Calico Light Weapons System: Roller Delay and Helical Drums
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
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The Calico family of firearms was developed in the late 1980s, and put on the market just in time to be squashed by the 1994 Omnibus Crime Act. The heart of the Calico system was a design for a double-stack helical magazine, which was made in 50- and 100-round versions in both ,22 rimfire and 9mm Parabellum. Both pistols and rifles were made in both calibers, and I am looking at the 9mm type today. Where the ,22s were simple blowback, the 9mm Calicos used the roller delayed blowbacks system developed by H&K. The company was hoping for military or law enforcement, but suffered from a poor reputation for reliability and never got a significant military contract. They also pursued civilian sales, but manufacture of magazines holding more than 10 rounds was prohibited in 1994. Without its large magazine, there was really no reason to choose Calico, and the company basically went into a coma until the ban expired in 2004. It was sold in 2006 and still appears to exist, although I suspect they are simply working from old stocks of guns and parts.
(Disclaimer: both of these Calicos were purchased by me on the secondary market; the Calico company has no connection to this video)
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My son's best friend purchased one of those back when they first came out. He got the pistol in 9mm and knowing I did a bit of gun repair brought it over for me to look at. He was getting jams some times every other round was jamming the pistol. I began by disassembling the magazine, he had never cleaned it and it was filthy with a combination of dirt lint and oil he had been dumping into the magazine in an attempt to get it working. I cleaned it completely and looked over the parts with a magnifying glass. It was apparent that the feed lips on the mag were very rough so I polished them with some very fine emery paper up to 5000 grit then cleaned the whole gun, lubing it with a bit of gun oil. He took it out to the range and came back with a smile from ear to ear! Said it was the first time he ever emptied a magazine without ANY jams! I heard from him several months later, he said that so long as he followed my instructions and cleaned the magazine every third or fourth session the gun behaved itself nicely.
Thanks for the passive advice haha
That could explain a lot.
People don't realize how important the feed lips are, and gunk can gum up anything.
I know when my friends and I were young, *none* of those ideas crossed our sunny, empty brains.
Glad it worked out for him & I hope he still has it.
I had one out of the box...it jammed the first few times...
I have one, and I am going to save this comment for future reference.
I've owned a half dozen Calicos over the years and shot them extensively. I can confirm they actually EXTREMELY accurate. If your fundamentals are good, they're shockingly easy to chew centers out of targets with. The mags are consistently good lock up, which is assured by all the points of contact on the gun plus the tensioning flat spring under the mag. I always called it the Tactical Super Soaker.
Video proof or your grammatical and spelling errors in your already Edited comment disprove it all.
@@alecnolastname4362what?
@@alecnolastname4362 um, o...k...
@@alecnolastname4362 wow, someone must give this mr SmartAss a medal.
@@alecnolastname4362 Dafuq lmao
Something only Calico owners have said: "Get me my accurate magazine."
Except the 22LR Calico M100 they were smart enough to not mount the sights on the magazine
@@supergearhead152 holy shit it looks neat, but the pistol variant's (m110) barrel looks much shorter than it is. It's apparently 6in but doesn't look it.
@@supergearhead152 Though on the pistol version of the M100 they did leave the rear sight on the magazine. In fact the only part I still have from my long banned Calico pistol is the rear sight.
I had some experence, no shooting, with these guns.
A. They were manufactured in Bakersfield, CA. At the time I was teaching in the area. They made a big splash as a "Local Boy Makes Good" story.
B. A few years later I watched a man at the range fire one. The bottom ejection put all of the cases in a single pile under the gun. He gave me all of the brass for reloading. No searching required.
C. In the mid 90s I was assigned to do a insurance evaluation of a machine shop in Bakersfield. I remembered that Calico had been located on that street. As soon as I walked in I saw all of the prototypes hanging in the walls.
Its pretty cool that you got to see all of that. These have always fascinated me, even though I was just a kid when these were readily available.
I read this as a multiple choice question, thoroughly confused. Then I realised it wasn't.... Sigh
Hey I’m in Taft, next time I’m in Bakersfield I might check that out. What street/building?
@@quietusplus1221 i did the same mistake on my math homework once.
Shout out to the central valley its cool to hear stuff like this the small towm feel makes tou forget its still a big place
It's meant to be dual-wielded with a Contender in the left-hand. Calico for suppression, Contender for the dirty work..
Works great on mages.
Don’t forget the rib bullets
@@theoddoracle8704 what on earth is this a reference to?
Fate/Zero. A character in the the series uses a Calico and Contender against people proficient in magecraft, taking advantage of most mages' inexperience with firearms.
@@theoddoracle8704 Ohhh ok! Is there any reason why that character uses a Calico and Contender, or was it just a stylistic decision from the animators?
The 80’s are such an interesting time in gun design
Interesting, but mostly "interesting"...
If we could take the creativity of the 80's combined with modern materials and 3D-printing, oh boy.
It’s not so much “interesting” as it is a “Super Soaker, but bullets.”
cheap polymers and massive amounts of cocaine
Another company makes them currently
Ah, finally after 5 plus years of watching FW, a gun I've actually shot. Back in the 90's, I was a Deputy Sheriff in New Orleans, and one of the guys I worked with was an ex Marine sniper with a FFL. He had a full auto carbine Calico, and one day we headed down to the range we used in Plaquemines parish. I've heard many stories since of the unreliability of the Calico, but that day it functioned flawlessly. He had a laser on it, and I'll never forget blowing a fist sized hole through the paper at 25 yards. He had one 50 and two 100 round magazines for it. We ran through at least 700 rounds that day without a single malfunction. Fun stuff.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine From what I gather, they sometimes can be a little picky about their ammunition (some even say they require +p overpressured 9mm to cycle reliably), and they do need care in their maintenance ans usage to work well. Not something to give to a random enlisted schmuck or officer gun-them-down to blast around with.
An reasonable tweak to modernise them would be probably giving them an electronic winder allowing them to auto wind, and get the tension just right every time. Having to wind a magazine 23 times could prove annoying. Also how long does it take to load that magazine, it doesn't seem to be that easy to load quickly compared to a traditional magazine.
Great story 👍 this is the first I heard anyone say they got one of these to run a whole mag before the last few rounds just couldn't make it out.
No manufacturer in their right mind would produce anything if even had a 50% failure rate and this boondoggle of a contraception had an abysmal reliability record far worse than that.
That was my experience with the full auto version as well.
A “horrible, horrible cheesy airgun optic” seems to be the perfect choice for that carbine. It has a certain 80’s aesthetic to it.
I had the exact same thought xD
It's fits wonderfully. I can't think of better manufactured optics that are so blocky, Leupold is probably closes but even it's more rounded...
I totally assumed it was just a weird old 80s red dot.
It fit the look so good I thought it was designed by calico
It needs an Imatronic LS45 laser sight. Massive. Bulky. Blocky. Looks like something out of an 80's sci-fi and appeared in multiple 80's sci-fis. And in addition to the laser, it even features its own set of iron sights on top, because you sure as hell aren't using the ones on the gun if you put THAT on top of it.
"Sometimes it's okay if a gun doesn't use Glock magazines."
Next day...
I can absolutely understand the many reasons why this PCC Glock mag -> Calico couldn't be saved for next March 31st -> April 1st, but just imagine if it had.
oml yes
...could probably make a conversion adapter actually. Might be top feed tho. Was looking at the assembly thinking it might could convert to other systems like p90 or keltec high cap mags. Or put a chain inside the drum to pull the rounds through and remove the spring winder entirely.
I spent summers as a kid working on the assembly line at Calico in Bakersfield CA. That was my dad on the company promo video. After Warren left he company my dad joined Mike in finishing final design work on 9mm prototypes. Good times.. I remember Mike showing me a special manual lathe that he had to find which could cut the helix for the magazine molds. In those days CNC was very expense to average Joe starting up a small company. The full auto version had a hydraulic damper in the pistol grip to slow down the cyclic rate.
thank you!
- Ian says "all Gucci'd out"
I think my life is complete
For a guy so technical and very specific, that surprised me too! 😂
Pure squaddie banter
Ian has been watching Garand Thumb (Garand Thumb mentions Forgotten Weapons frequently in his videos).
must be watching more garandthumb
@@johncage3025 British Army Slang I thought
I just hope that one day Ian gets his hands on PP Bizon. Would love to see how different are the guts of the mags.
I couldn't help thinking the same when I saw the helical magazine. I imagine the Bisson is pretty hard to come by.
Or the North Korean helical AKs!
But that's probably one of, if not the, most unlikely thing for him to get his hands on.
or the PP90M1. Actually, since there are only a handful of guns with helical magazines, why not have a general roundup.
@@jessewalby6631 Bizon*
eingeoelter Kanalarbeiter He’s talked about those before somewhere actually. IIRC he speculates they’re either horribly unreliable or outright fake.
Finally, a firearm featured of which I have experience. Reliable magazine function is completely dependent on the spring tension. It handled hollow points as reliably as ball ammo. With experience on the firing line you can guess when to put a little more tension into it. The sights are surprisingly accurate out to 100 meters or so, reliably hitting a helmet size target. At 85 meters I could keep every shot on a man sized sillouet. At @200 meters the fat front sight obscured targets completely but if you can spot the impact you can quickly adjust fire. At that distance you would want to take cover fast if we were "bad terms." With 50 rounds I felt very well armed and the Calico pistol can be worn constantly. Even the desert didn't phase that piece. It was done in by politics, as you said, alas.
Karl Andrews reliable at 100m, but hits every shot at 85 i guess?
I need a gun so badly
I have a 22LR M-100 from 1986 and it's a fun gun. I wanted to get a 9mikemike version, but never found one I could afford... but I DID get my 22LR fixed by the reopened Calico about 8 years ago.
I dont see the posibility of this ever beying used in combat.
@crazy silly and 1/3rd the number of pauses to reload would mean more lead down range (would it be 2/3rds more?)
"I've lost my Calico, my contender needs reloading, however...Avalon.."
- Some Mage, 4th Holy Grail War
i was looking for a Fate reference thx bro
Yup. To me it's pretty much the only conventional weaponry that participated in the holy grail war.
@@fizhbing
Hehe its the whole reason Im looking at this video right now! That final fight scene mixing magic, tactics and guns was just amazing. The weapon itself is pretty cool too, I can get the allure of a double-stacked drum magazine, the amount of ammunition has to be immense.
Claire Redfield dual wielded Calico pistols in Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and could independently target enemies with each. Contrast this with her brother Chris, who once punched a boulder so hard, it rolled out of his way. Who is the superior zombie killer? You make the call.
The Helgan assault rifle from the Killzone games had a very similar helical magazine. About 50 rounds iirc but transparent and they fired something more like 5.56.
No zombies in those games though so no contest for the badassery of the Redfields (or Leon Kennedy for that matter)
The YT Channel "KendoGunShop" just did a quick video about that as well as the other surprising places this gun shows up in the RE series
Chris can't handle chemicals, though.
@@chrisproost7290 maaaaaannn you just made me pine for a remaster of those amazing games!!!..I remember getting my Ps4 a good few moths or over a year after it released and for nostalgia I picked up ShadowFall second hand for 10€...i LOVED it...had a blast with every game in that franchise, I even had Mercenary for the Vita. That and Resistance needs to be brought back. There are so many great concepts in those two franchises to let rot...
What can I say lol.
The classic ‘80’s stand-in space gun for movies.
they did use them in Space Balls XD
Replaced by the P90 two decades later.
Anyone remember, I come in peace?
They also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation without any modifications to "sci-fi" them up, since they already looked the part.
@Abrasax Palante The money for the war against the omnicidal giant bugs has to come from somewhere. If selling centuries outdated weapons tech to primitive species helps, it helps.
Fun fact a modified version of this gun was used by the naboo security forces in star wars
GET TO YOUR SHIPS
No wonder they got overwhelmed by droids at first.
Now I know what it is. 😅
Also SeaQuest DSV UEO pulse rifle
Yep it’s even in the newest SWBF2 (EA lootcrate edition), they didn’t even bother smoothing the warning labels making it probably the only laser weapon using “9mm” cartridges. It’s almost 100% stock standard in the game, that’s just how sci-fi it looked.
It's like a cyberpunk Thompson
damn that fits it sooo well!
You nailed it.
was gonna like it but gotta keep it at 69
And some Japanese fiction has a guy who uses both.
It is also in Command and Conquer used by the GDI
Fun fact: The Westinghouse phased plasma rifle from the Terminator was built on a Calico. They just added scifi doodads to make it look futuristic.
Westinghouse, don't they make jet engines?
@@austinm.9832 Yeah, and they _SUCK_
@@austinm.9832 they make a lot of stuff.
Check out the blasters used by the stormtroopers in the movie spaceballs. You’re welcome.
It was also the basis of the "Chinese M1-L1 triple-pulse assault rifles" in the cheese-tastic film 'Deep Rising'. Stuck a kind of prop barrel shroud on it to make it look like it had rotary barrels like a minigun.
I'd known about the Calico for years but I'd never realized how mechanically _clever_ it all was.
Thanks again for another great video, Ian!
Trivia: Before the Clone Troopers went all CGI in the Star Wars Prequels the Calico was origonally going to be the Clone Trooper blaster.
Would make a good blaster
They used the .22 version in "Space Balls".
The pistol variant was used by the Naboo guards in the phantom menace.
Can we get a source for that please.
John bacon the security guard cr-2 blaster dose appears to be a calico pistol
All I can think of when seeing these is the Arnold version of the movie Total Recall.
There's only one version of that movie, you must be mistaken.
@@harz2540 there is the 2012 one
@@gusschrankel1967 no, there wasn't, despite any evidence to the contrary
I don't even remember the gun being in Total Recall.
Most people seem to associate it (the pistol version) with a B-movie called "I Come In Peace". It is kind of a "Predator" ripoff with pretty good production value and good special effects. It is about a big, blond alien drug dealer who comes to planet Earth to harvest adrenaline from human brains with a metal tentacle that comes out of his wrist band. He has a cool array of weapons, including little magnetic discs that he shoots from his wrist and that bounce off of walls and slice up people. The good space cop that follows him to Earth to hunt him down, uses a Calico and he uses it a lot, hehe.
If I remember the plot correctly, the space cop dies, but he hands his weapons to a human cop, who then continues the hunt for the evil alien.
It is kind of a forgotten gem now, but well known and regarded in the B-movie, science fiction movie and even "gun movie" genre scenes and was relatively successful back then.
ua-cam.com/video/4rkWQxQHjlw/v-deo.html
The Calico pistol was the alien pistol is the Dolph Lundgren movie Dark Angel / I come in peace. The Pancor Jackhammer covered a few years ago was the gun from the Arnie version of Total Recall
I let out an actual YEAH when he said we were going to the range. Unfortunately it looks like tomorrow is actually tomorrow this time 😢
It helps when you watch it tomorrow so you can binge it;))))
Ian is such a tease :-)
All I am going to say is good luck with that one. I advise not to load the mag fully with 100 rounds. That will be one long UA-cam video.
Perfect for wasting those pesky Mages- Oh, no wait, that’s the Thompson Contender.
You gotta use these in combination with each other man.
Oooooooooh, true. Origin bullets are no good if you can’t hit them with the duds first.
@@StDurendal I actually had no idea that this weapon exists in real life Haha I thought it was a Fate/Zero universe original.
I was so excited when I saw Kiritsugu and Maiya use the Calico pistol! I love how they use the WA-2000 and the AUG too. Very 90s weaponry, and took the immersion for Fate/Zero to the next level
@rahul327 Mhmm. They didn’t give a definite year, but there was a lot of references to the time period being early-mid 90s. Biggest tell was the moment where they showed Bill Clinton on TV.
"I got the Calico with the Black Talons loaded in the clip"...Biggie Smalls
Was looking for this
I just noticed that line in the song while I was in the car with some friends earlier this year, haha. Everyone beat me to every reference I can think of 😅
Rip thru the ligaments put the f^ckers in a bad predicament
Clip?
@@brokenwave6125 It's rap song, not a training manual. Dork.
I feel bad for engineers who push so hard to try to be innovative with their guns. Only to feel push back because they request their customer base to maybe raise their firearm care education level a couple IQ points.
@BOB+RAYGUN+PIPE=X-DAY(1995) yes but also the magazine system is so complex the average person will have issues and there target demo cops well unless they train to use these. Wont treat the with the care they need. I've seen what they have done to 9mm rifles a in state gun manufacturer makes and it's like how in the hell dude you break that or do that to this.
@@ace-kz9id What you fail to consider is that this gun is from the 80's. Weapon technology has come a long way since then. Without the unconstitutional AWB and with the benefits of modern design philosophy, industrial technology, and materials, if they had the capital to pick this project back up they could turn it into something really interesting. Not to say that it isn't already, but we've advanced a lot since the 80's.
Also the magazine really isn't that complicated. Any monkey could spin a hand-crank - and they often do as street performers in third-world countries. The training thing is a nonissue, as anyone who's going to be carrying one of these in an official capacity is going to be getting trained on them anyway.
This is essentially a ps90 in 9mm.
My wallet likes this gun.
IDK man this thing is giving Ian a ton of trouble.
@@deeacosta2734 what are you doing here!?!?
I bought my Calico 9mm Carbine with the collapsing stock, a 50 Round Magazine plus the 100 Rounder and the Sight mounting attachment for right about $650 back in 1989. The first few Magazines filled with 115 Grain FMJ Ammo worked flawlessly... until something in the Trigger mechanism went bad! Then it only fired Full-auto every time I pulled the trigger!!!
I had bought the Extended Warranty so I cleaned it, better than what it was 'Out of the Box' and sent it back to Calico for repair. 4-weeks later it shows back up at Steele's Gun Shop and I take it to the Range... I fully load the 100 Round Magazine with 115 Grain FMJ ammo and, with a Delaware State Trooper (sitting at the very next Bench, by the way) beside me, I pulled the trigger and BRAAAAAAAAPPP!!! The Calico dumped the entire Hundred-rounds faster than you can say "Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious!"
Well, needless to say I sent it back to Calico. 6-weeks later, Steele's Gun Shop in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, got a letter from Calico saying that it couldn't be repaired and that they could not return it to me because they had disassembled it to use it as spare parts for other repairs they were doing; they had put in the envelope a "Token Check" for the amount of $100 claiming that was what my Calico was worth in scrap value...
It was a truly unique Firearm but Calico, at least in my case, refused to honor their Extended Warranty, were unable to repair a Disconector, nor give me the Full Refund of the MSRP (which the Extended Warranty promised, if a repair was unavailable), much less return to me my lawfully owned property!
That’s pretty terrible. I could probably have designed or reverse engineered the repair parts, that’s a shame. It sounds like it was either binding or the top of the bump disconnector (not sure what it is, the bolt bumps the tabs on the top of the cam to push it down and pop the actuating mechanism down into a free-floating spot). It’s sadly pretty simple parts so you could easily have replaced it with a drill/Dremel, and some sheet metal, unless something in the plastic broke, which is the other option.
Too bad that didn’t happen in 1986 and get registered as a full auto, because then that thing would be like $30,000 now. You can still get one in great shape for like $500 (so with extra 100 round mag and optic mount just a little more than what you paid)
I think that would have been a time to contact a lawyer. Just a strongly worded letter from an attorney should have at least got your money back.
Calico actually sounded like pretty chill dudes in this scenario. Essentially, they gave you a completely under the radar, full auto firearm...and you betrayed them.
Calico, if you're still out there and reading this, if I send mine in you can rest assured you'll never need to "repair" it a second time ;)
Designer: “Naturally, the helical mag will be on top, with a rear sight built in to each one.”
Assistant: “Why not underneath, as the handguard? Easier reloads, normal sights and ejection.”
Designer: “Nah, then its weight would help hold the muzzle down in full-auto. Wouldn’t want that.”
In all seriousness, thanks for the video, and the demonstration of the cool ratcheting system.
The pp-19 bizon wants a word with your design team.
@@7uring the flipside being that the Bizon is just as bad or arguably worse to reload xD
@@7uring My guess is the bizon's feeding system is quite unreliable, considering it had virtually no success unlike it's more standard follow up the vityaz.
That would make a pretty front-heavy gun, which also causes the center of mass to shift significantly as the magazine is depleted. A top mounted magazine puts a good chunk of the total loaded weight near the shooting hand and does a much better job with maintaining the weight distribution while the magazine is depleted.
they are gravity fed though
Pretty certain this is the pistol used by the driver of the armoured truck in Robocop 3, when McDaggart yells "cover me!"
I also remember seeing this weapon in a James Bond game too, except they called it a Calypso.
As well as by a player in SAO during the gungale arc if you are a nerd like me. :p
Haven't checked your vids in a bit, think I'm gonna binge soon. :)
also used in maniac cop two
Is also used by kiritsugu in fate zero
This weapon I believe was in Bad Boys I or Bad Boys II.
Calico ( now in Oregon) appears to be alive and well as I just ordered both the carbine and pistol.
I owned one of these for about ten years. Bought it new when they first came out and sold it in the late 1990’s. Mine was the standard carbine with the collapsing stock, 50 round magazine and no foregrip, flash suppressor or scope mount.
I never had any problems with this gun. Of course I didn’t shoot it often, always cleaned it after shooting, never stored the magazine under tension and always wound the magazine to the recommended tension.
It was a clever, well thought out package, but I can see the potential for trouble if it were not kept clean and the magazines were not used properly.
the winding action is definitely too complicated for most law enforcement to wrap their heads around.
@@XhumpersX Been telling people for the longest time that if you want to get a fat law enforcement contract, you need a donut shaped magazine.
Afterglow Beats Imagine being a shootout armed with a Calico, snapping on a fresh magazine to reload, and the magazine is not wound.
@@josephmckinney9660 or the magazine jams so the user slaps it in the unwind button
One Doomed Spacemarine Maybe (for whatever reason) the magazine was not wound when it was loaded. Or maybe it was wound when loaded, but the spring release button was unintentionally depressed sometime afterwards.
Ah, the Primary small arm of the GDI from Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.
Well, that’s only the Minigunner photo. In lore, they use the AR-70 Raptor.
@@Villanuevac4 They also used calicos in the TD cut scenes. The AR-70 Raptor was only used in Renegade, when they decided to ruin all the cool modern (for the 90's) aesthetics with fake, Halo-looking guns.
@@FAT_PETS Yeah, I hated that Renegade departed from the realistic near-future 90s aesthetic and went for a more comic-book feel. There were a few beta screenshots that showed a more realistic style, but IIRC I think it was supposed to be 9/11 that made them change it. Seems kind of dumb, but I suppose Nod v GDI is quite like the War on Terror when you think about it... still.
Weren’t these guns also in some of the Bond games for ps2?
Bill Forsyth used the pistol version in the movie Stone Cold, iirc.
Ah yes the angry pringles can
Great description!
I spit all over myself at the workplace, screw you man
The APC
@@99oilers55 sounds meaner than what it stands for
I can’t help but read that in the hydraulic press channel voice.
One month later Ian now has two videos shooting the Calico. Spoiler Alert: It's very reliable IF you follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly regarding magazine loading. The extra steps and thought required (It's not just the winding) are sure to be skipped by people who are used to the simplicity of box mags and/or want to just get to the shooting already.
This weapon is used in C&C Tiberian Dawn for the 'Minigunners' of the GDI and NOD.
Weapons name in C&C Universe is 'GAU-3 Eliminator'
I miss C&C so much. I still play Generals every so often.
yeah, but later editions manuals stated M16 (perhaps M16A2 due to burst firing sound ingame) for both sides. Just a tiny detail tho, considersing what you see on screen ingame
My friend and I got to shoot a carbine with a 50rd mag. Out of the 50rds, there were no stoppages at all. Granted, sample size of one, only 50rds and it was cleaned just before taking it out, but no issues with what is a really cool gun.
I own the .22 carbine version. It's not nearly as good. 100 jam mag essentially. The issue is that the .22 doesn't drop the bullet far enough to go into the chamber. It needs a feed ramp. Otherwise it's pretty cool to have around
@@7.62flavorsoffreedom2 To be fair .22 is a terrible round for auto-loading guns, even the much-beloved Ruger 10/22 jams on me multiple times every range session no matter how clean it is at the start.
MrMattumbo sounds like an issue with your Ruger, my Mosberg 702 plinkster out of 30,000 shots has only had single digit failure count (and some may have been from muddy magazine, but most of the time it would run flawless even upside down and sideways unless shooting sideways a shell happened to fall back into the action since I couldn’t quite shoot all 10 before the first shell could come back down and possibly land in the action when shooting sideways). The calico in .22 didn’t have double stack magazine (it’s patent looks different from the 9mm), but it was a lot of curved side surface area for friction in the magazine.
@Zach cash I'll check that out, thanks!
@@MrMattumbo ill give you that. though i did find some .22 designed for semi auto use though. its called "prime ammunition .22 lr semi auto ammo" i know its a mouth full but i might give it a shot.
Ah yes, the Mage Killer’s second favorite gun
Was looking for this comment. Too bad it doesnt have much effect in fate/zero
These guns have the best movie placement ever. Space Balls!
Spaceballs the Submachine Gun!
In Star Wars too, Episode I. CR-2
@@jacobfarley434 merchandising
I knew I recognised it from somewhere!
Corey Merrill “The kids love this one”
I push the clutch on the mag when I'm finished loading to make sure I'm starting at 0 spring tension and then follow the manual's recommended number of winds. I gave my Liberty 1 (100 round) and Liberty 3 (50 round) a fluff and buff before break in and after only experience 1-2 failures each time. On my last outing I had 2 failures on my 50 round drum and 0 for my 100 round drum which was very unexpected!
Given the next few videos this comment has aged well - Ian had no failures at all for something like 300 rounds by paying attention to the instruction manual, just as you did.
I know I'm a little (2 years) late to the party, but this is a really cool deep dive on the Calcio. Such a cool design! I've only seen them in movies, and i always wondered about how the heck they worked. Very cool!
"Double stack helical magazine" - That blows my mind... This kind of thing right here is why I love Forgotten Weapons. Wierd stuff like this that just blows my preconceptions out the F***ing window.
Definitely thought outside of the box there, and the fact that this even works without taking up a huge amount of space the way it's situated on the gun is incredible, provided it works.
u must unlearn what your have learned grasshopper
@@bdkj3e I want to see this so bad!
@@MrEvan312 Thinking outside of the box magazine?
@@hoonterofhoonters6588 *Buddy Jesus meme
Calico and Thunder sittin on a tree
K-I-S-S-something-something-G
Ah yes, a culture Commander here.
THey ain't like that
SHIKIKAN!
What are you doing oni-Shikikan
And kids, that how PA-15 born to world
Man, if there was ever a gun you've shown that I wanted to see someone take a second pass at designing, this was it. This thing is just so clever and cool, it's a shame it just wasn't quite up to the promise of its idea.
I wonder why they didn't go for a hightened front sight on the barrel. Longer sight radius...maybe it would get in the way for concealment for bodyguards. The rear sight could return to zero each time if the rail system to hold the mag is precise but even more expensive to put something in the mold. It would be easier today.
But since I can't own any rifle with more than 10 round mags, it doesn't matter.
Build the mag into the otherwise wasted space of the rifle butt in a conventional design [gratifying Karl's anti "will it bullpup?" stance! ;-) ] and keeping that large mass of the ammo close to the body, aiding control.
It worked well FYI most people don't read the side of the gun, the weakest ammo you can run is P+...
Just regular 9mm won't feed
In 22lr it works perfectly fine,check out the new model Calico M110
I feel like modern injection molding would really improve the magazine reliability, the mechanical gun design looked surprisingly squared away already, not quite the kel-tec/cobray abomination that I had always assumed.
Calicos are all over the place in movies, TV shows, and games.
Ronny Cox comes at Arnold with a 9mm pistol at the end of Total Recall.
In Seaquest DSV Season 2, they were all packing .22 carbines.
Spaceballs features both the wooden stock and folding metal stock versions of the .22 carbine.
Somebody already mentioned I Come In Peace with Dolph Lundgren.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 has the 9mm pistol with forward grip and 50-round mag as "Assault" weapon.
It's a damn cool gun and the magazine design is really unique. It's a bit like those gun pods they mount on airplanes. The ammo also goes round and round inside the housing and the barrel goes down the middle.
The gun pod/rifle for the Macross/Robotech Valkyrie/Veritech mech work the same way.
The CALifornia Instrument COmpany based in Bakersfield CA was facing hard times as the oil field instrumentation they normally made was not selling. The owners decided to try their hands at making guns. They already had all the injection molding equipment for the oilfield equipment.
The earlier Calico's had threaded barrels. The pinned muzzle brake is probably a post-ban variant. They also made a speed loader which if your loading 100 rounds mags is essential. (That's the fill Gucci!) If you have a speed loader keep the spring release pressed while loading. If it builds up tension the loader just won't chooch.
They side stepped the ban for a little while by not selling magazines. Under no circumstances should you buy both the internal and external magazine repair kit and combine them. Wink, nod. The company that was Calico last I knew produced plastic cafeteria trays like those frequently used in prisons.
As for reliability. Do not use non-jacketed ammo. It will jam very reliably. I'd expect them to dislike hollow point too. Feed it ball and it will run all day. The only malfunction I've ever had with ball ammo was letting the brass catcher fill up, and that's just being dumb. (Yes, there's a brass catcher too. Full Gucci). So don't try to run two 100 round mags with out dumping the brass.
I remember these things in 9mm being at every gun show in the late 80s and early 90s. I seem to remember them being pricey and not particularly popular.
Kinda wish I had not dismissed them and bought one.
I'm regretting not buying one back then now
You're right. It always seemed that every dealer bought some but never could sell them. For the same price you could get a HAC-7 or Bushmaster Assault Pistol. Sigh. The 80's were awesome.
Yeah, the trouble with unpopular-at-the-time but eventually very collectible guns is that they were unpopular for good reasons. For every "failed" gun that's now worth its weight in gold there are hundreds of other guns that were undesirable then and are even less desirable today. For example nobody is buying Zip-22's anticipating them to be worth $2k in 20 years.
@@JPR3D i doubt zip 22s are ever gonna be worth anything lol
Look, I like this gun, okay? Shes not ugly, shes different
You got that right
It doesn't really matter if this ends up being a good gun or not, it's one of the coolest guns from the '80s and was a part of my action movie upbringing. It's the fond memories that count, the love for something memorable that reminds you of good times. In that way, even if it ends up being bad, it won't matter. Making people smile makes it all worthwhile.
I remember seeing this gun in the 1990 scifi drug runner movie "I come in peace". It certainly has the look of a scifi gun.
I have always liked the aesthetics of the Calico. I have always considered it to be a highly futuristic looking firearm. The helical mag and feed system are fascinating.
An interesting update, as of 9/13/2021 Calico Light Weapon Systems has massively updated their website and appears to be shipping and producing a somewhat updated version of the Calico Liberty pistol and carbine.
Need
I never thought I would say anything other than the Calico looks goofy. Little did I know how badass the carbine size actually looks.
And they were used in Stat Wars and Spaceball (the new SWBF2 game changed so little to the pistol that it still says “9mm” on the side making it one the only 9mm laser cartridges in Star Wars)
Jake Garrett i was thinking it looked very star wars-y, but i didn’t realise it was actually in swbf2 - which gun is modelled on it?
Anything 9MM needs to look badass!
@@jakegarrett8109 holy crap you're right. I hadn't even realized
I never knew there was a carbine version until today. And I instantly wanted one lol
One of my Army buddies had one of the pistol versions back in the early 90’s.
It shot OK for what it was. Lots of glass reinforced nylon construction. It could put out a lot of lead. It had no reliability issues that I recall. It was of course in brand new condition back then.
such a cool firearm system, wish it got more recognition and screentime in games and tv
It probably has more screen time in games and film than actual real world use.
Resident Evil Code Veronica had it.
It's also in Jurassic Park: Trespasser. Don't judge me, I love that game! xD
It's in Fate/Zero.
It's in various games and even in a James Bond movie.
(Tomorrow Never Dies)
The film "I Come in Peace" used a modified Calico pistol. Looked pretty insane as an alien weapon. =D
It was used in Total Recall
As did the film Stone Cold.
Yeah thats were I first saw it too! lol.
@@dirus3142 Damn I forgot it was in that movie. Nice call out. 👍
Also Metal Gear Solid 3
I remember wanting one of these as a preteen. By the time I was old enough to buy one they couldn't be found anywhere except at a really high price. Once again a great and informative video.
They are pricey? But still available. Buy one before you can't get one?
“Betcha Biggie won’t slip, I got the Calico with the Black Talons loaded in the clip”
magazine
Westside is the best side you got to know
Keep a calico by the bedside, this what I'm all about
Now which one of y'all motherfuckers shot up my momma's house?
Dusty Black it’s a lyric
I first listened to that Biggie Smalls track 20 years ago and, up until now, had no idea what a 'Calico' was. Thank you Gun Jesus - you're my new go-to guy for explaining hip-hop.
Came here for this.
Ian: the only other time we see a helical magazine was the Evans rifle
*sad PP-19 noises*
Wonder how the pp-19 stacks up compared to this. Least in the mag design.
Technically he didn't even say that was the first, he said "This isn't the first helical magazine, for instance the Evans existed way back in the 1800s."
Though it may very well be the first. That's pretty early.
Not to mention that N. Korea out fit their military with that style.
Then there's the ones in planes like the A-10 thunderbolt...
@@TheRealColBosch he did say that the other gun that uses it as a form factor (where a high cap mag fits to the gun rather than looking weird or such) tho
I remember seeing these in their factory sales video, then in the game 007 Agent Under Fire. Also if I'm not mistaken the Bizon uses a helical magazine too but oriented under the barrel....
My understanding is Mikhail Kalashnikov thought the calico was really "Neato!" Which is how we got the Bizon
There's also some North Korean AKs (7.62 ones i believe) with helical mags, though good chances are they're just props to show off and/or incredibly unreliable.
Yeah the bizon... Not a great design
These were fun when they came out. I was a teenager and my friends father was a rep for them and as you stated, the primary goal was military and police sales.
Yeah, I remember when they came out and ... there was loads of room for improvement. I was in the Navy and like a lot of others in the Military a bit of a gun nerd... if they had removed the springs and wind up aspect, and used a low power linear actuator to bump the magazine forward on a trigger pull it would have solved a lot of problems; if they had placed the magazine under the reciever and barrel it would have solved a lot of problems and added some potential expansion capabilties; if they had slung the huge magazine under the barrel, all they had to do for the ejection port to keep ambidexterous use would be cutting an extra slot and keyway for user configurable ejection direction. If they had taken those steps, pretty sure they would be coveted items. Also, I always felt they should come with a Popeil Pocket Fisherman....just the feel of all that plastic. :P
"My Lord, is this legal"- Nute Gunray
“I will make it legal” - Darth Sidious
My Rord!
lol
Yes, No, Yes, Maybe, pick a time, sure won't be up here in Canada even in 22.
LMFAO
another of those, "I've seen it in a game but not sure it actually existed" weapons..yep, they're real. trying to remember if it was Warface or Combat Arms I saw it in.
It was in Parasite Eve 2
I found it in Warface, not sure about Combat Arms though
Counter-Strike Online in my case... And I remember thinking "Now they are really pulling stuff out of their ass"... little did I know...
Resident Evil... 2
I own the 22LR M-100 carbine, it's pretty fun!
These show up in the 1998 movie Deep Rising, which is one of the most hilariously bad (if still cool) firearm depictions I've seen. They're called the M1-L1 Triple-Pulse Rifle, and are described as "auto-cooling, water tight" and having a "thousand round magazine." Did I mention they added a set of spinning minigun barrels to the prop?
it looks amazing.
They were hilarious and amazing and if I had "light my cigar with c-notes" money I'd buy a calico and commission a replica.
It has had more rolls than many actors.
www.imfdb.org/wiki/Calico_Series_of_Rifles_and_Pistols#Calico_M955A
That magazine is WAY more simple than I expected! I'm definitely impressed, quite a bit of engineering
One of my favorite weapons from the 80s and then I found out that it's reliability was crap. Now it seems that it all depends upon how you treat it - which is lousy for military or police use (you want reliability no matter how negligent your staff), but perfectly okay for personal enthusiast use. Very much looking forward to tomorrow's live fire video !
So, if you're only shooting people socially, all well and good...LOL
I love her dumb futuristic over-design so much, wish one day i could own one.
Also Calico x Thunder best ship
How the isomer progress?
Someday, Ian will get his hands on the Thunder, too. And that shall be a glorious day.
@@amirul_ashraff13 just finished chapter 2, just taking my time to enjoy the story.
So far i been able to do all EX battles thankfully.
@Fujiwara No Flashback ayy im afraid brother
I wish them luck
Jagged Alliance 2 Memories come to life when seeing this
Absolutely!
And Resident Evil Code Veronica !
"Goddamn gun is out of goddamn ammo!" - Norma Jessop
Bruh
Was it in the base game of JA2? For some reason I thought it was only added in the fan-made 1.13 update. I always checked the lots of guns box!
Helical mags?
*The Helghast have entered the chat
"To have strength, we must produce strength. To produce strength, we must sacrifice."
The receiver design and action on these guns is ingenious. Very well fitting parts, simple, and when stripped has lots of easy-to-clean open space.
I remember the full auto pistol being in a 80’s B movie “I Come In Peace”. About an alien drug dealer
Dolph Lundgren as Cop, Jan Hammer for the Soundtrack.
@@mixalisstathis274 I believe you’re correct. Thanks for the info
First saw the Calico in the scifi movie "I Come In Peace" where they used a full auto pistol version as the alien's weapon - fell in love with it and have wanted one ever since.
I was wondering when you were gonna get to Calico! I have a folding stock .22 M100. It took some tweaking, but now it runs like a champ. The biggest hitch was getting a good magazine.
I have the m100s with the wood stock, and mine always jams constantly. Any tips to make it run better?
A couple things come to mind. With mine (used), the ejector was installed backwards and that caused every round to jam. Make sure to clean it often and thoroughly, including taking apart the bolt. .22 is a dirty round to shoot, after about 200-300 rounds my calico starts to malfunction. You may want to consider replacing the springs or the firing pin as well. And finally, ammo choice. I've noticed about a 1-3% failure rate in cheap bulk .22 ammo so you may want to experiment with different brands of ammo.
Try better ammo no cheap stuff.
My M100 functions flawlessly, I do regular maintenance (clean, lube etc.) do not forget to clean the magazine because carbon can foul up the mag causing malfunctions.
Can’t see these without thinking about the blasters from Space Balls
those were the Calico M100 .22LR
This is one of those guns that I can't help but love simply for how unusual it is. Both mechanically and visually, it's just really interesting.
I owned three of the 9mm calicos two pistols and one carbine. I had both 50 and 100 rd mags. one pistol and the carbine were full auto. I got them from Mike at the factory (shop?). I'm a movie gun handler so I immediately converted them to blank firing. The main mag problem I had was while firing blanks in simple blowback the rate of fire went WAY up. the centrifugal force of the ammo would put enough pressure on the magazine assembly clips they would fail and scatter blanks all over the set. My solution was to add hose clamps around the magazine. I had a few jams and miss fires mostly caused by the 9mm blanks. Fun guns. Dolph wanted one.
Calico: LSD and small arms design are, in fact, synonymous. (c) Alex C
Glad someone else was thinking of Alex C when the Calico popped up.
Nah! It can't have a LSD! It has no drive wheels to split the power to!
I miss Alex C what ever happened to him
I think you confused "synonymous" with "synergistic" there...
@@ryanjohn8035 As one of his friends, once the UA-cam ad revenue on firearm content dropped off, it was no longer feasible with the amount of work involved.
I graduate high school in ‘95 and remember these coming out. I wanted one so bad, but could never find one. I would consider buying one now though........
Altra Arms in Jackson Center, PA had them in stock when I was there last week.
I own the 22LR M-100 carbine, it's pretty fun!
When I was a kid there was a cheesy half hour action show called Lightning Force that aired in syndication on Saturdays. They used calicos as their sidearm because rule of cool.
When ever i see this gun I think of Kiritsugu Emiya from fate/zero.
I scrolled through the entire comment section to find this.
@@kavilpatel4610 I did too, didn't see it so made it myself :)
Well, same here bruh. Expecting to find this one particular comment, and yeah, somebody said it apparently
I noticed that too after watching some of the video.
All I think of is the Scene in total recall when Arnold smashes through the xray wall
Friend of mine got one(9mm/Car) when they came out. It was interesting and functioned fine when we shot it. I just could never see the ultility of it as a civilian semi-auto. The high capacity mag was a great idea for a submachine-gun/machine pistol., but just added weight and bulkiness in the civilian set-up as a 9mm semi-auto pistol/Car config
Im 54, I love everything about guns, Particularly WW2 vintage or anything oddball like this. Alas I am British and have never even held one let alone shot one. keep you 2nd amendment close to your heart guys.
Calico along with tec 9 can spit rhymes like no other
In the early 80s I was in middle school and this was the first weapon to ever engage and intrigue my young minds inner engineer ...love the show Sir. My patreon money is clearly being used well. Omg I got an official Ian ❤ its going to be an epic day.
Nice try
If you edit your comment the heart goes away anyway
♥️
@@Glepno clearly its a Russian plot.
Tony Todd in "The Crow" carried the pistol version of this gun. It's a very interesting gun design in both forms.
the Troopers in SPACEBALLS: The Movie, carried the calico 22Lr with chromed mags as their 'blasters'.
in the movie Tango and Cash, Tango pops out of the monster truck using one... it's on screen for almost exactly two seconds and is never seen again.
@@TheStraycat74 wow, I didn't know all that! It's an odd duck of a gun but when people see it, they immediately notice it.
And the alien bad guy and cop used SciFi versions of these guns in "Dark Angel" also know as "I come in Peace".
ua-cam.com/video/xcfl8-v0Trk/v-deo.html
They make them in .22 as well. I think it’s be a perfect gopher gun, 100 round mags roughly the same length as a ruger bx 25 mag but doesn’t stick out the bottom lot Easter to maneuver on the quad or truck or what ever your using at the time
Oh my... isn't that Kiritsugu's primary gun
Finally, between all movie and game references someone remembered Fate/Zero.
@Sou1Reav3r Also Fate Grand Order it makes it's appearance again.
I just started rewatching fate/zero then I see this video timing couldn't be better lol
Hell yes,Thank you!
Frankl, co sidering how pragmatic that character is supposed to be, I find it straining suspension of disbelief, zhat he would use such a novelty firearm.
If rate of fire and magazine capacity are the concern, there are half a dozen WWII submachineguns that are superior options to this.
14:40 Is now my favourite Gun Jesus quote.
Possibly the coolest lookin "modern" firearm there is, in my opinion. I'd love to own one just to have one, but would never use it for anything but plinking though Lol
I got to shoot on of these like 15 or more years ago and had no idea what it was only that it was a 22lr and I didn't know the term helical magazine so for years I thought it was something custom that the guy who let me shoot it had made. I searched for something like it but thought it was considered a drum mag and so I never found one then today a video on another helical magazine popped up so I searched it and here I am all these years later I finally know what it is. Thank you.
I remember a old ps2 game that had the calico pistol in it. The gun, according to the game, had an integrated 5x scope and it shot exploding bullets. And it only held like 12 rounds. They took a lot of creative liberties
Last time I was this early, Napoleon ordered the execution of any soldier wielding a Windbüchse.
I get that reference! =^[.]~=
@@Raycheetah I dont
@@BeastHunterSam Girardoni air rifle.
@@BeastHunterSam In the Napoleonic war era, there was a compressed air rifle which was used by snipers fighting against Napoleon's troops. It was almost as powerful as a powder-charged rifle, very quiet, and fired from a magazine, making it very fast to fire. It was also complicated and expensive, which is why frontline troops didn't use them. But Napoleon held them to be dishonorable assassin's weapons, and, much as Hitler did in WWII regarding captured commandos, he made it a summary execution offense for captured troops who used the weapon. ='[.]'=
How does a round get fed into the chamber without immediately falling through the ejection port? Does the ejector play a role in retaining it?
Also, is the interface between the moving feed lip and the bolt made of square parts? How does that work?
I hope my questions don't get buried under the usual meme comments.
JohnsonLobster i got bad news for you friend
The cartridge is held in the helical magazine by the one spring loaded feed lip. The bolt face has an extractor to clip over the rim of the cartridge as it is pushed out of the helical magazine. Till the cartridge is in the feed position, it is held by the flat parts of the bolt carrier. The cartridge is never really free to fall out, till the ejector rod hits it ( where the cartridge is rear of the feed position ).
The square surfaces don't make much different from any other gun. The one metal spring loaded feed lip is rounded at the corner that is pushed by the bolt. The bolt is square shaped because the rollers on the sides "lock" ( delay blowback ) the bolt in place, so the flat bolt front only has to sit flush against the trunion or breech face to function.
You can see most of it as Ian is disassembling the pistol, but he didn't fully explain it all or show the inner angled surfaces that make the rollers "lock" in the receiver.
See the part @14:10
Hi iou
F go I
I've seen these guns here and there but never actually gotten to see them up close. Super happy to see a video on it. Great stuff, Ian!
A friend of mine had the .22 version. We loved it. Lots of fun. Always wanted the 9 mm version.
Fun Fact: The "space guns" in the movie I come in peace are calicos lol...I've also owned a Calico M951 carbine since they were fist produced...only had 1 malfunction ever and that was letting a friend use it while we were out shooting and he used +p ammo (9mm dunno on the 22 models) which is a HUGE nono...and sure enough it broke a part (fortunatly its a really cheap part and easy to fix)...so 3 thing to do for sure, 1 no +p ammo. 2 wind the mag to the correct number (10 for the 50 and 23 for the 100rnd) and dont try to overwind it EVER, i.e. broken parts will result. And 3 lube the gun (you can hear just how dry it is in the vid every time he moves the cocking lever) forget useing dry spray lube youll still get that dry zipper/scraping sound when you cock it and sure enough after a mag or 2 youll get problems with feeding (I use good ol trusty Hoppes 9 and its never failed me)...the whole inaccurate sight thing..HA!!! open sights on the carbine and still hitting a soda can at 100 feet plus want better? add optics of your choice. Bonuses with this gun...almost no recoil at all (hell a 4 year old could shoot this thing all day with no problems on recoil..not that I condone giving a 4 year old a 50 or 100 rnd 9mm to blast away without supervision) and the compensator actually works perfectly with no muzzle climb.
Consumer: Does your gun hold zero when you change the magazine ?
Calico: What is zero ?
At Calico 'zero' stands for zero fucks given
Calico: We don't do zero. It's either 50 or 100.
@@emergenciest this..... I need this
@@thesturm8686 Dear Santa, I've been such a good boy all year..........
Hey Ian, make a review about this gun: Saab Bofors Dynamics CBJ-MS.
This one is practically obscure.
Ah yes, the LMG PDW
Whoa, I think I saw it in a magazine once and confused it with an OOZEE. ;w;
I just remembered that gun existed, was one of my favorite PDWs in Battlefield 4 as well.
Bofors deez nuts lmao
I got to know the calico through Sword Art Online 2.When i first saw it i was like"Wow!Thats looks like a really cool weapon!"so i researched it but did not find alot so i turned to gun jesus but he did not make a vid about it until now.Long have i waited,and now,its finally here!Thanks Ian!
I have one of these M950s, picked up along with an M100 (both original manufacturing runs) on the same gun shop trip (lucky day). Your arms get a bit of a work out hefting that 50 round mag around if you go through multiple loads, and a good arrangement taking her out with friends is "you can go through the whole mag, you just have to reload afterwards."
She's definitely not a precision firearm, but the accuracy is acceptable for close ranges. I've taken her out maybe 7-8 times (mostly with friends) with multiple loads each session, and think I'm just into double digits for loading issues with an all brass diet and regular maintenance.
The retro aesthetic is great, and going through a 50 round mag has put a smile on many a face. Even moreso plinking away through a 100 round mag of .22 in the M100, but that would be a different video (if it happens).
I own a Calico M-100 22LR carbine that was built at the end of 1986. I had it rebuilt by the revived Calico Light Weapons Systems about 8 years ago, and bought a second magazine for it.
IF you use QUALITY AMMO that doesn't misfire (22lr is known for quality control issues), And you take a bit of time to find the ammo your particular firearm LIKES, then you won't have anywhere near as many problems as el-cheapo bulk ammo.
Ian, If you ever find yourself in Central Wisconsin, feel free to stop on by and I'll take you out shooting a few of my more esoteric firearms, including my calico carbine