"Perhaps we can revisit with Ian one day" ... hearing that about a museum piece the curator is scared of disassembling raises Ian's level of credibility from high to wow.
@@brianargo4595 A combination of a deep knowledge and understanding of firearms on the one hand and a metric ton of experience on the other. Also devine intervention. He is gun Jesus after all.
@@brianargo4595 as anyone who has worked on cars motorcycles etc learns from experience when you get the urge to have a ‘quick’ look at something it often turns into hours of looking for springs and pins around the garage along with frustration from trying to reassemble the parts. 😊 yes I’ve been there lol
Note, Ian only does that with guns where the owner has approved a range session *and* Ian is comfortable it is safe (both for the shooter and the gun) to do so. Including several rare and even unique firearms from this very museum's collection.
I've never seen Ian fire prototypes, he commonly takes old and rare stuff to the range but not one of a kind irreplaceable firearms with two known examples. You "Gun Jesus" fanboys aren't in touch with reality. The hero worship stuff is getting kinda sad.
1918/1919 was an interesting time in small arms development. In hindsight, it seems silly to look at all the prototypes weapons of the era. But at the time, they had no idea exactly what they were doing, given how post-WWI was really the infancy of the modern firearm. As such, you have to give them credit for trying out so many brand new and innovative designs, even if it took them 30-odd years to figure out that direct blowback open-bolts were the way to go for submachine guns.
@@1200velocity It definitely is. At the time (the war periods), direct blowback was the pinnacle technology of its time with regards to the submachine gun
@@chadthundercock5641 also, direct blowback open bolt has shown to be 'relatively inexpensive to produce' compared to other configurations of small arms available at the time.
Shoutout to the people who watched it when the title was "Lugar, sub machine gun, or Star Wards blaster". Interesting look into how much experimentation was around when the submachine gun was in its infancy. Only a few basic systems of actual operation but unique approaches to actually using them.
Irony is that basically the first popular one remained the most popular. MP18's blow-back open-bolt system basically never was surpassed for common military use. Be it an MP18 or an MP40 or the last great wave of military SMGs in the 1970s, they nearly all used the same basic operating mechanism. Only really today, where military SMGs are mostly a specialist tool for elite forces, do you find a lot not using open-bolt blow-back operation.
@@genericpersonx333 Truth of the matter is that in most areas of technology the "first popular one" will define the sector until there is a solid reason to transform beyond that. Normally things get popular for a reason, and even if that reason is "cheap" that still counts. At one time SMGs were being procured in bulk for all kinds of police and security and front line military uses, and they were also getting a lot of ex-military or surplus stuff because it was cheap and plentiful. At that point, where every border guard got an SMG, why would anyone want anything other than an open bolt tube gun? Most of them are never even going to get fired. But, like you say, as the SMG has stopped being handed out like candy, and has become a serious tool for serious operators, well we have looked at things that we would never have done before. In a sense, the MP5 was the first example of this, which was more expensive but also much more capable in the hands of a skilled user, and also which was also built to take suppressors, and scopes, and all kinds of tacticool doodads. The MP5 somewhat escaped being just for special forces because it became SO iconic and SO well received (in terms of reliability and accuracy) that everyone who thought they were elite started buying them even if they weren't.
Hey pal. I know I will come over as an Idiot doing this, but I know your Channel. And I want to say, that I was lucky stumbling over your channel. I looked up „Insurgency sandstorm“ and, since I’m German as well, a video of you showed up. I would then proceed watching the entire thing. My First thoughts or the thoughts I have gone into your video with, were: Yeah just another Gamer thinking bullets magically spawn in the barrel of the gun. However, boy, was I wrong, you proceeded to call the weapons parts correctly. You have a brief overview of their internals. My thoughts leaving the video were: well he knows a thing or two. I wrote a comment under that video. Then I clicked on your channel. I was blown away by the facts you had in your brain. Me, as a autist and firearm enthusiast always described myself as partly competent. However. I learned a lot through you. That all was relatively easy and I always wanted to contact you in some way for a somewhat selfish cause. Ich geh hier mal ins Deutsche über, einfach um freier schreiben zu können. In meinem Freundes- und Familienkreis gibt es niemanden mit dem ich über meine Interessen reden kann. Ich kann das auch irgendwo verstehen, da ich jemandem ziemlich das Ohr abkauen kann. Du aber kannst dich allem Anschein nach durchaus an Waffen begeistern. Jetzt kommt mein Recht selbstsüchtiges Anliegen für das ich keine hohen Hoffnungen habe, das ich allerdings dennoch stellen werde, da es auf den Versuch ankommt. Falls du dich vielleicht, eventuell in der Lage sehen würdest von Zeit zu Zeit mit mir zu fachsimpeln, dann schreibe das doch als Antwort auf diesen Kommentar. Dann setze ich für kurze Zeit meine Email in die Kommentarsektion, bis ich irgendwas per Email von dir gehört habe, dann lösche ich das wieder. Falls das nicht geht, schreibe das doch auch als Antwort, damit ich Gewissheit habe. Servus, AspiLeo.
@@AspiLeo Freud mich zu hören, wenn Jemand meine Videos mag. In der Regel müsste ich aber unter fast allen Videos einen Discord Link haben. Auf dem Discord sind dann noch andere Leute, die sich auch für das Thema interessieren.
You are correct ( another comment already said it is shown on Forgotten Weapons channel ). Furrer did really try putting toggle locks into nearly any firearm the Swiss military or any other international group might need.
Looking at the pictures of the double barreled version...I really want to see it firing...toggles breaking and ejecting downwards, curved magazines, recoiling, muzzle boosted barrels...I need to see that even if only computer modeled.
@@michaelfrench3396 that what I was thinking. I'm left handed and I've shot a R/H semi auto shotgun, the cartridges ejecting across your eyeliner is very off putting. I can only imagine the effect of large pieces metal flying about in front of your face is like!
It's really quite interesting how long the toggle lock stuck around in firearm designs. Even after all the advances in designs, the toggle kept on popping up in the strangest places, from pistols to light machineguns (Madsen 1901) to heavy machineguns, and even at least one shotgun. I have no earthly idea who made the shotgun. It had no proofs, a serial number of 171, conventional sporter style stock, smooth bore, and it was chambered in what appeared to be a lengthened 16 gauge cartridge. It came into my gun shop about a year ago, and I didn't buy it because the owner wanted an exorbitant sum for it, but it was very very odd. I'm almost certain it was a Chinese oddity from the early 1900s because of the slapdash, hybrid nature of the design.
No doubt somebody has already suggested it but as the weapon is intended for fully automatic fire, the side toggle arrangement is probably to allow a sight picture to be maintained during firing. A top lock, side feed arrangment could be worked out so I doubt it is purely to get the magazine parallel with the ground to avoid undue weapon system height.
Jonathan took the words out of my brain, it does really look like something from Star Wars. It just looks so interesting. It would be so neat to see one of these fire.
It's a left handed gun! Thoroughly approve being a Leftie! Using it left handed would bring the magazine across your body and over your supporting arm, as per just about every other SMG. The reciprocating toggle would then be away from your arm and face, more importantly so would the ejected brass. Now why anyone would design a left handed gun for an overwhelmingly right handed army is another question altogether!
I can understand Furrer's preoccupation; I also love toggle-lock guns! But for me it's in the aesthetics and engineering. There's something about them that screams sophistication to me... as well as being an interesting look at the road not (fully) travelled.
I've been fascinated with firearms and firearm development since I was a small kid. I've spent countless hours reading magazines, digging through dusty tomes in research areas of libraries, and of course, in the modern era, watched more gun history videos than I can count. Thus I'm always pleasantly surprised when I see a weapon that I've never heard of or read about. Excellent and very fun video. Thank you!
the drum on the side could be a rate of fire adjustment , i think it alters the barrel /toggle position in the stock /receiver therefore making the speed of firing/ rechambering faster or slower !
Behind the drum is a mechanism that when you turn it allows a little cuckoo to pop up and back down on top each time it fires 😃 The Swiss do like their cuckoo clocks
Just practicing it in my head, it would make sense to let dominant trigger hand reload, while other hand supports rifle... It was definitely made with trench warfare in mind
These firearms are beautifully funky in a way only first-generation submachine guns can be. A stark contrast to all of the vintage pieces in the background is the ARX-160 poking behind Jonathan's shoulder! Another funky-looking gun in its own right despite being an Armalite derivative.
Oberst Brigadier translates to Brigadier Colonel. The Swiss army does not call Brigade, Division and Army Corps commanders with the definition "General". They are colonels who command the unit as Brigadier, Divisonnaire or Corps Commander. General is the highest rank and is given only in case of conflict.
Oberst - Brigadier or Colonel - Brigadier. Would that be a rank between full Colonel and Brigadier? The German Army had Oberst Leutnants, Leiutenant Colonels, and General Obersts or Colonel Generals. The latter not having an equal in most other armies.
Possibly the wackiest thing about it has got to be the barrel - obviously contemporary LMGs like the Bren have sights offset but you don't often see the barrel off to one side instead . It's presumably going to put a bit of turning force on the whole gun and it's got to make zeroing interesting.
@@weebay6166 I think the question is less why the action is on its side and more why the barrel is so far offset from the centre point of the stock and trigger. I can only imagine that the centre of gravity of this is absolutely bizarre, unless it really does work to counteract the weight of the massive magazine.
@@stamfordly6463 Probably because the Swiss Army specified a side-mounted magazine. Since bottom-mounting such a big magazine would make prone firing impossible. And likewise would make the aircraft-mounted version impossible.
Feeding from the side makes sense so the observer doesn't knock the magazine on the side of the aircraft and cause a jam. Also, I suspect your left arm would be much further from the toggle and any ejecting cartridges if your example still had the foregrip/monopod. Lovely to see something so unusual, Johnathon - much appreciated. 🙂
10:16 As you said yourself at the start: this was made RIGHT after World War 1, with fresh memories of trench warfare. Imagine having to lay down on the berm of a trench with such a long magazine sticking out the bottom. Furrer could have tried to redesign the action to feed from the side, but with the toggle on top, but why bother if you can simply rotate the whole thing 90 degrees.
Shooting a gun with a long magazine protruding below it while prone is an issue, especially in the trenches of WW1 where the ground was not very firm. If you see footage of Germans actually moving through No-Man's Land, they spend a lot of time crawling and otherwise prone. I imagine Furrer was trying to anticipate that requirement, especially with the trenches fresh in the minds of the Reichswehr. As it was, I think the bigger problem with the gun is that it is no competitor for the MP18 derivatives which were definitely cheaper, quite reliable, and only getting more so as the 1920s went on. That really was the problem with all the SMGs in the 1920s: MP18, once you didn't need to use the Luger magazines, was really hard to beat for most military purposes. Even the famous Thompson didn't actually sell that well by comparison during the Interwar Period.
And the gun looks really odd from the toggle forwards, as if he already made it top eject but then realized "Oh shoot, trench warfare!" And literally cut the stock off and put it back together sideways.
@@genericpersonx333 Thompson's were extremely expensive and heavy, the drum mags were not very reliable and they were quite fiddly to load. There were quite a few reasons they didn't sell very well, they were iconic as a gangsters weapon because of the calibre, it made it concealable.
Beautiful piece of machining ...I could stare at these for hours..btw there was/is a far simpler full auto Luger machine pistol in the Dublin Castle collection (if they didn't melt it)
As I'm sure you know, the fluted barrel also adds some rigidity/strength and surface area which can help in dissipating heat. I probably would have added some holes to the wooden barrel shroud to get some air moving past that barrel.
I do wonder whether this was simply a byproduct of the aircraft gun, i.e. Furrer realised he could essentially slap a stock and foregrip on his (quite reasonably designed) aircraft gun and tender a whole batch of trials guns for the upcoming sub machine gun demand before any other Swiss manufacturer could turn out a single prototype. Considering the precision and thought that seems to have gone into the action and mechanical design, and given that the naked aircraft gun with spade grips isn't an ergonomic monstrosity, this does seem like an oddity. More so when you see his other designs. That it existed as a hastily conceived afterthought would be a hypothesis I'd back. It would certainly account for a bizarre manual of arms and a weapon that must surely suffer from some quite significant balance problems if fired from the shoulder.
I'm surprised he didn't change his name to Adolf togglelock Furrer. Edit: Quick note, this could be quite useful if you were to convert existing Swiss Lugers into pistol caliber carbines but otherwise not really cost effective.
Furrer did indeed spend the majority of his weapons making career trying to put toggle locks on machine guns and automatic rifles of all types. See some of his other inventive designs here on you tube.
Hello. I came across this channel, by chance I think. 😮 I did never heard of this gun. I own 2 John Walter books, "The German Rifle", and "The Luger Book" and other texts about these and other weapons. All this here is amazing! 1000 thanks for this video!! ❤❤
I'm a bit in awe about the rows and rows of rifles behind our dear Jonathan .. sure thing a museum, especially one who has the "of armory" in name, would have literally hundreds of guns stored an in exhibition .. still a sight to behold and what curiosities he has to show us .. if i ever visit the UK again, i will make time to go to this museum for sure!
The rotating knob on the side reminds me of the retaining knob on the bottom of the MP40. It also pulls out and you can rotate it to prevent it from popping back in.
Does the museum have any gunsmiths? The amount of times I've heard that this gun or that gun is broken makes me worry for the long term future of some of these firearms as people who don't know what they are doing mess with them and lose or break key parts.
Initially posted this as a reply to another comment but I do wonder whether this design was simply a byproduct of the aircraft gun. i.e. Furrer realised he could essentially slap a stock and foregrip on his (quite reasonably designed) aircraft gun and tender a whole batch of trials guns for an upcoming sub machine gun demand before any other Swiss manufacturer could turn out a single prototype. Considering the precision and thought that seems to have gone into the action and mechanical design, and given that the naked aircraft gun with spade grips isn't an ergonomic monstrosity, this does seem like an oddity. More so when you see his other designs. That it existed as a hastily conceived afterthought would be a hypothesis I'd back. It would certainly account for a bizarre manual of arms and a weapon that must surely suffer from some quite significant balance problems if fired from the shoulder.
A quick blast from a silver rattle can and it would fit into any Star Wars film.... BUT A really interesting gun in its own right (that should never have an encounter with the aforementioned rattle can...)
You seem to never run out of curious and interesting firearms i've never heard of. This one i had seen as a 3D model and thought was fictional. Turns out it's not. Although you briefly talked about this, i really can't wrap my head around why the action is on the side. It would make so much more sense to have it on top, with the magazine sticking out the bottom. wouldn't it spit brass casings onto the user's left shoulder in this configuration?
You can lie prone with the sideways mag, and rest it on your lap in a vehicle. The ejector will throw the brass forwards. Gravity works against a bottom mag.
As suggested in an earlier comment this was just post world war 1, knowing how important going prone and crawling was to trench fighting, side mounted magazines make sense, they don't get on the way as much.
It's really nice to see a 20+ minute video on such an obscure firearm. One thing I was wondering though, what is the cyclic rate of it? Since it seems to be heavily based on the Luger pistol one could assume a high cyclic rate, but without any specifics. Also, you guys wouldn't happen to have another of Furrer's little projects in your collection, the M1921? :)
I always fancied the idea of rifle utilizing an upscaled luger mechanism. Not sure if that idea was ever experimented with but this experiment was very interesting.
That looks so damn cool! I really wish that guns like this make it into games now that we have a medium to give them life again in a historically safe way. You don't risk breaking them and yet we can shoot with them as much as we like.
> furer was a bit obsessed with that mechanism Understatement. All his known guns are basically luger action mounted sideways, the guy clearly loved the idea so much.
Wait a minute, I'm pretty sure lugers are protected under US law such that modifications are allowed to violate certain firearm regulations so long as the modification is to replicate other variations of the luger which had existed at the time I may not have a brain, but I have an idea...
Wow what a cool thing. Watching Jonathan fiddle about with the various buttons and levers was like watching someone working a puzzle box. Where do the shell casings go when it's fired? Over your left arm?
The thing feeding from right to left is probably arranged for cavalry? If you are right handed and got your carbine in a leather saddle scabbard it is likely stowed on the right side of the horse to be drawn easyly. So with a side magazine it has to stick out this direction because the horses torso will be at the other side. - Only a guess. Side feeding is also better suited for shooting from the prone position or from a trench.
Dude, did he just admit that he just now figured out how to safe the weapon for the first time right there on camera and left it in? Respect and LMAO, weapons expert indeed. :)
I remember one of Ian's video about a gun from Adolf Furrer and his fascination with toggle locks. Really neat to see one more and maybe the starting point of all this.
Jonathan, a possible reason why Furrer turned the action on its side is the location of the Luger sear face. The sear bar on the Luger is on the left side of the bolt and requires a somewhat complicated mechanism to transfer the motion of the trigger to the bar. Furrer, by rotating the action 90 degrees anticlockwise, probably engineered himself a simpler trigger mechanism. If this gun is full auto only, then it could be as simple as a single piece trigger and a spring. Emulating the MP18 may also have been a part of it, but I'd be very curious to see what the trigger looks like on the inside.
I assumed for this one the portable model followed the fixed version, where the right handed reloading would be more important. As a lefty myself I don't object to anything working in our favour though!
@@kegluneq6306 me too. I assumed given the absolutely insane ergonomics that this was a realisation that with a vaguely appropriate wooden stock and housing, the already made mounted version of the gun could be rapidly modified into a candidate for the newly desirable sub machine gun market.
In general, an "Oberst" is a Colonel, but I looked it up and an "Oberstbrigadier" was one of the highest ranks in the pre-reform Swiss army (with only two higher ranks in peace times). In English the name is "Brigadier General," a NATO OF-6 rank equivalent.
I would imagine part of the reason why they tried putting the mechanism sideways was to decrease the risk of debris sitting on top of the mechanism and entering when fired, although also with trench warfare they probably decided that sideways was a fair tradeoff between prone fire and presumably cant the weapon inside the trenches where accuracy was less important
Awesome, I wasn't expecting the Star Wars blaster video quite so soon. 'Help us Obi Gun Kenobi, you're our only hope'. Another great vid @JonathanFerguson. Every day is a school day, and I enjoyed learning something new there. May the Force be with you
"Perhaps we can revisit with Ian one day" ... hearing that about a museum piece the curator is scared of disassembling raises Ian's level of credibility from high to wow.
Ian is seriously a genius at damage free disassembly and reassembly.
@@samwalker7567 and fully knows when to stop because something is likely to be damaged and/or go pinging across the room to be lost forever
@@brianargo4595 A combination of a deep knowledge and understanding of firearms on the one hand and a metric ton of experience on the other. Also devine intervention. He is gun Jesus after all.
@@brianargo4595 as anyone who has worked on cars motorcycles etc learns from experience when you get the urge to have a ‘quick’ look at something it often turns into hours of looking for springs and pins around the garage along with frustration from trying to reassemble the parts.
😊 yes I’ve been there lol
Gun Jesus, now officially approved!
It's refreshing to see the legend taking a break, from carrying the entire Gamespot YT channel on his back.
Jonathan: its a rare prototype so don't want to break it.
Ian: And tomorrow we'll take it to the range. :-)
Brits vs Americans
Note, Ian only does that with guns where the owner has approved a range session *and* Ian is comfortable it is safe (both for the shooter and the gun) to do so.
Including several rare and even unique firearms from this very museum's collection.
I've never seen Ian fire prototypes, he commonly takes old and rare stuff to the range but not one of a kind irreplaceable firearms with two known examples. You "Gun Jesus" fanboys aren't in touch with reality. The hero worship stuff is getting kinda sad.
@@jacktheaviator4938 You know, it took me less than a minute to find this video...
ua-cam.com/video/PfhKLuPiXFc/v-deo.html
@@jacktheaviator4938 Here's one of five ever built...
ua-cam.com/video/g3aayF-S2ps/v-deo.html
The man put toggle locks on EVERYTHING. He probably had a toggle lock on his front door.
His car
He probably designed a toggle lock in place of the zipper on his pants
probably toggle locked his wife's chastity belt too
@@nigeh5326 All one needs really.
…on his toggle-locks.
Star Wards, one of my favorite franchises. Edit: RIP Og title.
It's a really good watch 😁
I'm more of a Star Track guy. "Live long and something something." - Dr. Spock
Says the "Man of Steel"
Battlefart galactica though was awful it really stank
@@hikerbro3870 I know you're joking, but this comment hurt my trekkie brain.
It's like an intelligent Medieval crossbowman saw a machine-gun once or twice.
1918/1919 was an interesting time in small arms development. In hindsight, it seems silly to look at all the prototypes weapons of the era. But at the time, they had no idea exactly what they were doing, given how post-WWI was really the infancy of the modern firearm. As such, you have to give them credit for trying out so many brand new and innovative designs, even if it took them 30-odd years to figure out that direct blowback open-bolts were the way to go for submachine guns.
I feel like there are some exceptions to direct blowback, the mp5 uses roller delayed and therefore has less recoil and is more controllable
@@1200velocity It definitely is. At the time (the war periods), direct blowback was the pinnacle technology of its time with regards to the submachine gun
@@chadthundercock5641 also, direct blowback open bolt has shown to be 'relatively inexpensive to produce' compared to other configurations of small arms available at the time.
@@HeyItsJonny And quick to produce too. RSAFE was churning out thousands of Sten Gun's every day
That aircraft version is the REAL Star Wars blaster. Lord Help me, I'm in LOVE with that thing....
And Borchardt worked in the US, at Winchester and Sharps, the toggle is a upside down Winchester lever action.
Shoutout to the people who watched it when the title was "Lugar, sub machine gun, or Star Wards blaster".
Interesting look into how much experimentation was around when the submachine gun was in its infancy. Only a few basic systems of actual operation but unique approaches to actually using them.
Irony is that basically the first popular one remained the most popular. MP18's blow-back open-bolt system basically never was surpassed for common military use. Be it an MP18 or an MP40 or the last great wave of military SMGs in the 1970s, they nearly all used the same basic operating mechanism. Only really today, where military SMGs are mostly a specialist tool for elite forces, do you find a lot not using open-bolt blow-back operation.
@@genericpersonx333 and for good reasons. Easy to operate for a civilian army, simple to strip clean and reassemble and cheap
I read it as "lager sub machine gun".
@@genericpersonx333 Truth of the matter is that in most areas of technology the "first popular one" will define the sector until there is a solid reason to transform beyond that. Normally things get popular for a reason, and even if that reason is "cheap" that still counts. At one time SMGs were being procured in bulk for all kinds of police and security and front line military uses, and they were also getting a lot of ex-military or surplus stuff because it was cheap and plentiful. At that point, where every border guard got an SMG, why would anyone want anything other than an open bolt tube gun? Most of them are never even going to get fired.
But, like you say, as the SMG has stopped being handed out like candy, and has become a serious tool for serious operators, well we have looked at things that we would never have done before. In a sense, the MP5 was the first example of this, which was more expensive but also much more capable in the hands of a skilled user, and also which was also built to take suppressors, and scopes, and all kinds of tacticool doodads. The MP5 somewhat escaped being just for special forces because it became SO iconic and SO well received (in terms of reliability and accuracy) that everyone who thought they were elite started buying them even if they weren't.
Adolf Furrer has quite the toggle locked obsession
If I'm correct Furrer even tried to build an proto assault rifle with this toggle system the Furrer M1921 in 7.65x35 mm.
Hey pal. I know I will come over as an Idiot doing this, but I know your Channel.
And I want to say, that I was lucky stumbling over your channel. I looked up „Insurgency sandstorm“ and, since I’m German as well, a video of you showed up. I would then proceed watching the entire thing. My First thoughts or the thoughts I have gone into your video with, were: Yeah just another Gamer thinking bullets magically spawn in the barrel of the gun. However, boy, was I wrong, you proceeded to call the weapons parts correctly. You have a brief overview of their internals. My thoughts leaving the video were: well he knows a thing or two. I wrote a comment under that video. Then I clicked on your channel.
I was blown away by the facts you had in your brain. Me, as a autist and firearm enthusiast always described myself as partly competent. However. I learned a lot through you.
That all was relatively easy and I always wanted to contact you in some way for a somewhat selfish cause.
Ich geh hier mal ins Deutsche über, einfach um freier schreiben zu können.
In meinem Freundes- und Familienkreis gibt es niemanden mit dem ich über meine Interessen reden kann. Ich kann das auch irgendwo verstehen, da ich jemandem ziemlich das Ohr abkauen kann. Du aber kannst dich allem Anschein nach durchaus an Waffen begeistern. Jetzt kommt mein Recht selbstsüchtiges Anliegen für das ich keine hohen Hoffnungen habe, das ich allerdings dennoch stellen werde, da es auf den Versuch ankommt.
Falls du dich vielleicht, eventuell in der Lage sehen würdest von Zeit zu Zeit mit mir zu fachsimpeln, dann schreibe das doch als Antwort auf diesen Kommentar.
Dann setze ich für kurze Zeit meine Email in die Kommentarsektion, bis ich irgendwas per Email von dir gehört habe, dann lösche ich das wieder.
Falls das nicht geht, schreibe das doch auch als Antwort, damit ich Gewissheit habe.
Servus,
AspiLeo.
@@AspiLeo Freud mich zu hören, wenn Jemand meine Videos mag. In der Regel müsste ich aber unter fast allen Videos einen Discord Link haben. Auf dem Discord sind dann noch andere Leute, die sich auch für das Thema interessieren.
I think there's a Forgotten Weapons video about that rifle
He also built an LMG and a 24mm anti-tank gun with this basic action. He had one idea, and he applied it to everything
You are correct ( another comment already said it is shown on Forgotten Weapons channel ). Furrer did really try putting toggle locks into nearly any firearm the Swiss military or any other international group might need.
Looking at the pictures of the double barreled version...I really want to see it firing...toggles breaking and ejecting downwards, curved magazines, recoiling, muzzle boosted barrels...I need to see that even if only computer modeled.
If you're a right handed shooter, that toggle stands a good change of smacking you in the face. Or being so close as to make it very uncomfortable.
@@michaelfrench3396 that what I was thinking. I'm left handed and I've shot a R/H semi auto shotgun, the cartridges ejecting across your eyeliner is very off putting. I can only imagine the effect of large pieces metal flying about in front of your face is like!
It's really quite interesting how long the toggle lock stuck around in firearm designs. Even after all the advances in designs, the toggle kept on popping up in the strangest places, from pistols to light machineguns (Madsen 1901) to heavy machineguns, and even at least one shotgun. I have no earthly idea who made the shotgun. It had no proofs, a serial number of 171, conventional sporter style stock, smooth bore, and it was chambered in what appeared to be a lengthened 16 gauge cartridge. It came into my gun shop about a year ago, and I didn't buy it because the owner wanted an exorbitant sum for it, but it was very very odd. I'm almost certain it was a Chinese oddity from the early 1900s because of the slapdash, hybrid nature of the design.
The toggle lock shotgun was a browning design not many was made because he soon came up with the auto 5 if I'm not mistaken
@@hankbailey6200 walther toggle lock shotgun
@@user-neo71665 ah yes the Walther Shoulder shatterer
No doubt somebody has already suggested it but as the weapon is intended for fully automatic fire, the side toggle arrangement is probably to allow a sight picture to be maintained during firing. A top lock, side feed arrangment could be worked out so I doubt it is purely to get the magazine parallel with the ground to avoid undue weapon system height.
What you're saying makes sense, but looking at this still breaks my brain 😂
Someone else pointed out it was made with WW1 trench warfare in mind so having a gun with a side magazine allows for prone use.
Jonathan took the words out of my brain, it does really look like something from Star Wars. It just looks so interesting. It would be so neat to see one of these fire.
It's a left handed gun!
Thoroughly approve being a Leftie!
Using it left handed would bring the magazine across your body and over your supporting arm, as per just about every other SMG.
The reciprocating toggle would then be away from your arm and face, more importantly so would the ejected brass.
Now why anyone would design a left handed gun for an overwhelmingly right handed army is another question altogether!
*wrong handed
He was left handed. Left handed bias, or seeing that left is a minority maybe it's just social justice in sub gun form.
Left handed weapons? Happy Gun-Jesus noises from Ian.
as a wronghanded person I appreciate this design 🙌
You have to admit that the weapon looks really cool.
I can understand Furrer's preoccupation; I also love toggle-lock guns! But for me it's in the aesthetics and engineering. There's something about them that screams sophistication to me... as well as being an interesting look at the road not (fully) travelled.
An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
At first it almost looks like a weird toggle lock side by side shotgun lol.
Yeah, it gave me a coach gun feel.
I've been fascinated with firearms and firearm development since I was a small kid. I've spent countless hours reading magazines, digging through dusty tomes in research areas of libraries, and of course, in the modern era, watched more gun history videos than I can count. Thus I'm always pleasantly surprised when I see a weapon that I've never heard of or read about. Excellent and very fun video. Thank you!
Furrer sure did love his toggle mechanisms and the more complex the better lol also the weirder looking the better too
This is one of those guns Ian is probably jealous for :D
Hope he can visit again soon
and C&Rsenal would be jealous too
the drum on the side could be a rate of fire adjustment , i think it alters the barrel /toggle position in the stock /receiver therefore making the speed of firing/ rechambering faster or slower !
Behind the drum is a mechanism that when you turn it allows a little cuckoo to pop up and back down on top each time it fires 😃
The Swiss do like their cuckoo clocks
@@nigeh5326 lmao that'd be great
That's what I was thinking also, I believe we're right!
Just practicing it in my head, it would make sense to let dominant trigger hand reload, while other hand supports rifle... It was definitely made with trench warfare in mind
These firearms are beautifully funky in a way only first-generation submachine guns can be. A stark contrast to all of the vintage pieces in the background is the ARX-160 poking behind Jonathan's shoulder! Another funky-looking gun in its own right despite being an Armalite derivative.
Do you know what gun is on the opposite side of the rack to that ARX-160? The one with the MP5 looking stock and weird carry handle.
Ah star wards, my favorite movie, with its gun inspired by the lugar
Hand Solo had a Mowser, though.
@@vaclav_fejt Brilliant response! (Lugar vs. Luger)...
Oberst Brigadier translates to Brigadier Colonel.
The Swiss army does not call Brigade, Division and Army Corps commanders with the definition "General".
They are colonels who command the unit as Brigadier, Divisonnaire or Corps Commander.
General is the highest rank and is given only in case of conflict.
You sir have one amazing job!
I love how we transitioned from batshit insane designs to "give me Pipe SMG" in the span of 10 years.
Toob
Overstep Brigadier is a Swiss one star Brigadier General.
Oberst - Brigadier or Colonel - Brigadier. Would that be a rank between full Colonel and Brigadier? The German Army had Oberst Leutnants, Leiutenant Colonels, and General Obersts or Colonel Generals. The latter not having an equal in most other armies.
Ah yes Furrer the man with an extreme hardon for toggles.
You always say you have a particularly interesting one, but you do always seem to have an interesting one every time.
Possibly the wackiest thing about it has got to be the barrel - obviously contemporary LMGs like the Bren have sights offset but you don't often see the barrel off to one side instead . It's presumably going to put a bit of turning force on the whole gun and it's got to make zeroing interesting.
Possibly to counterbalance the magazine.
@@richardnicklin654 It's as good a reason as any I suppose but that begs the question: why have it sideways on in the first place?
@@weebay6166 I think the question is less why the action is on its side and more why the barrel is so far offset from the centre point of the stock and trigger. I can only imagine that the centre of gravity of this is absolutely bizarre, unless it really does work to counteract the weight of the massive magazine.
@@stamfordly6463 Probably because the Swiss Army specified a side-mounted magazine. Since bottom-mounting such a big magazine would make prone firing impossible. And likewise would make the aircraft-mounted version impossible.
Feeding from the side makes sense so the observer doesn't knock the magazine on the side of the aircraft and cause a jam. Also, I suspect your left arm would be much further from the toggle and any ejecting cartridges if your example still had the foregrip/monopod. Lovely to see something so unusual, Johnathon - much appreciated. 🙂
10:16 As you said yourself at the start: this was made RIGHT after World War 1, with fresh memories of trench warfare.
Imagine having to lay down on the berm of a trench with such a long magazine sticking out the bottom.
Furrer could have tried to redesign the action to feed from the side, but with the toggle on top, but why bother if you can simply rotate the whole thing 90 degrees.
you may be on to something
90 degrees, Aka. Gangsta style.
Shooting a gun with a long magazine protruding below it while prone is an issue, especially in the trenches of WW1 where the ground was not very firm. If you see footage of Germans actually moving through No-Man's Land, they spend a lot of time crawling and otherwise prone. I imagine Furrer was trying to anticipate that requirement, especially with the trenches fresh in the minds of the Reichswehr. As it was, I think the bigger problem with the gun is that it is no competitor for the MP18 derivatives which were definitely cheaper, quite reliable, and only getting more so as the 1920s went on. That really was the problem with all the SMGs in the 1920s: MP18, once you didn't need to use the Luger magazines, was really hard to beat for most military purposes. Even the famous Thompson didn't actually sell that well by comparison during the Interwar Period.
And the gun looks really odd from the toggle forwards, as if he already made it top eject but then realized "Oh shoot, trench warfare!" And literally cut the stock off and put it back together sideways.
@@genericpersonx333 Thompson's were extremely expensive and heavy, the drum mags were not very reliable and they were quite fiddly to load. There were quite a few reasons they didn't sell very well, they were iconic as a gangsters weapon because of the calibre, it made it concealable.
Beautiful piece of machining ...I could stare at these for hours..btw there was/is a far simpler full auto Luger machine pistol in the Dublin Castle collection (if they didn't melt it)
As I'm sure you know, the fluted barrel also adds some rigidity/strength and surface area which can help in dissipating heat.
I probably would have added some holes to the wooden barrel shroud to get some air moving past that barrel.
I do wonder whether this was simply a byproduct of the aircraft gun, i.e. Furrer realised he could essentially slap a stock and foregrip on his (quite reasonably designed) aircraft gun and tender a whole batch of trials guns for the upcoming sub machine gun demand before any other Swiss manufacturer could turn out a single prototype.
Considering the precision and thought that seems to have gone into the action and mechanical design, and given that the naked aircraft gun with spade grips isn't an ergonomic monstrosity, this does seem like an oddity. More so when you see his other designs.
That it existed as a hastily conceived afterthought would be a hypothesis I'd back. It would certainly account for a bizarre manual of arms and a weapon that must surely suffer from some quite significant balance problems if fired from the shoulder.
As far as I know, some of the very last toggle lock mechanism guns were prototype Japanese copies from Pedersen semi-automatic rifle.
Really interesting seeing such an unique and rare weapon! Looking forward to a future collaboration with Ian about it!
Such a knowledgeable guy. Love the content!
I like the art deco design.
Classy.
The paradigm of ww1 era firearm technology always amazes me.
I'm surprised he didn't change his name to Adolf togglelock Furrer.
Edit: Quick note, this could be quite useful if you were to convert existing Swiss Lugers into pistol caliber carbines but otherwise not really cost effective.
Imagine having to sign something as " Adolf Kniegelenkverschluss Furrer-Kägi... he would have needed an additional sheet of paper just for his name.
Furrer did indeed spend the majority of his weapons making career trying to put toggle locks on machine guns and automatic rifles of all types. See some of his other inventive designs here on you tube.
“And on season 3 of The Mandalorian.”
I saw the side-toggle and thought “oh god, it screams Furrer”
Would love to see you do a collab with Ian on this gun
Hello. I came across this channel, by chance I think. 😮 I did never heard of this gun. I own 2 John Walter books, "The German Rifle", and "The Luger Book" and other texts about these and other weapons. All this here is amazing! 1000 thanks for this video!! ❤❤
I'm a bit in awe about the rows and rows of rifles behind our dear Jonathan .. sure thing a museum, especially one who has the "of armory" in name, would have literally hundreds of guns stored an in exhibition .. still a sight to behold and what curiosities he has to show us .. if i ever visit the UK again, i will make time to go to this museum for sure!
The rotating knob on the side reminds me of the retaining knob on the bottom of the MP40. It also pulls out and you can rotate it to prevent it from popping back in.
Does the museum have any gunsmiths? The amount of times I've heard that this gun or that gun is broken makes me worry for the long term future of some of these firearms as people who don't know what they are doing mess with them and lose or break key parts.
It makes a lovely sound when dry cycled.
Jonathan, this is amazing!
thank you for sharing.
"Unfortunately named-"
Oh how bad could it be?
"Adolph Furrer"
Huh...
I wanna see Jonathan and Ian nerding out over guns or breaking over cursed gun images together
Excellent! That has to be one of the strangest firearms I've ever seen.
Initially posted this as a reply to another comment but I do wonder whether this design was simply a byproduct of the aircraft gun. i.e. Furrer realised he could essentially slap a stock and foregrip on his (quite reasonably designed) aircraft gun and tender a whole batch of trials guns for an upcoming sub machine gun demand before any other Swiss manufacturer could turn out a single prototype.
Considering the precision and thought that seems to have gone into the action and mechanical design, and given that the naked aircraft gun with spade grips isn't an ergonomic monstrosity, this does seem like an oddity. More so when you see his other designs.
That it existed as a hastily conceived afterthought would be a hypothesis I'd back. It would certainly account for a bizarre manual of arms and a weapon that must surely suffer from some quite significant balance problems if fired from the shoulder.
A quick blast from a silver rattle can and it would fit into any Star Wars film....
BUT
A really interesting gun in its own right (that should never have an encounter with the aforementioned rattle can...)
It looks like a weapon Bobba Fett would carry while bounty hunting
You seem to never run out of curious and interesting firearms i've never heard of. This one i had seen as a 3D model and thought was fictional.
Turns out it's not.
Although you briefly talked about this, i really can't wrap my head around why the action is on the side.
It would make so much more sense to have it on top, with the magazine sticking out the bottom. wouldn't it spit brass casings onto the user's left shoulder in this configuration?
You can lie prone with the sideways mag, and rest it on your lap in a vehicle. The ejector will throw the brass forwards. Gravity works against a bottom mag.
Maybe it was meant as a gunner & ammo carrier configuration and it being on the side makes loading easier?
Makes a lot more sense when you consider light vehicle/aircraft firing scenarios
As suggested in an earlier comment this was just post world war 1, knowing how important going prone and crawling was to trench fighting, side mounted magazines make sense, they don't get on the way as much.
The most logical reason is for aiming. I am sure full auto with a toggle bolt is super annoying for aiming down sights.
It's really nice to see a 20+ minute video on such an obscure firearm. One thing I was wondering though, what is the cyclic rate of it? Since it seems to be heavily based on the Luger pistol one could assume a high cyclic rate, but without any specifics.
Also, you guys wouldn't happen to have another of Furrer's little projects in your collection, the M1921? :)
I want one.
That thing is a work of art.
That would make a badass coach gun!
It might be halfway easy depending on which way you build it.
I have ideas, but no knowhow.
That is one of the coolest guns I've ever seen.
Furrer was very talented. He designed a LMG that was adopted by the Swiss military:)-John in Texas
I always fancied the idea of rifle utilizing an upscaled luger mechanism. Not sure if that idea was ever experimented with but this experiment was very interesting.
Check out the Selbslader 1906, it pretty much is a luger mechanism rifle.
@@Panzercommander121 thanks!
That's a thing of beauty.
fascinating ,didn't know that existed . someting new every day ..
That looks so damn cool!
I really wish that guns like this make it into games now that we have a medium to give them life again in a historically safe way.
You don't risk breaking them and yet we can shoot with them as much as we like.
A most unusual device indeed. Thanks for your explication.
> furer was a bit obsessed with that mechanism
Understatement. All his known guns are basically luger action mounted sideways, the guy clearly loved the idea so much.
*Luger exists*
Furrer: "I'm gonna make it look gansta"
Wait a minute, I'm pretty sure lugers are protected under US law such that modifications are allowed to violate certain firearm regulations so long as the modification is to replicate other variations of the luger which had existed at the time
I may not have a brain, but I have an idea...
Wow what a cool thing. Watching Jonathan fiddle about with the various buttons and levers was like watching someone working a puzzle box.
Where do the shell casings go when it's fired? Over your left arm?
It definitely looks very Swiss.
The thing feeding from right to left is probably arranged for cavalry? If you are right handed and got your carbine in a leather saddle scabbard it is likely stowed on the right side of the horse to be drawn easyly. So with a side magazine it has to stick out this direction because the horses torso will be at the other side. - Only a guess.
Side feeding is also better suited for shooting from the prone position or from a trench.
I saw the toggle lock and immediately thought Furrer (thanks Ian), but that was as close as I got.
It was a blunderbuss that got caught in Brundle's teleporter with a Luger 🤣
Dude, did he just admit that he just now figured out how to safe the weapon for the first time right there on camera and left it in? Respect and LMAO, weapons expert indeed. :)
The sideways feed causes the gun to be heavier and more complex. If they had left it in the vertical configuration, it'd be quite good for its time.
Strange but interesting gun. Awesome video 👍
Thank you for this awesome channel😊
I remember one of Ian's video about a gun from Adolf Furrer and his fascination with toggle locks. Really neat to see one more and maybe the starting point of all this.
verry nice
star wards
Jonathan, a possible reason why Furrer turned the action on its side is the location of the Luger sear face. The sear bar on the Luger is on the left side of the bolt and requires a somewhat complicated mechanism to transfer the motion of the trigger to the bar. Furrer, by rotating the action 90 degrees anticlockwise, probably engineered himself a simpler trigger mechanism. If this gun is full auto only, then it could be as simple as a single piece trigger and a spring. Emulating the MP18 may also have been a part of it, but I'd be very curious to see what the trigger looks like on the inside.
id imagine having that bolt actuating right in front of your face while shoulder firing the mp-19 was an exhilarating experience to say the least.
Always fabulous and informative.
so this is where the whole "holding your pistol "gangsta" sideways" got started
Having seen a few of Furrer's designs, I get the distinct feeling that he was left handed.
I assumed for this one the portable model followed the fixed version, where the right handed reloading would be more important. As a lefty myself I don't object to anything working in our favour though!
@@kegluneq6306 me too. I assumed given the absolutely insane ergonomics that this was a realisation that with a vaguely appropriate wooden stock and housing, the already made mounted version of the gun could be rapidly modified into a candidate for the newly desirable sub machine gun market.
I've seen this weapon being used by Chew Baka in Star wards
In general, an "Oberst" is a Colonel, but I looked it up and an "Oberstbrigadier" was one of the highest ranks in the pre-reform Swiss army (with only two higher ranks in peace times). In English the name is "Brigadier General," a NATO OF-6 rank equivalent.
I would imagine part of the reason why they tried putting the mechanism sideways was to decrease the risk of debris sitting on top of the mechanism and entering when fired, although also with trench warfare they probably decided that sideways was a fair tradeoff between prone fire and presumably cant the weapon inside the trenches where accuracy was less important
I'd say _Star Wars_ crossed with _Barbarella,_ maybe _Firefly._
Wow... that's probably the most advanced firearm of the eightienth century; what a find!!
I was actually JUST thinking about a toggle lock in a bigger form, especially one rotated 90°
Collab video! Please do
Tour the arsenal and pick out his and your favorite stuff
Awesome, I wasn't expecting the Star Wars blaster video quite so soon. 'Help us Obi Gun Kenobi, you're our only hope'.
Another great vid @JonathanFerguson. Every day is a school day, and I enjoyed learning something new there.
May the Force be with you
Ngl, I really like the look of these. Very odd, but looks really cool
"Slightly unfortunate name" is a bit of an understatement :D.
I love star wards
This is pretty amazing