The Korsac EM1 - a British/Polish Bullpup FG-42
Select-Fire Rifles
•
16m
The Korsac EM-1 (not to be confused with the Thorpe EM-1, which is a completely different rifle) was a bullpup light machine gun based on captured examples of the German FG-42 patatroop rifle. It was developed between 1945 and 1947 by a team led by Polish refugee designer named Korsac.
It was chambered for the 8mm Mauser cartridge, and used an 18 round magazine adapted from the ZB-26. The operating mechanism was closely copied form the FG-42, as were many elements of the rifle's controls, including the capability for firing from an open bolt in fully automatic and from a closed bolt in semiautomatic. Unlike the FG-42, it used a short stroke tappet type gas piston, and had a detachable barrel. Ultimately only two examples were built, and only one of those (the one in this video) was completed to firing condition. It suffered from reliability problems in semiautomatic mode, and was quickly sidelined in favor of the other development projects ongoing by 1947. However, many lessons from its development would be put into the EM-2 rifle.
Up Next in Select-Fire Rifles
-
Thorpe EM-1: A Bullpup Take on the Ro...
The EM-1 was one of the British post-WWII rifle development projects with the ambitious goal of replacing both the infantry rifle and the submachine gun with a single select-fire weapon optimized for combat within 600 meters (as opposed to the prior doctrine of 1000m effective ranges). The design...
-
Is the Stoner 63 Really So Good? Shoo...
s the Stoner 63 really as good of a gun as everyone says? Today is my first opportunity to try one out on the range, and I'm going to look at it in three different configurations: the Mk23 SEAL light machine gun, the "Bren" style automatic rifle, and the carbine. Let's see how it handles!
I ow...
-
The American FAL: Harrington & Richar...
Today I am joined by Larry Vickers to take a look at his original H&R T48 FAL. The Harrington & Richardson company was awarded a contract to produce a pre-production series of 500 of these rifles in the mid 1950s when the United States was conduction trials to choose a new combat rifle. The Belgi...
