's an MP-5, but chambered for .45ACP using altered M3 Grease Gun magazines. The original manufacturer is unclear; it's marked as being imported ...
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The Chauchat Challenge Episode 1: Administrative Results
The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...
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The History of Drop-In Auto Sears
When Colt decided to sell a semiauto-only civilian version of its AR-15 rifle, it had to make a number of changes to the design of the lower receiver to prevent full-auto fire control parts from being used. These changes would make a semiauto AR receiver legally distinct form a full-auto one, and...
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Adenauer's Zipper: the Bundeswehr MG-3 at the Range
When the Bundeswehr chose its small arms after World War Two, it saw non reason to move away from the iconic MG-42...but the new weapons needed to be in NATO standard calibers. And so the MG-3 was born: an MG-42 improved in several small ways and rechambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO round. Today we...