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CandRsenal
CandRsenal

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Q&A 2024!!

One question per patron and get your question in by Sunday the 31st!

Alright folks, it's been about a year since our last Othais/Mae Q&A so we figured it was time for another marathon!

Questions, of course, are from YOU.  Our patrons!


Ask away and we shall do our best to answer.  There are, of course, some limits to what we can cover without doing a whole week's worth of research, so bear that in mind!


Q&A 2024!!

Comments

If it's not too late, do you guys know how to remove the mainspring from the Spanish 92 Eibar revolvers? Been putzing with one for a couple days now...

P.B.

very late to the party, I know but... What really keeps a revolver from exploding when firing? It's not like it even as a proper "breechblock" or the like!

raskol

Start small. Even a 22lr can be disconcerting for a noob. Grab the old pellet/bb gun, get them hooked on plinking whatever [unfortunately most cities have laws against shooting even bb guns outdoors these days, so you may have to start indoors before graduating to 22lr at the range.] Get pix of her old childhood/high school enemies for some fun with the bb gun. Get the sound-bite from _A Christmas Story_ ("You'll put someone's eye out!") for every time she hits one in the face. Think of it as positive feedback loop... 😁

Bruce Brodnax

Alright, questions are in, we'll get to the recording marathon here soon!

C&Rsenal

Where do we find the sources and gain the experience to be able to determine the likelihood of provenance for a particular firearm? *(Those thoughts wrapped into one question)*

Philip Spadano

Tips for getting spouses into shooting?

Henry Case

Would you rather have to fight an Orangutan at a random moment once every year, or have to fight a chicken every time you got in your car?

Mat

Greetings from RoK Othias, Mae, and the C&Rsenal gang! Been following you guys since the first year of you guys dropping episodes and I must say, it's been quite educational, informative, and entertaining. My question to you all is; What's your favorite firearm that you have tried? Pre 1950 and post 1950.

BM2_Jack

What old gun (or guns) is the least likely for yall to cover

Jacob Catcher

Will the Hanyang 88 get its own episode at some point? I know everything is dependent on somebody loaning one to y'all, and it did have two changes over its life, but would that offshoot of the Gew. 88 family be something y'all could see as an episode at some point? Much love and thanks for the hard work doing this kind of research!

Jacob Abrisz

Any chances on doing a special with a Gatling gun?

Kevin Reichert

Peanut butter…. Creamy or chunky.

Alan Carr

Whenever you’re back in texas, I feel like you guys should try and go on the unsubscribe podcast. You guys would do awesome on there and I think would open you guys up to a bigger audience. Plus you guys could just talk about anime the whole time.

Christian Hanes

Do you think .276 Pederson was enough of an improvement over 30-06 to justify its adoption for just the M1 rifle? Smaller calibers are obviously better for a shooter, but having the second rifle caliber would've been a serious drawback for supply and training

John A Prose

Since Suzie was promoted to ammunition, who has Othias wrangler duties?

David Burnham

Your personalized storytelling of the historical innovations and political intrigue of arms developments is always intriguing Furthermore Othias and Mae’s personal opinions on the firearms being presented makes us feel more like we are gathered around the wood stove of an old timey general store or a pitcher of libation at the local watering hole, then just an erudite discussion in a musty scholars library. Both of your sacrifices, personal and financial disappointments and false promises made to you and broken is all the more heroic! However, although not a Fud or a cantankerous geezer who over values or pontificates to others I am a Yankee. After having been born and raised in a small town in the frozen north, have traveled across the US and Canada building in construction and have settled on North Carolina to build my new retirement home. I can easily accept that until someone has spent their whole life or second generation to be ‘the new guy’. However what I rail against is someone from the South railing against my non existent pseudo corporate, conniving values and regarding a Senior as myself as out of touch with people. My question is when are you going to stop prejudicially referring to all ‘old gun show guys’ and ‘damn Yankees’. I can hear your hurt and anger clearly with both, and although your transgressions suffered by such are real it is not real to lump and judge us all the same - please?

Moos

What has been the single most frustrating gun to do an episode on, and which was the most fun/rewarding one?

ArcaneSpirit

If you could possess the entire line toy line associated with Dino Riders, G1 Transformers, or the 85-86 run of GI Joe, which would you choose and why?

Jake Rutten

I hope I made it in. This is Brian from Illinois. Tell us briefly about young Mae and Othias - growing up what where your interests? What did you like to do for fun?

Brian Foster

What is your favorite state you've visited? Why?

SyntheticGoose

What form do you think browning’s .32 acp submachine gun would have taken would it have been more of a machine pistol or a mini Thompson?

Will Wooten

As one of your engineering geek British followers who discovered C&rsenal back at Primer #12, your Colt 1909 and recent Adams Revolvers Primers got me thinking. Could we not despatch Mae and Rob to Finland this year to acquire some excellent pastiche footage while Othias heads to the Royal Armouries in Leeds. I appreciate that the Fyodorov Automat is a complete unicorn but there are some compelling reasons why we need this episode: 1) Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov has the best moustaches, out classing both William Crozier and Paul Mauser. 2) Mae handling an Automat while being instructed by a moustachioed Canadian (in the role of Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov) would surely be Oscar grade material. 3) Your Colt 1909 episode showed that not being able to fire the gun should not be an encumbrance. 4) As you pointed out with the Adams Revolvers some firearms establish the trope, and of course Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov as both fire arms designer and engineering educator had direct influence on Degtyaryov, Shpagin, and Simonov. Perhaps we need a kickstarter to fund a European research trip?

Chae Cruickshank

Do the views for the Patreon early release carry over to the main public release? Is one better for us to watch than the other?

Edward Sosta

Not exactly a question but maybe you could share some good home gunsmithing tip what you don´t find from the books?

TJ

What gun do you have an irrational love/hate for?

Kevin Smith

Who in your life got you started on your firearms journey and why?

Shaun Killeen

You've been out of WW1 for a while now, but are there still going to be remakes of older Primers (that aren't revolver related, I know you said before a bunch of those are now outdated)? PS regarding the eventual Murata episode, I'm gonna guess you're going to reference the book "Japanese Murata Rifles 1880-1897" by Stanley Zielinski, however I'd highly suggest also using “Introduction to Rifles, Handguns, and Machine Guns: A Thorough Study of Japanese Small Arms” (小銃・拳銃・機関銃入門―日本の小火器徹底研究) by Sayama Jiro (佐山 二郞) as a reference, it goes a lot more in-depth about Murata's life. Now I know the book is in Japanese only, and ordering from Japan can be tricky (I know because I own the book), so if you need any info from it I did already translate everything Murata related as best as I can and did a brief book comparison between it and the Zielinski book on your discord (overview message is in the #antiques channel, my username is .killerwolf). If you'd rather have the Japanese text itself I'd be happy to send that over. Happy Easter

Wolf

Do you think the Mauser would have become as widespread as it did if Paul Mauser had ultimately stopped at the 1893 pattern (this includes export models like the Chilean 1895 and Swede 1896) instead of continuing his diligent work in perfecting the 1898 alongside the German arms commission, and do you think it would be as popular in collector circles today?

Bayley Deaton

Is there a timeline or something missing in doing the work up on the trap door rifles?

Glen Hahne

Best Godzilla movie?

Carl Baron

I'd like to make a smoothbore 22lr side by side as a beginner's gunsmithing project. do you have any suggestions where to find examples of applicable lockwork? Would dimensioned blueprints exist in public, or do i buy a Turkish 12 guage and start measuring?

smyljr

The classic Vespa 150 TAP built on a Genuine Stella [Indian Vespa] base, of course! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Vespa_militare2.JPG/450px-Vespa_militare2.JPG

Bruce Brodnax

They can't do that as long as a significant %age of their support comes from here on Patreon. Remember, Patreon is closet anti-2A, so any gun channels that still offer prizes for their subscribers do so from other platforms. [Playeur, etc.]

Bruce Brodnax

They took advantage of the lessons from WW2 to update the FN39 design for the FN49, so w/o that hindsight advantage, IDK if the FN39 would have been appreciably better than the M1. Good question, I'd love to hear Othais & Mae weigh in on this one!

Bruce Brodnax

Bannerman's...

Bruce Brodnax

Aluminum was still appreciably more expensive than copper [there's a reason the airplanes were still mostly wood & cloth] and you're not going to make the lower out of steel. Remember, when Stoner designed the AR10/15 in the '50s the entire point was to utilize cutting edge materials and techniques to make the best rifle possible at that time; the AR is simply too advanced a design to be made cost-effectively at the time of WW1. Could it be done? Yes. Would it? No chance.

Bruce Brodnax

As others have asked are we going to see more Reprocussion? Or more coverage of black powder weapons in general? I realise this may be difficult as the weapons are maybe not available and from what you've said it's really time consuming. But there are some really fascinating items from that period

Douglas Killock

What are your favorite kinds of cheese?

Funt

You’re designing a cycle of violence for the 80s, what scooter and gun combo is most tactical?

Will P

will you make up a prize for $20 tier so i can have an excuse to upgrade

ALI

If the FN49 was able to be fielded a few years earlier, (if Saive didn’t have to flee Belgium) how do you think it would have stacked against the m1 Garand?

Tommyguns

Could you do an episode on the nettoyeurs des tranches and their handguns (the zigouilleurs)?

Scott Kellar

What are your Favorite deserts?

Garfield Enjoyer

What's y'all's favorite lunch meats? (More interested in broad type than specific brand or source.)

13th Bee

In your research on the Vitali rifles, did you come across any references to their use in the West Virginia Mine War’s? They seem to appear pretty prominently in photographs and records of arms seized.

Jon Bachmann

What is your process of putting a weapon into storage and taking it out? (E.g. conservation of metal, wood, optics)

fieldgauge

Related to the relatively known Citadel martinis that were reworked in Cairo, do you know anything about the Martinis that were reworked in Khartoum or know of any books/resources that discuss them? I’ve not been able to find anything on them. I own one and am curious. The examples of Khartoum reworks I’ve seen appear to be dated after the Egyptians stopped their Citadel reworks, implying the tooling and parts were shipped up the Nile to Khartoum where the work seems to have recommenced. Other than that, I’m at a loss. Thanks for all of the hard work over the years!

TK

What is your greatest professional (C&Rsenal or previous) success and failure?

Zachary Farris

You are now both pro wrestlers. What are your gimmicks?

GunsBeerFreedom

Best southern food that a yankee might not have tried?

William Jensen

So, now that you guys are pretty much done with WW1, and you are free to do whatever (Which you have been doing) Is there a theme you guys wish to tackle with the Primer Series, or are you guys going to jump all over the place doing whatever comes on hand?

Alex Lam

Review Primer 016 on the Savage 1907; iirc, they said that the mdl 1917 in .380acp would be still competent as an EDC CCW...

Bruce Brodnax

Yes. Repeating firearms foul up quickly w/ BP, while using smokeless it is essentially a non-concern. The Maxim gun was introduced w/ BP cartridges, yet found few takers until smokeless was available (& standard.)

Bruce Brodnax

You have done a great job in several specials explaining which do you believe to be the best pistol, revolver and rifle. But which of the many single shot rifles you have covered do you regard to be the "Best". I realize this category is incomplete. Missing for example the Snider, and Springfield trapdoor. PS For those that bemoan such omission British muzzleloaders has great content on the Snider.

Primarch359

Shorter barrels don't allow time for the bullet to get up to speed. Pistols are also about immediate self-defense, hence a desire for quick results despite their naturally limited power vis-a-vis rifles. Bigger holes cause faster blood loss, given the inability to generate the shock f/x from a bullet moving multiples of the speed of sound in water that rifles are capable of delivering.

Bruce Brodnax

In your research is there one feature missing off a firearm that would have made the weapon perfect if it had been included?

Stephen

Now that you seem to be branching out from WWI, how about an episode on Iver Johnson? You can tell the story of one of the world's largest non-military arms manufacturers a century ago that faded even harder than Colt could dream of. As a bonus, you can show off some of the delightfully weird quirks of their guns ("hammer the hammer", Alofs, shotguns with trigger-activated break actions, the Enforcer, etc.).

James Steed

In your opinion, how would a small arms and technology have advanced if the NFA was never enacted? How would Small arms attack have developed if Germany had won world War ii?

Romulus

¿How do the Lee Navy clip system works? The closest thing I had manage to find it's the Forgotten Weapons, Tenacious Trilobite and TFB TV videos but I still can't figure out how it works and how manages to release the clip after the first round is chambered and retain the bullets in place with no (apparently) feed lips (¿with the extractor? I don't know). At least on paper, it'd have the best of both worlds (striper clip and en bloc) but it shouldn't have been all that good when no one adopted it. The stupid thing stills haunting my mind. Thanks in advance. I owe you both a lot. From Spain with love.

Manuel Pérez

The Primer order has often been determined by factors such as gun availability, etc. If you could redo the WW1 Primers with any gun available whenever you wanted (in working order, with reliable ammo and other such impossibilities to make this conceit work), how would you decide to order the episodes? (I'm obviously not expecting an episode by episode breakdown, but more general principles that you'd use) Bonus not very sneaky attempted second question: "And how would if differ in you weren't doing it for platforms like youtube and needing to consider episodes to attract new audience members?"

Neil Muller

What WW1 era handgun would you every day conceal carry today? Or what do you carry now? Been a fan since the Gew 98 episode. Love your guys’ work.

Luke Telling

Any guess for how many rounds an actual Great War service rifle would have seen during its service? I know there are various stories of armies only issuing a handful of ammunition per year for soldiers to train on in peacetime, but during World War I how many rounds do you think your generic rifle would have fired? Dozens? Hundreds?

Tim Williams

Is there any rough estimate on how many rounds an actual Great War service rifle would have seen during its service? I know their stories of militaries only issuing soldiers a handful of rounds per year in peacetime for training, and it seems like most of the really dogged out rifles we see today received that damage through neglect and corrosive ammunition, but how many rounds do you think your average service rifle would have seen in its service life? Dozens? Hundreds?

Tim Williams

Following up on your revolver special, is there a non-Great War single-action (such as the Colt SAA) that you would rank higher than the worst double actions of the war (Romanian 1915, Gasser, etc.)?

Jean-Claude Thibault

I know commercial guns are hard to research due to lack of accesible( or existing) preferences, but it would be interesting to try and do a history of the evolving derivatives of the 1917 Enfield after WW1 that eventually morphed into the classic hunting rifle like the Winchester Model 70.

Robert L. Mahurin

Not sure if this has ever been asked but what got you guys into firearms and older firearms?

Victor Moseley

Will you be doing a strictly WWII series or are future episodes anything goes in regard to the time period?

Joseph Olive

If AR15s were suddenly available to a WW1 army, is there any reason it wouldn't displace all other SMGs and carbines? And all the rifles and automatic rifles as well?

Christian Fletcher

Is there any gun tuber that you guys would like to do a collaboration with?

Logan

are you planning to do general episodes about cold war era guns like "here's an episode about FAL/AK/M14" etc. or are you planning to do episode about specific countries using specific guns.

Michk

There are a number of conflicts contemporary to WW1. Have you ever considered devoting an episode on the military aid firearms used by Korean rebels during the span of WW1. I noticed that they were not mentioned during the Berdan or Winchester episodes. If that's too much right now I understand.

Jason

We hear a lot about the US military selection trials for their pistols and rifles, but not a lot about shotguns. Did they hold as rigorous of trials when selecting their scatter guns or was it more of an “off the shelf” kinda procurement?

TestBacon

Is smokeless powder a bigger game changer than rapid reload

Jack Webb 1970

Does Othais find that using Ballistol as a beard oil bring the ladies to his yard?

David Poyner

I swear there was one already…

Chairman

You a spare Othias , or just walting ?

Guy K

Do you plan on covering anything larger that the Tank Gewehr or any revolving rifles? Congrats to Mae for being one of the front page search images for the T-Gewehr on Google

Spencer Williams

Having covered firearms from over 100 years now, what do you feel is the largest individual technological leap that happened in that time?

Iain Hutchinson

How is provenance determined (maybe not completely, but likelihood of) for a certain firearm? Serial number/range? Stampings? Wear? Ex. 1911 with S (possibly Sedgely marked - greater chance of WWII USMC service) (This differing from a originally identified serial number for a USMC production 1911) Ex. Late production Beretta 1915 RM marked - sold to RM when? Perhaps like the model 1923's Beretta couldn't get rid of so they attached them to another order for the Italian Army (RE)? (Not a question, just an example of the kind of confusion when lacking proper sources.) Where do we find the sources/gain the experience to recognize such things? I realize this is not really one question but they're very linked. I trust you'll see that and will pick the better question.

Philip Spadano

Many Of the firearms you've looked at have been involved in minor or less well known conflicts like the rif war, war of the Pacific etc. what have been the most interesting in general "small wars" to you both?

Otto Eastwood

In your WWI episodes about stripper clip loading pistols, you don't really go over whether or not it's an easy process to load single rounds without the stripper clip, can these pistols be topped up one round at a time easily like it's a revolver?

Royeaux

Any theories as to why the Portuguese were able to make a carbine/short rifle version of the Kropatscheck, while the French felt they had to go to the Berthier? What about the Lebel makes it more impractical to make a carbine than its predecessor?

Anders Patrick Bradley

Were black powder shells kept and reloaded in the Old West? I assume that a brass shell would be far more valuable then than now, yet I haven't seen any documentation on shells bring saved and reloaded.

Adam Schindler

Will you ever consider doing a blooper reel?

Boomersparky

A question for both Othais and Mae. Now that you know so much more about guns, is there any aspect that matches that low iq/mid iq/high iq horseshoe meme? Something that you believed before researching, changed your opinion on as you learned more, but eventually came back to the original belief now that you’re experts? (You mentioned the us vs Japan semi auto thing in the podcast so that doesn’t count :p).

Toastmeister

I have very much enjoyed your show for years now, and the only thing that's struck me as weird, is "What's the deal with the Fidel Castro hat?" Because when you add in the beard and mustache it kind of makes you a dead ringer.

RamLock

What is the lineage of the Smith and Wesson lockwork? Is it a Fagnus? And if so, how'd they get from the rebound lever to the rebound slide?

David Herman

When the Lebel was introduced there was a race to develop and equip nearly every military fighting force with smokeless power weapons. Did that same type of arms race happen in the sporting/civilian world too? Were 1890s fudds complaining about "kids and their new fangled smokeless powder making it too easy to poach deer or ducks so they should only use black powder like a real sportsman"?

Grass

What military do you think missed the biggest opportunity in terms of small arms in the post-WWI era?

Andy Fox

Do you ever get overwhelmed with the particular feeling from an item you handle? Like it was involved in something important?

WayneWiiki

Lol. If this was FW, it would have been an Elbonian question.

AC C

Is there going to be a cutoff (either hard or vague) for the Primer series? As in, is anything going to be too 'new' to bother doing Primer episodes on?

Walt Findley

No question this year; just keep up the great work and outstanding content please.

Chairman

There seems to have been significant advances in military firearms between WWI and WWII. Have you and Mea considered doing a series on the post WWI/PreWWII arms development?

Greg Cooke

Out of all the milsurp rifles/shotguns & sidearms you've handled (on & off the show) which milsurp rifle and/or shotgun & sidearm combo would you want in a "expedition into the wilderness" kind of event? I'd pick the K31, works great on big game & the mauser broomhandle pistol w/ stock attachment for more comfortable hunting of the smaller critters.

Nick Siwak

Thanks for the heads up, must have missed him saying that 👍

Wiley Clough

You’ve done a number of episodes on pocket pistols that were pressed in the military service. What I wonder is how were they originally designed to be carried.? In a holster chamber empty, condition 3 seems to be typical for militaries, but I would guess that these guns were intended to be carried chamber loaded? If that’s true, would you say many pre-World War II pocket autos would be considered significantly more dangerous and not drop safe, at least by today’s standards, than even revolvers of that era. Were people really running around with these things, cocked and locked (or even cocked with only a grip safety) shoved in their waistband or pockets?

Troy Janda

They were going to do an entire subchannel on the reloading theme but Yahoo [& Patreon] put the kibosh on that. Given Locals relationship w/ Rumble they might want to pursue that as a standalone spinoff of C&Rsenal there, but I gather there's just a too high time-demand/low reward combo there to be appealing.

Bruce Brodnax

I'm guessing none? Given the glaring differences in operation between them...

Bruce Brodnax

Plus they could use it as an excuse to touch base w/ Rob!

Bruce Brodnax

I believe you meant to say "least worst" there instead of "best..."

Bruce Brodnax

😔

Galli Pozzi

If they can't get one to fondle & throw in the light box, you may be waiting as long as those of us wanting an episode on the Austrian Helriegel submachine gun of which there is almost no information beyond a few old pictures...

Bruce Brodnax

A question on the serious side of things - early last year I was across the street from a mass shooting where 3 people lost their lives and several more were badly injured. Ever since then, I've kind of been wrestling with myself about my relationship with firearms. I hope you never have been or will be in that position - but, with all the high profile misuse of firearms in recent years, it seems increasingly likely that you'd have had some form of that internal debate about the morality of firearms yourself. Is that the case, and, if so, how did you deal with it? (Love the show guys! Getting back into my histories, the show included, helped me get back into the flow of things after that incident!)

Ethan Newman

Is there any plans for continuing Reprocussion after you finish up the Colts, with either non percussion reproductions or non reproduction percussion weapons, considering how few non colt reproductions there are?

Simon Graf

Can you shoot 7.5 mm Swiss revolver (M1882) ammo with its Swedish counterpart (M1887)? The caliber designation seems to be (almost) the same, but back then there were no SAAMI or CIP.

Christoph G. Baumann

If you could do another collaboration (like project lightening) , what would you base it on, why, and with who?

Adrian Perry

You cover some major conflicts and the role of small arms in those is not difficult to imagine. Which of the guns that went through your hands (the actual piece rather than the model in general) do you suspect caused the most casualties?

Petr Smely

What is your favorite black powder firearm due to its history/uniqueness ect. and/or What is your favorite one to actually shoot.

Gerald Drake

Is there any functional reason for the Luger trigger to be shaped as almost 3/4 of a circle?

Andy Wander

Of all the Danish service revolvers which one would you choose? Love the show! /Rune (your Danish guy)

Rune Smidt

M41b, hands down. Has to be, given the scarcity of Carl Gustavs on the civilian market...

Bruce Brodnax

Yes, yes you did. And no, no wishing for more wishes...

Bruce Brodnax

They've already stated that they chain Suze to a bench, not Mae, and that they have another couple of reloaders who've supplied them over the years [and had to cancel the planned reloading series after Yahoo went full retard on'em...] Hey, there's an idea! How about doing the reloading series for upload to the moribund Rumble channel? Or is Rumble as difficult to use as Full30 was for you?

Bruce Brodnax

.30 M1 out of a P17, and because if they choose an Enfield, they can get Rob of British Muzzleloaders to come visit...

Bruce Brodnax

Berdan: anvil is formed as part of the primer pocket in the cartridge case, typically two holes either side of anvil. Boxer: anvil is part of primer construction, single central hole in primer pocket of case. Berdan: better from military standpoint because simpler manufacture in lots of millions of cartridges/primers. Boxer: better for reloaders because easier to deal with in all aspects, ammo manufacturers make more money from additional primer sales. Irony: Berdan system invented in the US, use in other parts of the world far exceeds Boxer system; Boxer system invented outside US, used almost exclusively here.

Bruce Brodnax

Carry a thermos of hot water w/ you to the range; after you're done shooting you can douse the chamber and barrel w/ the hot water which will wash away the preponderance of corrosive salts and dry quickly [because still hot.] Spritz liberally w/ moosemilk, and you can then do a proper detail strip and clean once you're home.

Bruce Brodnax

Othais has already stated that he thinks the new Gen 3 Sub2k is not the right answer, and that anyone who gets one would be better served getting a Gen 2 and fitting it out like he did.

Bruce Brodnax

I suspect that it may be more likely due to using modern, repro clips made of Chinesium with absolutely zero post-processing vs. originals being lovingly made to exact government contract specifics and given proper deburring and random spot-testing for compliance. I know that as soon as I find my spherical tuit I plan on putting a slew of clips in the vibratory tumbler w/ some ceramic media and testing them w/ my Type 56 carbine [aka "skS"] to see if I can *finally* get a clean strip out of them instead of being forced to feed the ammo in stages of 2 rounds per push using both thumbs...

Bruce Brodnax

What guns of WWII do you look forward to making a show on, are there any you dread?

Jordan Arndt

I believe that the responsibility can laid securely in Rene Studler's lap. The whole premise of the M14 was that "we can reuse the tooling for the M1," and yet they wound up using only a piddling %age. The reason US Ordnance decided to rework almost *everything* instead of going the BM59 route was the (inane & illogical) pursuit of a "Swiss Army knife" one gun that would do it all: rifle, LSW, carbine & submachine gun; clearly daft, and the Italians clearly took the smarter approach of rationalizing the crooked & twisty M1 op-rod and must have read the minutes on the T20? T22? where JC Garand said he could make a FA M1, but to be reliable would require a 1/2" longer receiver due to the length of the .30 M1/M2 cartridge. Berretta must have seen that, looked at the 1/2" shorter 7.62x51mm cartridge & said "Bingo! Itsa facilitada!" & rest as they say, is history...

Bruce Brodnax

What are the chances of you releasing an episode about the M1895 Lee Navy rifle before the year is over?

Markus B.

I conjecture that it has something to do with a confluence of military history of massed charges, ordnance corps being largely staffed by former artillery officers ("because math") and the idea that a longer ranged weapon would give a better opportunity to decrease the numbers of enemy via massed gunfire. This of course was never the case, since it ran into obvious opposition by the field officers' concerns over the need to conserve ammunition, logistical supply chains, etc.

Bruce Brodnax

Given Othais' past experience with viewers going out & immediately bidding up the prices on items he's divulged an interest in, I don't think you're going to get an answer to this... 😄

Bruce Brodnax

Do you have plans to run shows based off of ammunition? Development. What drives choices? Black powder to smokeless transitions. Bullet construction. Maybe something along the lines of Bullets by the Billion. It could brand to reloading obsolete cartridges or gallery loads for antiques that we don’t want to wear out.

Michael Spangler

As you've moved beyond WWI, and are not planning to focus too hard on any specific event at present, what time ranges are you considering? After all, the original AR is very much a C&R aged firearm.

Matthew Jackson

If you were an Indiana Jones style globe trotting pulp adventurer in the mid 1930s, what would be your gun/guns of choice assuming your adventures could lead you to basically any country?

Evan Fisher

What is your favorite modern production and still in production rifle/pistol combo

scott pochini

Love what you guys are doing and hoping you get a few more financial boosts that make it easier. Would you ever consider doing a segment on making the ammo you guys use? Brass conversions, molds, where you find or create load data etc. I get the impression Sus might not be into fronting it but it would be a great resource to people looking to use many of the guns you cover. I know, with your research and attention to detail C & Arsenal would do a better job of it than what is currently available. Thanks for your hard work! Aden at Highwoodcasting.ca

aden martens

Long time listener, first time caller, how long does it take to have a gun filmed from start to finish once its in hand?

Mic

Where did you get the cello intro and outro music? Did a friend play it?

Nathaniel Wright

If a dapper gentleman were to swagger in and attempt to woo Othais with a gift of a gun, which gun would be most likely to succeed? Same question Mae?

Kit Sung

I asked you this question previously, but I'm hoping that the research you did for the Colt 1911 episodes gained you some insight: What was Colt's deal during WW1? They got a bunch of foreign and new model government contracts, but all they seemed to be able to deliver was stuff already in production, and only in that caliber.

Library of Context

Would you consider doing an episode on a modern revolver explaining from what ancestry it came from? Example: Colt Python current production.

John A Rose Jr

I'd like to hear more about the rifles of James Paris Lee. The fame of the Lee–Enfield seems to overshadows his earlier rifles.

Sam Taylor

Firstly, I wanted to give my thanks to you for providing hours of interesting & informative content, that despite YouTube's best efforts, still manages to make it's way to us fortnightly. But on to the question. With the expansion of Primer being gradually going forwards in time, do you have any plans to cover other submachine guns, such as the Thompson, Sten, MP40 and PPSh?

Ross.665

I recently went down to the States and was fortunate enough to shoot some machine guns. I was beyond excited, saved up hundreds of dollars to dump down range but, it turned out to be one of the more underwhelming firearms related experiences of my life. What have been yours?

Andrew Mack

Besides the Fedorov, are there any small arms that you've wanted to cover that you have not been able to find? If so, what are they?

Peter A

So how much of Ribeyrolles, Sutter & Chauchat home work did Garand copy ?? In your opinion.

Ashley Cant

Hi Mae and Othais. I was wondering if you both have ever considered doing a primer on the Norinco Type 81 and Type 97 (QBZ-95)? This would require a trip to Canada to film but I think if you did an in depth history on these Chinese military rifles it would set your show apart from many other American channels. Since these rifles are banned in the USA those two in depth historical reviews will get 100,000s of views because of the rarity of the rifles. Canada is pretty close to the USA and many Canadian firearms owners would love to help the channel. Much love from Canada : )

Kieran

If forced into it, what would the best all-black-powder loadout (hand gun, carbine, rifle, machine gun) be for WWI?

AC C

What is your favourite weapon to fight out of all of them?

Parabellum

I've noticed that the majority of handgun cartridges in use today tend to be of a larger bore than your typical rifle cartridge (5.56, .308 Winchester, 7.62x39, etc.). If smokeless powder allowed for smaller, higher velocity cartridges in rifles, then why have 8mm or smaller diameter bullets for handguns largely fallen out of mainstream use in favor of 9mm or .40 caliber?

Alexander Christian

Thanks for the dedication to producing all your content over these years. As just about the only adopted single shot to repeater conversion system, was the Vetterli-Vitali just too late in light of smokeless powder? Also did the Vetterli-Carcanno just scar y'all so much that the Vetterli-Vitali falls off of your lists of black powder guns despite its advanced features and successful conversion from a single shot?

Will Sanders

Have you come across/found any firearms that it was generally accepted prior that there were no longer examples of in existence?

SpaceCowboyfromNJ

I’m sure I could find out if I listened to all of the “Unloaded” podcasts but are you planning on writing any firearm reference book's?

Adam Coe

Would there be any interest in doing a civilian side to the primer series? (i.e. original Winchester 70’s, British/South African hunting rifles) Constituting firearms that may not have ever seen major combat but are important in telling the history of firearms.

Daniel Markey

What gun do you no longer have do you wish you'd never gotten rid of and why?

Michael Baker

Would you consider doing mini specials on MILSURP topics like the “low number 1903 Springfield “ or biographies of people like Samuel Colt? Keep up the great work!

Jacob Glassman

This might be a waste of a question, but since I've forgotten what your answer was about the Bergmann MG 15 last Q&A: -When do you think you'll we'll see the Bergmann MG 15 episode? Ever since I learned about it in Battlefield 1, I've become intrigued by it but was disappointed to find not as much info and history about the gun as I'm used to seeing, compared to everything else you guys have covered. One particular detail I wish to know about (when you guys make the Primer) are the confirmed differences between the MG 15nA model and the supposed MG 15aA model. Battlefield 1's MG 15nA model is apparently a hodgepodge of features from both the nA and aA, so it'd be cool to finally have that cleared up once and for all, as well. Fangers crossed that the Bergmann MG 15 episode isn't too far in the future!

Galli Pozzi

In cowboy action shooting, a double barreled is required. I was curious if you know of the first cartridge sxs available to the US or at least a sxs that was available in the 1870s

Duncan Wood

Hello. Greatings from Eskilstuna. Following the rule of cool, with no limits: what is your favorite Swedish weapon? Also many thanks for a great show, and tell Ballistol to do more marketing in Sweden. It was a nightmare to find a store that sold the stuff :)

Alexander Jönsson

So my one question is .... why can I only have one question ? Dammit did I just waste it ...?

Guy K

Hi Guys, First of all, thanks for your presentations over the years. I would like to know how/where you source your ammunition for the oddball weapons that you present. Is Mae chained to a bench until she produces it or have you got a friendly reloader to hand so that Mae only turns it into empty brass? 😊

Duncan Andrews

While France was first with 8mm Lebel to smokeless. It was a cartridge that hampered magazine fed gun development as they had to use the 8mm Lebel. Is This the worst chase of a cartridge hampering a military or are there worse ones out there?

Jeppe Christensen

What is the lineage of the Smith and Wesson lockwork? Is it a Fagnus (sp?)? And if so, how did they get from the rebound lever and flat spring to a rebound slide and coil spring?

David Herman

You've mentioned the extensive safety measures that you've got in place like weighing every cartridge and detailed inspections of the guns before firing. Would you consider a dedicated video on how to shoot old guns to keep them and yourself safe?

Callum Binns

What was, for each/both of you, the most unpleasant gun you had to shoot, ever, both in and out of the show? Not scary or sketchy; just anti ergonomic and/or with excessively brutal recoil.

Matteo Manino

Hey Mae and Othias Guns like the Ultimax that utilize constant recoil seem to offer enormous benefit to light and medium machine guns. Why have so few militaries adopted this technology? What are the main downsides to this system other than maybe a slightly longer receiver? Does constant recoil appear in any earlier firearms? Perhaps the Avtomat Bulkina? Unrelated but if you feel like answering one more Please share some wisdom on South Carolina BBQ and mustard sauce. My stepdad was a chef in SC but since he passed away I haven't had any proper southern, slow cooked meat.

Kurt Cotton-Kinch

I was thrilled by the sks episode. I assumed you would go interwar-ww2-cold war? do you go blocks like this or whatever gets available for hardware? either way looking forward to more footage ahead.

Guido Schriewer

Are you guys planning on extending the repercussion series to reproduction military longarms, as well (i.e. the sharps rifle, Springfield rifled musket/trapdoor, etc.) or will that series only ever be for repro black powder revolvers?

Sean Cottle

When can I expect a Gatling gun Primer episode?

Kevin

Would you consider the SKS to be more evolutionarily similar to the M1 Garand or M14?

Krazzett

I recently realized that the reason the TT-33 has such exaggerated iron sights is because its barrel is angled downward when in battery and parallel with the slide when locked open, whereas most other Browning-style pistols have barrels that are parallel with the slide when in battery and angled upwards when locked open. Are there any other pistols whose barrels lock like the TT-33 besides its own derivatives?

Timothy Conklin

Mae stated she likes recoil, so out of 7.62x54R, 8mm Mauser, and 303 British, Which would both of you choose in what rifle and why is it an Enfield?

nada

Now that we're out of WW1, will there be any appreciation for later model Mosin-nagants anytime soon? (M91/30, M39 etc)

Hunter

Can you give us your mailing address again, in the way you wanted written, for those who want to contact you.

Lowell Wong

Does it feel harder to choose a firearm to do an episode on now that you are out of WW1 and can pick almost anything, or is it easier because you aren't limited?

S

If there was one development / design / engineering idea from the early 1900s (arbitrarily up to 1920?) that you wish would come back with modern tech what would it be?

Brad

Last year you trolled my magazine storage question beautifully, thanks! This year, could you please, describe the difference between boxer and Berdan primers and if one is better?

Dale Burt

Any motorcycle updates? If you've talked about it on unloading, sorry I am a chump and missed that episode. Thanks for condensing hundreds of hours of research into hourish history and info packed videos!

G3yost

How do you properly care for a black powder cartridge firearm? I have a vetterli and a martini henry, and I'm scared to fire them because I fear I won't clear properly and they will rust. Do you do a full disassembly every single time, and hit them with ballistal / water?

shawks

What is your opinion of the new generation of Sub2000? Should someone grab a new one or would you say they should just upgrade an older gen?

Wiley Clough

You've started braching out from the initial limit of WW1, obviously you have a forward limit of what is considered a C&R firearm but how far back are you looking at going? Percussion era, flintlocks etc?

Peter Diven

Stripper Clips: Never used one personally, but I've seen a lot of people struggle with them in various videos - overall, for something that was used so much historically they seem kind of dodgy in general. How much of that is due to using old/reproduction clips with modern ammo that might not be 100% identical to what was originally in use back in the day? Would original ammo on original clips work much better or is it just an inherently finicky process?

Adam Rose

When will you do a browning Hi-power video?

Esteban Bearrup

What firearm has your research shown to be the most misunderstood in the general public perception? Whether misunderstanding the mechanism, use, reliability, etc. For example the common perception of Carcanos being unreliable but in service were fine or that the AK is a copy of the Stg-44.

Shaun Young

Was any testing done or information available on Swiss rifles (k11-k31) related to cold weather operation? Do they utilize positive extraction in some way, or were steps taken in freezing weather to compensate?Thanks you, you guys are awesome happy to help contribute some money to the channel

Spencer

What is your favorite/s 22 and why is it your favorite Everyone has one weather it be just super fun to shoot or for sentimental reasons what 22 brings you the most joy to say ita yours ?

Trenton oberding

This might upset a lot of people in the audience but what in the world went wrong with the M14 rifle? I've heard before that there were so many problems with trying to manufacture it and they suffered from constant quality control problems. Apparently one of the key problems they had was that they could not reuse any M1 Grand tooling for M14 manufacturing, which is just crazy! And also why didn't the penny pinching US Ordinance department not just go with the safe and lazy route of just rechambering the M1 grand to 7.62 NATO, and giving it a box magazine, like what the Italians did with their BM59.

fdxr

What is the 1st car you ever had and your favorite car you ever had

Story Rogin

Why did nobody make a lower power cartridge when going with shorter, lighter, short range rifles such as the Lee Enfield No5 or Mosin M44 to make recoil less punishing over full powered rounds

Professionally Clueless

What is your favorite Chicken Nugget/Dipping Sauce pairing? My personal favorite is the tried and true Chick Fil' A nuggets and sauce.

AsparagusWater

Would you ever look at doing a small series of primer type episodes looking at the histories of different arms manufacturers or national armories? Like Springfield, FN, Enfield, or private groups like Colt, Remington, and Westinghouse? Or is the level of primary source research required for some too much to start them at all?

Joseph Driesenga

What is the most odd or frustrating weapon to open/see the internals

Jessica

Editing to change my question. You’ll think I’m crazy, but I love the podcast, and listening to the unscripted and unhinged interactions between you two and the stories of what it takes to run the channel keeps me entertained every month. I know you’ve occasionally expressed mixed feelings about the current format, so what would you like to change about the podcast or do differently?

nick G


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