Here is interesting trivia. BAR in polish is "Barium" and was the first weapon to start a fashion of naming Polish guns by names of the elements (Tantal - Tantalum, Beryl - Beryllium, Lantan - Lanthanum, Wanad pistol - vanadium, Pallad grenade launcher - Palladium, Bor rifle - Boron, Tor rifle - Thorium and a mineral Glauberyt smg -Glauberite) I love that as a chemist. Polish army had several debacles like this with US based firms. One of the big ones was with Christie and his tanks. Once Poles bought the rights for the tanks and paid part of the money, then soviets doubled the money and he didn't deliver them to Poles but to Russians. This was spy agencies prepping for WWII in my opinion. Poles sued Christie and won the suit but were left with no tanks. They reverse engineered the christie suspension but the tank wasn't ready before WWII. Instead they got Vickers tank and improved upon it resulting in 7-TP and 9-TP.
+Jason „cyberspace entity” Doe Polish military main assault rifle is Beryl. Polish police (and military) use Glaberyt SMG. To bad that the chemist tradition is over. The newest Polish assault rifle is called ...MSBS :(
Ian, do know know how well-mannered, tame, respectful and polite your video comment sections are? It gives me warm feelings to see people discussing things civilly after watching your fantastic content. Your channel is a true 10/10!
I realize this is a very late reply but that is exactly why I keep coming back to Forgotten Weapons and even read through comments from years ago. Both the content and the community are among the best on the entire web. Cheers!
I had a boss who was a marine in Vietnam and Cambodia in the early sixties and he has told me while his standard issue rifle was the m14 (full auto) but he also carried for a short time a BAR and some of his peer were issued them as well, its crazy in the nearly 50 years the USA used it they never thought to put a pistol grip on it! good on the poles! loved the vid Ian!
I'm Polish and I'm really interested in firearms etc. but I had no idea about most of the information that you provided in this video Ian. Thanks a lot!!! I love this channel and I watch it almost every day! I wish you'll be on UA-cam forever. Thanks again!
Gareth Canfield all thise changes like barells with radiator, 'fish tail" stock etc. were made to convert american concept of automatic rifle to a european light machine gun concept.
Jestem z Polski i często oglądam pańskie filmiki i muszę powiedzieć że jestem zdumiony pańską wiedzą i prawdą historyczną na temat historii Polski albowiem nie często się zdarza aby obcokrajowiec miał tak wnikliwą i szczegółową wiedzę na temat trudnej historii mojego kraju,Dziękuję
In the magazine bag there is a stamp - Czesław Jastrzębski - it was a company name, that also made VIS holsters. The company was situated in Warsaw (hence stamped Warszawa) on 20 Żytnia Str. BTW - R.K.M could be translated as "handheld machine carbine" wich is basically interpreted as LMG.
Greetings from Poland. Actually, I`ve never heard about this dispute between the FN and Polish military, and few other facts were also unknown to me until I watched your video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
It's quite a rare gun in Poland too. Thanks for showing me one of them in close. Let me translate something for you about wz.28 markings: RKM-Ręczny Karabin Maszynowy(Hand Machine Gun) Selector B-Bezpieczny(Safe) P-Pojedyńczy(SingleFire) C-Ciągły(FullAutomatic). Keep up the good work, Best wishes from Poland :)
@@seansouth9488 Poor Nazis. Almost the whole Europe was massacring nazi civilians. From France to Russia, from Norway to Greece. And Jews of course. They were killing innocent nazi civilians without mercy. Even saints in heaven couldn't stand it anymore.
Ian, I want to thank You for this one. as a militaristic fan from Poland, I am gratefull of how You talked about the gun, it's history. honestly i didn't know it had so many modifications. greatings from Poland with best wishes for You and your chanel ;) i hope that You'll get a chance to show us a VIS pistol and "PM Mors" the "wz" marking is from "wzór", wich translate as "model" or "version" that pistol was the "VIS wz.35" pistol that military warehouse was a "Depot of Military Tranzit" on Westerplatte peninsual in Gdańsk (ger. Danzig), the second polish "enclave" was a "Polish Post Office" deffendet by its workers, they used polish made Mauser riffles and BAR. the RKM is for "Ręczny Karabin Maszynowy" and its a polish term for light machinegun carried, operated and reloaded by a single soldier. the markings of the safety looks like (from the left) single-fullauto-safe, with polish letters.
Few days ago I saw your movie about belgium machine guns, and today about ZK383, Marines Thompson's 'small brother' and rkm wz.28 ('rkm' can be translated literally as 'hand (in meaning of 'light') machine gun' - but I think it would be much more corresponding to SAW in modern terminology) . And I must admit, I'm quite impressed about your knowledge of history, not only a weaponry history, but a world history as well. You made your homework, and you done it well and it's really good to hear not only how it shoots, but also why it shoots like that and how it was made like that. Your movies are longer than typical YT clips, but it's good for them - at last I can learn something new. It's a good enough reason to subscribe. Than you for your hard work. Greetings from Poland. And last thing - your pronunciation in Polish is really good and clear. P.S. - Did you ever thought about changing name of your channel? Because of your work, these arms are truly NOT-Forgotten Weapons.
My Grandpa was using the same gun in September Campaign. He was reserve corporal and leader of RKM (LMG) section in artillery unit of 16 Pomorska Dywizja Piechoty (16th Pommeranian Infantry Division)
16:22 One little thing about fire selector. Reading the letters from left to right we have P (pojedynczy) - semi automatic, C (ciągły) - full auto, B (bezpieczny) - safe. Great review, as usual!!!
this is one of those episodes that remind me why is this one of the best chanels on youtube. and actually it has little to do with the gun itself (it's a bonus)! excellent!
I am Pole, too and an advanced technical and other firearms stuff fan. Also Ian's fan of Forgotten Weapons Channel. He is always perfect researched. Also this movie is fully professional. Good job!
Damn. If I won the lottery this week I would have bought that thing. I hope that one day I'll have the opportunity to at least shoot one of these rare BAR variants. I'm of Polish decent so I have a lot admiration for Polish designed and manufactured weapons as well as military history of Poland.
Ian, did you ever get a chance to have a look at the wz.35 anti-tank rifle? Do you think its spall inducing, non penetrating ammo had a chance of working as intended?
Fingers crossed... it'll be an awesome video one day. I can't think of any other rifle that tried to use small calibre squash head ammo in that era. Thanks for all your work, btw; it's criminal one of the documentary channels hasn't thrown money at you to make a series on small arms.
@@ForgottenWeapons It did work. Although obviously only on Panzer I and II (from less than hundred meters). And on APV's from up to 400 m. The difficulty being that as OP stated it was non penetrating ammo. It just transferred the energy into armor so much that it causes the inside of an armor to "explode" in a shrapnel like manner. Other problem was that it was so secret, that almost no-one was trained to use them - some sources say that training of gunners started on 23rd of August. Germans of course adopted it, but they didn't replicate the most important bit - the ammo. Polish was very complicated and costly to produce - mostly copper though. I don't know if any of original ammo survived to this day, and it's composition and shape would be absolutely important, since it was basically very small KINETIC shape charge - designed specifically to make the dent on the other side fragment - imagine being killed by a paint shrapnel. As for BAR wz. 28 (pronounced like you did "wzór", so vz) - Polish Wikipedia (with many flaws like Wikipedia) is one of the best versions of the page. It says that 10.000 were delivered by FN, 11.000 produced in Poland for Polish Army, and 1880 for export - mainly to Spain. Also about 140 to Palestine and single numbers to China and Greece.
As ever, Ian, your forensic and knowledgeable history of these weapons really makes your videos so fascinating to those of us who are not shooters or even collectors. Very cool. (have fired SMLE and Bren at school)
I always loved the fact that the FN engineers used the magazine slot on the operating rod of the BAR as the spent case ejection port on the MAG58/M240.
Great video Ian.I especially like your custom "shed sled" shooting rest made from warped 1x6s.For any of the safety conscious out there,that cartridge he's using for disassembly is inert.You can see the dented primer at 15:52.
Such a VERY NICE video presentation. I am nicely surprised !!!! Fantastic historical background explained with so many details. Wonderful overview, and dissembling of that American-polish made light machine gun !!!! I am giving a highest rate for that particular VIDEO !!!! Congratulation )))) Sincerely yours.
Thanks for another great video, Ian. It's cool to see a more practical route the US could have taken in updating and improving the BAR in the interwar era.
@Forgotten Weapons Floating bipod was not problem in using wz.28. First of all polish wz.28 was team weapon in Poland. Crew of gun were: -karabinowy - operated the rifle -celowniczy - giving coordinates to shoot -amunicyjny - transporting supply of ammunition When attack were moving forward, "karabinowy" have to fold down bipod and take new position ahead of all team. Again open the bipod, shoot, fold down, move and until the win or death :) Wz.28 wasn't individual and mobile weapon like BAR in US army.
RKM = Ręczny karabin maszynowy which literally translates as "hand(held) machine rifle" and "machine rifle" is basically machinegun in polish (germans also called their mgs mahchine rifles)
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel aka. The Desert Fox this is a lie. there is no evidence of polish cavalry rushing on german panzers. but "Polish Cavalry Divisions" used horses to fast moving manoovers, transport soldiers, transporting light artilery, HMGs, ammo, suplies and wounded. don't insult Polish Cavalry of 1939, it is a lie that insult the whole nation, created by germans and comunists. so are you a german or a comunist?
Love the BAR videos. They have the most unusual bolt i've ever seen. I think i understand the locking system based off of your explanation in the Ohio Ordnance video. Basically a type of tilting bolt- wonder if it influenced Saive on the FAL at all. Love how the Poles basically gave FN the finger. Sounds like FN was being pretty shady, if not downright dishonest. Serves them right. The Poles darn near went them one better than the Hi-Power with the VIS (Radom) a few yrs later. Bullt for them. A proud, brave people who really got the sewage end of the stick in WW2. Great video as always. Thank you
Before this, we fielded the RKM Wz.23, a Polish LMG version of the Lewis "Assault Phase Rifle" with a low-to-the-ground tripod, longer barrel, and in 7.92 Mauser, the Lewis you mention is most likely the RKM Wz.23
Does anyone find it utterly hilarious the same country that produced the great M1 Garand also produced the joke that was the BAR gun. And it took a foreign manufacturer to fix it's major issues.
Aidan Templeton Fair enough but I 'd still rather take almost anything into war but a BAR gun. And I suppose the Polish and the Belgian still didn't fix that crap bipod.
Aidan Templeton Meh if we are comparing like to like I'd take a Bren gun into combat over a BAR gun. It was actually a far better infantry support weapon,
Old thread, but maybe s.o. will see this or care, lol. The BAR was ahead of the times in 1918, behind the times by WW2. (Ditto for the 1919 Browning LMG.) With US foreign policy of interwar period, plus the Depression, emphasis was on updating good equipment rather than on new designs. Some BAR updates were good, such as the heat shield in the handguard. The bipod was execrable. With all that said, the GIs who fought with it in WW2 and Korea absolutely swore by it. Granted, they didn't have the Bren or MG-42 to choose from, but esp. the -42 would've required a complete re-work of how US infantry functioned. Our squads, platoons, and companies were based on semi-auto rifles and a squad auto rifle, not on equipping rifle units with light machine guns. Too bad they didn't get a quick-change barrel and an efficient bipod, at least, because those two improvements would've made a huge, positive difference in sustaining a high volume of fire, keeping the weapon functioning in combat, and in delivering more effective fire at longer ranges. Dust covers certainly would've been nice, too. Our BAR was a completely different animal than the German GPMGs, inferior to Bren and its Czech forebears--but lighter, equivalent to FR Chatellerault, ~same as BE. PO, SW, slightly better than Finnish, Soviet, and Swiss auto rifles, markedly better than IT or early JP competitors (not the later mag-fed Nambu) and Danish-Norwegian Madsens. Had we not faced the Wehrmacht, nobody would've noticed the BAR as particularly problematic. Nobody's infantry had the auto firepower to match the Wehrmacht, although our rifleman had superior weapons and our arty was far superior in numbers, volume of fire, ammo supply, and fire direction. The Luftwaffe couldn't give our Air Corps much competition. US small units had their hands full facing GE infantry firepower, but at battalion and higher levels our supporting arms gave us a big edge.
Nie przynoś wstydu temu językowi zrazu rzucając inwektywami. Typowa cebula. Jesteście siebie warci, on ze swoim "plebsem" i Ty ze swoim "wypierdalaj". Pozdrawiam.
The wz 28 wasn't meant to be shot from the hip thats why the changes to the butt and the addition of pistol grip. Also the the barrel is thicker it weighs over 2 kg. The cooling fins on the barrel are also of polish design.
Colt was making these in the US. That makes it even more unfathomable that US ordnance wouldn't adopt these, or at least the improved features, instead of the 1918A2.
Fascinating to see a totally American design, chambered in the enemy's cartridge (8mm Mauser) but used by our allies (Poles). Awesome video as always, Ian. Hope all is well.
+Bill22252 :No it wasn't Polish one. It was probably Belgian BAR Mle 1930 ( Base Series Designation, not D-model!) or any remodelled version of the rifle ( American?) Maybe also Belgian D - model without wooden handle for carrying. Certainly it was not Polish wz 28
"international kerfuffle" is a great way to describe the world between 1900-1945. Great video, your best yet in fact. Do you think the FN BAR could have been a good basis for an assault rifle type weapon?
Does James D. Julia have a shooting range to test all these out at? Should of stuck the bipods in the snow, not on the wood planks. Might of got a little more stable shooting.
Hey Ian, great video as usual. I was wondering where you get most of the information on the guns that you have on the show, especially the cool history bits.
How much ammunition would the guys carrying these things normally have? It seems like they'd burn through a lot of ammo really fast, even with a five magazine bag. It seems like they'd have to have a lot of it available but compared to carrying some belts it feels like it'd be a problem.
How is this related to the FN Model D? It sounds as the wz.28 was in many ways the inspiration for the later Model D...as for example the dust cover looks quite similar.
My bit of nitpicking: It was kpr. (corporal) Edmund Szamlewski (Shamlevsky) that fired the first shots in anger on Westerplatte using this gun: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Szamlewski (sorry, no version in English) Great video all around. Learned a great deal.
Id love to know more about the Italian submission and the 1923 Lewis. There's a lot of references to a French Lewis gun used between the wars but I can't find any pictures.
I've examined an FN BAR (Brazilian) and the mechanism is very different to this. The butt pivots on the frame and the mainspring, frame and bolt are exracted rearwards as a complete unit. The trigger unit also looks different. It is also a bit easier to field-strip, as it does not have the awkward lugh through the cocking handle.
+MadraktheRed You get a lot of leeway with magazines. There are probably a dozen cartridges at this point that have been designed to fit a STANAG (M-16/M-4/AR-15) magazine, for instance, and some of them are wildly different than the standard 5.56x45mm cartridge (like the .458 SOCOM). So long as the taper, width, and overall length are close enough, it should work. At most you might have to change the follower.
in 21:00. Bipod is not great...perhaps because it is inversely mounted than it should be ( inverted 180 degrees). On the other hand it is impossible to mount it properly because there is lack of parts ( two half-rings). Anyway..nice piece!
Hey Ian! I've recently read an article that said that the French actually purchased 10,000 BARs from the AEF before they left France. I wondered if this was true and what might have happened to them? Interesting thought about the French's determination to sell its original FM 24s to Poland. The FM's original caliber was the new 7.5x58mm M1924, the cartridge that resembled the 8x57mm Mauser so much that the two got mixed up in the French supply system with infamous results. The most famous being the demonstration to a Romanian military purchasing party where a Mauser round got loaded into the FM 24 and caused a chamber/barrel explosion that wounded the gunner severely(and killed the sales deal). Makes me think, maybe the French would have had more luck with the Polish if they had offered the FM 24 in 8(7.92)mm Mauser to begin with? Knowing the French they probably tried to convince the Polish to adopt their Fabulous new 7.5x58mm MAS cartridge as standard.
anther very interesting video ian, thanks. can anyone tell me why older machine guns like these have those flared out muzzles? such as seen here, also on some bren lmgs and dp28s as well. just curious.
Hey ! What's that thing on the barrel near the end of the handguard ? Looks like some mounting point for an anti-aircraft sight. As always nice video, thanks for your work !
Damn. I was surprised to see this video on this channel, because I didn't think there were any of these in the US. In the ten years that I've been checking out the guns that were available on subguns.com I've only seen 1 maybe 2 Colt Monitor R75s. Now I see that there is at least one RKM wz. 1928 in the US. Man I wish I made enough money to afford these kind of guns.
Here is interesting trivia. BAR in polish is "Barium" and was the first weapon to start a fashion of naming Polish guns by names of the elements (Tantal - Tantalum, Beryl - Beryllium, Lantan - Lanthanum, Wanad pistol - vanadium, Pallad grenade launcher - Palladium, Bor rifle - Boron, Tor rifle - Thorium and a mineral Glauberyt smg -Glauberite) I love that as a chemist.
Polish army had several debacles like this with US based firms. One of the big ones was with Christie and his tanks. Once Poles bought the rights for the tanks and paid part of the money, then soviets doubled the money and he didn't deliver them to Poles but to Russians. This was spy agencies prepping for WWII in my opinion. Poles sued Christie and won the suit but were left with no tanks. They reverse engineered the christie suspension but the tank wasn't ready before WWII. Instead they got Vickers tank and improved upon it resulting in 7-TP and 9-TP.
Very interesting indeed! I love such naming conventions!
+Jason „cyberspace entity” Doe Polish military main assault rifle is Beryl. Polish police (and military) use Glaberyt SMG. To bad that the chemist tradition is over. The newest Polish assault rifle is called ...MSBS :(
StarskiPL Yes, it is super boring name. I guess it is connected with their desire to sell them in USA but at least a nickname would be nice.
MSBS-5,56(-7,62) "Radon"?
It's RADOM - and it's a Polish city south of Warsaw. Radom is the place where Fabryka Broni (producer of MSBS) is located.
Ian, do know know how well-mannered, tame, respectful and polite your video comment sections are?
It gives me warm feelings to see people discussing things civilly after watching your fantastic content.
Your channel is a true 10/10!
+Square Tins
Well, that can't last. Bring in the music videos!
Rad Chad
Thank fucking shit.
Square Tins Now we can all die unhappy...
I realize this is a very late reply but that is exactly why I keep coming back to Forgotten Weapons and even read through comments from years ago. Both the content and the community are among the best on the entire web.
Cheers!
WOW! You are propaby first guy, not from Poland, I ever heard to say "wzór" Properly!
Radosław Orman Nie jest kretynem jak widać
Prawie poprawnie, z lekkim angielskim akcentem.
Daję 99 na 100.
tak se szczerze mówiąc. powiedział "WZOOR"
He is a true polyglot.
@@kwestionariusz1 Dokładnie, jego Ewangelia Świętego Browninga rozbrzmiewa we wszystkich językach.
P- pojedynczy ( semi ) C- ciagly (full ) ; B- Bezpieczny ( safe)
I had a boss who was a marine in Vietnam and Cambodia in the early sixties and he has told me while his standard issue rifle was the m14 (full auto) but he also carried for a short time a BAR and some of his peer were issued them as well, its crazy in the nearly 50 years the USA used it they never thought to put a pistol grip on it! good on the poles! loved the vid Ian!
I'm Polish and I'm really interested in firearms etc. but I had no idea about most of the information that you provided in this video Ian. Thanks a lot!!! I love this channel and I watch it almost every day! I wish you'll be on UA-cam forever. Thanks again!
American LMG.
On Belgian licence.
Built by Poles.
Using German ammo.
Mr Worldwide !
Truly the American dream at play.
not German ammunition, only Mauser ammunition
If u call the BAR a LMG your setting it up to fail, it was forced into that role
Gareth Canfield all thise changes like barells with radiator, 'fish tail" stock etc. were made to convert american concept of automatic rifle to a european light machine gun concept.
Jestem z Polski i często oglądam pańskie filmiki i muszę powiedzieć że jestem zdumiony pańską wiedzą i prawdą historyczną na temat historii Polski albowiem nie często się zdarza aby obcokrajowiec miał tak wnikliwą i szczegółową wiedzę na temat trudnej historii mojego kraju,Dziękuję
Może ten gość ma coś z polaka.
@@mrthomasdudiTypical polish attitude, not even using google translate on english video.
cry about it @@wiziek
@@wiziek i dont even speak polish and this comment is infuriating
@@wiziek are you moron or idiot
i think u are both
In the magazine bag there is a stamp - Czesław Jastrzębski - it was a company name, that also made VIS holsters. The company was situated in Warsaw (hence stamped Warszawa) on 20 Żytnia Str.
BTW - R.K.M could be translated as "handheld machine carbine" wich is basically interpreted as LMG.
What’s a holster
@@chucknormalaid kabura
Handheld Machine Rifle, Karabin in Polish is Rifle, weird i know. Karabinek is Polish for Carbine, literally translated it means "Small Rifle".
@@ewelinanajgebauer8862 you are actually right. 😅
Greetings from Poland. Actually, I`ve never heard about this dispute between the FN and Polish military, and few other facts were also unknown to me until I watched your video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
It's quite a rare gun in Poland too. Thanks for showing me one of them in close. Let me translate something for you about wz.28 markings: RKM-Ręczny Karabin Maszynowy(Hand Machine Gun) Selector B-Bezpieczny(Safe) P-Pojedyńczy(SingleFire) C-Ciągły(FullAutomatic).
Keep up the good work,
Best wishes from Poland :)
The first Germans to be killed in the war were killed with this gun at Westerplatte by Corporal Szamlewski
ktoś tu oglądał Wołoszańskiego :P
@@Avatrass Typical NPC response
@@Avatrass You accuse me of being a "neonazi" for not accepting the official line ,typical NPC
Then alt right-wingers wonder why they're so looked down upon
@@seansouth9488 Poor Nazis. Almost the whole Europe was massacring nazi civilians. From France to Russia, from Norway to Greece. And Jews of course. They were killing innocent nazi civilians without mercy. Even saints in heaven couldn't stand it anymore.
Very very interesting story. I'm Polish and I had no idea that we produced BARs.
dammit, I just love learning.not only learning about the rifle itself, the history is the cherry on my sundae.thanx
This polish edition of gun was in movie "Kelly's heroes". 😁
Great job (as always). Forgotten weapons channel is the best way for me to learn about polish small arms of the past so far.
Ian, I want to thank You for this one. as a militaristic fan from Poland, I am gratefull of how You talked about the gun, it's history. honestly i didn't know it had so many modifications. greatings from Poland with best wishes for You and your chanel ;)
i hope that You'll get a chance to show us a VIS pistol and "PM Mors"
the "wz" marking is from "wzór", wich translate as "model" or "version"
that pistol was the "VIS wz.35" pistol
that military warehouse was a "Depot of Military Tranzit" on Westerplatte peninsual in Gdańsk (ger. Danzig), the second polish "enclave" was a "Polish Post Office" deffendet by its workers, they used polish made Mauser riffles and BAR.
the RKM is for "Ręczny Karabin Maszynowy" and its a polish term for light machinegun carried, operated and reloaded by a single soldier.
the markings of the safety looks like (from the left) single-fullauto-safe, with polish letters.
Few days ago I saw your movie about belgium machine guns, and today about ZK383, Marines Thompson's 'small brother' and rkm wz.28 ('rkm' can be translated literally as 'hand (in meaning of 'light') machine gun' - but I think it would be much more corresponding to SAW in modern terminology) . And I must admit, I'm quite impressed about your knowledge of history, not only a weaponry history, but a world history as well. You made your homework, and you done it well and it's really good to hear not only how it shoots, but also why it shoots like that and how it was made like that. Your movies are longer than typical YT clips, but it's good for them - at last I can learn something new. It's a good enough reason to subscribe. Than you for your hard work. Greetings from Poland. And last thing - your pronunciation in Polish is really good and clear. P.S. - Did you ever thought about changing name of your channel? Because of your work, these arms are truly NOT-Forgotten Weapons.
My Grandpa was using the same gun in September Campaign. He was reserve corporal and leader of RKM (LMG) section in artillery unit of 16 Pomorska Dywizja Piechoty (16th Pommeranian Infantry Division)
16:22 One little thing about fire selector. Reading the letters from left to right we have P (pojedynczy) - semi automatic, C (ciągły) - full auto, B (bezpieczny) - safe. Great review, as usual!!!
this is one of those episodes that remind me why is this one of the best chanels on youtube. and actually it has little to do with the gun itself (it's a bonus)! excellent!
I am Pole, too and an advanced technical and other firearms stuff fan. Also Ian's fan of Forgotten Weapons Channel. He is always perfect researched. Also this movie is fully professional. Good job!
Much respect for the Polish
ericswain70 Thank you very much
Thanks man.
Thanks dude!
Hahahhaahahahhaahhahahaha No.
Polska nie zginela.
4:45 meoww
Lol am I the only one that caught him meowing
Aaaaaargh, now I can't watch this moment normally, I'll hear that goddamn MEOW for the rest of my life. Thanks man, thanks...
Omg my cat meowed back when i played this xD
😂😂😂😂😭
LOL!!
Damn. If I won the lottery this week I would have bought that thing. I hope that one day I'll have the opportunity to at least shoot one of these rare BAR variants. I'm of Polish decent so I have a lot admiration for Polish designed and manufactured weapons as well as military history of Poland.
This is by far my favorite channel on all of UA-cam.
Ian, did you ever get a chance to have a look at the wz.35 anti-tank rifle? Do you think its spall inducing, non penetrating ammo had a chance of working as intended?
+Maciej Pociecha I've never handled one, but I would like to.
Fingers crossed... it'll be an awesome video one day. I can't think of any other rifle that tried to use small calibre squash head ammo in that era. Thanks for all your work, btw; it's criminal one of the documentary channels hasn't thrown money at you to make a series on small arms.
+Maciej Pociecha I know, right? :)
Maciej Pociecha I think that then this channel would probably loose all its charm.
Thanks god there is patreon.
@@ForgottenWeapons It did work. Although obviously only on Panzer I and II (from less than hundred meters). And on APV's from up to 400 m. The difficulty being that as OP stated it was non penetrating ammo. It just transferred the energy into armor so much that it causes the inside of an armor to "explode" in a shrapnel like manner. Other problem was that it was so secret, that almost no-one was trained to use them - some sources say that training of gunners started on 23rd of August. Germans of course adopted it, but they didn't replicate the most important bit - the ammo. Polish was very complicated and costly to produce - mostly copper though. I don't know if any of original ammo survived to this day, and it's composition and shape would be absolutely important, since it was basically very small KINETIC shape charge - designed specifically to make the dent on the other side fragment - imagine being killed by a paint shrapnel.
As for BAR wz. 28 (pronounced like you did "wzór", so vz) - Polish Wikipedia (with many flaws like Wikipedia) is one of the best versions of the page. It says that 10.000 were delivered by FN, 11.000 produced in Poland for Polish Army, and 1880 for export - mainly to Spain. Also about 140 to Palestine and single numbers to China and Greece.
Now this is the best "BAR" that I ever seen
Totally fantastic. Great review of a fantastic version of the BAR
Excellent video and overview as always.
As ever, Ian, your forensic and knowledgeable history of these weapons really makes your videos so fascinating to those of us who are not shooters or even collectors. Very cool. (have fired SMLE and Bren at school)
I always loved the fact that the FN engineers used the magazine slot on the operating rod of the BAR as the spent case ejection port on the MAG58/M240.
Great video Ian.I especially like your custom "shed sled" shooting rest made from warped 1x6s.For any of the safety conscious out there,that cartridge he's using for disassembly is inert.You can see the dented primer at 15:52.
Good catch! I was sure he'd use an unloaded one, but didn't notice it.
You are one of the most knowledgeable gun reviewers. Interesting history behind this gun. Congratulations.
Im from Poland and i must Say that you got every thing Wright.
This polish soldier who shoot first during WWII (shooting rkm wz. 28) was corporal Edmund Szamlewski. pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Szamlewski
As I know Soviet Russian was invaded Poland preceded the German, was it not considered WWII?
Maybe he shot it at Russian first?
@@harisadrian1964 The other way around, the Soviets invaded on 17th September 1939, the Germans struck first on 1st September.
Really liked the slow motion view from the right. You can see the locking block moving up and down in the bolt.
Such a VERY NICE video presentation. I am nicely surprised !!!! Fantastic historical background explained with so many details. Wonderful overview, and dissembling of that American-polish made light machine gun !!!! I am giving a highest rate for that particular VIDEO !!!! Congratulation )))) Sincerely yours.
Great movie. Greeting from Poland.
Thanks for another great video, Ian. It's cool to see a more practical route the US could have taken in updating and improving the BAR in the interwar era.
Wonderful mechanical overview and history plus range time, whats not to like!
Forgotten Weapons is by far the best firearms review channel on the internet. By far....
great video Ian, I was looking forward to watch a review of this weapon. Greetings from Poland
Great History lesson on this weapon!
you should take a picture of this and submit it to the wikipedia page for it :P because the current picture is a very busted looking one
+AngryOcelotGaming he should make books about all these weapons so the knowledge lasts
Ian's hat collection is probably more diverse, obscure and impressive than his gun collection
That hat just makes you look so much more bad ass.
A modern musketeer! :D
the BAR needs a pistol grip. it is a must.
Yeah if browning/fn start producing it again for commercial reasons evem though they have no reason to
What an incredibly convoluted, fascinating story, brilliantly told. Thank you.
@Forgotten Weapons
Floating bipod was not problem in using wz.28.
First of all polish wz.28 was team weapon in Poland.
Crew of gun were:
-karabinowy - operated the rifle
-celowniczy - giving coordinates to shoot
-amunicyjny - transporting supply of ammunition
When attack were moving forward, "karabinowy" have to fold down bipod and take new position ahead of all team. Again open the bipod, shoot, fold down, move and until the win or death :)
Wz.28 wasn't individual and mobile weapon like BAR in US army.
+Sprinter Custom Ghillie This was caused by size of Polish infantry squad.
RKM = Ręczny karabin maszynowy
which literally translates as "hand(held) machine rifle" and "machine rifle" is basically machinegun in polish (germans also called their mgs mahchine rifles)
3 Nazi's walk into a wz.28....
+Swarm509 And another one bites the dust...
+Swarm509 What is a Nazi's walk?
The few who lived to see this have said those 3 will never walk again...
+Swarm509 the first one heard it, the second saw it, the tird screamed.
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel aka. The Desert Fox this is a lie. there is no evidence of polish cavalry rushing on german panzers. but "Polish Cavalry Divisions" used horses to fast moving manoovers, transport soldiers, transporting light artilery, HMGs, ammo, suplies and wounded. don't insult Polish Cavalry of 1939, it is a lie that insult the whole nation, created by germans and comunists. so are you a german or a comunist?
Love the BAR videos. They have the most unusual bolt i've ever seen. I think i understand the locking system based off of your explanation in the Ohio Ordnance video. Basically a type of tilting bolt- wonder if it influenced Saive on the FAL at all. Love how the Poles basically gave FN the finger. Sounds like FN was being pretty shady, if not downright dishonest. Serves them right. The Poles darn near went them one better than the Hi-Power with the VIS (Radom) a few yrs later. Bullt for them. A proud, brave people who really got the sewage end of the stick in WW2. Great video as always. Thank you
Before this, we fielded the RKM Wz.23, a Polish LMG version of the Lewis "Assault Phase Rifle" with a low-to-the-ground tripod, longer barrel, and in 7.92 Mauser, the Lewis you mention is most likely the RKM Wz.23
Does anyone find it utterly hilarious the same country that produced the great M1 Garand also produced the joke that was the BAR gun. And it took a foreign manufacturer to fix it's major issues.
Aidan Templeton Fair enough but I 'd still rather take almost anything into war but a BAR gun. And I suppose the Polish and the Belgian still didn't fix that crap bipod.
Aidan Templeton Meh if we are comparing like to like I'd take a Bren gun into combat over a BAR gun. It was actually a far better infantry support weapon,
Old thread, but maybe s.o. will see this or care, lol. The BAR was ahead of the times in 1918, behind the times by WW2. (Ditto for the 1919 Browning LMG.) With US foreign policy of interwar period, plus the Depression, emphasis was on updating good equipment rather than on new designs. Some BAR updates were good, such as the heat shield in the handguard. The bipod was execrable. With all that said, the GIs who fought with it in WW2 and Korea absolutely swore by it. Granted, they didn't have the Bren or MG-42 to choose from, but esp. the -42 would've required a complete re-work of how US infantry functioned. Our squads, platoons, and companies were based on semi-auto rifles and a squad auto rifle, not on equipping rifle units with light machine guns. Too bad they didn't get a quick-change barrel and an efficient bipod, at least, because those two improvements would've made a huge, positive difference in sustaining a high volume of fire, keeping the weapon functioning in combat, and in delivering more effective fire at longer ranges. Dust covers certainly would've been nice, too. Our BAR was a completely different animal than the German GPMGs, inferior to Bren and its Czech forebears--but lighter, equivalent to FR Chatellerault, ~same as BE. PO, SW, slightly better than Finnish, Soviet, and Swiss auto rifles, markedly better than IT or early JP competitors (not the later mag-fed Nambu) and Danish-Norwegian Madsens. Had we not faced the Wehrmacht, nobody would've noticed the BAR as particularly problematic. Nobody's infantry had the auto firepower to match the Wehrmacht, although our rifleman had superior weapons and our arty was far superior in numbers, volume of fire, ammo supply, and fire direction. The Luftwaffe couldn't give our Air Corps much competition. US small units had their hands full facing GE infantry firepower, but at battalion and higher levels our supporting arms gave us a big edge.
@@clothar23 Improved but....
i like videos like this where you spend a lot of time on the history of the gun, keep it up :)
piękna broń...
+Paweł Kowalik You're right. Beautiful weapon.
+Paweł Kowalik learn english, pleb
+Solaxe S Since we're at it, it's "English", not "english", pleb... :)
+Solaxe S Polacy nie gęsi, jak Ci się nie podoba nasz język to wypierdalaj
Nie przynoś wstydu temu językowi zrazu rzucając inwektywami. Typowa cebula. Jesteście siebie warci, on ze swoim "plebsem" i Ty ze swoim "wypierdalaj". Pozdrawiam.
The wz 28 wasn't meant to be shot from the hip thats why the changes to the butt and the addition of pistol grip. Also the the barrel is thicker it weighs over 2 kg. The cooling fins on the barrel are also of polish design.
A little fun fact - RKM wz. 28 was used in the movie "Kelly's heroes" ("Złoto dla zuchwałych" for fellow polish viewers)
Colt was making these in the US. That makes it even more unfathomable that US ordnance wouldn't adopt these, or at least the improved features, instead of the 1918A2.
best looking and sounding BAR in my opinion
Fascinating to see a totally American design, chambered in the enemy's cartridge (8mm Mauser) but used by our allies (Poles). Awesome video as always, Ian. Hope all is well.
i think this only guy knows history the best out of US youtube
I think this was the BAR that they had in the excellent film Kelly's Heroes.
+Bill22252 It was: www.imfdb.org/wiki/Kelly's_Heroes#Polish_wz.28_BAR
+Bill22252 :No it wasn't Polish one. It was probably Belgian BAR Mle 1930 ( Base Series Designation, not D-model!) or any remodelled version of the rifle ( American?) Maybe also Belgian D - model without wooden handle for carrying. Certainly it was not Polish wz 28
Im Polish and I’ve never seen that type of hat
@18:38 would the rim of the cratridge work instead of the screwdriver?
+Jack Mcslay Yes, it would.
I consider this your best BAR video, technically speaking. *BGM.41
Wonderful weapon, very well crafted and beautiful. Great video.
"international kerfuffle" is a great way to describe the world between 1900-1945. Great video, your best yet in fact. Do you think the FN BAR could have been a good basis for an assault rifle type weapon?
+Alex de Moya No, it's too heavy.
+Forgotten Weapons well, the Soviet army tend to use their Degtyaryov machine gun in the assult riffle style and the gun was over 9kg
+Alex de Moya It proved to be a good basis for Belgian FN MAG general purpose machine gun.
Does James D. Julia have a shooting range to test all these out at?
Should of stuck the bipods in the snow, not on the wood planks. Might of got a little more stable shooting.
You right about Westerplatte battle in 1939 ,you can see polish solders using BAR in the movie "Westerplatte"
Wow BAR is a pain in the ass to take apart , i never noticed how complex it is
Im impresed with your knowledge about not just firearms but about the history at all .
If one is interested, watch "Westerplatte Resists" you see a good number of these weapons. A slick movie for its day.
Hey Ian, great video as usual.
I was wondering where you get most of the information on the guns that you have on the show, especially the cool history bits.
Outstanding review ! Thank you for sharing.
cool piece I remember one was used in the 1970 movie kelly's heroes, with Clint Eastwood.
How much ammunition would the guys carrying these things normally have? It seems like they'd burn through a lot of ammo really fast, even with a five magazine bag. It seems like they'd have to have a lot of it available but compared to carrying some belts it feels like it'd be a problem.
For you guys out there - remember "Kelly's Heroes" and minefield shooting? American in there is using wz.28.
8 Mauser BAR? I've seen it all now how fascinating
How is this related to the FN Model D? It sounds as the wz.28 was in many ways the inspiration for the later Model D...as for example the dust cover looks quite similar.
That is why competition is a good thing and with monopoly you ending up with crapy products...
Thank you for the video and for the background history! Really interesting! I really wish I could get my hands on one of those.
My bit of nitpicking: It was kpr. (corporal) Edmund Szamlewski (Shamlevsky) that fired the first shots in anger on Westerplatte using this gun:
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Szamlewski
(sorry, no version in English)
Great video all around. Learned a great deal.
Id love to know more about the Italian submission and the 1923 Lewis. There's a lot of references to a French Lewis gun used between the wars but I can't find any pictures.
videos like this is why I subscribe to this channel. Great job and thank you.
How does the weight compare to the American BAR? This looks like it would be better balanced for shoulder firing.
+Justin Rizzi The weight is pretty similar (about 20lb for the Polish gun), but it's much better balanced than the American 1918A2.
I've examined an FN BAR (Brazilian) and the mechanism is very different to this. The butt pivots on the frame and the mainspring, frame and bolt are exracted rearwards as a complete unit. The trigger unit also looks different. It is also a bit easier to field-strip, as it does not have the awkward lugh through the cocking handle.
You said that it takes standard US magazines, but it's chambered in 8mm Mauser, right? Is 8mm mauser similar enough to 30-06 that it doesn't matter?
+MadraktheRed You get a lot of leeway with magazines. There are probably a dozen cartridges at this point that have been designed to fit a STANAG (M-16/M-4/AR-15) magazine, for instance, and some of them are wildly different than the standard 5.56x45mm cartridge (like the .458 SOCOM). So long as the taper, width, and overall length are close enough, it should work. At most you might have to change the follower.
Wasn't this the version of the BAR that they used in Kelly's Heroes?
Sweet hat Ian, you dapper fella you.
regard from Poland
in 21:00. Bipod is not great...perhaps because it is inversely mounted than it should be ( inverted 180 degrees). On the other hand it is impossible to mount it properly because there is lack of parts ( two half-rings). Anyway..nice piece!
Hey Ian! I've recently read an article that said that the French actually purchased 10,000 BARs from the AEF before they left France. I wondered if this was true and what might have happened to them?
Interesting thought about the French's determination to sell its original FM 24s to Poland. The FM's original caliber was the new 7.5x58mm M1924, the cartridge that resembled the 8x57mm Mauser so much that the two got mixed up in the French supply system with infamous results. The most famous being the demonstration to a Romanian military purchasing party where a Mauser round got loaded into the FM 24 and caused a chamber/barrel explosion that wounded the gunner severely(and killed the sales deal).
Makes me think, maybe the French would have had more luck with the Polish if they had offered the FM 24 in 8(7.92)mm Mauser to begin with? Knowing the French they probably tried to convince the Polish to adopt their Fabulous new 7.5x58mm MAS cartridge as standard.
anther very interesting video ian, thanks.
can anyone tell me why older machine guns like these have those flared out muzzles? such as seen here, also on some bren lmgs and dp28s as well. just curious.
Hey !
What's that thing on the barrel near the end of the handguard ? Looks like some mounting point for an anti-aircraft sight.
As always nice video, thanks for your work !
+braincowlol Yep, that's exactly what it is. Good eye!
Damn. I was surprised to see this video on this channel, because I didn't think there were any of these in the US. In the ten years that I've been checking out the guns that were available on subguns.com I've only seen 1 maybe 2 Colt Monitor R75s. Now I see that there is at least one RKM wz. 1928 in the US.
Man I wish I made enough money to afford these kind of guns.
If you want to see how far you can get whit the BAR/ wz.28 as a base.
Check the wz.37 'Szczeniak' (puppy). It's a km for plane.
Question :Were the various 8 mm Mausers used by Poland, Britton, Canada ,and others the J or JS bore diameters ( .318 in. or .323 inch bore )
That sliding dust cover for the ejection port bears resemblance to the iconic safety on an AK pattern rifle.
Beautiful gun :)
Just wondering?When you do a field strip on these old timers,how much time off camera do you usually spend getting things to come apart smoothly?