Don't be ridiculous, Elbonian Special Forces use the Zip .22, a high tech, high capacity sidearm for the modern era. I do hear that the Felk TF919 passed the official trials to be the official sidearm for the Elbonian Marines. (By which I mean that after a hearty breakfast of crayons, an Elbonian Marine looked at it and said 'Yeah that looks cool' and thus it was adopted).
@Robbert van Eijndhoven The Elbonian Corps of Marines also considers the large number of accidental discharges incurred while field-stripping the TF919 for cleaning with a magazine inserted to be beneficial, as it trains the soldiers to be alert and extra tough.
@@christopherreed4723 The magazine safety was important to Elbonian officials. It made sure the pistol always had to have a magazine with it. It helps stop corruption with people selling off their mags on the black market. Unfortunately, corruption still existed, so there's lots of Elbonian pistols that are non-functional.
Ted (Aussie short for Edward) Felk was a member at the pistol club I used to shoot at for many years. His trailers were predominantly for boats and were very high quality, lots still around, one of our club members was also a dealer who was Ted's mate and always had some of these for sale. Seen them shot a few times, never shot on. Not an attractive pistol in my view. But made on 20 miles from where I live.
@@jameslawrie3807 almost all of Australia had handgun and full auto(legal with licence in Tasmania) laws in 1930's but everything else was fine till 1996
@@ADVtheMISSIONARY Yeah, I'm Australian as well. Actually no full auto and in NSW there was no pistol grips permitted, only thumb holes (I used to work at a gun shop wa-y-y-y-y-y back in the 80s)
What a small world. I never thought I'd hear Gun Jesus speak about Felk pistols ! Felk trailers are extremely well regarded in our sport and made less than 15 minutes from where I am sitting. Ian - I know Ted's son. I can pass your contact info onto him if you'd like more info on these rare pistols. Cheers, Gavin.
Lived around Newcastle all my life, and as soon as he mentioned a trailer company, I nearly lost my mind. It's a pity the pistol doesn't match the reputation of their trailers!
@@half_witty-h1z Ian's major complaints seemed to be getting over the brand name "Felk" and slight moulding lines in the plastic mouldings. Hope he doesn't look at the current Tikka T3x lite rifle stocks.
The two major causes of conflict between the USA and Australia are: 1- Bart Simpson making collect calls to Australia 2- Ian reviewing a Felk TF919. Greetings from Patagonia Argentina (truly Down Under).
I like the idea of a FW series of videos on awful guns like the Sigma, Colt All American and Double Eagle, some CZ and Beretta models.. Also the now locally famous argentine Bersa 7,65mm "mataduquesa".
@@alflyover4413 "Duchess killer" as a reference to the "duke killer" gun used on Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Same style of pistol chambered in the same cartridge.
When the best thing that you can say about the trigger is that it is not as bad as the one on an 1895 Nagant revolver, that is officially "damning with faint praise".
The front half of the slide looks like a Beretta 92, the rear half looks Five-seven-ish, the front of the frame looks like a Glock, and the grip looks like a Steyr GB.
Yeah, the designer clearly didn't have their clever trouser on the day they came up with that idea. But hey, it doesn't seem like it actually explodes when you mess with the trigger, so it's doing better than an awful lot of other deeply obscure firearms.
I'm reminded of the Semmerling .45 from a while back - in order to stop the slide opening when the pistol was drawn from a holster it had a slide lock, but the lock could only be engaged if the trigger was pulled a little bit. Which didn't look safe.
You mentioned that you thought the frame was 2 halves bonded together, it looks like it is the parting line of the mold that is really poorly molded. Glock has the same line but Glock knows how to mold plastics really well. I am a mechanical engineer that deals with plastics all the time and the is what I think it is based on the video. Love your videos.
I'm curious-would it be practical to avoid that tell-tale seam by adding a sort of flange to edge of the molds, so that a slightly raised rim would be left on the part that could simply be shaved away?
This is not the last case, as Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is a regular provider for the Australian Navy. The two ships of the Canberra class LHDs were partially built in Spain (mostly the hulls up to flight deck level), they were then transported to Australia (aboard semi-submersible ships) and completed in Australia. And there they are now. If it's possible with handguns, why not 26,000 ton warships? ua-cam.com/video/GmD6pUJBZn8/v-deo.html
9:00 Not exactly, judging from the inside it is likely a single injection mold, the line on the outside is the seamline between the two halves of the mold
That's what I was thinking too. There are at least three major components to the mold, the inside, the left half, and the right half. To detach the molded part the inside is withdrawn while the left and right sides are held in the machine, then the left and right half are separated while ejection pins prevent the part from accompanying one side or the other, or some similar process. For a mold-seam line it looks pretty mild actually. EDIT: going further into the video, I think they pulled the clamshell sides off first, then kicked the part off of the inside mold. There are flat round marks below the barrel that look like where the recently formed plastic was pressed by ejection pins.
The heavy trigger may actually be a good thing considering the safety lever because I would be afraid to accidentaly pull the trigger while trying to engage the safety.
Yeah, if you handed me that gun to fire I'd sooner lock it open or outright unload it than screw with that dangerous piece of crap. It's like they heard about the Glock trigger dingus, but had no pictures and a bad description.
@@Broken_Yugo Like 1700's artists renditions of Rhinos by people who heard what they looked like from somebody who knew somebody that had seen one once.
I love how it looks like a love child of a Beretta M92 and a Glock. My favorite stories on this channel are how ordinary people make a firearm and the stories of success or failure afterward.
After watching this video, I'd say that Spaniards, Italians and Austrians the world over would absolutely incensed at any comparison to this dog's dinner, mate. And rightly so! To be fair though, while the Felk is no Owens gun, it's also not nearly an AUsten either, so it's not nearly the worst piece of shit that has escaped from here. Cold comfort for Felk and Co, perhaps, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.
Yeah, I imagine if your safety is a lever attached to the trigger that you have to pull _in the same direction as the trigger break,_ then you would need to make the trigger-pull quite heavy.
I have a Star BM made in the last month and year of manufacturing. Very worn finish because of holster wear. But an excellent 9mm and fine shooter. 8 round mags.
I have a Star Model B, and I wouldn't trade it for any 1911. Great trigger, perfect condition, and it's accurate enough to shoot apples off the heads of other people's children. Made in the 1950's.
@@tarmaque I also own a parkerized 1911 with 7 extra magazines. 2 of the mags are 8 rounders and have 2 in stainless steel. Would I trade even up, no. I paid $469 for it over 10 years ago. 5 of the 7 mags I paid $25 each.
A big thank you to the viewer for lending Ian this firearm. A nice piece of history there. Where would Ian be without all the private collectors coming forward and showing a piece of history.
I don't think the gun polimer part is glued from two halves as you propose; the seam is there because the mold in which it was made was in two halves. The gun body is one piece.
FELK is mainly known for trailer manufacture down here, I use to live just up the hill from the factory, I didn't know about the gun side, Thank you Ian...
Love the dad joke! I ordered some Falken tires for my Jeep. I called a few days later and asked the receptionist if my falken tires were in. Whe was confused and insulted until I explained. 😂
Cool. I've never even *heard* of these, and the only Australian commercial.guns I can think of off the top of my head are the Leader Dynamic, and those Mk4 derived rifles that ended up being prohibited from US importation because they used some Vietnamese wood (which was a shame, because a No4 rifle in .308 and using M14 mags, or a No5 style rifle in 7.62x39mm and using AK mags would be cool to have...)
The Owen gun was another one. Direct blow back toob gun basically. But the mag was in the top because it was made in the southern hemisphere. That saw a bit of service in the Australian army and Ian made a couple videos on it.
7:52 DAAAAAAMN look at how far that firing pin comes out. This baby must have been puncturing primers left and right unless that FS spring was weak as hell.
The only thing that amazes me more than the number of people who think they can sell a gun with absolutely nothing special going for it is the number of times that has actually worked.
Some times that "special going for it" is price point and sometimes it's import/export regs, and sometimes it's a "we can meet the regs and still get this gun there cheap." Yes, there are wholesale dealers that quibble over $5 or $10 just like end consumers.
@@JD-tn5lz I always consider price to be "something going for it," hence why Hi-Point does so well, but it's really hard to undercut competitors while manufacturing in a first-world nation, so the Felk was doomed unless it did something new and different, which it clearly did not.
@@Bacteriophagebs well he had a domestic made (partially) hammerless high capacity 9mm. It wasnt bad for the time just needed a better safety and better polymer section.
@@Gruvy Being only partially domestic defeats the purpose of a domestic firearm, which is to not be dependent on imports. So it was just another hammerless wondernine.
Hi Ian. Sure about the frame being two halves? In the front under the recoil spring looks a lot like an injection point, making the line around the frame a mold line. Just as well, especially considering your knowledge of joining polymer parts historically, re WWSD stocks.
The frame made from two halves? It looks like an injection molded part to me. Molds are usually made of different parts in this case I think at least three parts. Two sides for the sides and one for the top/cavity where the mechanism goes. This is done to make it possible to take the product out after it has solidified. The seams you see on this part are the seems were the pieces of the mold come together. When you look at the top of the frame you can see round marks inside those are probably where the ejector rods where in the mould to push the product of the mold part that created the cavity. Interesting video keep up the good work!
That's not always true. You'll find plastic seams on things like dishwasher spray arms (and the KP-15 AR lower) where the piece was originally injection molded in two halves and then the plastic is ultrasonically welded together. It minimizes the complexity of the molds and allows you to have geometry you otherwise couldn't get with a monolithic cavity. In the case of polymer pistol frames, they have to include a metal serial number plate on the bottom of the frame and that can be welded in as well as molded.
"innovative" is an hard stretch. Mechanically is practically a Glock, with a magazine disconnect and a weird manual safety. The slide is made to resemble that of a Beretta.
Excellent video, very complete and objective and, as always, very well structured and keeping the attention going until the end. Thank you, Howard! As for the topic of the debate, revolvers haven't been very present , to my knowledge at least, in continental European army or law enforcement context since the appearance of semi-automatic handguns and large scale production facilities like FN Herstal. My grandfather as a policeman was immediately issued a semi-automatic when he started out in 1932 (FN 1903 i believe) and my father as an army officer could rely on his Browning GP. In the UK however, Webley and Enfield revolvers were used by law enforcement until the 1960's. At the present day, some special forces still use revolvers e.g.the Manurhin MR 73, in France, but also Spain and Austria. So, there must be some advantages to the use of these and other revolvers in current critical situations after all.
The general appearance of the frame notwithstanding, I presume it works as expected. The Star slide and barrel would hold up pretty well, but the internals look like they are stamped sheet metal, so I wonder how it would perform in a military endurance test.
While I like videos on the high profile classics, videos like this one where an interesting string of facts lead to a truly forgotten weapon are also very much appreciated!
The grooves are common on a lot of mags, it helps to feed the rounds smoothly by making the rounds less staggered as they get closer to the slide. Beretta 92 mags are like that.
@@TheRighttoArmBears2022 Yes I know that, but these ones look particularly deep. And a quick google for images of a Beretta 92 mag shows they are nothing like that. There are grooves on the shoulder where it narrows, but nothing like the deep full length grooves on the mag in the video.
I've owned 3 Star pistols....2 9mm Firestar's in their shiny nickle and one blued .40 Firestar. All very nice guns and well made...though being all metal are a chunk to carry. Nice to shoot for being as small as they are from the weight though. I feel bad Star is no more and got screwed by the 'anti-gunners'.
That manual safety gives me accidental discharge vibes. Having to grab a little bar attached to the trigger, and pull it back like you would the trigger, makes me think it would be reasonably easy to accidentally pull the trigger, instead. Probably best to engage the safety without a magazine & an empty chamber.
I have a Felk MTF 450 compact semi in .45 acp. I have been unable to find almost any information at all on them, on the internet. The only other one than mine I've seen, was sold previously on Rock Island Auction Co. And I've read where people speculated as to whether they were ever even produced. It would be great to have more info on it, but my searches have almost come up completely empty.
I barely remember the pistol being a thing but there was a bit of local hype around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie about the international collaboration around '93-'94, it was kinda touted as a "win for local manufacturing" at the time. Of course the semi auto ban and buyback scheme happened in '95 and killed the local market, there were rumours at the time that Felk bought back stocks from local retailers and sold those into the US market in order to recoup some of the costs and help out retailers who suddenly found themselves with shelves full of now prohibited stock. The trailer business survived all of this and they are renowned for building some of the best boat trailers ever made down under.
Please tell me you took this thing to a range. Because other than the trigger and the cheapness, i really don't see whats wrong with it. I just see a weird looking Hi-Point that actually has a sensible locking system... and damn, 18 rounds in the 90s is a LOT!
Reminds me of an Antiques Roadshow item; "This is an example of a very rare piece. It was not a success when it was made, and nowadays it is not much sought after.."
Ian next time you're at the @RoyalArmories have a look a the Robinson SR11 Automatic pistol/ pde now that is an interesting Australian gun, made at Lithgow SAF during WW2 . Operating by the torque of the bullets in the groves turning the barrel. Really cool stuff.
I was gonna say he should maybe think of an acronym that includes his name but my first thought of how to abreviate it was immediatly not appropriate and it took me a second to realise that.
I am pretty sure the polymer lower was actually molded as one piece, not 2 pieces joined together. The low quality of the mold and the parts it produced is evidenced by the amount of flash where the two halves of the mold join.
Positive thinking: a side gun for the police force/ army of a large country such as Nigeria. Few things can get wrong. They can wash it . And costs nothing . Negative: imagine that you spray WD40 on that plastic? It will get sticky. What in sub zero environment? What in hot conditions? But that could be improved with better compounds. And decent injection moulds.
Holy crap... Okay, I had a project idea I sorta-sorta not threw away and described a pistol in that looks EXACTLY like this. This is weird, like dead accurate with no errors. Even the fact its called FELK makes it weirder because I was trying to name a bunch of important things based on animals. H... How? Thanks Ian, I like knowing this exist, even at the cost of questioning my reality.
I object! The trigger pull on the Nagant revolver is perfectly fine! As long as it's in single action, anyway. The double action trigger pull is awfully heavy.
Ex-army marksman here, with what may seem like a stupid question: Why do military firearms have any "safety" at all? To cope with a lack of training, perhaps? In battle, "safety" mechanisms can be lethal!
The fact that the dude made trailers and somehow put together international mfg. for a pistol is pretty impressive
Wait until you find out what Gaston Glock was making before he started producing pistols!
@@ndx6779 Tupperware?
@@alimanski7941 Shower curtain rods
@@ndx6779 Cave Johnson approves
@@denisonsmock5456 same machinery to make the barrels then, isn't it? ;)
The Felk TF919: The official sidearm of the Elbonian Special Forces
Don't be ridiculous, Elbonian Special Forces use the Zip .22, a high tech, high capacity sidearm for the modern era. I do hear that the Felk TF919 passed the official trials to be the official sidearm for the Elbonian Marines. (By which I mean that after a hearty breakfast of crayons, an Elbonian Marine looked at it and said 'Yeah that looks cool' and thus it was adopted).
@Robbert van Eijndhoven The Elbonian Corps of Marines also considers the large number of accidental discharges incurred while field-stripping the TF919 for cleaning with a magazine inserted to be beneficial, as it trains the soldiers to be alert and extra tough.
@@christopherreed4723 The magazine safety was important to Elbonian officials. It made sure the pistol always had to have a magazine with it. It helps stop corruption with people selling off their mags on the black market. Unfortunately, corruption still existed, so there's lots of Elbonian pistols that are non-functional.
Offensive pistol of Elbonian Special Forces. Nickname: suicide squad.
@@andrewgates8158 Ah, yes! Modeled after the legendary unit of the Judean People's Front.
Ted (Aussie short for Edward) Felk was a member at the pistol club I used to shoot at for many years.
His trailers were predominantly for boats and were very high quality, lots still around, one of our club members was also a dealer who was Ted's mate and always had some of these for sale.
Seen them shot a few times, never shot on.
Not an attractive pistol in my view.
But made on 20 miles from where I live.
Was it the law changes that finished them off in Oz?
@@jameslawrie3807 probably not. Pistol shooting is still alive and well in Australia. Long guns were hit the hardest by the legal changes
Nice try, Ted is short for Tedward.
@@jameslawrie3807 almost all of Australia had handgun and full auto(legal with licence in Tasmania) laws in 1930's but everything else was fine till 1996
@@ADVtheMISSIONARY Yeah, I'm Australian as well.
Actually no full auto and in NSW there was no pistol grips permitted, only thumb holes (I used to work at a gun shop wa-y-y-y-y-y back in the 80s)
See sometimes my country gives you the Owen Gun, and sometimes it gives you the Felk TF919. Everything in perfect balance 🤣
Didn’t you guys make a tank from a tractor?
@@ONEROUNDLEFT That was New Zealand. Their Bob Semple tank was simply so powerful that it prevented Japanese attacks entirely.
@@dillonc7955 glorious
Can something be In Proper Balance without being Properly Balanced? Philosophically, I mean.
@@ONEROUNDLEFT from my understanding most every tank is a tractor with a shell. But yes they invented the first tank made out of a tractor.
What a small world. I never thought I'd hear Gun Jesus speak about Felk pistols ! Felk trailers are extremely well regarded in our sport and made less than 15 minutes from where I am sitting. Ian - I know Ted's son. I can pass your contact info onto him if you'd like more info on these rare pistols. Cheers, Gavin.
Lived around Newcastle all my life, and as soon as he mentioned a trailer company, I nearly lost my mind. It's a pity the pistol doesn't match the reputation of their trailers!
That would be cool!
@@half_witty-h1z Ian's major complaints seemed to be getting over the brand name "Felk" and slight moulding lines in the plastic mouldings. Hope he doesn't look at the current Tikka T3x lite rifle stocks.
The two major causes of conflict between the USA and Australia are:
1- Bart Simpson making collect calls to Australia
2- Ian reviewing a Felk TF919.
Greetings from Patagonia Argentina (truly Down Under).
greetings🍻
El concurso se acabó, denle a este hombre los diez mil dolares.
I like the idea of a FW series of videos on awful guns like the Sigma, Colt All American and Double Eagle, some CZ and Beretta models..
Also the now locally famous argentine Bersa 7,65mm "mataduquesa".
@@me.ne.frego. A little help, Alberto? Mi Espanol es muy malo. "Mataduquesa" is a "cheese killer"?
@@alflyover4413 "Duchess killer" as a reference to the "duke killer" gun used on Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Same style of pistol chambered in the same cartridge.
When the best thing that you can say about the trigger is that it is not as bad as the one on an 1895 Nagant revolver, that is officially "damning with faint praise".
Aesthetically, it's as if Felk took every pistol design I liked and made a KFC bowl out of it.
Hahahaha!
The front half of the slide looks like a Beretta 92, the rear half looks Five-seven-ish, the front of the frame looks like a Glock, and the grip looks like a Steyr GB.
That is...terrifyingly accurate xD
A whole bunch of guns had some fun together in the dark room😁😁😁
The rear end gives me Walther P99 vibes.
A manual safety that involves pulling a bit of the trigger back... What could possibly go wrong? 😀
Yeah, the designer clearly didn't have their clever trouser on the day they came up with that idea. But hey, it doesn't seem like it actually explodes when you mess with the trigger, so it's doing better than an awful lot of other deeply obscure firearms.
The safety looks like it would break and become unsafe if you looked at it wrong... does that count?
I'm reminded of the Semmerling .45 from a while back - in order to stop the slide opening when the pistol was drawn from a holster it had a slide lock, but the lock could only be engaged if the trigger was pulled a little bit. Which didn't look safe.
As I like to call it, the manual danger.
It's bad, yes. But if you completely ignore the safety, it's no worse than a Glock, to be honest.
You mentioned that you thought the frame was 2 halves bonded together, it looks like it is the parting line of the mold that is really poorly molded. Glock has the same line but Glock knows how to mold plastics really well. I am a mechanical engineer that deals with plastics all the time and the is what I think it is based on the video. Love your videos.
Exactly what I thought. The gate mark on the finger groves gives it away as being molded as one piece. Also what a lousy place to put the gate.
I'm curious-would it be practical to avoid that tell-tale seam by adding a sort of flange to edge of the molds, so that a slightly raised rim would be left on the part that could simply be shaved away?
It's called flashing, it is trimmed off from high quality moldings.
@@Ranar14 Yep, if they had a good mold company they might still be in business.
@@LeK-- Guess they never heard of alignment pins 🤣
Funny how two companies on the exact opposites of the world made something together
Oh, it's something alright.
This is not the last case, as Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is a regular provider for the Australian Navy.
The two ships of the Canberra class LHDs were partially built in Spain (mostly the hulls up to flight deck level), they were then transported to Australia (aboard semi-submersible ships) and completed in Australia. And there they are now.
If it's possible with handguns, why not 26,000 ton warships?
ua-cam.com/video/GmD6pUJBZn8/v-deo.html
@@diegoferreiro9478 increíble
@@vtecasses99 ...pero cierto.
@@storkstorm6925 yeah but we live upside-down relative to you guys so it all cancels out, most of the time anyway
It might not be great, but it blows it's peers out of the water in terms of felk recoil
To your room sir!
Im going to have to ask you to clear out your desk. You're fired.
I laughed 👍
9:00 Not exactly, judging from the inside it is likely a single injection mold, the line on the outside is the seamline between the two halves of the mold
That's what I was thinking too. There are at least three major components to the mold, the inside, the left half, and the right half. To detach the molded part the inside is withdrawn while the left and right sides are held in the machine, then the left and right half are separated while ejection pins prevent the part from accompanying one side or the other, or some similar process. For a mold-seam line it looks pretty mild actually.
EDIT: going further into the video, I think they pulled the clamshell sides off first, then kicked the part off of the inside mold. There are flat round marks below the barrel that look like where the recently formed plastic was pressed by ejection pins.
The heavy trigger may actually be a good thing considering the safety lever because I would be afraid to accidentaly pull the trigger while trying to engage the safety.
Yeah, if you handed me that gun to fire I'd sooner lock it open or outright unload it than screw with that dangerous piece of crap. It's like they heard about the Glock trigger dingus, but had no pictures and a bad description.
@@Broken_Yugo Like 1700's artists renditions of Rhinos by people who heard what they looked like from somebody who knew somebody that had seen one once.
It's like a canik/beretta m9
I love how it looks like a love child of a Beretta M92 and a Glock. My favorite stories on this channel are how ordinary people make a firearm and the stories of success or failure afterward.
I noticed that right away, I half-expected Ian to say the company was busted for copying other people's designs.
Same.
An Australian pistol made partially in Spain, and clearly influenced by Italian and Austrian designs.
After watching this video, I'd say that Spaniards, Italians and Austrians the world over would absolutely incensed at any comparison to this dog's dinner, mate. And rightly so!
To be fair though, while the Felk is no Owens gun, it's also not nearly an AUsten either, so it's not nearly the worst piece of shit that has escaped from here. Cold comfort for Felk and Co, perhaps, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.
It's an Italaustrialiain
Yeah, I imagine if your safety is a lever attached to the trigger that you have to pull _in the same direction as the trigger break,_ then you would need to make the trigger-pull quite heavy.
It's as if the designer was dimly aware that Glocks have a safety lever on the trigger, but he didn't have access to any pictures.
and it probably doesn't help that you need to pull the trigger with a magazine inserted to disassemble it.
Ian has found Elbonia’s service sidearm…
@@ferroequus8084 that’s what the secret police use…
Me, hearing that Australia made its own firearm: oh no.
They got Spain involved: OH NO
Actually the Spanish-made parts are actually good quality, according to Ian (watch the video). The end result was not Star”s fault
I have a Star BM made in the last month and year of manufacturing. Very worn finish because of holster wear. But an excellent 9mm and fine shooter. 8 round mags.
I have a Star Model B, and I wouldn't trade it for any 1911. Great trigger, perfect condition, and it's accurate enough to shoot apples off the heads of other people's children. Made in the 1950's.
@@tarmaque I also own a parkerized 1911 with 7 extra magazines. 2 of the mags are 8 rounders and have 2 in stainless steel. Would I trade even up, no. I paid $469 for it over 10 years ago. 5 of the 7 mags I paid $25 each.
This was fun! A true Forgotten Weapon! Thanks Ian!
A big thank you to the viewer for lending Ian this firearm. A nice piece of history there. Where would Ian be without all the private collectors coming forward and showing a piece of history.
Felk Industries are still making trailers in Warners Bay NSW in Australia.
Warners Bay is a lake side suburb of Newcastle,NSW …where the Owen Gun was made a Lysaghts steelworks during WW2.
I'm quite surprised some guy at Warners Bay had a go at making his own guns.
The magazine safety spring also assists magazine ejection I suppose.
That spring is so weak that it would make no difference. The follower exerts much more spring pressure.
Has the Elbonian Air Corps just found a new pistol for it's pilots?
I don't think the gun polimer part is glued from two halves as you propose; the seam is there because the mold in which it was made was in two halves. The gun body is one piece.
Ian starting the video trying not to laugh is a good omen.
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
FELK is mainly known for trailer manufacture down here, I use to live just up the hill from the factory, I didn't know about the gun side, Thank you Ian...
Love the dad joke! I ordered some Falken tires for my Jeep. I called a few days later and asked the receptionist if my falken tires were in. Whe was confused and insulted until I explained. 😂
Ian, I love it when you bring out your bag of sarcasm, always well deserved ! Thanks
You mean shithouse !
That's how we say lousy in Australia !😆
Cool. I've never even *heard* of these, and the only Australian commercial.guns I can think of off the top of my head are the Leader Dynamic, and those Mk4 derived rifles that ended up being prohibited from US importation because they used some Vietnamese wood (which was a shame, because a No4 rifle in .308 and using M14 mags, or a No5 style rifle in 7.62x39mm and using AK mags would be cool to have...)
Lithgow makes a series of commercial rifles, they're very good
Warwick Firearms are a locally made gun too
@@nickh6076 Extremely good, the .22 is as good as it gets.
The Owen gun was another one. Direct blow back toob gun basically. But the mag was in the top because it was made in the southern hemisphere. That saw a bit of service in the Australian army and Ian made a couple videos on it.
Sportco/Omark made some awfully good rifles.
7:52
DAAAAAAMN look at how far that firing pin comes out.
This baby must have been puncturing primers left and right unless that FS spring was weak as hell.
The only thing that amazes me more than the number of people who think they can sell a gun with absolutely nothing special going for it is the number of times that has actually worked.
Some times that "special going for it" is price point and sometimes it's import/export regs, and sometimes it's a "we can meet the regs and still get this gun there cheap."
Yes, there are wholesale dealers that quibble over $5 or $10 just like end consumers.
@@JD-tn5lz I always consider price to be "something going for it," hence why Hi-Point does so well, but it's really hard to undercut competitors while manufacturing in a first-world nation, so the Felk was doomed unless it did something new and different, which it clearly did not.
@@Bacteriophagebs well he had a domestic made (partially) hammerless high capacity 9mm. It wasnt bad for the time just needed a better safety and better polymer section.
@@Gruvy Being only partially domestic defeats the purpose of a domestic firearm, which is to not be dependent on imports. So it was just another hammerless wondernine.
once again, thanks for sharing with us
Upside is when it is empty, you can throw it, and it will come back like a boomerang.
looks like another quality Australian product
Great video, Ian...👍
I'd love to see a video on the guns that Australians would have had access to and what was common before the bans in 96.
pretty much anything if i was imported or made at the right time
Hi Ian. Sure about the frame being two halves? In the front under the recoil spring looks a lot like an injection point, making the line around the frame a mold line. Just as well, especially considering your knowledge of joining polymer parts historically, re WWSD stocks.
I've shot one, it's a mold line.
I thought the injection was at the front of the grip, just by Ian's finger at 8:58.
I think you're right. I did a frame by frame and I can't see this line on the inside anywhere.
Yeah, thats just some felk from the molding process.
The frame made from two halves? It looks like an injection molded part to me. Molds are usually made of different parts in this case I think at least three parts. Two sides for the sides and one for the top/cavity where the mechanism goes. This is done to make it possible to take the product out after it has solidified. The seams you see on this part are the seems were the pieces of the mold come together. When you look at the top of the frame you can see round marks inside those are probably where the ejector rods where in the mould to push the product of the mold part that created the cavity. Interesting video keep up the good work!
That's not always true. You'll find plastic seams on things like dishwasher spray arms (and the KP-15 AR lower) where the piece was originally injection molded in two halves and then the plastic is ultrasonically welded together. It minimizes the complexity of the molds and allows you to have geometry you otherwise couldn't get with a monolithic cavity. In the case of polymer pistol frames, they have to include a metal serial number plate on the bottom of the frame and that can be welded in as well as molded.
You could say it Felk-uite short of expectations
A very eclectic gun no doubt.
This seems like an interesting and innovative gun. Felk deserves credit for doing this better than most first timers.
"innovative" is an hard stretch. Mechanically is practically a Glock, with a magazine disconnect and a weird manual safety. The slide is made to resemble that of a Beretta.
The rear end looks like a Five-seveN and the front end a Beretta 1915.
With a pinch of Glock in the frame. It's hideous.
rear reminds me a lot of the ruger sr9 or walther p99 personally.
@@dan_loebyeah, that definitely gives me SR9 vibes as well
Excellent video, very complete and objective and, as always, very well structured and keeping the attention going until the end. Thank you, Howard!
As for the topic of the debate, revolvers haven't been very present , to my knowledge at least, in continental European army or law enforcement context since the appearance of semi-automatic handguns and large scale production facilities like FN Herstal. My grandfather as a policeman was immediately issued a semi-automatic when he started out in 1932 (FN 1903 i believe) and my father as an army officer could rely on his Browning GP. In the UK however, Webley and Enfield revolvers were used by law enforcement until the 1960's. At the present day, some special forces still use revolvers e.g.the Manurhin MR 73, in France, but also Spain and Austria. So, there must be some advantages to the use of these and other revolvers in current critical situations after all.
The general appearance of the frame notwithstanding, I presume it works as expected. The Star slide and barrel would hold up pretty well, but the internals look like they are stamped sheet metal, so I wonder how it would perform in a military endurance test.
It is certainly one of the pistols of all time
While I like videos on the high profile classics, videos like this one where an interesting string of facts lead to a truly forgotten weapon are also very much appreciated!
this makes me think a lot. thanks for the work man
Until today I had never heard of this pistol. Thanks Ian.
That looks to me like a double stack magazine modified to single stack, given the huge grooves pressed in the sides.
My impression exactly as well.
The grooves are common on a lot of mags, it helps to feed the rounds smoothly by making the rounds less staggered as they get closer to the slide. Beretta 92 mags are like that.
@@TheRighttoArmBears2022 Yes I know that, but these ones look particularly deep.
And a quick google for images of a Beretta 92 mag shows they are nothing like that. There are grooves on the shoulder where it narrows, but nothing like the deep full length grooves on the mag in the video.
The magazine safety doubles as Something that should help the magazine to drop freely in a reload
I just about spit cola at my phone with that cold open Ian. Well done, sir!
Honestly, I kinda like it. I could see myself buying one at the same price point as an SD9VE, Kahr whatever, Taurus, etc.
TF on the side: the guy's first name was Edward, presumably he went by Ted.
Oi, mum, can we have GLOCK?
We have GLOCK at home.
GLOCK at home: FELK
It looks like a Dingo ate a glock and a beretta, then vomited up this "felk" as the result. What a "felk-up"...
US Patent 5355768 appears to be for the mag safety, 5410831 is for the extractor.
Is there a lot of felk recoil when you shoot them?
I've owned 3 Star pistols....2 9mm Firestar's in their shiny nickle and one blued .40 Firestar. All very nice guns and well made...though being all metal are a chunk to carry. Nice to shoot for being as small as they are from the weight though. I feel bad Star is no more and got screwed by the 'anti-gunners'.
They were screwed by their bank, actually.
How's the trigger compared to a VP70 or a Colt 2000? Which would you rather have?
I have a new exclamation:
"Awwww, Felk!"
Could the TF stand for "THE Felk?"
The first seven seconds was a intro with epic roasting, hillarious!!!
Best intro in years, thank you.
Looks like the sort of gun you drop at the seen of the crime just to confuse the CSI team !
That manual safety gives me accidental discharge vibes. Having to grab a little bar attached to the trigger, and pull it back like you would the trigger, makes me think it would be reasonably easy to accidentally pull the trigger, instead. Probably best to engage the safety without a magazine & an empty chamber.
They could have named it "El Kangarito"
Cool, thanks mate! Never heard of the Felk 🇦🇺
From trailers to failures. Many films have achieved this feat, too.
Felk. A new verb. Usage - "Oh felk!" "Felk you!" "I felked up and bout this pistol!"
I have a Felk MTF 450 compact semi in .45 acp. I have been unable to find almost any information at all on them, on the internet. The only other one than mine I've seen, was sold previously on Rock Island Auction Co. And I've read where people speculated as to whether they were ever even produced. It would be great to have more info on it, but my searches have almost come up completely empty.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing this
Ian. Cool beans.
God bless all here.
Introducing a new Australian gun in the 90s? Bold move, let's see how it works out for them.
Port Arthur happens a year after manufacturing
Felk- I will never financially recover from this
@Alberto Speer and @Buluka Carlos Thank you both very much. That makes more sense than what I came up with.
Warners Bay 🤣🤣🤣 I went on a school camp there when I was a kid. Good to see a local shining through though
Well, Ian cannot hide his new musculi thoracis anymore. Looking good, sir.
It’s like Sig, Beretta and Glock had a love child
I barely remember the pistol being a thing but there was a bit of local hype around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie about the international collaboration around '93-'94, it was kinda touted as a "win for local manufacturing" at the time. Of course the semi auto ban and buyback scheme happened in '95 and killed the local market, there were rumours at the time that Felk bought back stocks from local retailers and sold those into the US market in order to recoup some of the costs and help out retailers who suddenly found themselves with shelves full of now prohibited stock. The trailer business survived all of this and they are renowned for building some of the best boat trailers ever made down under.
It's probably just me but this pistol reminds me if a Beretta M9 and a Ruger P89 had a baby
Please tell me you took this thing to a range. Because other than the trigger and the cheapness, i really don't see whats wrong with it. I just see a weird looking Hi-Point that actually has a sensible locking system... and damn, 18 rounds in the 90s is a LOT!
As an Aussie, I'm proud of the bloke. At least he had a go.
Reminds me of an Antiques Roadshow item; "This is an example of a very rare piece. It was not a success when it was made, and nowadays it is not much sought after.."
Ian next time you're at the @RoyalArmories have a look a the Robinson SR11 Automatic pistol/ pde now that is an interesting Australian gun, made at Lithgow SAF during WW2 . Operating by the torque of the bullets in the groves turning the barrel. Really cool stuff.
It's like McDonald's contracted Toys R Us to make half of a happy meal toy.
Truly, a forgotten weapon.
You could start a new channel called, "Forgotten For A Reason."
I was gonna say he should maybe think of an acronym that includes his name but my first thought of how to abreviate it was immediatly not appropriate and it took me a second to realise that.
I work next door to this company for years, never knew felk did this pistol!! Great trailers though!
I am pretty sure the polymer lower was actually molded as one piece, not 2 pieces joined together. The low quality of the mold and the parts it produced is evidenced by the amount of flash where the two halves of the mold join.
Positive thinking: a side gun for the police force/ army of a large country such as Nigeria. Few things can get wrong. They can wash it . And costs nothing .
Negative: imagine that you spray WD40 on that plastic? It will get sticky. What in sub zero environment? What in hot conditions? But that could be improved with better compounds. And decent injection moulds.
"Starts making pistols in Australia in 1994." Oof!
Holy crap... Okay, I had a project idea I sorta-sorta not threw away and described a pistol in that looks EXACTLY like this. This is weird, like dead accurate with no errors. Even the fact its called FELK makes it weirder because I was trying to name a bunch of important things based on animals.
H... How?
Thanks Ian, I like knowing this exist, even at the cost of questioning my reality.
Great minds think alike. It has happened before, and led to multiple legal battles.
I object! The trigger pull on the Nagant revolver is perfectly fine! As long as it's in single action, anyway. The double action trigger pull is awfully heavy.
Sometimes, when a daddy beretta and a mommy glock love each other very much...
Ex-army marksman here, with what may seem like a stupid question:
Why do military firearms have any "safety" at all?
To cope with a lack of training, perhaps?
In battle, "safety" mechanisms can be lethal!
@@MichaelJohnson-tw7dq Quite possibly/ This is the only plausible rationale.
But Lawyers dictating to the military?
Rule .303 for them!
An interesting concept making a gun in two countries but one's that couldn't be much further apart!
Hey Ian, here's another elbonian question, what firearms would you give to the secret service?