the russians are at the gates we need a semi auto rifle was we can make quick but make sure you over design the trigger mechanism because we have a image to maintain!
Too difficult decision. When the Germans were at our gates, the USSR developed the PPS and the PPSH. The design of the submachine guns was so simple that even children from 12 to 16 years were able to produce these weapons. A minimum of turning and milling works = mass weapons required for the soldiers of the Red Army.
Actually the main reason why Russian guns are so literally redundant andoftrn under designed is because the didnkot jave the technology do produce guns at the same level not wartime design. Germany iverdrsigns thngs. I’m Russia it is as long as it works. The ak 47 was mad in peacetime but took 10 years to b capable to use the receiver they actually wanted.
@@bolshevik_1917 Clearly the design of a submachine gun wasn't easy because Russia first made the expensive and bad PPD, and then proceeded to copy the Suomi M/31.
Well, it's actually a pretty clever choice for a gun range. No gun can shoot through a sewer pipe, it's nice and straight, and it's probably quite cheap.
Hey the Soviets are at the border we need cheap guns fast. Should we build a copy of a STEN or a PPS43 with about 5 moving parts or shall we build a rifle with 68 moving parts, lots of machining and pressing and lots of wood.
I think Germans are unable to build "simple" mechanisms - for anything 😂 I'm not necessarily knocking Germans, many of my favourite car designs are German, but they do have a habit of designing unnecessarily complex mechanical objects.
I respect the Germans for their quality work on many different things, but I think some of them have a bad habit of over engineering something so simple like a toilet paper holder with over 168 different moving parts that are hand machined and made out of a ridiculously strong titanium alloy that can withstand the explosive energy of a hydrogen bomb.
Yes, I was pretty confident shooting it. There's a difference (often overlooked) between a poorly made gun and a crude or simple gun. The VG1-5 is certainly crude and simple, but it was made well enough to be quite safe.
There's a handful of mods that "clean" the gun (and at least one gives it 7.92x33 Kurz to use), on Nexus and Bethesda.net. Though if you're on PS4 you'll need to sit tight, sadly.
Unfortunately, I didn't weigh the slide assembly. I say the delaying system was unnecessary because it was also tried without the ports in the barrel, and the action still worked without excessive battering. I do expect that moving the ports back (and possibly angling them to point forward) would have been more effective. I can't speak to whether a 7.62x39 build on the concept would be feasible - one of you guys should try it and let us know! :)
This video is a treasure, in all it's 360p glory. Vintage quality FW channel video, from the good ol' year of the "End of the World". Like the rest, one for the archives! Please do not re-make this video, it's great as it is portraying the early days of FW.
It depends on how you make the action but yeah, I know what you mean. In this case, its because of using a rather weak recoil spring for blowback operation and the gas coming out of the barrel doesn't seem to delay the slide either.
@@thomaszhang3101 not sure if you watched this video, but Ian with some evidence predicted that the pressure at the front of the handguard may not slow the bolt down.
Isaac Raschke But this gun literally has a slide along the whole length of its barrel, around too. It’s very heavy along with the spring. Plus the mechanism might work - 50/50
@@thomaszhang3101 by the way man, I'm just talking about the gas delay. It obviously worked in the video, I only meant that the gas delay mechanism (building up gas pressure at the front of the handguard) doesn't seem to slow the slide down. I 100% agree it works, and pretty reliably.. Sure, this gun has a lot of recoil, but I love that it exists because I want to make simple blowback a thing for rifle cartridges but what I'd want to do is use two recoil springs at least to both not need a big slide and to make recoil similar to common gas-operated automatic rifles using the same cartridge such as the the AK, AR, FAL etc. Although using two recoil springs would make it hard to charge the gun, I'll want to make a mechanism where you can temporarily disconnect the bolt from one recoil spring so pulling the bolt back is relatively easy.
American manufacturers should take a look at this concept. Sure there are lots of AR-15s and good .223 rifles for under 550$, but there still is no "hi point" of the semi-auto rifle. Even if the ergos are shitty, a reliable and decently accurate sporting rifle that shot .223 and/or 7.62x39 for under $200 would sell like crack.
The problem is, idiot panic buyers have driven all decent rifles to over $400. No more reasonable AKs, SKSs, mosins, mausers, m1 carbines - none of which should cost more than $250 for a basic rifle. Guns have inflated incredibly quickly.
Wow look at you Ian. Back in 2012.. I didn't start watching you til about 2016. You have most definitely made these Forgotten Weapons so interesting. Thanks for all you do.
I know this an old old old comment but my parents company, AAI (Textron) created one of the SPIW guns, and my parents know some of the people that worked on that project....maybe i should ask them about a test shoot....
I think it would actually do pretty well when dirty...although no sane owner of an original one would let me throw one in the mud to find out. :) (and I don't blame them!)
I believe the F is for feuer (fire) and the S is for sicher (safe). E on German rifles is for einfeuer, or single shot and D is for dauerfeuer, or multiple shots. Those are used on select-fire rifles, but the VG1-5 was semi only and thus doesn't need that distinction on its selector lever.
Excellent video Ian. Considering the desperate situation for the Germans at the late stage of the war,this weapon is excellent. Lots of fire power and the pistol action design is very ingenious. Folks can boo hoo the design, but I think this weapon is very capable to accomplish what it was designed to do. I would love to fire one.
9 років тому+29
crudely finished and simply constructed but brutally elegant in design. extremely interesting. thank you
Very cool seeing one of these shoot! Not often you get to see something like this. Really remarkable that even in their weakest state the Germans managed to make something like this. Actually seeing some of these weapons you encounter shoot makes a video better tenfold. Keep up the good work!
I had barely even heard of these guns before, and never would have thought I would be lucky enough to see a video of it, not to mention such as detailed one as this. Great video. It's amazing that even in the throes of their defeat the Germans managed to produce such a simple but mechanically sound rifle.
This is the most interesting gun channel I've seen. By strange co incidence I was just wondering 30min before I watched this video if anyone had ever made a rifle that operates like a semi auto pistol with a blow back slide. bang here it is
True words chapiit08. Both multicultural institutionalized Marxist Western Europe and the fallen US are close to the abyss. Both economic and ethnic. Obtaining dependable firearms might be a good idea these days. Especially for those with families.
@@Hordalending one day americans will learn the meaning of the word "Marxist". I believe in you guys. A little tip to begin with: it doesnt mean "things I dont like".
@Caffeinated Wizard please name the work where Marx talks about the need for open borders and the need to control "everything" , ideally page number as well. Also please name the european country where the state is the owner of the majority of companies.
Watching these videos today makes me feel soooo old…. I remember these were first a thing and I was rollin a J to sit back and watch one, seems like just yesterday, now it’s been 11 years. Wtf!?!
Well its heavier than the 98k and most likely not as reliable or accurate with those sights. But if you are fighting on the streets of berlin you dont really need long range accuracy and the superior mag size and firing speed compensates nicely.
I like the 8mm Kurz, but its large diameter body makes for unusually long magazines. I think it compares pretty well to 7.62x39, although it does not have the long-range flat trajectory that 5.56x45 offers.
The sights and handling are inferior to the StG44 and StG45, but I would prefer it over a submachine gun. I think the biggest concern would be durability. As long as you use ammo loaded to the pressure curve it's designed for it is pretty reliable, but it's not built to last a long time. IMO, it falls in the middle of the German combat arms. Better than an MP40 or K98k, but inferior to an StG or G43 (depending on the situation).
This "last-ditch" German WW2 rifle's trigger mechanism is far more complicated than the AK - that is amazing and stupid at the same time. Fantastic video - the bunker is just a perfect setting...
Rifles that have no pistol grip and a mag the protrudes from the action (to a ridiculous extent like this one or the SKS the Chinese made that accepts AK mags) look so cool to me
Talk about breaking levels! This thing is really neat! Thank you, Ian. And thank you to the owner for sharing it. It's really really really interesting to see how Germany was...adapting to how the war was running for them. It's cool to see a firearm like this.
I am a German. Only meant as a constructive tip: The "V" in "Volks" is pronunced like an "F". You are pronuncing it like a "W", what is wrong. You are saying "Wolkssturmgewehr". But it is pronunced like "Folkssturmgewehr". I hope, this was useful to you. BTW: Nice and interesting Video'! :)
Like a large, blowback pistol, firing the 7.92mm Kurtz rifle round. Rather clever, and it looks like a weapon that could be made quickly and cheaply. I wonder how accurate it is. :)
Hi-Point needs to jump on this... hahah . I bet a modern more efficient version of this action in 7.62x39 would sell like crazy. Id put more of the mass of the slide behind the breech and have it go down a tube in the buttstock to reduce muzzle weight some and make it accept standard AK mags. Run a rail down the top of it for your optics and you have a 200 dollar AK. Make the entire slide in zinc with just a steel bolt face..
I was literally thinking that exact same thing today at work, hence why I looked up this video again. I was thinking two models a 5.56mm model and the 7.62x39 model. Sell it at 350 bucks or less and gun shops wouldn't be able to keep them on the shelves. It would make getting kitted out with an AR, a carbine, and a pistol by the same company something just about anyone could do, because that would cost under a grand.
Really? They just want to stick to pistol calibers, despite the fact that if they got into rifles, particularly intermediate rifle rounds, and made them decent at the low prices they are known for they would fairly instantly get a huge increase in profits and sales. I wonder what the thought process behind that is, I am about to pop over to their channel here on youtube to see if I can start a conversation and get some answers.
Thank you so much for demonstrating and explaining this end-of-WW2 German semi-automatic firearm. Firearm history books typically ridiculed the VG1-5 as a flimsy weapon of desperation that was crude, likely prone to jamming and insinuated it was of low quality as to be risky to use. Your demonstration corrects the history books. The VG1-5 looks Sten-like crude, but like the British Sten, proved strong and rugged enough to be effective. I now think the VG1-5 would have worked ok in battle.
I am so Unreasonably jealous of you while at the same time really thankful for these videos. I have read books stared at pictures and studied history of some of the guns that you show but my chances of taking a close look at one are slim to none. But I am thankful that you put out these videos Because honestly I have no Idea where else I would get to take a look inside of a VG 1 5 or a aftomat Fedorova. Keep Up the Great work and one day I hope to have a job like yours.
first time i saw this gun on the net, i really liked it, i have a thing for crude/odd looking weapons. though i didn't think id find a video of one until i found you're channel of course.
I honestly think the drawbacks of an MP-40 style folding stock would outweigh any potential advantages on a design like this. An AK-74 style triangular side folder might work, but again, I don't see enough of an advantage to justify the extra expense and labor that would go into the production of such a beast. Especially when it was originally designed for untrained civilians who were basically cannon fodder.
For many years I've seen on pictures all kind of issued and protoypes of german guns during the II WW but this is the first time I see this one. I didn't know it at all!
VG1-5 is the only rifle of its kind. The only rifle that uses gas retardation to resist tremendous blowback from a Kurz round. There is none like it today in fact. The designer was clever enough to put the gas hole very near the gas chamber bushing (barrel extension). The Germans already realized the case ejection problem with blowback action being resisted prematurely. At moment of firing spent case completely separates from chamber before the rearward action is being absorbed by the counter force from the gas battering in opposite direction the walls of the gas chamber. Much like the way an AA12 applies at the right moment the counter force against the backward moving 1 kilo bolt.
If I was drafted into the VS, if immediately deserting and running to the Allied sectors isn't an option, I'd hope at the very least I'd get issued one of these. It's probably the best of a bad bunch of the VG rifles, followed by the VG-2.
You are very fortunate to have been able to "play" with that beauty. Some dayI may own my own... Replica. Haha, no way I'd be able to afford a real one and feel well off enough to own a house all ate once!
with the gas ports so far forward they wouldn't do much for delaying blow back so much as extra spring force to keep the bolt from slamming into the receiver so hard. more like a buffer than a gas delay? just a thought.
Ah, ze Germans. Even when they set themselves to design a weapon geared towards simple production meant for equipping militiamen, it still has that "German" flavor of a little of complexity and refinement.
Awesome firearm, well abnormal. It's weird to see a German rifle so crude, my 1942 K98k was beautifully made by Steyr. Still, this raw firearm fascinates me! Cheers for the video!
Great video! I've always wanted to see this gun in action. With some refinement and good enough fit the gas-delayed blowback could well enough be workable in a gun firing an intermediate cartridge. It seems to work fine in some pistols anyway.
I think that the recoil of this weapon is more due to the barrel being high and the classic rifle stock. The MKb/MP/STG rifles weight more, the barrel axis is lower, the shoulder stock is in line with the barrel, this results in less felt recoil, add to this the low rate of fire, and you have a very controllable weapon. The STG-44 and its predecessor were mean for front line troops, whereas the VG1-5 was a cheaper last ditch alternative for the Volkgrenadiers.
RIchard Gomez yes. Towards the end of the war, the nazis basically enlisted everybody that could point and shoot a gun as a last ditch effort and needed guns quick, so they made this.
ShmotzGaming Fatherland or Motherland is not the same thing, fatherland is traditionally more patriotic name, sometimes more nationalist, while motherland is place where you were born and does not necessarily mean anything else.
Do you happen to know the weight of the slide assembly? Why do you conclude that the gas delay was unnecessary/inneffective? Would placing the gas ports farther back have made the gas delay anymore effective? Do you think that a similar system could be made to work with 7.62x39? We're always on the lookout for a good simple action on the Gun Building Forums. Thanks. .....RVM45
Fascinating design. I am wondering how the Germans determined the need to add the gas retarded feature in addition to the effect of the inertia from the bolt/sleeve assembly. It would have been interesting to see the results if the testing.
Another really interesting post. Thank you. It is so refreshing to have well presented historical perspectives and demonstrations rather than the all too common gun-toting madman rants from the USA. I shall be watching further videos in the series. Please keep up the good work in restoring and preserving historical artefacts.
You have a very expensive hobby, and an equally expensive collection, Mister. ;) It's good to see you take pride in it, though, by learning about these guns; and especially for sharing it with the rest of us!
I find it,kinda awesome that the Radium Rifle in FALLOUT 4's Far Harbor DLC,is mostly based off of this weapon... Right down to the horrendous recoil! XD
How would you rate the combat effectiveness of the weapon? We've seen the quality and what it was used for, but for me atleast, this is exactly the sort of thing that an average soldier (all branches) would've needed, atleast pending the wide-scale issue of the StGs. Compact semi rifle firing a round that's effective to around 200-300 m, and plenty of ammo to go with it. Maybe with better finish and features, but still, it'd be more economical and effective. Great videos btw, rare stuff!
Don't know if this has been brought up, but since this an obviously safe weapon and cheap to produce, why haven't reproductions of it been made? It could even be made in 7.62x39 and use AK mags, for that matter.
I'm thinking the design might not be able to handle the pressures of the 39. I'd advise keeping the original caliber or going for something common like 9mm Luger. Also, in the US that would be an SBR, which would require registration and the whole nine yards.
the russians are at the gates we need a semi auto rifle was we can make quick but make sure you over design the trigger mechanism because we have a image to maintain!
Too difficult decision.
When the Germans were at our gates, the USSR developed the PPS and the PPSH.
The design of the submachine guns was so simple that even children from 12 to 16 years were able to produce these weapons.
A minimum of turning and milling works = mass weapons required for the soldiers of the Red Army.
Actually the main reason why Russian guns are so literally redundant andoftrn under designed is because the didnkot jave the technology do produce guns at the same level not wartime design. Germany iverdrsigns thngs. I’m Russia it is as long as it works. The ak 47 was mad in peacetime but took 10 years to b capable to use the receiver they actually wanted.
It's just a G43 trigger made to be easier and cheaper to manufacture and sorter.
@@bolshevik_1917 Clearly the design of a submachine gun wasn't easy because Russia first made the expensive and bad PPD, and then proceeded to copy the Suomi M/31.
Donate it to Ukraine...
forgotten weapons fired into forgotten sewer pipes.
Well, it's actually a pretty clever choice for a gun range. No gun can shoot through a sewer pipe, it's nice and straight, and it's probably quite cheap.
Plus it makes a nice sound when you fire it.
Not clever
@@spwan10 clever then whatever you are
@@pewpewshit9153 I'm a bot beepboopbeep n ur a fanboy looking to get a heart. I hope you reach your goal and achieve one, have good1 beepboopbeep.
Even in their death throws, they made wonderfully engineered items, that trigger mech. is outstanding.
I was thinking this, myself. It's a simple, quickly-manufactured rifle by design, and yet that trigger assembly is, as you observed, outstanding.
*throes
*throes
@Baron Von Grijffenbourg III Reich in a nutshell
Hey the Soviets are at the border we need cheap guns fast. Should we build a copy of a STEN or a PPS43 with about 5 moving parts or shall we build a rifle with 68 moving parts, lots of machining and pressing and lots of wood.
I think Germans are unable to build "simple" mechanisms - for anything 😂
I'm not necessarily knocking Germans, many of my favourite car designs are German, but they do have a habit of designing unnecessarily complex mechanical objects.
Germán style if something works fine make tha work event better no matter you make another one haundred pieces more
fastmongrel Are you kidding me? That's as simple as Germanly possible!
I respect the Germans for their quality work on many different things, but I think some of them have a bad habit of over engineering something so simple like a toilet paper holder with over 168 different moving parts that are hand machined and made out of a ridiculously strong titanium alloy that can withstand the explosive energy of a hydrogen bomb.
That's what makes them German!
Yes, I was pretty confident shooting it. There's a difference (often overlooked) between a poorly made gun and a crude or simple gun. The VG1-5 is certainly crude and simple, but it was made well enough to be quite safe.
I shot that rifle 2018. It feels like it's just holding together.
A true piece of history
huh, never in a million years would I have thought that the radium rifle was based off of a real gun. Kudos to BethSoft.
I wonder if they'll ever let us have a non-radium version.
There's a handful of mods that "clean" the gun (and at least one gives it 7.92x33 Kurz to use), on Nexus and Bethesda.net.
Though if you're on PS4 you'll need to sit tight, sadly.
***** I'm on PS4.
There's a mod that cleans it up
Unfortunately, I didn't weigh the slide assembly. I say the delaying system was unnecessary because it was also tried without the ports in the barrel, and the action still worked without excessive battering. I do expect that moving the ports back (and possibly angling them to point forward) would have been more effective. I can't speak to whether a 7.62x39 build on the concept would be feasible - one of you guys should try it and let us know! :)
This video is a treasure, in all it's 360p glory. Vintage quality FW channel video, from the good ol' year of the "End of the World". Like the rest, one for the archives! Please do not re-make this video, it's great as it is portraying the early days of FW.
Absolutely. Came here to say the same - it's true classic. Even had the intro!
The last original one that sold at auction in the US went for about $50k - before that one they were more like $25k-$30k.
Holy shit, that was alot more recoil than I was expecting. I guess that's what you get when you make a pistol action on a rifle.
It depends on how you make the action but yeah, I know what you mean. In this case, its because of using a rather weak recoil spring for blowback operation and the gas coming out of the barrel doesn't seem to delay the slide either.
It’s a delayed blow back, the principle of which was used on StG 45, G3, and G36 to good results.
@@thomaszhang3101 not sure if you watched this video, but Ian with some evidence predicted that the pressure at the front of the handguard may not slow the bolt down.
Isaac Raschke But this gun literally has a slide along the whole length of its barrel, around too. It’s very heavy along with the spring.
Plus the mechanism might work - 50/50
@@thomaszhang3101 by the way man, I'm just talking about the gas delay. It obviously worked in the video, I only meant that the gas delay mechanism (building up gas pressure at the front of the handguard) doesn't seem to slow the slide down. I 100% agree it works, and pretty reliably.. Sure, this gun has a lot of recoil, but I love that it exists because I want to make simple blowback a thing for rifle cartridges but what I'd want to do is use two recoil springs at least to both not need a big slide and to make recoil similar to common gas-operated automatic rifles using the same cartridge such as the the AK, AR, FAL etc. Although using two recoil springs would make it hard to charge the gun, I'll want to make a mechanism where you can temporarily disconnect the bolt from one recoil spring so pulling the bolt back is relatively easy.
American manufacturers should take a look at this concept. Sure there are lots of AR-15s and good .223 rifles for under 550$, but there still is no "hi point" of the semi-auto rifle. Even if the ergos are shitty, a reliable and decently accurate sporting rifle that shot .223 and/or 7.62x39 for under $200 would sell like crack.
Rusty Shackleford Lol yeah, what he wants is more or less an AK.
The problem is, idiot panic buyers have driven all decent rifles to over $400. No more reasonable AKs, SKSs, mosins, mausers, m1 carbines - none of which should cost more than $250 for a basic rifle. Guns have inflated incredibly quickly.
@@RustyShackleford only problem is that the whole thing is cast. Those cheep aks wouldn't hold for more than a few thousand rounds.
There you go thinking again, we can’t have you doing that
Wow look at you Ian. Back in 2012.. I didn't start watching you til about 2016. You have most definitely made these Forgotten Weapons so interesting. Thanks for all you do.
I would love to get my hands on any of the SPIW project prototypes...hasn't happened yet though.
we would too
Can you show us the spear the centurian stabbed you with?
I know this an old old old comment but my parents company, AAI (Textron) created one of the SPIW guns, and my parents know some of the people that worked on that project....maybe i should ask them about a test shoot....
I think it would actually do pretty well when dirty...although no sane owner of an original one would let me throw one in the mud to find out. :) (and I don't blame them!)
I believe the F is for feuer (fire) and the S is for sicher (safe). E on German rifles is for einfeuer, or single shot and D is for dauerfeuer, or multiple shots. Those are used on select-fire rifles, but the VG1-5 was semi only and thus doesn't need that distinction on its selector lever.
Excellent video Ian. Considering the desperate situation for the Germans at the late stage of the war,this weapon is excellent. Lots of fire power and the pistol action design is very ingenious. Folks can boo hoo the design, but I think this weapon is very capable to accomplish what it was designed to do. I would love to fire one.
crudely finished and simply constructed but brutally elegant in design. extremely interesting. thank you
Very cool seeing one of these shoot! Not often you get to see something like this. Really remarkable that even in their weakest state the Germans managed to make something like this. Actually seeing some of these weapons you encounter shoot makes a video better tenfold. Keep up the good work!
I had barely even heard of these guns before, and never would have thought I would be lucky enough to see a video of it, not to mention such as detailed one as this. Great video.
It's amazing that even in the throes of their defeat the Germans managed to produce such a simple but mechanically sound rifle.
Love the acoustics there when you shoot.
This is the most interesting gun channel I've seen. By strange co incidence I was just wondering 30min before I watched this video if anyone had ever made a rifle that operates like a semi auto pistol with a blow back slide. bang here it is
They are removable, but not easily. You have to drive out the pins that hold the bolt into the upper tube.
Need to learn from the Krauts on how to design and build quality last ditch weapons as we might be getting closer to such a scenario.
chapiit08 lmao unless you live in NK I doubt it
True words chapiit08. Both multicultural institutionalized Marxist Western Europe and the fallen US are close to the abyss. Both economic and ethnic. Obtaining dependable firearms might be a good idea these days. Especially for those with families.
Download plans,schematics while you can. For my money, m3a1 grease gun, winchester 73.
@@Hordalending one day americans will learn the meaning of the word "Marxist". I believe in you guys. A little tip to begin with: it doesnt mean "things I dont like".
@Caffeinated Wizard please name the work where Marx talks about the need for open borders and the need to control "everything" , ideally page number as well. Also please name the european country where the state is the owner of the majority of companies.
Wow. Wouldn't it be a good idea to line that 'culvert' you're firing through with some kind of acoustic tile? That thing rings like a freaking bell!
The gun was not originally made with the capability of full-auto fire. It wasn't deemed necessary for the Volkssturm.
"At this point you know you're looking at a German gun." Haaaaaaaaaaah! How true.
It’s been 11 years and Ian is still as calm and professional as ever
Watching these videos today makes me feel soooo old…. I remember these were first a thing and I was rollin a J to sit back and watch one, seems like just yesterday, now it’s been 11 years. Wtf!?!
So is this a better weapon to be armed with in 1945 than the K98k? It's crude but being semi automatic likely gives you superior firepower.
Well its heavier than the 98k and most likely not as reliable or accurate with those sights. But if you are fighting on the streets of berlin you dont really need long range accuracy and the superior mag size and firing speed compensates nicely.
@@tori9365 dude chill
Jebu911 I don’t think you need accuracy in the field either, considering that most engagements are at 200m and longer ones at 300m.
I'd rather have a 1938 k98. Can't put a bayonet on that piece
Of course it is, you are comparing a semi auto intermediate round assault rifle against a bolt action rifle after all.
I like the 8mm Kurz, but its large diameter body makes for unusually long magazines. I think it compares pretty well to 7.62x39, although it does not have the long-range flat trajectory that 5.56x45 offers.
The sights and handling are inferior to the StG44 and StG45, but I would prefer it over a submachine gun. I think the biggest concern would be durability. As long as you use ammo loaded to the pressure curve it's designed for it is pretty reliable, but it's not built to last a long time. IMO, it falls in the middle of the German combat arms. Better than an MP40 or K98k, but inferior to an StG or G43 (depending on the situation).
This "last-ditch" German WW2 rifle's trigger mechanism is far more complicated than the AK - that is amazing and stupid at the same time. Fantastic video - the bunker is just a perfect setting...
Radium Rifle
Yup
@@katieschannel742 you’re drunk fallout, go home
@Niko-Bellic Gaming I'm drunk too friend
Rifles that have no pistol grip and a mag the protrudes from the action (to a ridiculous extent like this one or the SKS the Chinese made that accepts AK mags) look so cool to me
Talk about breaking levels! This thing is really neat! Thank you, Ian. And thank you to the owner for sharing it. It's really really really interesting to see how Germany was...adapting to how the war was running for them. It's cool to see a firearm like this.
I believe there was one K43 made in Kurz as an experiment.
I am a German.
Only meant as a constructive tip:
The "V" in "Volks" is pronunced like an "F".
You are pronuncing it like a "W", what is wrong.
You are saying "Wolkssturmgewehr". But it is pronunced like "Folkssturmgewehr".
I hope, this was useful to you.
BTW: Nice and interesting Video'! :)
megatwingo Funny, because the W is usually pronounced like a V and this is the other way around.
Yes, the V is pronunced different at different opportunities. But I'm not a grammar expert and I don't know why that is this way.
AverageGuard Lucas no.
W is pronounced as a V
V is pronounced as an F
VolksWagen
FolksVagen
Not gonna stop me from calling it a volkssturmgewehr
I'm sure it *could* be done, but I can't think of anything it would do better than the other operating mechanisms out there.
You make great videos of great weapons. Very informative, in fact I'd like even more history & how things work. Keep up the good work!
The last couple originals that sold at auction in the US went for $40k-$50k.
It may be crudely made, but seems to work well
Channel is called forgotten weapons, but Ian remembers all of them. Curious.
I am impressed that even a 70+ year old gun still fires this well. german work really is top-notch
jesus christ
Gustloffwerke: so you want these experimental, last ditch weapons to be cheap and easy to manufacture?
HWaA: well yes, but actually no.
HWA was not involved with this. Volkssturm was a nazi party organisation, not Wehrmacht
Imagine the violent recoil if this thing was fully automatic....
Like a large, blowback pistol, firing the 7.92mm Kurtz rifle round. Rather clever, and it looks like a weapon that could be made quickly and cheaply. I wonder how accurate it is. :)
Good video.
Disproves a lot of theory that last ditch Volksturm weapons were one shot and pray ideas!
8:44: FUGGEN GRAUT SPESS MAJIKS :DDD
Hi-Point needs to jump on this... hahah . I bet a modern more efficient version of this action in 7.62x39 would sell like crazy. Id put more of the mass of the slide behind the breech and have it go down a tube in the buttstock to reduce muzzle weight some and make it accept standard AK mags. Run a rail down the top of it for your optics and you have a 200 dollar AK. Make the entire slide in zinc with just a steel bolt face..
I was literally thinking that exact same thing today at work, hence why I looked up this video again. I was thinking two models a 5.56mm model and the 7.62x39 model. Sell it at 350 bucks or less and gun shops wouldn't be able to keep them on the shelves. It would make getting kitted out with an AR, a carbine, and a pistol by the same company something just about anyone could do, because that would cost under a grand.
Jeremiah90526 the problem is only that the owner of hi point doesn't want to make assault rifles. ..someone else has to do it.
Really? They just want to stick to pistol calibers, despite the fact that if they got into rifles, particularly intermediate rifle rounds, and made them decent at the low prices they are known for they would fairly instantly get a huge increase in profits and sales. I wonder what the thought process behind that is, I am about to pop over to their channel here on youtube to see if I can start a conversation and get some answers.
Jeremiah90526 it was bc a hipoint carbine was used in the colombine shcool shootings
Well, Hi-Point's already got the overly complex internals part down...
Wooah the early days of Forgotten weapons. He's come along way
Thank you so much for demonstrating and explaining this end-of-WW2 German semi-automatic firearm. Firearm history books typically ridiculed the VG1-5 as a flimsy weapon of desperation that was crude, likely prone to jamming and insinuated it was of low quality as to be risky to use. Your demonstration corrects the history books. The VG1-5 looks Sten-like crude, but like the British Sten, proved strong and rugged enough to be effective. I now think the VG1-5 would have worked ok in battle.
I am so Unreasonably jealous of you while at the same time really thankful for these videos. I have read books stared at pictures and studied history of some of the guns that you show but my chances of taking a close look at one are slim to none. But I am thankful that you put out these videos Because honestly I have no Idea where else I would get to take a look inside of a VG 1 5 or a aftomat Fedorova. Keep Up the Great work and one day I hope to have a job like yours.
3:22 Gangster Rap album cover
Thank you Ian. Recently I read Guy Sajer "Forgotten Soldier". He apparently liked this gun. I didn't know what gun this was until today.
first time i saw this gun on the net, i really liked it, i have a thing for crude/odd looking weapons. though i didn't think id find a video of one until i found you're channel of course.
I honestly think the drawbacks of an MP-40 style folding stock would outweigh any potential advantages on a design like this. An AK-74 style triangular side folder might work, but again, I don't see enough of an advantage to justify the extra expense and labor that would go into the production of such a beast. Especially when it was originally designed for untrained civilians who were basically cannon fodder.
For many years I've seen on pictures all kind of issued and protoypes of german guns during the II WW but this is the first time I see this one. I didn't know it at all!
Nice to see someone is up here posting videos of shooting these rare guns!
I haven't put photos up on the site yet, but I will be. We took a whole bunch.
VG1-5 is the only rifle of its kind. The only rifle that uses gas retardation to resist tremendous blowback from a Kurz round. There is none like it today in fact. The designer was clever enough to put the gas hole very near the gas chamber bushing (barrel extension). The Germans already realized the case ejection problem with blowback action being resisted prematurely. At moment of firing spent case completely separates from chamber before the rearward action is being absorbed by the counter force from the gas battering in opposite direction the walls of the gas chamber. Much like the way an AA12 applies at the right moment the counter force against the backward moving 1 kilo bolt.
The Emperor is pleased that you chose a boltgun.
If I was drafted into the VS, if immediately deserting and running to the Allied sectors isn't an option, I'd hope at the very least I'd get issued one of these. It's probably the best of a bad bunch of the VG rifles, followed by the VG-2.
You are very fortunate to have been able to "play" with that beauty. Some dayI may own my own... Replica. Haha, no way I'd be able to afford a real one and feel well off enough to own a house all ate once!
You know, that sweatshirt used to be standard issue for Swedish Army Officers, m/87 Shirt. Except the Swedish Military variant was OD Green
JESUS, the sound of firing that down a tube like that is monsterous!
Ah! A pipe range.! Used many of these for checking zero in my military days. Thanks Ian.
Nope. I've handled examples of the VG-1 and VG-2, but not the 3 or 4.
I strangely love that POS! Great video
watches this now, its kinda impressing how much your quality improved since these days ^^
Every video a public service! Thanks Ian.
with the gas ports so far forward they wouldn't do much for delaying blow back so much as extra spring force to keep the bolt from slamming into the receiver so hard. more like a buffer than a gas delay? just a thought.
Precisely. the Steyr GB pistol works the same way. They use gas as a recoil buffer.
Back then: no materials? Try ingenuity
Today: where's the duct tape
No idea - I've never seen an Airsoft version of one.
Video in the Volksturmgewehr Gustloff WWII rifle.
So, the 7,92 Kurz may be employed on a blowback weapon with a massive bolt? I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T-I-N-G!
Ah, ze Germans. Even when they set themselves to design a weapon geared towards simple production meant for equipping militiamen, it still has that "German" flavor of a little of complexity and refinement.
Richardsen Flavour*
Over engineer it to atoms.
You say it isn't a violent recoil, but it looks violent as heck.
we need a 4k remake of this shooting
Awesome firearm, well abnormal. It's weird to see a German rifle so crude, my 1942 K98k was beautifully made by Steyr. Still, this raw firearm fascinates me! Cheers for the video!
Great video! I've always wanted to see this gun in action. With some refinement and good enough fit the gas-delayed blowback could well enough be workable in a gun firing an intermediate cartridge. It seems to work fine in some pistols anyway.
I think that the recoil of this weapon is more due to the barrel being high and the classic rifle stock. The MKb/MP/STG rifles weight more, the barrel axis is lower, the shoulder stock is in line with the barrel, this results in less felt recoil, add to this the low rate of fire, and you have a very controllable weapon. The STG-44 and its predecessor were mean for front line troops, whereas the VG1-5 was a cheaper last ditch alternative for the Volkgrenadiers.
By far, one of My favorite YT channels! 👍🏻
So it's the people's assault/storm rifle?
RIchard Gomez yes. Towards the end of the war, the nazis basically enlisted everybody that could point and shoot a gun as a last ditch effort and needed guns quick, so they made this.
I am too lazy to think of a good username, so i made this one
That username is awesome
@@SSgtCalebP Cal ok
Ian hasn’t aged in 10 years
Probably the best weapon out of their quick built weapons to defend the motherland.
You mean Väterland
Germany Is the fatherland
Russia (and just about every other countryis the motherland
cody sonnet Motherland fatherlands it's all the same shit different name.
Don't tell a German that and I am German
cody sonnet Good for you.
ShmotzGaming Fatherland or Motherland is not the same thing, fatherland is traditionally more patriotic name, sometimes more nationalist, while motherland is place where you were born and does not necessarily mean anything else.
the first video karl saw of ian's
Do you happen to know the weight of the slide assembly?
Why do you conclude that the gas delay was unnecessary/inneffective?
Would placing the gas ports farther back have made the gas delay anymore effective?
Do you think that a similar system could be made to work with 7.62x39?
We're always on the lookout for a good simple action on the Gun Building Forums.
Thanks.
.....RVM45
"Professionals have standarts!"
-unknown German engineer
Like a cross between a sten and an MP 44. Had no idea this gun existed
Fascinating design. I am wondering how the Germans determined the need to add the gas retarded feature in addition to the effect of the inertia from the bolt/sleeve assembly. It would have been interesting to see the results if the testing.
Another really interesting post. Thank you. It is so refreshing to have well presented historical perspectives and demonstrations rather than the all too common gun-toting madman rants from the USA. I shall be watching further videos in the series. Please keep up the good work in restoring and preserving historical artefacts.
Best weapon to be brought Into WWII. I hella adore this weapon.
well as long as those kurtz cartridges aren't popping out as straight brass cases I'd say the action is delayed well enough
You have a very expensive hobby, and an equally expensive collection, Mister. ;)
It's good to see you take pride in it, though, by learning about these guns; and especially for sharing it with the rest of us!
I find it,kinda awesome that the Radium Rifle in FALLOUT 4's Far Harbor DLC,is mostly based off of this weapon... Right down to the horrendous recoil! XD
Jones from96 And it has an auto mode, oh god!
Ian is out here playing battlefield 5 in real life
Is that an RAF Jumper with a "working blues" shirt? All they do is make you itchy, the wind blows straight through.
How would you rate the combat effectiveness of the weapon? We've seen the quality and what it was used for, but for me atleast, this is exactly the sort of thing that an average soldier (all branches) would've needed, atleast pending the wide-scale issue of the StGs. Compact semi rifle firing a round that's effective to around 200-300 m, and plenty of ammo to go with it. Maybe with better finish and features, but still, it'd be more economical and effective. Great videos btw, rare stuff!
Don't know if this has been brought up, but since this an obviously safe weapon and cheap to produce, why haven't reproductions of it been made? It could even be made in 7.62x39 and use AK mags, for that matter.
I thinks gunlab made one among other guns
I'm thinking the design might not be able to handle the pressures of the 39. I'd advise keeping the original caliber or going for something common like 9mm Luger.
Also, in the US that would be an SBR, which would require registration and the whole nine yards.