Denmark's m/75: A Lease-to-Own Rifle

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  • Опубліковано 28 вер 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 617

  • @Projectdarke
    @Projectdarke 6 місяців тому +623

    The "F" setting in danish would be refered to as "Fuldautomatisk"("fully automatic") or among soldiers "Frås"("splurge") or "Fred"("Peace") or "Fisse"("female reproduction organ")

    • @antisoda
      @antisoda 6 місяців тому +85

      The vernacular used in Norway at the time I in the army was "Family". :)

    • @thatdude1435
      @thatdude1435 6 місяців тому +64

      @@antisoda thatss wholesome, but you need 'Fisse' before 'Family' my friend ;p

    • @axelk4921
      @axelk4921 6 місяців тому +51

      I like the US American meaning the most ;)
      Safe
      E-conomy
      F un
      but as a German... the "F" stands for " Frieden " based on the silence afterwards because you can't hear anything anymore because of the tinnitus

    • @SurvivalRussia
      @SurvivalRussia 6 місяців тому +60

      "Fuld Fisse." Det spiller bare :)

    • @LarsAndersenFrihed
      @LarsAndersenFrihed 6 місяців тому +41

      Godt at se nogle danske basser herinde. 😅

  • @Andvare
    @Andvare 6 місяців тому +327

    When I was in the Danish army in the 90s, we were told that the lease was about 1 DKr (around 0.13$ at the time IIRC) per year per rifle, or in other words, a symbolic amount.

    • @tekha1977
      @tekha1977 6 місяців тому +52

      Was told by my sergeant (1997) that our “total equipment has a value of 100.000,- DK kr, oh and we lease the guns for 1,- kr.”
      Still not sure if the 1kr is true, but I’ve heard a few times since, at least it’s a good story.

    • @willyvereb
      @willyvereb 6 місяців тому +36

      @@tekha1977 Given the state of the guns I figure HK and the Bundeswehr was glad they didn't have to store them anymore.Even if the lease would exceed the total price of the guns it'd be amortized over two decades so I figure it'd be a bargain either way.

    • @razor1uk610
      @razor1uk610 6 місяців тому +21

      Plus DKM sourcing other NATO nation's unwanted G3 parts, could mix & match the better surviving components together to keep operable and armoury/reserve storage rifles/war-muskets serviceable, whilst gradually working in though collected parts stockpiles to junk/recycle components back for smelting into useful other things like Nimbus parts, or back to HK to smelt down.
      Either way Denmark got a uem cost effectively and aided other nations reduce their own costs too .

    • @Remmerboy
      @Remmerboy 6 місяців тому +15

      i was in the army in 01 and i also heard about the 1kr deal

    • @dschledermann
      @dschledermann 6 місяців тому +23

      Former (1995 - 2000) Danish army sergeant here. There were a lot of myths in the army at the time. 1 DKK for lease was definitely not an official piece of information we as NCOs were made aware of.

  • @stigchristensen2597
    @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому +300

    when we fased out the G3 we asked germany if they wanted them back they declined so we still have af lot of the G3´s in storage for use if a general mobilisation is required

    • @simonjensen596
      @simonjensen596 6 місяців тому +28

      A pretty recent counting - we have around 25000 of these in stock (source: public docs from folketinget)

    • @stigchristensen2597
      @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому +11

      @@simonjensen596 stadigvæk en del men stadigvæk for lidt ifht hvad vi burde have på lager

    • @stigchristensen2597
      @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому +7

      @@simonjensen596 faldt du tilfældigvis over tallene for MG3 også ?

    • @TheNewAgeViking
      @TheNewAgeViking 6 місяців тому +9

      @@stigchristensen2597 fra hvad jeg hører så er mange af MG3/M62erne sendt til Ukraine.

    • @stigchristensen2597
      @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому +4

      @@TheNewAgeViking måske men kunne stdigvæk godt tænke mig at vide om vi har nogen tilbage

  • @lurpakshakur2230
    @lurpakshakur2230 6 місяців тому +351

    I love how much attention you give Denmark, i never knew my country had so much interesting stuff!! I mean yea, i have seen stuff in Krigsmuseet alot of times but ofc they dont provide a detailed history like you Ian! Thank you!

    • @Projectdarke
      @Projectdarke 6 місяців тому +6

      IKR YAY DENMARK

    • @alexdemoya2119
      @alexdemoya2119 6 місяців тому +22

      "Denmark: Not Just Lego Anymore"

    • @nucleargrizzly1776
      @nucleargrizzly1776 6 місяців тому

      Spyker 60 HP?

    • @danhubert-hx4ss
      @danhubert-hx4ss 6 місяців тому

      That`s a Dutch make.@@nucleargrizzly1776

    • @willyvereb
      @willyvereb 6 місяців тому +9

      I think he gives a lot of attention to everyone. Your Recoil Rifle Syndicate also had a cool name and a very interesting development cycle for the Madsen machine gun. But yeah, Ian has a very wide coverage.
      My country haven't much of an arms industry for a good while and yet Ian covered almost everything we produced in the 20th century.

  • @mikkelboisen5543
    @mikkelboisen5543 6 місяців тому +51

    The first rifle I was issued was the M75 with wood furniture so this brings back memories

  • @KHValby
    @KHValby 6 місяців тому +51

    Fun fact. We in the Danish Homeguard had a green selector switch, where as the army had the standard black one. The green one prevented us from going full auto, Our G/75´s would only fire semi-auto, regardless the setting. There was a little compartment inside the riffle, where our black selector was kept, but we had to be ordered ore given permission to switch. Apparently it was to prevent waste of blanks on exercises 🤣 ! Many Moons later they finally phased out the green switch and the black one also became standard for us 😁. Thank you for this trip down memory lane👍👍👍

    • @digilyd
      @digilyd 6 місяців тому +5

      The restriction on full auto fire was there to maintain every single rifles usability as a sniper rifle as it reportedly did not take all that many rounds on the shooting range in fully automatic to loose accuracy of that barrel forevever.

    • @DonGorgen
      @DonGorgen 6 місяців тому

      They wouldn't fire automatic with blanks either way. Because you don't have a projectile in the barrel when firing it won't build up enough preassure to cycle the slider to rechamber another round.
      And firing single shots is better for accuracy anyway, in auto you'd get 2-3 rounds on target while the rest go over.

    • @prairielandoutdoors7544
      @prairielandoutdoors7544 6 місяців тому +3

      ​@@DonGorgenthat's what blank adapters are for.

    • @digilyd
      @digilyd 6 місяців тому +3

      @@DonGorgen That is why you use a pressure amplifyer on automatic weapons on exercise, but firing blanks is NOT the issue. Firing projectiles in full auto is what destroys barrel accuracy real fast.

    • @peabase
      @peabase 6 місяців тому +4

      I was surprised that my Danish girlfriend's landlord, whose attic she was renting, got to keep his G/75 at home while in the Home Guard. I'm a reserve officer and a UNIFIL/KFOR veteran, but the Finnish Defence Forces would never trust us with service rifles to keep at home. Anyhoo, the landlord once came back dead-tired from an exercise (on his bicycle!), so I offered to clean his rifle for him. He was skeptical, but I had it field-stripped in no time. We had cross-trained with the Swedes' AK4s in Lebanon.

  • @AllanFolm
    @AllanFolm 6 місяців тому +253

    Those with the wooden stock were highly sought by smokers, since you could peel the buttplate off, and hide a 10-pack in it.
    I had one G3, which couldn't hit a barn from the inside, couldn't extract, chamber and fire without serious gymnastics. The one I got later on, worked really good, Reliable and accurate.

    • @markcasila8310
      @markcasila8310 6 місяців тому +20

      those where normaly the instruction guns ... my g3 used in the portuguese army during the recruit had the barel slitly bent loll ... when we where on the shoting range we used other guns .... that actuly worked ... instruction guns usualy get banking around by everione

    • @martinwinther6013
      @martinwinther6013 6 місяців тому +22

      @@markcasila8310 the issue with the m75s that failed on the range or when shooting blanks is mostly down to the mag.
      The alu-mags tends to feed a bit off-set, which cause the round to not be properly chambered, or sometimes it interfere with the ejection. But most the times when the gun jammed; the mag had taken a beating.
      - and most conscripts wanted the alu-mag, since it weighed less, but they also experienced the most jams, which at the time was blamed on their low effort.
      Only after I signed a contract for a proffesional career and got a brand new m75 did i realize where the issue was; the gun itself can take the beating..
      But the mag still has to be cared for. You dont want a dented mag..

    • @reubencaldeira6323
      @reubencaldeira6323 6 місяців тому +1

      ​@@markcasila8310 but the service ones ussually are in good condition

    • @iblisthemage
      @iblisthemage 6 місяців тому +1

      Mine had a cleaning kit in that space. I had the plastic hilt

    • @stenerline
      @stenerline 6 місяців тому

      Also the blank ammo were under powered trash, I could never shoot two consecutive rounds without having to manually reload

  • @MachivelianBear
    @MachivelianBear 6 місяців тому +29

    The thing is that the German and Danish language is alot alike. So S=Sikker(safety mode) E=Enkeltskud(one-shot and F= Fuldautomatisk(full automatic) actually makes sense.

  • @AllAboutSurvival
    @AllAboutSurvival 6 місяців тому +23

    Denmark's journey with the m/75 is a fascinating example of pragmatic decision-making in firearm adoption. I appreciate delving into these lesser-known chapters of firearm history.

    • @JohnSmith-yv6eq
      @JohnSmith-yv6eq 6 місяців тому +1

      It's a typical political nightmare decision/non decision...
      and it insults the intelligence with it's level of stupidity!

    • @neutronalchemist3241
      @neutronalchemist3241 6 місяців тому +5

      A pragmatic decision would have been to convert the M1 to BM59 standard in the early '60s.
      They would have had a serviceable battle rifle / grenade launcher / occasional LMG until the adoption of an intermediate cartridge.

    • @DebatingWombat
      @DebatingWombat 6 місяців тому

      ​@@neutronalchemist3241 I’m not sure that that option would’ve been feasible or desirable. Spending more money to improve a rifle that’s already clearly on its way out seems (and probably seemed at the time) to be throwing good money after bad.
      At the time, it wasn’t obvious that NATO would largely switch to an intermediate cartridge, as mentioned in the video. Indeed, the US had nixed the British proposal for such a cartridge in the immediate post-WWII years and Denmark did (and still does) take a lot of its procurement clues from Washington.
      In addition, with the MG3 entering service as the M62 and an existing inventory of Bren guns, there wasn’t a pressing need for an LMG either. Also, unlike in Italy’s case, there wouldn’t be the upside of using an M1 upgrade to pour state support into a domestic arms producer, either.
      Hence, I’d argue that the pragmatic choice was indeed to stick with the M1 - IF the government was reasonably sure that it wouldn’t actually have to send forces into a large scale, conventional war.
      Otherwise, it would’ve been pragmatic to choose one of the major battle rifles on offer (probably the G3/CETME/AK4 or FAL, since the M14 would not fit the bill and the SIG SG 510 wasn’t a NATO weapon).
      Ultimately, it was lucky that the Danish forces didn’t have to get into serious, large scale action while the government kicked the can down the road. But it also coincided with Détente, so the prospects that things would indeed turned out well would also have seemed fairly good to decision makers at the time.

    • @neutronalchemist3241
      @neutronalchemist3241 6 місяців тому

      @@DebatingWombat I said in the early '60.
      A that time, battle rifles were not on their way out. They had just been adopted. And the BM59 was no inferior to the FAL and the G3. It had some advantage actually.
      The use of the battle rifle as an occasional LMG is not due to the fact that you lack actual LMGs, but to the fact that the LMG gunner (or the SAW gunner) not always is in the best position to do its job, or can reach it. A battle rifle with a bipod and a muzzle brake / compensator can OCCASIONALLY replace it and spare some life. Knowing that you have such a possibility also gives to your squad more elasticity.
      The conversion job could have been done by Madsen.
      The pragmatic choice, if you don't have to fight a war, would be to not have an army, fact is that you don't know if you'll have to fight a war.
      Fact is that, until 1973, the Danish government run it's military on a VERY strict budget. That's why only then they started to look around for a new rifle.

    • @DebatingWombat
      @DebatingWombat 6 місяців тому +1

      @@neutronalchemist3241 Yeah, but running an army on a very tight budget and looking very much to Washington means you don’t start on odd redevelopment programmes based on a unique Italian solution that was at least partly about subsidising a domestic arms producer.
      You either go with a major supplier to get a low per unit cost on the back of other, larger purchasers (again, not something that sounds like the Italian solution), or you stick with what you already have, until you can figure out what the main products end up being.

  • @Soren015
    @Soren015 6 місяців тому +113

    As a historical comment on the leasing-situation: Denmark was in a real crisis of confidence as far as defense goes, having basically no even moderately successful experiences of warfare since 1848, in 1975 when the G3 was widely adopted. We were squeezed right in between the east and the west - the famous (and infamous) danish politican Mogens Glistrup has a hilarious quote on the subject, that I believe comes from the very same year, 1975: *the danish defense should be replaced by an answering machine connected directly to the Kremlin, with a message saying 'we surrender'*

    • @willyvereb
      @willyvereb 6 місяців тому +7

      WW2 had quite the negative impact, huh?
      I'm glad the army is in a much better place now.

    • @Pow3llMorgan
      @Pow3llMorgan 6 місяців тому +34

      @@willyvereb TBH I think the defeat against the Prussians in 1864 was more humiliating and more damaging to national morale. We had to cede territory that was never fully returned, although we got a good chunk of it back after The Great War.

    • @hairydogstail
      @hairydogstail 6 місяців тому +2

      So things have still not changed in Europe today...Trump was right!

    • @Treblaine
      @Treblaine 6 місяців тому +4

      Which would have sucked as if West Germany fell then Denmark would be vital to keeping the Baltic sea bottled up.

    • @fridrekr7510
      @fridrekr7510 6 місяців тому +17

      That’s a lot of misunderstandings. The defeat in 1864 only resulted in an increased defensive will which led to the building of several fortifications, such as the ramparts around Copenhagen. During WW1, the reserves were mobilised which meant there was absolute no chance of Denmark being occupied and allowed it to prosper from trade etc. The undermining of the Danish military didn’t happen until the 1930s and was led by the Radicals. Then the Social Democrat prime minister tried to appease Hitler, which obviously didn’t work, so he sacrificed some conscripts as token resistance before bowing down to the Germans. These Leftists carried on their fifth column activities and sabotage of the Danish military throughout the Cold War with footnotes etc. and it was only after the Cold War in the 90s where Denmark began being a reliable military ally with its activist foreign policy and contributions to the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. Then a broad coalition of politicians decided to abolish the Danish military in the mid 2010s, which is why we’re basically only capable of deploying a single battalion today. But the point is this started right before WW2 and was carried out by the Left, not Libertarian weirdos like Glistrup, although all the parties are responsible for the terrible state of the military for the last decade.

  • @BeefaloBart
    @BeefaloBart 6 місяців тому +32

    S E F markings translate to Safe, Economical, Fun.

    • @EnjoyCocaColaLight
      @EnjoyCocaColaLight 6 місяців тому +1

      I always thought the E was for sEmi (because S was already taken)

  • @runerasmussen8704
    @runerasmussen8704 6 місяців тому +60

    My Danish eyes are pleased that you have the correct spelling of the word "gevær".
    And on the point of it probably being a bad deal for Denmark, I wouldn't be surprised.
    One other example of a bad deal I was told about when doing basic service with the Engineer regiment is, that we apparently some sort of mobile radar truck (I think it was) thing that is too heavy to legally drive on Danish roads.
    This means it'll have to be towed on a flatbed trailer, so it doesn't really get any use (in training or otherwise). It just sits in it's parking spot and gets shipped out for mandatory service and checkup every two years.

    • @Humaftw
      @Humaftw 6 місяців тому +9

      It was actually a brilliant deal. We barely paid anything to lease them, and we got to keep them afterwards. :)

    • @Smo1k
      @Smo1k 6 місяців тому +6

      @@Humaftw The M75-deal was good. The comms-station (if my guessing is right, the "radar" truck above is actually a forward communication and computation centre which collects data from radars in the network to produce a more complete picture)... not so much. Doesn't really matter what it cost when it can't get to where it's needed, not only because of weight restrictions on the roads, but because it gets stuck in regular farmland that's taken a couple of days' worth of rain.

    • @Humaftw
      @Humaftw 6 місяців тому +2

      @@Smo1k
      My reply was based on this part of the comment,
      "And on the point of it probably being a bad deal for Denmark, I wouldn't be surprised."
      I have no idea about the radar truck.

  • @rlwe
    @rlwe 6 місяців тому +11

    I know they were issued up until at least 2004. Source: I was issued one in spring of 2004. Was later given a M/95 in late summer.
    I know that several conscription units after 2004 were issued M/95 as their standard rifle but were also given a brief introduction and a bit of shooting time with M/75. Reason being was that there wouldn’t be enough M/95 / M/96 to go around in case they were to be called in after their conscription.

    • @jimmywayne983
      @jimmywayne983 6 місяців тому +1

      Yea conscripts/recruits still had M75 in the Royal Guard in 2000-2001.. we then later got the M95 for guard duty at the Royal Castle and for the DIB contract.

    • @johan8969
      @johan8969 5 місяців тому

      I had that one week of "erhvervspraktik" in 9th grade, I think 2012-2013 when I was 14, and they issued us these old ladies. The cartridge was the same, but the projectile was hard blue plasic. It still punched right through the metal targets so not sure why they bothered with that change.

  • @Gamsir-gg3zh
    @Gamsir-gg3zh 6 місяців тому +18

    I started my army service at the Danisharmed forces medical School in 2004. We were some of the last who got issued the M/75.
    Awesome weapon for long range shooting in windy Denmark - not particularly suited for combat medics, too long and cumbersome.
    When I went to sergeants training I was issued with a M/96 carbine (5.56) which compared felt like a puny plastic toy 😂

    • @tekha1977
      @tekha1977 6 місяців тому +1

      You should have had the M/75 with the retracabke stock.
      We got them in the Danish airforce in 1997, made it easier getting in/out of our patrol cars without banging the windows all the time.

  • @esbendit
    @esbendit 6 місяців тому +38

    The S-E-F markings also make sense in danish. Just F for fuldautomatisk, instead of A for automatisk.

    • @Kar4ever3
      @Kar4ever3 6 місяців тому +18

      We calles it "Sikker", "Enkelt", and "Festfunktion"

    • @antisoda
      @antisoda 6 місяців тому +5

      @@Kar4ever3 "Festfunktion". Perfect. We fjeldaber just called it "Family". :)

    • @RuneJuhlPetersen
      @RuneJuhlPetersen 6 місяців тому +5

      Frås

    • @Smo1k
      @Smo1k 6 місяців тому

      @@RuneJuhlPetersen
      Den, der staver D i Gjort, han skal have halen smurt.
      Den, der glemmer D i Fråds, han skal have stribet mås.
      😉

    • @Kar4ever3
      @Kar4ever3 6 місяців тому

      @@antisoda Dark. I like it.

  • @heinedenmark
    @heinedenmark 6 місяців тому +13

    The rifle I was trained on as a conscript in the Danish army. Several had black eyes as first day at the firing range.. has a nice kick to it 🙃

    • @herosstratos
      @herosstratos 6 місяців тому +1

      Be careful using the G3 A4 (G3 with rifle scope and retractable shoulder rest).

  • @antisoda
    @antisoda 6 місяців тому +19

    Scandinavia represent! :) Greetings from a fjeldabe in Norway. :)

  • @mathiasjonsson8222
    @mathiasjonsson8222 6 місяців тому +16

    Postponing descisions...renting stuff...compromising ....😂
    Scandinavia in a nutshell. Cheers to the channel and our Danish neighbours from🇸🇪

  • @RedXlV
    @RedXlV 6 місяців тому +138

    5:18 So 20 years later, they finally adopted (basically) the rifle that won the original competition.

    • @Stevarooni
      @Stevarooni 6 місяців тому +43

      Weapons procurement is a weird balance of military needs, budgets, international treaties, and what's actually available.

    • @simonjensen596
      @simonjensen596 6 місяців тому +6

      And still here, almost 30 years later, we use that old garbage

    • @Humaftw
      @Humaftw 6 місяців тому +6

      ​@simonjensen596 only conscripts I think. The M95 got replaced by the M10. And the M95/C7 supposedly has several improvements on the M16.

    • @suprlite
      @suprlite 6 місяців тому +4

      ​@@simonjensen596its hardly garbage. The G3 is a fantastic rifle.

    • @magnusnordstrm2827
      @magnusnordstrm2827 6 місяців тому +1

      @@suprlite I think he means the M95/C7

  • @Farbautisonn
    @Farbautisonn 6 місяців тому +34

    I served in the danish army as an assistant mg gunner. I loved both weapons. But it was old allready when I served in 92. They were good rifles but some had excessive wear and tear, and as such were not very precise. But very sturdy. The wood furniture was usually relegated to officers and Ncos. However I never liked the M-16 clones. Felt like plinkerers compared to the 7,62.
    Primary reason we got them was that they were cheap to lease. But then the danish armed forces did not stick to their 2pct of the gdp for their armed forces... which has caused a military that needs to shop when the price is high due to the fact that all nato nations are now shopping for gear. Demand makes the kit more expensive.

    • @brianhoxworth3881
      @brianhoxworth3881 6 місяців тому +5

      I would be happy with either wepon, but more familiar with the garand. I do own a Danish lease M1 with a VAR barrel, and some beretta parts.

    • @Noblemand
      @Noblemand 6 місяців тому

      Og hvis de stod i våbenlåsen i en PMV og man havde været i ujævnt terræn, så kunne man være sikker på at sigtet var røget ud af vvinduet på trods af at det lige var blevet indskudt

    • @thatdude1435
      @thatdude1435 6 місяців тому +1

      @@brianhoxworth3881 in Denmark? how did you get cleared to own that?

    • @Pow3llMorgan
      @Pow3llMorgan 6 місяців тому

      @@thatdude1435 Probably not Denmark because as far as I'm informed semi-auto rifles are completely banned. Handguns are very regulated, too.

    • @brianhoxworth3881
      @brianhoxworth3881 6 місяців тому +3

      @thatdude1435 l live in the United States. Purchased it through the CMP many years ago. They had a shipment from Denmark lend lease program. I feel lucky to get one. All of the rifles were in excellent condition.

  • @thecornfieldiii2069
    @thecornfieldiii2069 6 місяців тому +24

    Ok THIS is the fallout 3 rifle

    • @schmeaty.1297
      @schmeaty.1297 6 місяців тому +2

      R91 assault rifle as its known in the fallout lore

  • @andersjjensen
    @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +8

    It is missing the deflector bracket that we made ourselves. The G3 has a tendency to kick brass out very perpendicular to the rifle, so Denmark made a big wonky looking "clasp bracket" that hooks into the grooves in the receiver. If placed right it will make the rifle eject brass at about 45 degrees forward. If placed a little too far forward you'd get a pling-ing-ing-ing sound and the case would just lie there in the bracket, having done a couple of funny looking loops before coming to a rest.
    I was lucky enough to get a seriously good example and would pretty consistently shoot 198 or 199 out of 200 at 300m on a 6" center. Never got that perfect 200 though.

    • @R-K-1
      @R-K-1 6 місяців тому

      If my info is correct, the Germans actually adapted the deflector idea on later versions. The problem was the brass went straight out and would hit the man next to you. So they made a small deflector at the end of the ejection opening. This was afaik carried over on newer versions of the HK rifles.

  • @jacobhaagerup7816
    @jacobhaagerup7816 6 місяців тому +17

    In 1989 I had a M75 service rifle with a mashup of plastic front grip and wooden buttstock. Mine was actually pretty good and reliable if I kept it lubricated (duh!) and very accurate too. The 7.62 had a lot penetrating power but on full send it was a little hard to control. Mags were luck of the draw, whether they liked to load or not. You had 5 issued, but normally only 2 or 3 really worked due to dents or weak springs. Liked the rifle a lot, though.

    • @Mirabove_DK
      @Mirabove_DK 6 місяців тому +3

      The same here in 1993, wooden stock and plastic frontgrip.. and damn good accuracy up to 450-500 Meters...

    • @Erik_The_Dane
      @Erik_The_Dane 6 місяців тому +1

      Hard to control :-) True that. The 2 pound bolt hammering back and forth 600 times per minute generated recoil in all directions 🙂

    • @Ian_Christensen
      @Ian_Christensen 6 місяців тому

      Used to put grass between the pipe and the front grip so it wouldn't rattle loudly while on night patrols!

  • @KaptajnKold
    @KaptajnKold 6 місяців тому

    This brings back memories. When I was a kid, my grandfather who was in the Danish home guard, would let me play with his M/75. By law, the central mechanism and ammunition had to be kept under lock, which he did, so it was safe for me to play with, but to this day I’m amazed that he let me do it, and that my parents were fine with it. I got to take all the pins out and take it appart, and put it back together, and asked him a million questions about it. I was disappointed to learn that full auto had been disabled in the version issued to the home guard.

  • @dschledermann
    @dschledermann 6 місяців тому +23

    A terrible deal for the Danes definitely. When I started in the Danish army in 1995 we were issued G3's. Ian's explanation that they were assembled from several sources makes sense, because some of the rifles were obviously Franken-rifles from several different styles. Many of them were completely worn out and ridiculously unreliable. Unfortunately, the majority of basic infantry gear at the time was similar; completely outdated and worn out.

    • @tekha1977
      @tekha1977 6 місяців тому +9

      My rifle at basic training was rattling and had loose bolts.
      But once I got to my assigned squadron (RDAF) I was issued a much nice example.
      Suspect the conscript rifles had been polished to death every evening by conscripts for the better of 20 years. Not even a German rifle will handle that.😂

    • @frankpersolit9727
      @frankpersolit9727 6 місяців тому +4

      cobat harness in the danish army up until 1996 was from the marshall plan (american leftovers from WW2)

    • @tekha1977
      @tekha1977 6 місяців тому +9

      @@frankpersolit9727 And still in by Danish airforce in 1997.
      Cool to be able to tell your son when he is watching Saving private Ryan:
      “Look there, dad also used that equipment Tom Hanks is wearing”

    • @michael862
      @michael862 6 місяців тому +1

      ​@@frankpersolit9727...And they used it in ww1

    • @thomasbaagaard
      @thomasbaagaard 6 місяців тому +1

      in my combant engineer platoon in 2001 had we had weapons that where in good shape and I would have trusted mine in combat.
      Later as a professional I have had a way way way worse M/95 issued... one that I would not trust with my life.
      (it was almost brit from way to much polishing over the last 10 years had it for a few month in 2007 until I got a compleetly new, unused one that had been produced in 2006)
      So I guess it depend on exactly where and when one served.

  • @LazyLifeIFreak
    @LazyLifeIFreak 6 місяців тому +16

    For such a small country and with a relatively limited defense budget it makes a lot of sense to rent the rifles, more so when a new rifle and NATO standard cartridge is looming in the distance.

    • @adrianparker-e9f
      @adrianparker-e9f 6 місяців тому +1

      Was this deal a sort of 'rent-a-gun-by the day' ? Weekly rates ? Or is it 'Hire purchase' (HP) as we say here in the UK/England, where you pay a bit each week and own them after the price is reached ?

    • @LazyLifeIFreak
      @LazyLifeIFreak 6 місяців тому

      @@adrianparker-e9f Id assume some kind of lump sum payment up front, followed by a quarterly bill til the end rather than a weekly or monthly payment.

    • @akyhne
      @akyhne 6 місяців тому +1

      What limited budget?!
      Back then, they used a heck more on our military, than today!

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +3

      @@adrianparker-e9f Ian was sort of incorrect that we made the "final payment" in '96. We made the "last payment" in '96 and asked the Bundeswer for shipping instructions and they pretty much replied "your own local metal recycling facility would be most convenient for us, thank you very much". For that reason 25.000 were put together of the best parts and put into storage, and the second best replacement parts were kept to service them. In case of general mobilization that pretty much means that all back-end logistics personel will be equipped with them. Which sucks, as it is objectively a better combat rifle than the M16 (yes, I served with both for extended periods of time).
      TL;DR: It was a legally pure renting but turned into lease-to-own by declining to receive them back.

  • @thomasborgsmidt9801
    @thomasborgsmidt9801 6 місяців тому +6

    The explanation I got - at the time - was that the Danish Army wanted the G-11, and as it went nowhere, they were in a bit of a pickel. They had acturally wanted to skip a generation of rifles. So as an interim solution the G-3 were available at a fairly low risk patch. The leasing was probably fairly advantageous to Denmark as it was a marketing tool for the G-11 - which eventually was scrapped.
    The point about the Home Guard is that they were at the time still to a large extend using the M53(17) simple bolt action (they are still in service in some special applications). Not a bad rifle, but definately smelling like WW1.
    What was wanted was a replacement for both the submashine gun AND the standard infantry rifle.
    The problem with the Garand was that they were worn out and left to the conscripts. My specimen as a conscript in the air force was so worn, that if I sat at foot, not being to gentle - the bolt carrier with bolt would drop out. Why was a clearly unserviceable rifle not scrapped? Well, simply because, the depot NCO was specifically chosen for his incompetence and being a suitable patsy for the highly incompetent officers and NCO's of the air force infantry, when the Home Guard in a exercise (NATO-TACEVAL) just walked in with a dummy ambulance, and placed a pretend explosive charge at the fuel dump. Not only did they get out without being challenged, but was helped to change tyres on their exhausted "ambulance" (the blue revolving light was actually a marmelade-glas coloured blue - and as the store sold to the guard was a patient transfer - flashing lights would not be needed. About an hour later someone got the genius idea to check with the infirmery and they said: "What patient transfer?????"
    That incident naturally was the occation for a massive demotion of officers and trusted NCO's of the biggest Air Station in Nato - at the time. I meat them perifially as a conscript. Only problem: Their replacements were handpicked by idiots, and of exceedingly low integrety and competence.
    Back to the G3: As there was a surge in Home Guard volunteers, the G3 was not the perfect choice. The 53(17) I later met in Greenland as a hunting rifle sold off as surplus at a redicilous low price of 20 USD. The local got them and went reindeer hunting - gutting the reindeer and throwing the rifle away and walking back to the boat with the carcass and sold the reindeer. I have had more than one delicious prime reindeer steak from such expeditions. I secured myself a GV 53(17) in mint condition - which I later donated to an old freind in the home guard - who later sold it off.
    The point is that the girls (some around 70 with bifocals) did not like the rifle due to the recoil. If You have ever seen a lightweight pensioned lady propelled backward by the recoil of a rifle - You'll see my point.
    If Your are confused by the procurement policy of the Danish Army -- You are a lot less bewildered than the idiots in charge.

    • @petervandyk7173
      @petervandyk7173 6 місяців тому +3

      You're right about the WWI "feel" of the GV 53/17 as it is the US M1917, chambered (IIRC) in .308.

    • @XAD566
      @XAD566 6 місяців тому

      You’re right about the procurement policies. A wonder it was so late they were put on a leash. After the Tårnfalken and Westland debacles.

  • @dannefred
    @dannefred 6 місяців тому

    I was a conscript in 2001/2002 and was issued this riffle, while the professional soldiers deployed to Bosnia were using the M95 (licensed Colt M16A4). We also used this rifle during palace guard duty when guarding the Queen.

  • @tommyhawk5895
    @tommyhawk5895 6 місяців тому +7

    When i was a professional soldier in Denmark from 1978 to 1981 (sounds cooler than it was, it just meant we had a contract on 2,5 years, and had some special training) At that time the M-50 was still in use on a few locations, but by the called in conscripts. We had, as you pointed out the M-75. The M-75 had a jamming problem; also the cartridges from your neighbor rifle could hit your face if you where at the shooting range and target practicing.

  • @monopalle5768
    @monopalle5768 6 місяців тому +6

    Had this in the Danish army.... It was IMPOSSIBLE to empty a clip without a jam... I never in my life, saw a working burst from these, and it was our MAIN rifle....
    PURELY for training...

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +1

      Mine was mint with live ammo but would foul up after just a couple of clips of blank. I always had an extra bottle of oil when doing blank fire exercises, so I could slather it constantly. That made black oil drip out everywhere, but it would keep it running. My personal experience is that people who couldn't get full/short burst working simply didn't jam the rifle hard enough into their shoulder, as they would complain, and I would pick up their rifle and have it work fine.

    • @JohnSmith-yv6eq
      @JohnSmith-yv6eq 6 місяців тому +1

      You are a part of the recoil system on any rifle.
      Blanks have far less recoil thus YOU the firer have to compensate for that by being rigid so every particle of recoil can be used to action the mechanism.
      It's the rifle version of any semi auto pistol's user "limp wristing"...
      @@andersjjensen

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +2

      @@JohnSmith-yv6eq I know. I was a sergeant for 15 years. I tried many other rifles, and I saw how other people's rifles reacted. I think mine simply opened slightly too early (it was VERY picky with shoulder contact with live ammo as well). But since it was one of the most accurate rifles in our battery I didn't want the armourers to fiddle with it. I won several medals with it. And as I said, I managed to get around it's "funny idea" by just keeping it absolutely sloppered up in oil. But MAN was it hell to clean after blank fire. I mean, every file is always more dirty with blanks due to the blank fire compensator, but mine was GROSS. I would pick out entire "cakes" of gunk. Never saw that in another rifle.

    • @JohnSmith-yv6eq
      @JohnSmith-yv6eq 6 місяців тому

      Well done that man!
      It may have been an ugly rifle but boy could it shoot!

    • @neutronalchemist3241
      @neutronalchemist3241 6 місяців тому

      @@andersjjensen Did you have a blank-firing adapter (a device put on the muzzle of the barrel when blank firing, so to enhance the pressure generated by blank cartridges)? Without that, it's a miracle it cycled at all.

  • @Jagdlandy
    @Jagdlandy 6 місяців тому +3

    I was a conscript to the Royal Danish Navy in 2001. Mobile MedEvac Unit. We were issued with the G3 with a folding stock. Very handy in a dingy but a nightmare at the range… 😜

  • @n.vinther3087
    @n.vinther3087 6 місяців тому

    I was issued this rifle when I was a conscript in the Danish Army, and I, loved it. A year later we switched to M/95 (dimarco C7) in 5.56 and I really missed the M/75.

  • @rtbinc2273
    @rtbinc2273 6 місяців тому +4

    "It was a terrible deal for someone, but I don't know who." That is history in a nutshell.

  • @christianferrazgruner
    @christianferrazgruner 6 місяців тому

    As a conscript in the Danish Army in 2003/2003, we were issued the M/95, but we did see the conscripts from the previous year/round (2002/2003), where some of the units still had the M/75 for some odd reason. They looked at our M/95's in envy!
    The M/75 was known to conscripts as Funk 75, (Funk would be short for Funktionalitetsfejl, or directly into English, Functioning Error), as it would jam quite easily with blanks, due to lower/insufficient recoil. So no problem with with live rounds.

  • @Goc4ever
    @Goc4ever 6 місяців тому +2

    I really liked the history about the G3 battle rifle being used by the Danish and i also liked how much attention you gave to Denmark in the field of firearms. It was a very funny fact knowing how the Danish were the last ones to replace the M1 Garand. Well done Ian.

  • @ninus17
    @ninus17 6 місяців тому +3

    I really hope Ian does a video on the danish colt LSV M/04. Which was basically a very bad lmg based on the ar15 type rifles that were already in use

  • @clausmadsen4702
    @clausmadsen4702 6 місяців тому +1

    I was issued M75 in 98/99. So the phase out took some years. We also used the M49 smg for a few months because there had been an accident with the M75 and they were called in for inspektion.

  • @transdetendal
    @transdetendal 6 місяців тому +1

    my brothers was in green plastic instead of wood and this was in 1991 ,the m1 garant was leased also and got returned to the u.s. in 90 or 91 ,leased for 5 danish kroner ,not even a dollhair for all the time we usd it , wonderfull rifles .

  • @neanderthal-
    @neanderthal- 6 місяців тому +4

    When I was in the Danish army for conscripted enlistment (1998-1999) we where issued these in the artillery, but not with wooden stock. Think we where one of the last classes to use them.

    • @rlwe
      @rlwe 6 місяців тому +3

      @neanderthal They were in use by some Danish artillery units up until 2004 (Source: I was issued one for training in spring 2004 and was later issued M/95 late summer. Varde kaserne)

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +1

      @@rlweThe air force guards were the last to replace them... in 2007.

  • @andreasottohansen7338
    @andreasottohansen7338 6 місяців тому +3

    I mean, the S, E, and F settings still make sense to a Dane.
    We'd just think about them as "Sikker" (meaning Safe), "Enkelt" (meaning Single), and "Fuld automatisk" (meaning Fully Automatic).

  • @Draugadan
    @Draugadan 6 місяців тому

    Funny to see this in your channel, which I follow. I served with the m/75 as a conscript. We then actually switched to the m/95 after signing with the Danish International Brigade and deploying to Bosnia. (Conscript from January to December 1996, so our unit must have received the m/95 in December '96)

  • @hendriktonisson2915
    @hendriktonisson2915 6 місяців тому +5

    Are You going to make a video about the 1960s Danish DISA assault rifle prototype in an experimental 7x36mm cartridge? The rifle is in some sources referred to as the "DISA Karabin".

  • @LarsSkovhøjOlsen
    @LarsSkovhøjOlsen 6 місяців тому +2

    When was a conscript in the danish army in 1993. I was in the Royal Guard. We had 7 month as green soliders where We had the M75 as rifle. The last 5 month as guard at the Royal palace We had the M1 Garand😉

  • @noremorsewoodworking2258
    @noremorsewoodworking2258 6 місяців тому

    The M/75 was issued to line infantry but units like airforce guards, navy and rear echelon etc. would continue using M/50.
    One big difference between the army M/75's and those of the home guard was that the army could mount a bayonet, the home guard guns just had a flat plug in the upper tube so could not have a bayonet mounted (and weren't issued with bayonets)

  • @baryler
    @baryler 6 місяців тому +1

    I got the M75 with the green plastic front and back, when I started in the Danish Military. After 3 months I enrolled in Sergeant school and we were given the M49 Machine Gun . Much less kick in the shoulder with the 9mm bullets, which we also used with our Neuhausen (SIG P210) guns.

  • @Zhandow
    @Zhandow 6 місяців тому +4

    When I was at NCO training in Værløse in around 1999-2000 we were issued this rifle. Min was with wooden stock and plastic foregrip. When one of my buddies had to leave, i swapped the foregrip with him to a wooden one, so my rifle was all wood and steel. 2 weeks later we had weapons inspection and the weapons- mechanic saw a slight crack in the foregrip, and snapped it into pieces like a rotten stick. Then it was back to wood and plastic! 😂

  • @thomasbaagaard
    @thomasbaagaard 6 місяців тому +2

    Price: I believe the rent price was 1danish crown pr. gun.
    The M/75 was still in use in 2002 with some artillery and combat engineers. (I had one for 10 month in 2001-02)
    And some are stil in homeguard inventory. Over the last years I have a few times seen photo of them in use. (1-2 in use on the firing range so most likely just being used for fun)
    And it is still listed with the different weapons using 7.62 in the regulations covering live firing. (dangerzones and so on, relevant if creating temporary firing ranges)
    I heard that we basically still have them all in storage, but not sure it that is true. One reason being that the germens, who owned them, did not want them back.

  • @jesperkjrsrensen9940
    @jesperkjrsrensen9940 6 місяців тому

    In 2004 we were still using this G3 M/75 for the training companies of the Engineers. I believe we were one of the last teams to use them before the standard became the M16 or M/95

  • @freejack66
    @freejack66 6 місяців тому

    Hi Ian
    being part of the last rotation of the Danish Lifeguard , that had the Lovely G3 Gevær M75 as our drill weapon , i can truly say its a marvel to handle , and the puny m95 , even though it has optics , feels and behaves like a toy, both in drills and in weapons training.
    we had a sergent who broke a wood but stock while doing drils, i just love this piece
    w

  • @legoholic
    @legoholic 6 місяців тому +1

    Would be really cool if you could get into the Colt Canada collection and cover their myriad of neat firearms there

  • @trinas7131
    @trinas7131 6 місяців тому +3

    Portugal also manufactured G3s under HK license and tooling.

  • @millingsterlovesbang
    @millingsterlovesbang 6 місяців тому +1

    In 1999 I was a conscript in the Danish Navy's guard squad (Bevogtning og Nærforsvar), and we had a version of these called M-85, which had collapsing stocks. I believe we were the last regular danish troops who still had G-3s.

  • @ericmyrs
    @ericmyrs 6 місяців тому +1

    That is the prettiest G3 I've seen in my life. Almost worth moving to the US for.

  • @HCF249
    @HCF249 6 місяців тому

    We used the M/96 back in 07/08'ish during my conscription days, but when we had to act the "enemy" for other units during training missions we used the M/75, ours had the green polymer instead of wood though, only ever got to blankfire it but it was a hefty boi compared to the M/96s for sure.

  • @JGCR59
    @JGCR59 6 місяців тому

    When I was in the German navy in 99-2000 we still used those wooden stock G3s for shipboard armory and ceremonial purposes

  • @perfekt526
    @perfekt526 6 місяців тому +1

    You are missing out on some things... Like the deflector screen, that was mandatory, it was not allowed to use it without that attached.... and the lightweight mags, nobody had the heavy mags that you show.
    You also missed the fact that we had two fireselectors
    A green and a black, the original.
    The green one did not allow the rifle to be fired in full auto, so in practice it was a semiauto only, but that only applied for the homeguard, the army had only the black one.
    In peacetime we were only allowed to use the green selector, only in wartime were we allow to shift from green to black(the original)
    But in time that changed, and the green one was taken away, and we only used the black one.
    It wasn't so that we didn't have the black selector, it was store on the back of the triggerhouse so we could switch to it in case of war.
    So to make it a real clone there must be that hole in the triggerhouse.
    By the way.... Danish homeguard has just startede issuing them to the homeguard reservists.
    Of you really want to dive into it, I visited the Swedish homeguard... And they had ALL the sniper version, and they had cut of the front sight, removed the bag sight and welded a picatinny rail on top of the frame... And they had all red dot on.

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +1

      Only the home guard had two selectors, and I can assure you that in the army which mags you got was a luck of the draw. I got three lightweight and two clonky bois.

  • @skasteve6528
    @skasteve6528 6 місяців тому +4

    I'd imagine that if West Germany ever invaded Denmark in the 1980's, the Danish army wouldn't be able to fire back under the lease terms & conditions.

  • @mothmagic1
    @mothmagic1 6 місяців тому +1

    I have to admit to hsving a soft spot for the G3. A beautiful rifle and to my mind it's what the FAL could have been with a little effort.

  • @psimonsen123
    @psimonsen123 3 місяці тому +1

    Had one of these in the army in 76 in DRLR. On the plus side it’s super easy to field strip and clean on the minus side is terrible on a march, completely out of balance in any position, and the standard aperture is a nightmare. The M1 in comparison was harder to fieldstrip - rekrutfjeder - but much easier to march with and way more accurate. Shot a few marking sticks ‘markørpinde’ with one of those. No praise for the straight shooting though 😂

  • @inquisitorwalmarius6650
    @inquisitorwalmarius6650 6 місяців тому +2

    i remember seeing these at the local national guard center where i lived a a kid.

  • @sgtommyc
    @sgtommyc 6 місяців тому

    It's odd to see the rear sight set on 2, as we were all trained in only using it on 3, the idea was that you aimed a bit low on 100 and 200m while aiming straight on at 300m, but since most firing ranges were only 200m we rarely got to aim anywhere but at the bottom of a 1/3 target. Every once in a blue moon we encountered ranges beyond 200m, mostly on large scale exercises or shooting rallies, where we would see who could handle the rifle well enough to get a M/66 and who needed to focus on the 100m training.
    It had a kick when fired with live rounds, and many got the recruit eye (a distinct black mark under the right eye, the same with as the stock) from putting their chin too close to the arch of the stock. Another type of recruit eye was from shooting while wearing the gasmask, that left a clear cirkular black mark around the eye, same reason.

  • @Agent00abe
    @Agent00abe 6 місяців тому +1

    My brother served conscription in 96 and was issued an m75 with wooden furniture.
    I served my conscription in 11 with the m95.
    We disagree on which is the better rifle 😅

  • @mikelyon5595
    @mikelyon5595 6 місяців тому +1

    I like the speed holes in the furniture!

  • @mikilambastein1449
    @mikilambastein1449 6 місяців тому +1

    When i was in the danish army, we where told, they where leased for 1 d-mark pr year, pr rifle. And in 1996 when we got the new C7 and C8, the army bought the rest of the M75/G3 for 1 d-mark.
    Then we put them in storage, and there they where until 2009, where they are now I don’t know.

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому

      They are now the official rifle for the Army Reserve because the regular army has grown so much we don't have M95s and M96s enough for everyone. So we are coming up on 50 years of service shortly....

  • @TheOttomann64
    @TheOttomann64 6 місяців тому

    I have spent a lot of time with that M-75 when I was JDR panser infanterist in the 1990´s.
    It kicks like a horse shooting...got a black eye first time shooting it lol.
    Great powerfull weapon!!!

  • @maxmoller
    @maxmoller 6 місяців тому +1

    This brings back memories from my time in the army. That thing had a kick to it. 😄
    I can't remember how much they actually paid for leasing them. But it was close to nothing. I think it was part of a "Sorry. We kinda f'ed up some shit in the 40's" deal

  • @noahjkeely
    @noahjkeely 6 місяців тому +1

    Imagine this guy and Doug Demuro reviewing a Hilux technical

  • @BertMerlin57
    @BertMerlin57 6 місяців тому

    My good old friend from my homeguard time. Been member in 42 years.

  • @herosstratos
    @herosstratos 6 місяців тому +4

    A G3 is only really Danish if it also has a brass catcher.

  • @farad44
    @farad44 6 місяців тому

    I had the same early G-3 for my basic training during 80`s .

  • @mikkelfrandsen
    @mikkelfrandsen 6 місяців тому

    An interesting fact around the M1 Garand is that it was still the standard service rifle for the Danish Airforce protection forces and air defense units up until mid-90’es and we educated our conscription soldiers on not getting the feared garand thumb (..not the UA-cam channel 😉..)

  • @DavidRogers-h1g
    @DavidRogers-h1g 6 місяців тому

    Hope you're doing some good work explaining to people how the danish rickshaw with an MG3 is not just a rickshaw with an MG3 but the greatest FAV in western Europe

  • @Tenmo8life
    @Tenmo8life 6 місяців тому +2

    Thats just the Assault Rifle from *Fallout 3*

  • @kdobm4340
    @kdobm4340 6 місяців тому

    Some units of the danish army reserve "Totalforsvarsstyrken" still uses the M75.

  • @mrviggomartin
    @mrviggomartin 6 місяців тому

    This was my service weapon when i was in the army back in 1990 to 1996 it has a bit of a recoil kick if not ready for it🇩🇰🤘

  • @iberiksoderblom
    @iberiksoderblom 6 місяців тому +1

    You actually are missing the horid case deflector.

  • @PalleRasmussen
    @PalleRasmussen 6 місяців тому +1

    Oh I miss this so much

  • @alancranford3398
    @alancranford3398 6 місяців тому +1

    The Danes, Norwegians and Germans knew something about select-fire service rifles that the US military missed. The US Army regarded automatic fire as worthless--and a waste of ammunition. When trying to use the M14 rifle as a squad automatic weapon, delivering automatic fire beyond 100 meters, yes--Germany and Norway used the MG-3 at squad level for that and Denmark used either the MG3 or the MAG (and I dimly recall a modernized belt-fed Madsen). None of those three nations used their G-3 rifles as squad machine guns.
    Eventually the US Army put M60 machine guns at squad level to replace the BAR, and soon after the M16 replaced the M14. Then the M249 replaced the M60 at squad level. And still automatic fire in US forces is undervalued--because we Americans are doing it wrong.

  • @gregbrown4009
    @gregbrown4009 6 місяців тому +3

    While the Sexy FAL, the Techno M-16 and the Grimmy AK get all the attention, the good 'ol G3 was there through conflict after conflict, too. Kinda like your Uncle Bob, boring and not too handsome, but gets the job done at the end of the day. My only issue with the G3 is that roller "delayed" "locking" which is really just over-engineered straight blowback. A real lack of subtlety in the recoil department for sure, but a truly rugged and dependable tool. Edit: Love the Wood!

    • @kevinohalloran7164
      @kevinohalloran7164 6 місяців тому +2

      Greg, I have a slight disagreement with you, on the physical appearance of the G3; I've always thought it was a nifty-looking rifle. Saw one first on an episode of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Had no idea what it was until seeing the same episode 35 years later.

    • @Gostwriterindisguise
      @Gostwriterindisguise 6 місяців тому +1

      ​@@kevinohalloran7164seasons 3 and 4. Also GFU.

    • @andersjjensen
      @andersjjensen 6 місяців тому +2

      I was issued the G3 first and the M16 6 years later, and I have shot several .308/7.62 hunting rifles. The G3 has a pleasant "distributed" recoil compared to a bolt action in the same caliber. If I had to go to war (again) and was given the choice between the Swedish AK4 update of the G3 and the latest iteration of the M16 I would chose the former without even blinking. Sacrificing 10 rds per mag and about a kg of extra weight in exchange for a rifle that hits a human sized target all the time, every time, in adverse weather conditions at 500-600 meters, and has the oomph to go through civilian cars, garden sheds, shallow ditches, etc, is an easy choice to me. Those of my buddies who were less good shots liked the M16, but it never won me over. The correct NATO cartridge change (as the US is figuring out now with the .277 Fury) would have been 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser. The 7.62 was too powerful and the 5.56 was too weak....
      Oh, and that you put locking in quotes means you don't understand the mechanics. The bolt head stays in place until the bolt carrier has moved 7mm. The easiest way to think of it is to compare it to balls on a pool table. The "ping" from the cartridge sends energy through the bolt head to the wedge so it starts moving (like two touching pool balls being hit), which pushes the bolt carrier backwards until there is enough space that the rollers can retract, at which point the bolt head starts following the bolt carrier. It's as much a locking system as a rotating bolt head. It's just two different mechanisms that actuate the unlocking.

  • @ElitePraetorianGuard
    @ElitePraetorianGuard 6 місяців тому

    My PTR-91 GIR looks a lot like this rifle but with a dark grey parkerization . Mine has the surplus G3 wood furniture and metal trigger pack with plastic grip along with the SEF markings. No giggle switch functionality though. Love the G3 series of rifles and I want to get a PTR 91 K3P and SBR it to a G3KA4 style at some point.

  • @trickiejohn
    @trickiejohn 6 місяців тому +1

    I served with the UN in Cyprus. In 1977, spent a fair bit of time with the Danish Army contingent (mixed sex showers and barrack rooms was an eye opener for me. They had the G3 there and on asking about it the views were 50/50 as to like/dislike. Never got the chance to shoot one sadly. Drank lots of beer with them Kim and Suzie (both guys Suzie was a Nick name linked to his favourite musician). Good People 🤩

  • @OMAR-on7ky
    @OMAR-on7ky 6 місяців тому

    There are several copies of this rifle / the original company gave an agency to produce this weapon. There is a Saudi and Iranian copy that was produced in the seventies

  • @coldtiger343
    @coldtiger343 6 місяців тому +8

    Pure gun jesus gold

  • @tpmalu
    @tpmalu 6 місяців тому +1

    From denmark drafted in 1994 miss shoting whit m75
    mine was so worn that it was almost chrome and rusted every time it rained

  • @MikeDane
    @MikeDane 6 місяців тому

    I remember that gun, i got to fire it in 2004 (the danish Air Force still used it then)

  • @danrathcke
    @danrathcke 6 місяців тому

    I was in the army in 81, and there was both rifles in use.

  • @jesperohlrich7090
    @jesperohlrich7090 6 місяців тому +2

    And in 2023 they came back into service with the reserve

  • @JonHyeKnudsen
    @JonHyeKnudsen 6 місяців тому

    Oh. I remember shooting my M/75 when I was a conscript in DK in ‘95-‘96.
    I also shot the MG62 which is basically a German MG43 chambered in the same 7.62 NATO round. We also had the MP49, which was an old Husqvarna SMG that felt like it was made from old water pipes.
    My brother who was a conscript in the navy a few years before me was issued a M1 Garand….. 😂😂😂

  • @FarzadMohseni-w2v
    @FarzadMohseni-w2v 6 місяців тому +2

    This weapon is still kicking strong in the capital wasteland

  • @pyrusdenhund1543
    @pyrusdenhund1543 6 місяців тому

    My Dad used that Rifle when he was in the Army back in 85

  • @n-doghansenmand5655
    @n-doghansenmand5655 6 місяців тому

    Had this riffel in my draft year. Heavy like a tank

  • @casbjoern
    @casbjoern 6 місяців тому

    I was issued an M/75 when I was in the Danish Army in 2000

  • @GarGhuul
    @GarGhuul 6 місяців тому +2

    I do wonder what the other eight rifles in the test were.

  • @IMarcaI
    @IMarcaI 6 місяців тому +1

    Not sure about the m/75 current status but i remember shooting some back in 2007 that we borrowed from a royal guards reserve armory.
    Will always have a bias towards this rifle as it was the first full power cartridge/rifle i ever shot.

  • @kristiankristiansen133
    @kristiankristiansen133 6 місяців тому

    Airforce actually used the M1 as standard core issue until 2000

  • @polarperlen
    @polarperlen 6 місяців тому +1

    Always fun to see the younger soldiers try this one out. M75 black eye 😂

  • @waskus
    @waskus 6 місяців тому +1

    Had this when I was in the Danish army 30 years ago.
    Full auto was totally useless😂
    Later I had the m96, and I loved that weapon.

  • @amandopiano4291
    @amandopiano4291 6 місяців тому +4

    Is the first model the cetme c , from Spain, desogned and manufactured from spanish army indistries. Th HK Company never paid royalties and rights for use to spanish goverment. It was designed on 60's decade. Thanks for sharing. Saludos .

    • @stigchristensen2597
      @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому +1

      no the G3 as in danish service

    • @amandopiano4291
      @amandopiano4291 6 місяців тому +1

      @@stigchristensen2597 I understood. The first model was designed on Spain with germqns engineers. Next, HK with too much pieces on boxes , do "her model". Isnt G3. HK stoled the model to Spain . HK didnt design this rifle, the true is different and unknows. Thanks

    • @stigchristensen2597
      @stigchristensen2597 6 місяців тому

      @@amandopiano4291 many germans fled to spain in 1945 because Franco was semi-allied to Germany during the war including some of the designers of the Gerät-06H who sold their services to Spain and designed the CETME. Germany when they were rearmed during the cold war first tried to aquire the FN-fal but belgium would not sell that weapon to Germany because of the world wars. then germany turned to Spain and bought the CETME license and therafter developed the G3 rifle

    • @amandopiano4291
      @amandopiano4291 6 місяців тому

      ​@@stigchristensen2597 ​the real history is other more different . Germany never bought the license from cetme model C. For this reason I m explain this,... german not paid never royalties or patent rights to Spain goverment . I hope you understand my words. Thanks

    • @ДмитрийСлепцов-д6п
      @ДмитрийСлепцов-д6п 6 місяців тому +1

      @@amandopiano4291 Yeah, german engineers should pay Spain for their own work that dates back up to 1945, sure.

  • @5anjuro
    @5anjuro 6 місяців тому +1

    "Hallo is this Rent-a-Panzer? I'd like me several divisions, full tank please".
    "Sure Sir, when and for how long?"
    "Just this weekend, a little blitz".
    "Oh I am so sorry, we're so overbooked for the weekend".
    😳

  • @TheNewAgeViking
    @TheNewAgeViking 6 місяців тому

    For anyone wondering why the Danish Home Guard got their G3s nearly a decade before the regular army, as far as I know and have heard, the Home Guard operates on its own budget, and can allocate that money how best they see fit.