1896, it's more like 2096. I think it may be the the most beautiful and elegant pistol I've seen. No wonder Maxim didn't like it, he made a great machine gun, but it looks like farm machinery, especially compared to that thing!
You can probably understand why they decided to invest in their machine gun business. They were making a profit off of selling machine guns, but semi-auto pistols were kind of seen as a newfangled novelty at this time. I mean, it looks great, but many people at this time have not seen value in a semi-auto pistol. Why use that thing, which can jam, when you have your old reliable revolver?
"If you want to make a fortune, invent a machine that will help these Europeans kill each other." Well, he did and he did. Still, if someone took up that design and fixed the problem with using powerful cartridges, you could sell a ton of them on looks alone.
Ironically he treated his employees like the industry had treated him in the states a very unfortunate character flaw,a blemish on a otherwise brilliant individual.
Lets just take a moment to appreciate how such a rare pistol made in 1896 is in such pristine condition over 100 years later. That pistol has been superbly cared for over that time.
Samuel Watson Sure hope they kept them intact for the movie.
7 років тому+151
Actually Boba took them back (you can see him with those guns in one of the Clone Wars Episode) so they were probably lost during the formation of the Empire... ?
He once mentioned that he doesn't think about the value of these guns.. sometimes he doesn't even know it himself and wondered that they went through the auction with such high prices afterwards. And yes, indeed he has.
Only three ever made and each is a different calibre, so each is effectively unique. There are some things he doesn't strip, but not many. I can only assume that he has a considerable reputation (I only know him from this channel). Certainly no auction house would allow the likes of me to even touch most of the weapons he features.
It’s a beautiful, elegant design. It would sell as a .22 or even a .380. They would have pinned the ejector eventually. A really simple trigger setup too. I can see DIY guys taking note.
We should all come together and make 80% parts to make new ones... It's not like Hiram Maxim and Co. can still have active patents on it, right? 120 years old, and only 3 made? 🤔 I see Opportunity here
The "unknown 8.45mm cartridge" that Ian mentions at 3:23 is called 8mm Schönberger, which was used in the Laumann pistol of 1891. This round was already described as "quite unobtainable" as soon as 1931 (Textbook of Automatic Pistols" by R. K. Wilson).
@Mauri Mela the mark 4 isn't an upgrade. the Mark II is the best of the Ruger Mark series as far as performance and shoot ability. Some people have trouble with the disassembly and reassembly of pre Mark 4 Ruger 22 pistols those people are morons.
I really like it's simplicity even the added spring which was a simple solution to a problem. Someone should reproduce these by hand or something. Would be cool.
also looks like there's room to increase the thickness of the bolt walls & reduce the flange dia on the striker, fit a smaller dia (stiffer) main spring. Maybe even swap the bolt material to a nickle alloy, maybe a lost-wax investment casting part to bump up the mass further. Might slow down the breach opening a tad more. Such an elegant gun. Make a Luger look like the ugliest of ugly sisters by comparison!
Yep they do, but Tungsten Carbide is very brittle as Gavin notes. Vibration and interrupted cuts are death to this type tooling. A striker made from Tungsten Carbide would snap off in no time. If you needed mass in the bolt there doesn't seem to an easy way to do that as the bolt is hollow.. perhaps a ring of Tungsten at the back of the bolt might do the trick. But even that might not be enough, e.g. the bolt in the blow-back 9mm Sten gun looks like it might have 5 or 6 times the mass of the bolt in this pistol. A bolt with a heavy slug insert might work ok with .32 ACP and be easy to cock without that external spring.
This is one of several guns that make me wish I had the money to start a gun replica company. CNC machines and contemporary metallurgy could turn a lot of old designs into very serviceable sporting and hobby guns. With the added benefit that I'd be chambering them in common contemporary cartridges.
That's really a neat design. If Silverman had got to this point of optimizing mechanically the gun, with further development that crude delaying leaf spring would probably have become some sort of sliding or tilting block providing actual, proper delaying. Compared to the Borchardt, it's so much tidier, compact, mechanically elegant and straight forward! Shame it didn't go any further...
this spring delay system is in function very similar to a roller delayed blowback, as there is something roundish that has to be pushed out of the way by the bolt before it can move backwards
@@SoWe1 Same thought popped into my head when I saw it. And the piece could be made nicer, but keep the simple design - not sure the roller is really needed. I like the idea of this as a simple to mass produce wartime gun - no need for internal rollers, etc, just this spring. There's hardly any room for dirt to get in.
Perhaps a hardened ring at the front of the receivers with several small holes and ball bearings - converting the reshaped striker into something vaguely like the bolt assembly of an MP-5 (delayed blowback)
I dont often see much that really impresses me on this channel, but this gun is an elegantly simple and quite beautifully designed firearm. It combines the simplicity and authentically original design work that one would expect from a really experienced designer. These guys (whether it was Silverman or Maxim) really were ahead of their time in both the firing group and the cycling of the pistol. this design coupled with the right caliber/load would have been a good gun even by todays standards.
When you said the era of manufacture I was surprised. I already really liked it before I knew the age of it. Some of the most beautiful and innovative things man makes never reach production for a consumer.
As always, informative, erudite, entertaining and very interesting.. Thank you. As Pablo Picasso said, the ultimate critic is the person who spends his money to buy your painting. Not an exact quote, but if this pistol ware available in .22 LR today, I'd buy it.
The bolt looks like the bolt face of an AR15, and the firing pin block of more refined than a Glock firing pin block. Extremely impressive. It is rare I watch one of your videos Ian and am impressed by a gun but this one is truly impressive.
This pistol design was genius both in form and function. It's easy to see its potential. Too bad for us that Silverman's accomplishment was suppressed. Awesome job of digging up this impressive gem. Thanks!
Have watched this episode several times now, this is one of my favorites so far. I love the low parts count and amazing straightforward design. It's too bad about the wacky external spring! Thinking that if they had just gone with what they had and used a different (lower power) cartridge, they would have had this amazing thing with ? eight moving parts?!! And that awful tiny ejector thing. Maybe they could give you a little bag of them when you buy the pistol. Anyway, for being such an antique I think I'd buy a modern one today, especially if it was this cool and also the cheapest thing in the store! I bought a Ruger MkIV which I definitely did not need basically because it looked like this. And was stainless! So yeah, I'm hoping some entrepreneur in Argentina or something will pick this up, and get it to us in Stainless. Thank you, Forgotten Firearms!
Hey Ian. I don't know if this has ever occurred to you, but i find it pretty awesome that all these rare weapons from various times. Some, like this one, which few people have ever seen let alone dissembled/been able to play with, now all share a common connection in their histories, *you*.
Would this crazy little thing have been FULLY AUTOMATIC?! If you held down the trigger would the gun just roll with it? P.S. Maxim really dropped the ball with this one, if he didn't let his pride get in the way of a good idea then He and Silverman could have really made something awesome!
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
BlankPicketSign if mr Browning had known about this he would have made it an affordable civilian and/or police pistol. One thing gun Jesus left out was the little slots on the grip would tell you how many bullets were in the mag.
@@JohnDoe-fk6id Comment section to the rescue, I had the same concern as BPS. Nice find. Looks like the "trigger bar" is on a pivot and its tail is pinched between the trigger spring and the trigger. It can rotate further than the trigger but is spring loaded back when the trigger is released. Cool design. Probably creepy as a caulk gun tho.
Thanks for doing what you do. Ass an ME, this content is good for geeking out on firearms and learning about what works in product development and manufacturing. This particular pistol is great for it's simplicity.
Man I love that design. I mean that is the main reason why I follow this series. All those neat designs. Maybe from a technical standpoint that thing is a failure, but design wise it looks pretty menacing.
from a technical standpoint its actually vastly ahead of its time. They came up with this when nothing really even resembling all the parts they have working together in this gun was well-known. with 10 years more R&D they could have got this thing working with some kind of sliding/tilting block and had a real winner on their hands. Fixed barrel for accuracy, mechanically simple, very well-enclosed internals, very cheap compared to something like the luger, replaceable magazine, semi-auto, it has it all really. All it needed was a more robust breech delay
Not even knock the caliber down to anything within .22LR and .380 and you do not have to do anything to the design as is should work in those calibers without any modifications to the original design.
God I love your history on some of these weapons it's so thorough and accurate. You even went into why you believe this was RA created by Silverman. And you're absolutely right. It was said that he was very jealous of Silverman's skills and treated him very poorly and never let his ideas leave the drawing board. Then it was said he later went back and changed Silverman's ideas just a little bit and would then try to take credit for the whole weapon. At first he was trying to make it where it was only his name. But there was this squabble and the threat of parting ways. Dude knew that he needed Silverman. So that's why you see both their names.
The Ruger Mark series is essentially this concept designed to work with 22LR and if you can't disassemble and reassemble a Ruger Mark II then you aren't smart enough to be allowed to own handguns it's not difficult.
@@marcusborderlands6177 maybe I'm an asshole but I'm also right. It's simple and guns are dangerous you should put more effort in if you can't figure out how to operate and clean a very common gun.
Waita minute.... the patent on this thing must be expired by now.... therefore I don't see to much of a problem adjusting the design and remanufacturing them in the modern day. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will decide to bring the Silverman back.
I love the aesthetics here, long grip and all. It's just so clean, simple and elegant; futuristic in a timeless way. I'd love to own one, but imagine they'd be expensive and hard to find.
@@marksyb957 I was wondering the same thing as you two here, I could imagine that if you held the trigger it would keep the bolt from going all the way forward as the front of the sear will hit the trigger-peg-thingy - but then I don't understand how it wouldn't trip the sear when releasing the trigger in either case
Now through the power of the internet this gun will never be forgotten, btw I dont know if you do gun requests but ive just heard about the Ribeyrolles 1918 as it was just added to Battlefield 1. It seems to me to be the first assualt rifle and i would love to see you go at it historically and mechanically. Keep up the good work.
In the extreme case, the rear of the case blows out and injures the shooter. More typically, you would get excessively high bolt velocity, which would quickly lead to damage to the bolt or receiver, as the two slam into each other.
can you get your hands on one of those "nuclear cannons" that fire nuclear projectiles? and fire it in a firing range? they where made in the 50's or the 60's i think.
M-28 Davy Crockett with a M-388 round. If Ian would ever fire that weapon on a range, it would be the first nuclear detonation on US soil since 1992, the first in the atmosphere since 1962, and a breach of a handful nuclear weapon treaties. It would certainly give this channel a lot of attention. 😆
mrzoperxplex Fair points, I just find it mechanically unique and interesting. It's not like a cotter pin on an AR15 bolt is much harder to lose, for example.
Missing some information here. When the trigger is kept pulled, how the mechanism prevents the pistol from shooting fully automatic? I have only seen the trigger moving the striker stopper aside so the striker can hit the primer. For the ejector it would have been a simpler solution, to make the later added delayed blowback spring to snap in again, when the bolt is fully open to kick out the cartridge.
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
Gabriele Ciciriello I wanted to ask the same thing. My guess would be the bolt face stops on the top of the trigger and the gun doesn't go into battery until you release the trigger. (Don't know that that would be a good idea, but that's what it looks like.)
It is both an elegant design & truly astonishing that something so apparently sophisticated & modern was made over a _century_ ago..! Remarkable. I'd like to see a modern developer try to build on this pistol, using up to date materials & replacing any obsolescent aspects with current design components.
As an amateur researcher into the history of engineering design, that spring was high tech for the 1890s. Getting consistent steel wire drawn, tempered, and coiled was still in the early days. Now it's just a matter of specifying the spring characteristics and sending out a RFQ to the makers.
This pistol looks, to my old eyes at least, a lot like what you would get if a Colt's Woodsman had sex with a Ruger Mk1. Externally a beautiful pistol.
the internals are bloody amazing too. If this had had say 10 years more development time, the delaying spring could have been replaced with some sort of sliding block, and then you'd have a simple, incredibly elegant and compact pistol. It probably would have been the better of the Luger and 1911 if only for the simple design.
That's a very simple but slick design, and you can totally tell that delay spring was a after thought to delay the bolt from opening, and probably would have worked great 32 acp or .380 or 9mm short.
1896? This shit was so ahead of its time.
1896, it's more like 2096. I think it may be the the most beautiful and elegant pistol I've seen. No wonder Maxim didn't like it, he made a great machine gun, but it looks like farm machinery, especially compared to that thing!
You can probably understand why they decided to invest in their machine gun business.
They were making a profit off of selling machine guns, but semi-auto pistols were kind of seen as a newfangled novelty at this time.
I mean, it looks great, but many people at this time have not seen value in a semi-auto pistol. Why use that thing, which can jam, when you have your old reliable revolver?
"If you want to make a fortune, invent a machine that will help these Europeans kill each other." Well, he did and he did. Still, if someone took up that design and fixed the problem with using powerful cartridges, you could sell a ton of them on looks alone.
Its fucking steampunk gun! I love it!
HKIMN2 especially seeing as most of the good service pistols came 30 years later
This thing is in absolutely IMMACULATE condition for being 120 years old. Props to the guys taking care of it.
When I first saw the thumbnail, without seeing the date, I was certain this was a late 20th century weapon. The design looks so modern!
It resembles a Luger P08 and Ruger Mk I in a few ways...
Normalis Persona yeah, that grip angle. It’s really sleek in a Buck Rogers/early space comics kind of way.
@@WineScrounger This might be the thing that SET that style! That the cartoonists were working to this image, I'm saying.
Leonard Pearlman very possible. 👍
Normalis Persona
Also a nambu kind of
That thing looks so Art Deco it shoots Chrysler Buildings.
Christopher Jeffrey better shoot Trump buildings... those are ugly.
Christopher Jeffrey not enough brass and geometric designs
First gun you pick up in the next bioshock game.
Ironically he treated his employees like the industry had treated him in the states a very unfortunate character flaw,a blemish on a otherwise brilliant individual.
Duco Maritiem what a great President
Lets just take a moment to appreciate how such a rare pistol made in 1896 is in such pristine condition over 100 years later. That pistol has been superbly cared for over that time.
Most things will hold up well if you stick them in a box for a hundred and twenty-four years without touching them.
@@davidmcguire6043 You volunteering?
only 3 in existence, Jango lost 2 of them in Geonosis and Gun Jesus has the last one
Samuel Watson Sure hope they kept them intact for the movie.
Actually Boba took them back (you can see him with those guns in one of the Clone Wars Episode) so they were probably lost during the formation of the Empire... ?
gun jesus! lmao best name ever for this guy xD
Damn he lost something expensive.
I mean his head
Samuel Watson yes you have right👍🏼😂
Over 120 year old gun.. Only 3 ever made..
"Oh boy! Let's dissassemble it =D"
Pleumel hes got some balls
He once mentioned that he doesn't think about the value of these guns.. sometimes he doesn't even know it himself and wondered that they went through the auction with such high prices afterwards.
And yes, indeed he has.
Only three ever made and each is a different calibre, so each is effectively unique. There are some things he doesn't strip, but not many. I can only assume that he has a considerable reputation (I only know him from this channel). Certainly no auction house would allow the likes of me to even touch most of the weapons he features.
Right? It's crazy, the extremely rare guns he gets to take apart and explain for us all.
Pleumel and here I was thinking maybe just maybe I could buy one.....
It’s a beautiful, elegant design. It would sell as a .22 or even a .380. They would have pinned the ejector eventually. A really simple trigger setup too. I can see DIY guys taking note.
Just comparing its looks to other guns of the era it looks so sleek and stylish
Just magnificent
this came out way back in 1896.... wow... just wow...
Back then, it must have looked like science fiction. Even to this day, it looks like science fiction. -Just ask Jango.
We should all come together and make 80% parts to make new ones... It's not like Hiram Maxim and Co. can still have active patents on it, right? 120 years old, and only 3 made? 🤔 I see Opportunity here
The "unknown 8.45mm cartridge" that Ian mentions at 3:23 is called 8mm Schönberger, which was used in the Laumann pistol of 1891. This round was already described as "quite unobtainable" as soon as 1931 (Textbook of Automatic Pistols" by R. K. Wilson).
The finish on that pistol is exquisite during the closeups
It would be nice if someone produced this gun in .22lr. nice plinking potencial :)
Like the SW 22Victory too, but prettier.
It's called a Ruger MKII.
@Daniel Nunez so obviously you've never handled a Ruger mk pistol.
@The Weapon Collection you mean mark 2. The mark 2 being the best of the bunch and also having a heel type magazine release
@Mauri Mela the mark 4 isn't an upgrade. the Mark II is the best of the Ruger Mark series as far as performance and shoot ability. Some people have trouble with the disassembly and reassembly of pre Mark 4 Ruger 22 pistols those people are morons.
This one deserves to be replicated. Simply breathtaking.
I really like it's simplicity even the added spring which was a simple solution to a problem. Someone should reproduce these by hand or something. Would be cool.
It really does. The entire design is surprisingly modern.
also looks like there's room to increase the thickness of the bolt walls & reduce the flange dia on the striker, fit a smaller dia (stiffer) main spring. Maybe even swap the bolt material to a nickle alloy, maybe a lost-wax investment casting part to bump up the mass further. Might slow down the breach opening a tad more. Such an elegant gun. Make a Luger look like the ugliest of ugly sisters by comparison!
would have thought Tungsten Carbide too brittle?
Gavin Davies they use tungsten carbide in machining tools, lol
Yep they do, but Tungsten Carbide is very brittle as Gavin notes. Vibration and interrupted cuts are death to this type tooling. A striker made from Tungsten Carbide would snap off in no time. If you needed mass in the bolt there doesn't seem to an easy way to do that as the bolt is hollow.. perhaps a ring of Tungsten at the back of the bolt might do the trick. But even that might not be enough, e.g. the bolt in the blow-back 9mm Sten gun looks like it might have 5 or 6 times the mass of the bolt in this pistol. A bolt with a heavy slug insert might work ok with .32 ACP and be easy to cock without that external spring.
Such an elegant and beautiful piece.
Rakermul A more elegant weapon from a more civilized age?
Too bad.....20 years later a 32 acp or 380 version would probably have been very popular.
Makes me wonder what the patent status like. Over 100 years old, would it be possible for someone to make reproductions in a more suitable cartridge?
This is one of several guns that make me wish I had the money to start a gun replica company. CNC machines and contemporary metallurgy could turn a lot of old designs into very serviceable sporting and hobby guns. With the added benefit that I'd be chambering them in common contemporary cartridges.
Timothy King yes this is good, I have idea! We gather more people with this idea and make a company to fund these
who owns the .455 one, we can buy ammo and try it out lol
William Prince Yeah really, I'd love to have one in either .32 or .380, either one or even better, both
That's really a neat design. If Silverman had got to this point of optimizing mechanically the gun, with further development that crude delaying leaf spring would probably have become some sort of sliding or tilting block providing actual, proper delaying. Compared to the Borchardt, it's so much tidier, compact, mechanically elegant and straight forward! Shame it didn't go any further...
Unbelievable to me, it's a pre 1900 design. It's so slick!
this spring delay system is in function very similar to a roller delayed blowback, as there is something roundish that has to be pushed out of the way by the bolt before it can move backwards
@@SoWe1 Same thought popped into my head when I saw it. And the piece could be made nicer, but keep the simple design - not sure the roller is really needed. I like the idea of this as a simple to mass produce wartime gun - no need for internal rollers, etc, just this spring. There's hardly any room for dirt to get in.
Perhaps a hardened ring at the front of the receivers with several small holes and ball bearings - converting the reshaped striker into something vaguely like the bolt assembly of an MP-5 (delayed blowback)
Im growing a mustache just like you gun jesus.
Gun Jesus. That's great! XD
Ian is officially "gun jesus". Perfect
Yay, "Gun Jesus" is catching on! X3
Hey guys, thanks for tuning in on forgotten weapons dot com, I'm gun Jesus... XD
If you like Ian's mustache, you should see his dad's.
Phenomenal design. Extremely simple and efficient. I would love to see this incorporated into new models.
"Its elegant and simple"
Me: "a weapon from a more civilized age...?"
lol
I dont often see much that really impresses me on this channel, but this gun is an elegantly simple and quite beautifully designed firearm. It combines the simplicity and authentically original design work that one would expect from a really experienced designer. These guys (whether it was Silverman or Maxim) really were ahead of their time in both the firing group and the cycling of the pistol. this design coupled with the right caliber/load would have been a good gun even by todays standards.
Looks like something you'd see in a James Bond movie.
nosferatu5 color it gold and it would be worthy of Scaramanga.
you mean star wars
We all thought it
Maybe moonnraker
Maxim Silverman sounds so slick and the gun really matches it
For such an early design, it's extremely well thought out and simple.
Has to be one of the most elegant hand guns I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing.
Jango Fett's pistol on forgotten weapons, I never thought I'd see the day
I can only see the jango fett blasters.
They look very similar indeed
ELCAPULLO GALACTICO
Jango Feet
Huh
I didn't see that shit when i wrote that. Thanks for the correction dude
I was about to say...
ELCAPULLO GALACTICO no worries mate
That gun actually looks really nice. The machine work is very impressive.
This gun was ahead of it's time. Truly impressive for the time period
Piece of art. Simplistic InDesign and easily maintained.
When you said the era of manufacture I was surprised. I already really liked it before I knew the age of it. Some of the most beautiful and innovative things man makes never reach production for a consumer.
It's really beautiful in it's simplicity.
This is, perhaps the most beautiful sleek handgun I have seen. Reminds me a lot of the automag of years gone by.
As always, informative, erudite, entertaining and very interesting.. Thank you.
As Pablo Picasso said, the ultimate critic is the person who spends his money to buy your painting. Not an exact quote, but if this pistol ware available in .22 LR today, I'd buy it.
The bolt looks like the bolt face of an AR15, and the firing pin block of more refined than a Glock firing pin block. Extremely impressive. It is rare I watch one of your videos Ian and am impressed by a gun but this one is truly impressive.
Almost look like a Star Wars gun... It is really cool and kinsa wird that they didn't look more into it.
It is jangos gun
One of the most beautiful and elegant guns I ever seen. Many thanks for showing it.
I wanna see it in action. DICE, get in here and check this out
Meh...
I don't understand why you want to see this gun in action against people jumping everywhere.
Grégory Fleury its always cool to see the aparatus in a simulation of its natural enviorment
joe kurtz BF1 is not that natural environment. Man is it a retarded game
shit dude i wish i knew that before it came out , then id have 60 more bucks
It is in BF1, but only for the vehicle classes
The design looks pretty slick. Especially the right grip panel with the holes.
hell id buy one today great looking pistol!
This is one of the most beautiful guns I have seen on this channel.
Very elegant design for the age.
Heavy Metal Chemist A more elegant design from a more elegant era.
This pistol design was genius both in form and function. It's easy to see its potential. Too bad for us that Silverman's accomplishment was suppressed. Awesome job of digging up this impressive gem. Thanks!
personally, I declare this the best gun reviewed. I also give this gun a title of "mother of luger, ruger and nambu".
No, he even said it predates luger
@@brain4154 a mother predates her children
I live for those kind of pistols
Damn Ians got the best job in the world. He gets to play with and shoot the coolest guns, id actually pay to do what he gets to do for a living
Have watched this episode several times now, this is one of my favorites so far. I love the low parts count and amazing straightforward design. It's too bad about the wacky external spring! Thinking that if they had just gone with what they had and used a different (lower power) cartridge, they would have had this amazing thing with ? eight moving parts?!! And that awful tiny ejector thing. Maybe they could give you a little bag of them when you buy the pistol. Anyway, for being such an antique I think I'd buy a modern one today, especially if it was this cool and also the cheapest thing in the store! I bought a Ruger MkIV which I definitely did not need basically because it looked like this. And was stainless! So yeah, I'm hoping some entrepreneur in Argentina or something will pick this up, and get it to us in Stainless. Thank you, Forgotten Firearms!
Hey Ian. I don't know if this has ever occurred to you, but i find it pretty awesome that all these rare weapons from various times. Some, like this one, which few people have ever seen let alone dissembled/been able to play with, now all share a common connection in their histories, *you*.
Would this crazy little thing have been FULLY AUTOMATIC?! If you held down the trigger would the gun just roll with it?
P.S. Maxim really dropped the ball with this one, if he didn't let his pride get in the way of a good idea then He and Silverman could have really made something awesome!
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg
The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
BlankPicketSign if mr Browning had known about this he would have made it an affordable civilian and/or police pistol.
One thing gun Jesus left out was the little slots on the grip would tell you how many bullets were in the mag.
@@JohnDoe-fk6id Comment section to the rescue, I had the same concern as BPS. Nice find. Looks like the "trigger bar" is on a pivot and its tail is pinched between the trigger spring and the trigger. It can rotate further than the trigger but is spring loaded back when the trigger is released. Cool design. Probably creepy as a caulk gun tho.
One of the most beautifull gun in the world, and i think it inspired every futuristic pistol ever
I find your voice soothing...your sorta like the Bob Ross of firearms. Great vid Gun Jesus!
"And make sure your Bergmann pistols are happy Bergmann pistols..."
Thanks for doing what you do. Ass an ME, this content is good for geeking out on firearms and learning about what works in product development and manufacturing. This particular pistol is great for it's simplicity.
A time traveler from the 1960's must have gone back to the Victorian Age and dropped his gun.
That machining and fitment is beyond beautiful.
Man I love that design. I mean that is the main reason why I follow this series. All those neat designs. Maybe from a technical standpoint that thing is a failure, but design wise it looks pretty menacing.
Ezydenias I'd love a modern version of this
from a technical standpoint its actually vastly ahead of its time. They came up with this when nothing really even resembling all the parts they have working together in this gun was well-known. with 10 years more R&D they could have got this thing working with some kind of sliding/tilting block and had a real winner on their hands. Fixed barrel for accuracy, mechanically simple, very well-enclosed internals, very cheap compared to something like the luger, replaceable magazine, semi-auto, it has it all really. All it needed was a more robust breech delay
Not even knock the caliber down to anything within .22LR and .380 and you do not have to do anything to the design as is should work in those calibers without any modifications to the original design.
This pistol is amazingly easy to understand. So few parts. I salute Mr Silverman for this design.
Someone should use this design as the basis for a high-end Target Pistol.
They do its called ruger
Yeah, rugers been doing it since the 50's
Unbelievable, pre 1898 striker fire, bolt action semi automatic pistol. Those guys were genious way ahead of his time. Great video Sr.
That ejector pin looks like one of those tiny game pieces from the game Life.
this is possibly the best looking gun ever
The relationship between Maxim and Silverman reminds me a bit of Edison and his think Tank
God I love your history on some of these weapons it's so thorough and accurate. You even went into why you believe this was RA created by Silverman. And you're absolutely right. It was said that he was very jealous of Silverman's skills and treated him very poorly and never let his ideas leave the drawing board. Then it was said he later went back and changed Silverman's ideas just a little bit and would then try to take credit for the whole weapon. At first he was trying to make it where it was only his name. But there was this squabble and the threat of parting ways. Dude knew that he needed Silverman. So that's why you see both their names.
Feel like a modern reproduction in 22lr would be a good opponent to the ruger mk series and would much easier to take down.
The Ruger Mark series is essentially this concept designed to work with 22LR and if you can't disassemble and reassemble a Ruger Mark II then you aren't smart enough to be allowed to own handguns it's not difficult.
@@davidmcguire6043 holy shit, your comments really make you sound like an asshole
@@davidmcguire6043 how does feel like being a dick to someone else huh ?
@@davidmcguire6043 firearm gatekeeping
@@marcusborderlands6177 maybe I'm an asshole but I'm also right. It's simple and guns are dangerous you should put more effort in if you can't figure out how to operate and clean a very common gun.
A slick and efficient design, beautifully crafted, deserved to be further developed
Waita minute.... the patent on this thing must be expired by now.... therefore I don't see to much of a problem adjusting the design and remanufacturing them in the modern day. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will decide to bring the Silverman back.
Then we're gonna need a lot of luck, I'm still waiting for someone to reproduce the Burgess Shotgun.
I'll give it a shot seems simple enough.
evilcowboy how's the Silverman coming
Ian's video on the Burgess Shotgun is featured in the Popular Mechanics article on same.
@@evilcowboy reproduce it yet?
I love the aesthetics here, long grip and all. It's just so clean, simple and elegant; futuristic in a timeless way. I'd love to own one, but imagine they'd be expensive and hard to find.
Hey Ian, does this pistol have a semi-auto disconnector?
I can't see what would stop it firing full auto if you hold down the trigger
@@marksyb957 I was wondering the same thing as you two here, I could imagine that if you held the trigger it would keep the bolt from going all the way forward as the front of the sear will hit the trigger-peg-thingy - but then I don't understand how it wouldn't trip the sear when releasing the trigger in either case
Very cool design way ahead of its time.
That gun looks straight out of a sci-fi movie, also maxim and Silverman's relationship sounds like the one between Edison and Tesla
christopher zarcone Jango Fetts blasters if I'm right.
No, Maxim and Silverman worked together for many years. Edison and Tesla were rivals and hated each other's guts.
Now through the power of the internet this gun will never be forgotten, btw I dont know if you do gun requests but ive just heard about the Ribeyrolles 1918 as it was just added to Battlefield 1. It seems to me to be the first assualt rifle and i would love to see you go at it historically and mechanically. Keep up the good work.
What actually happens when you fire a too powerful a cartridge in an unlocked gun? You often mention this, but what would the actual experience be?
In the extreme case, the rear of the case blows out and injures the shooter. More typically, you would get excessively high bolt velocity, which would quickly lead to damage to the bolt or receiver, as the two slam into each other.
That is the most elegant firearm I have ever seen.
PLEASE some gun company make a 22lr version of this!
Ruger has been making a 22LR version of this for 70 years how do so many of you not know that?
I have to say that this pistol is exceedingly well finished and well-preserved.
can you get your hands on one of those "nuclear cannons" that fire nuclear projectiles?
and fire it in a firing range?
they where made in the 50's or the 60's i think.
Davy Crockett
M-28 Davy Crockett with a M-388 round.
If Ian would ever fire that weapon on a range, it would be the first nuclear detonation on US soil since 1992, the first in the atmosphere since 1962, and a breach of a handful nuclear weapon treaties.
It would certainly give this channel a lot of attention. 😆
That ejection system is absolutely brilliant. It's like an ejector piston.
mrzoperxplex Fair points, I just find it mechanically unique and interesting. It's not like a cotter pin on an AR15 bolt is much harder to lose, for example.
Missing some information here. When the trigger is kept pulled, how the mechanism prevents the pistol from shooting fully automatic? I have only seen the trigger moving the striker stopper aside so the striker can hit the primer.
For the ejector it would have been a simpler solution, to make the later added delayed blowback spring to snap in again, when the bolt is fully open to kick out the cartridge.
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg
The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
Nice! I really liked the simplicity of this pistol when I saw it on your site, glad you found one to make a video
Has a very “Rocketeer” vibe to it.
Dang this is the coolest gun design ever.
This is full auto? In 1896? With 8 bullets in the mag? Wow... Would love to see it shoot.
Krusell1994 semi auto still cool though
I don't see anything in the fire control mechanism that disconnects the sear.
Steven Siloti there is one.
I found this on forgottenweapons.com: www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/sear-diagrams.jpg
The reset mechanism is in the trigger, and as the bolt goes into battery, it forces the top of the trigger forward and under the chamber. As the trigger is released, the top part can reset back under the sear, ready for the next shot.
You teach a great lesson. Regardless of self promotion or riches, jerks will always be remembered as jerks.
isn't there a full auto disconnector??
This is what I'm wondering. I don't see any obvious mechanism to prevent the sear from tripping again after the first shot.
Let's wait for the mighty gun jesus to respond
Gabriele Ciciriello I wanted to ask the same thing. My guess would be the bolt face stops on the top of the trigger and the gun doesn't go into battery until you release the trigger. (Don't know that that would be a good idea, but that's what it looks like.)
chaz720 it doesn't sound really safe though
Commenting so I can see the response
very cool obscure pistol, thank you for bringing this to us Ian
This would’ve been a great weapon for BF1. BF1 is infamous for having weapons that were experimental.
It is both an elegant design & truly astonishing that something so apparently sophisticated & modern was made over a _century_ ago..! Remarkable.
I'd like to see a modern developer try to build on this pistol, using up to date materials & replacing any obsolescent aspects with current design components.
prime example of how we self-prevent our own progress
As an amateur researcher into the history of engineering design, that spring was high tech for the 1890s. Getting consistent steel wire drawn, tempered, and coiled was still in the early days. Now it's just a matter of specifying the spring characteristics and sending out a RFQ to the makers.
probably shop made
This pistol looks, to my old eyes at least, a lot like what you would get if a Colt's Woodsman had sex with a Ruger Mk1. Externally a beautiful pistol.
the internals are bloody amazing too. If this had had say 10 years more development time, the delaying spring could have been replaced with some sort of sliding block, and then you'd have a simple, incredibly elegant and compact pistol. It probably would have been the better of the Luger and 1911 if only for the simple design.
That's a very simple but slick design, and you can totally tell that delay spring was a after thought to delay the bolt from opening, and probably would have worked great 32 acp or .380 or 9mm short.
looks a lot like a ruger
Andrew Eisen it pre dates the luger
DerpBomb Gaming (((?))))
What?
He edited his comment to ruger, and the gun was made in 1896 so it predates both the luger and ruger
DerpBomb Gaming, he didn't edit his comment though.
Very cool. Very simple. I like how all the parts work together to simplify.
Didnt the Predator in well, Predator use this in his medkit after getting shot by a wall of bullets.
whoops, no, i just totally misremembered what his little syringe thingy looked like
that is one slick looking 19th century pistol tho.
this geometry is great having your hand close to the bore will help with recoil, vary clean design, i want one!
Maxims condescending way of allowing a “lesser designer” have a gold star pinned up on the metaphorical refrigerator.
Wow i like that pistol. Not to take away from the work that went into it, its so simple, its great.
Am I The Only On Seeing The Ruger Standard In This Pistol?
That is one of the coolest pistols I've ever seen, great video!
1896, looks like it's from 1986!
it would be nice to see an updated version of this gun.