Local Boy Saves Nation: The Australian Owen SMG

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  • Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
  • / forgottenweapons
    Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! shop.bbtv.com/c...
    The One submachine gun is one of the ugliest SMGs ever designed, and yet also one of the most beloved by its users. The original basis for the gun was a .22 rimfire submachine gun designed by 23-year-old Australian Evelyn Owen. That prototype was found by his neighbor Vincent Wardell after Owen left for military service. Wardell was the manager of Lysaght Works, an engineering firm, and thought that the gun might be the basis for a useful military SMG. As it turned out, he was right - it became the standard SMG of The Australian military through World War Two and the Korean War, and was one of the best such guns of that period. For more details on the history of the Owen, see my full article:
    www.forgottenw...
    Thanks to Movie Armament Group in Toronto for giving me the opportunity to bring you this video! Check out MAG on Instagram: / moviearmamentsgroup
    www.moviearms.com
    Contact:
    Forgotten Weapons
    PO Box 87647
    Tucson, AZ 85754

КОМЕНТАРІ • 4,9 тис.

  • @kurtyb7565
    @kurtyb7565 5 років тому +8136

    “He goofed around building himself a full auto submachine gun”
    That kid was the master of goofing around clearly lmao

    • @legalam
      @legalam 4 роки тому +428

      Kids in the old days were different, a friend of my dad’s built a rifle in metal work in Highschool and I can’t even put up a shelf.

    • @ogc9649
      @ogc9649 4 роки тому +309

      Can confirm. My names owen and I goof around. Used to make napalm bombs as a kid.

    • @ogc9649
      @ogc9649 4 роки тому +297

      Ah shit just got myself put on a watchlist.

    • @rmblwgn
      @rmblwgn 4 роки тому +111

      @@ogc9649 ill join you on a watch list. I used to make and set off primary and secondary high explosives when I was 15/16. ALL IN GOOD FUN! Only thing that was harmed was the dirt

    • @blades9152
      @blades9152 4 роки тому +21

      Sounds American

  • @ballsman9937
    @ballsman9937 5 років тому +3228

    “Oops, our kid left his full auto machine gun lying around.”

    • @onlyrushb6428
      @onlyrushb6428 5 років тому +107

      Well sh*t I've done it again

    • @marielikes2502
      @marielikes2502 4 роки тому +31

      Only rush B thats what happens when you only rush b, i told you we should try mid to a

    • @Abdega
      @Abdega 4 роки тому +81

      Boys will be boys

    • @SeedemFeedemRobots
      @SeedemFeedemRobots 4 роки тому +60

      "i dont care what the other kids moms are letting them do. you leave your SMG in the garage, not in this house!"

    • @dave_sic1365
      @dave_sic1365 4 роки тому +8

      Oops turns out I'm an engineer and throw it into production to make a domestic smg 😆

  • @eddiespaghetti54321
    @eddiespaghetti54321 5 років тому +4050

    It makes me happy that the guys who found and refined it gave credit to the kid who made it instead of taking credit for his invention. Most people would do the opposite.

    • @Chris-cr1xd
      @Chris-cr1xd 4 роки тому +156

      Fits better with thier advertising campaign...

    • @kingcode420
      @kingcode420 4 роки тому +366

      It's probably a good idea not to screw over someone who makes guns for fun

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 4 роки тому +47

      @uncletigger are you joking? We call people like that "dogs". We're the only country that has a unique word for people who do shitty things

    • @anarchyandempires5452
      @anarchyandempires5452 4 роки тому +7

      Looking at you Martin and Henry!!!

    • @wyomingptt
      @wyomingptt 4 роки тому +34

      yeah idk where your from but i think most people would have given credit to the kid, plus as Ian said, they were using the "homegrown local boy invents nation saving machine gun" angle to force the governments hand.

  • @J17_BT62
    @J17_BT62 3 роки тому +1764

    Imagine waking up and seeing “new” gun in our arsenal and it’s your fucking homemade SMG

    • @kickasspeanuts
      @kickasspeanuts 3 роки тому +212

      Evelyn Owen: what the fuck?
      Aussie: oh yeah, we got these last night. They're called Owen guns, coincidence huh?
      Owen: no I'm saying what the fuck because this was an old ass gun I made as a kid. why the fuck is it here I made it as a toy as a kid.
      Aussie: what now

    • @austinbutcher8106
      @austinbutcher8106 3 роки тому +31

      Id be like, holy shit i did it

    • @cephalopodintelligence932
      @cephalopodintelligence932 3 роки тому +59

      @@wolfie54321 Back in the day when they were all so, why you building an SMG? Oh because i'm bored, and this was allowed to carry on.

    • @thisreplysection1050
      @thisreplysection1050 3 роки тому +8

      And the one you built is missing

    • @TheSlasherJunkie
      @TheSlasherJunkie 3 роки тому +4

      @J Should and are seldom align

  • @jayzenitram9621
    @jayzenitram9621 5 років тому +3333

    "Oh, I'm so sorry, did my kid forget his machine gun again?"

    • @Matt_The_Hugenot
      @Matt_The_Hugenot 5 років тому +50

      Looks a lot less ugly with the stock off. By reputation they climb a lot though at least it's straight up.

    • @d5m2t2k41
      @d5m2t2k41 5 років тому +17

      The bastard child of a sten lol

    • @whatnowstinky
      @whatnowstinky 5 років тому +104

      from my understanding, he took it to the beach to bang off a magazine or two before he went into the army, on the way home he met some mates who were going to the pub.
      he just dumped it at against the fence/shed at his parents home, in a bag he was carrying it in, as he was in a hurry to get to the pub. :D

    • @tobias_bohne
      @tobias_bohne 5 років тому +67

      @@whatnowstinky Most Australian thing I've heard today

    • @Kornet2416
      @Kornet2416 5 років тому

      Most American statement ever

  • @cheese5719
    @cheese5719 4 роки тому +2051

    The Australian government - shafting local manufacturers for almost 80 years!!

    • @whatman6199
      @whatman6199 3 роки тому +121

      All governments- shafting all of us- forever

    • @And_rew92
      @And_rew92 3 роки тому +12

      Except the majority of our guns have been made by Lithgow Arms since WWII

    • @endlessengineering1488
      @endlessengineering1488 3 роки тому +6

      Nothings changed haha

    • @ChestnutnagsToolsFromJapan
      @ChestnutnagsToolsFromJapan 3 роки тому +7

      Still doing it today.

    • @_wallnutz_
      @_wallnutz_ 3 роки тому +48

      No, the Australian Government formed under the 1986 Australia act by Bob Hawke and changed our constitution without a referendum and are currently still unlawful and sitting in treason and are a registered corporation of the USA.
      Before that they were know as the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia.
      Restore our 1901 constitution. Get rid of the Australian Government!

  • @peepsbates
    @peepsbates 5 років тому +3371

    There's a reason for the lack of drop safety.
    In Australia, if you let go of your firearm and it's not connected to your ground tether, it falls upward into the sun.

    • @ootdega
      @ootdega 5 років тому +179

      God dammit you made me choke on my pizza you glorious bastard

    • @lilcameltoe6987
      @lilcameltoe6987 5 років тому +122

      my gravity harness is running out

    • @canadiannavigator3346
      @canadiannavigator3346 5 років тому +9

      peepsbates 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

    • @joshuakelly1846
      @joshuakelly1846 5 років тому +35

      It’s because if you have your firearm the government takes it away

    • @bushmasterangelo9603
      @bushmasterangelo9603 5 років тому +39

      *Down Under starts playing*

  • @Seven_Leaf
    @Seven_Leaf 3 роки тому +494

    Fools: _Laugh at magazine location._
    Gravity: _Laughs back._

    • @worawatli8952
      @worawatli8952 3 роки тому +61

      It came from the land down under, so it's actually on the right side.

    • @TheUnforgiven59
      @TheUnforgiven59 3 роки тому +14

      @@worawatli8952 I was waiting for someone to make that joke.

    • @TheUnforgiven59
      @TheUnforgiven59 3 роки тому +6

      Magazine: *blocks sights *

    • @beserkdonkey
      @beserkdonkey 2 роки тому +3

      @@TheUnforgiven59 fuck it we'll just have the sights go around

    • @weterinar13
      @weterinar13 5 місяців тому

      ​@@TheUnforgiven59 sights are for wankers

  • @toggtlas7099
    @toggtlas7099 5 років тому +2181

    Citizens: We developed this awesome machine gun, at own cost, to help the war effort!
    Government: Cool, first we're gonna ignore you, then we're gonna give you incorrect specifications, then we gonna pay you the bare minimum and then we will drag the payment for years.
    Patriotism at its finest.

    • @thepoliticalgunnut8018
      @thepoliticalgunnut8018 5 років тому +243

      Yea pretty much sums up the Australian government in general

    • @neillh
      @neillh 5 років тому +116

      The Australian government was told by the British government not to make it , I read it in the Australian shooters magazine quite a long time ago

    • @IceWolfLoki
      @IceWolfLoki 5 років тому +127

      @@neillh There is probably a lot a truth to that, wouldn't be surprised if the decision to put it into production was around the time that Curtin told Churchill where he could go and recalled the troops Europe and North Africa to defend Australia.

    • @RyTrapp0
      @RyTrapp0 5 років тому +63

      Patriotism/jingoism = CANCER
      It never ceases to amaze my how so many will defend all of the actions of their governments when the government wants little more than their money and maybe their body should they have the desire to go kill people elsewhere across the world.
      Stories like this only prove how governments give no fucks about their citizens, just keep sending those taxes in

    • @dfwai7589
      @dfwai7589 5 років тому +15

      @@RyTrapp0 this guy gets it

  • @lovelessissimo
    @lovelessissimo 5 років тому +501

    It ejects brass down under.

    • @MagronesBR2
      @MagronesBR2 5 років тому +32

      WHERE BEER FLOW AND MEN CHUNDER

    • @mccrafterguy
      @mccrafterguy 5 років тому +19

      @@MagronesBR2 can't you hear can't you hear that thunder?

    • @Lockbar
      @Lockbar 5 років тому +1

      agreed!!

    • @jstefa2
      @jstefa2 5 років тому +1

      its australian... it was made for european wor... so it ejects it up

    • @joshglover2370
      @joshglover2370 5 років тому

      😂 Good one! 😂

  • @WormsMaster100
    @WormsMaster100 5 років тому +7648

    Australia : where even the magazines are upside down

    • @kineticdeath
      @kineticdeath 5 років тому +277

      it wont work though we would actually need a gun with a traditional magazine under the weapon, or else the bullets will be dragged skyward, just like everything else hanging off the bottom of the planet down here!

    • @p4n1k49
      @p4n1k49 5 років тому +158

      do bullets also spin in the opposite direction?

    • @memesfromdeepspace1075
      @memesfromdeepspace1075 5 років тому +56

      So if they shot bullet straight front it fall down or fly up?

    • @insertname.5985
      @insertname.5985 5 років тому +20

      The Owen Gun works. Plus, if the magazine is upside down, the bullet will just fall into the place it gets fired from.

    • @ar-sithf.austin3744
      @ar-sithf.austin3744 5 років тому +9

      It actually feeds excellently because of it so long as it isn't fully loaded.

  • @bkbenelli
    @bkbenelli 2 роки тому +626

    So, at this point.. does Activision just send you checks in the mail for doing all their research for them?

    • @ForgottenWeapons
      @ForgottenWeapons  2 роки тому +579

      They should.

    • @gavincleland9010
      @gavincleland9010 2 роки тому +146

      Lol if Activision used Ian's channel for research the guns in their games would be accurate

    • @Maugli42
      @Maugli42 Рік тому +10

      Let's hope they let you get that 1.5% :D

    • @theconvictedquokka
      @theconvictedquokka Рік тому +11

      @@gavincleland9010 and not have a drum mag and a scope on a fucken owen gun #not salty

    • @mho...
      @mho... Рік тому +8

      @@theconvictedquokka 🤣 just try to imagine a drum ontop of this gun 😂

  • @zukriuchen
    @zukriuchen 5 років тому +566

    "Evelyn Owen got paid, he got out of the army..."
    Well the other guys didn't do so well, but I'm glad for Owen-
    "...turned into an alcoholic, had a failed lumber mill, then died"
    Oh

    • @tacticalbondsh
      @tacticalbondsh 5 років тому +13

      it happens

    • @John-ww6li
      @John-ww6li 5 років тому +75

      Evelyn Owen was presented with his own Owen Machine Carbine by Lysaghts when he left. The porkforce knew of this presentation piece, so staged a raid on Owen's home, confiscated it and charged him with being in possession of a machinegun. Cops here never change, except for the worse.

    • @brodaviing6617
      @brodaviing6617 5 років тому +50

      @@John-ww6li >when the cops still behave like it's a penal colony

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +20

      @Johno
      Police? You mean the government sanctioned enemies of law abiding citizenry?

    • @m2heavyindustries378
      @m2heavyindustries378 5 років тому +16

      @@John-ww6li Fake news, records or it didn't happen

  • @Phobos_Anomaly
    @Phobos_Anomaly 5 років тому +1074

    "he goofed around, building himself an automatic submachine gun." Goddamn, when I was a kid I could barely build a Lego set.

    • @Naatzx2
      @Naatzx2 4 роки тому +41

      CEO OF GOOFING AROUND

    • @dancovington6633
      @dancovington6633 4 роки тому +37

      We've deliberately developed things like X-Boxes and Legos instead of teaching kids to solder, weld, use machining tools, and so forth so that kids wouldn't do stuff like this when goofing around, and then we proceded to criminalize a whole heap of things that it used to be commonplace for kids to do for the same reason. Back in the day, a lot more kids lost eyes and fingers and such.

    • @truereaper4572
      @truereaper4572 4 роки тому +6

      @@dancovington6633 Wait are you saying that kids losing eyes and fingers is good?

    • @bepsi_wav8594
      @bepsi_wav8594 4 роки тому +23

      @@truereaper4572 that's.. I don't think that that's the point of what he was saying lol

    • @eckiefleckie4938
      @eckiefleckie4938 4 роки тому +1

      Phobos Anomaly he was 17 though

  • @allmanius
    @allmanius 5 років тому +443

    Evelyn Owens was from Wollongong, NSW my hometown.
    The Owens SMG aka “The Diggers Darling” was produced at the Lysaght’s Works (now known as BHP) steel works located at Port Kembla, NSW (which is still active today) & Newcastle, NSW (which sadly was shut down).
    His neighbour Vincent Wardell who was the manager of large steel products at the port Kembla steel works found the .22 calibre prototype hidden in a sugar sack in the backyard & was so impressed with it’s simple design he arranged for Owens to be transferred to the Army Inventions Board to continue working on it.
    The SMG was super reliable, had a service life of over 20 years, was used in 5 seperate conflicts from WWII to the Rhodesian Bush War & was used by the armed forces of 8 different countries including America during Vietnam.
    There might be a few new ones floating around somewhere because in 2004 Australian police raided an underground (illegal) weapons factory located in Melbourne & seized several copies of the SMG with bottom feeding magazines including several versions with integrated silencers.
    Not bad for a SMG that was designed by a 24 year old kid & cost around $30 Australian to make.

    • @redonk1740
      @redonk1740 5 років тому +20

      It takes more than just likes to get a comment seen, so I replied although I have nothing to add.

    • @12vscience
      @12vscience 5 років тому +10

      @@redonk1740 Agreed.

    • @Toddza88
      @Toddza88 5 років тому +1

      That’s fucken awesome I used to live in Dubbo, dad and my family used to travel by there when dad has to do a job or two there.

    • @BAdventures
      @BAdventures 5 років тому +1

      Thanks Darth. I also read that in an Australian military history book. I'm glad Ian covered it.

    • @ridanann
      @ridanann 5 років тому +1

      to be fare an engineering mind like that would probably be working an arm manufacturing officially today becoz u cant legal knock this up in ur shed.

  • @vincentowen85
    @vincentowen85 3 роки тому +1082

    Evelyn was my great uncle. Still very proud even though I never met him.

    • @jasoncrosskey2669
      @jasoncrosskey2669 3 роки тому +53

      I only found out about this gun a couple months ago. I was really surprised that it came from Wollongong. I'm sure my grandfather had one of these from his service in New Guinea, but he gave it in to authorities. I recall him getting it out when I was a kid. I think I asked if he had bullets to try it out. Probably why he got rid of it 😄.

    • @mmmatthews9135
      @mmmatthews9135 3 роки тому +19

      I remember learning about the Owen gun at a military museum at Port Kembla Wollongong in the 90's. My dad used to go there for shooters club meetings. I remember someone there teaching me how to hold it for full auto firing. Not that i was ever going to get to fire it.

    • @matty8944
      @matty8944 3 роки тому +45

      @@jasoncrosskey2669 That's a real shame. A valuable piece of Australian history was destroyed there.

    • @Jojojoeyx3
      @Jojojoeyx3 3 роки тому +9

      Small world huh?

    • @Beer_Me
      @Beer_Me 3 роки тому +58

      You should make me a full auto sub machine gun. I know you can do it. Its in your genes

  • @matthayward7889
    @matthayward7889 5 років тому +622

    Top feed? WWII? Genuinely effective?
    Yes please mate!

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +53

      "sight picture? just point the F*cking thing and shoot"

    • @williammiao8862
      @williammiao8862 5 років тому +33

      Using 45 degree offset sight before it was cool

    • @thetrippedup9322
      @thetrippedup9322 5 років тому +11

      *Bren*

    • @diamondflaw
      @diamondflaw 5 років тому +23

      Not just top feed - top feed with double feed magazine.

    • @darnit1944
      @darnit1944 5 років тому +7

      @@diamondflaw lol double stack and double feed is different.
      One is a design improvement, and the other is a malfunction.

  • @TheAlienxxPSN
    @TheAlienxxPSN 5 років тому +1015

    Japan: *Brandishes Type 100*
    Australia: "That's not a gun... This is a gun!"

    • @Kevwadius
      @Kevwadius 5 років тому +26

      I don't think it's ugly. It's a thing of beauty

    • @Edax_Royeaux
      @Edax_Royeaux 5 років тому +32

      @@Kevwadius It does look like a gun straight out of Mad Max, doesn't it?

    • @YEAHKINDA
      @YEAHKINDA 5 років тому +15

      THAT AINT NO GUN! **Packs some chewing tobacco and pulls out a M32 rotary grenade launcher**
      THIS IS A GUN!

    • @cericat
      @cericat 5 років тому +8

      @@Edax_Royeaux Back in 2004 a raid down in Melbourne turned up a heap of suppressed copies with bottom feeding magazines, they were manufacturing them themselves probably for sale to gangs.

    • @strongside4565
      @strongside4565 5 років тому +1

      You can definitely tell that there was a lot of inspiration taken from the type 100 in the design of the Owen gun.

  • @alucardvigilatedismas2868
    @alucardvigilatedismas2868 5 років тому +643

    "Oops our kid left his machine gun here"
    Also the fact a .455 submachine gun that presumably worked ever is pretty neat

    • @bubba200874426
      @bubba200874426 5 років тому +46

      I would like to see what the magazine for that would look like. It's gotta be the weirdest banana ever.

    • @bossplayerunit4563
      @bossplayerunit4563 5 років тому +3

      im pretty sure the owen uses 9mm but maybe you are talking about something else

    • @bubba200874426
      @bubba200874426 5 років тому +71

      @@bossplayerunit4563 if you watched the video, there is a point where the military was jerking the engineers around by having them redesign for random cartridges, including .455 Webley, and the video implies it was working with that cartridge.

    • @fuzzydunlop7928
      @fuzzydunlop7928 5 років тому +4

      Wasn't the Italian OVP or whatever in .455 at some point? Look it up, I'm unsure if the source is correct - but there is at least two sources saying that it was - at some point - chambered in .455 for whatever reason.

    • @TheRealRedRooster
      @TheRealRedRooster 5 років тому +12

      @@bubba200874426 I am pretty sure that that (test) version was NOT using the rimmed .455 Webley Mk2 or Mk6, but the .455 Webley Auto, which was also used in the M1911 "British Service Model". And the difference between that and .45ACP is rather that .455 Webley Auto is a bit slower with less recoil...

  • @deadperson595
    @deadperson595 2 роки тому +794

    I love the fact youtube just recommends this vid right after vanguard launches

  • @GreenGuyGeno
    @GreenGuyGeno 4 роки тому +682

    "What even is this design? It looks like it was crafted by a little child!"
    Well... you see...

    • @catinthehat906
      @catinthehat906 3 роки тому +8

      If you need a demonstration of why this gun was so beloved by Australian troops watch this ua-cam.com/video/IOvCJHMyyxo/v-deo.html
      No other gun would tolerate that sort of abuse and still function perfectly.

    • @yaboihanz7658
      @yaboihanz7658 3 роки тому +16

      The AK family be like: Just want to say I am a huge fan

    • @mr.randomperson9900
      @mr.randomperson9900 2 роки тому +7

      “Funny story actually…”

    • @protohno4527
      @protohno4527 2 роки тому +1

      Well I mean, you know how kids are. You forget to buy them Legos and they make smgs instead.. wait your kids don't do that?

  • @korstmahler
    @korstmahler 5 років тому +363

    When we put 5 of these on a Bob Semple Tank we'll have completed the ANZAC Infinity gauntlet.
    The only snap will likely be the bulldozer's transmission going, but it counts in my books.

    • @Explosivefox109
      @Explosivefox109 5 років тому +5

      fuckin aye mate

    • @WarmasterDeath
      @WarmasterDeath 5 років тому +12

      why not put them on the AC-1 Sentinel?

    • @lewisirwin5363
      @lewisirwin5363 5 років тому +20

      Swap out two of those respectively for a Charlton gun and the rather startling gunport from the Sentinel tank, and you've got yourself a deal.

    • @gavinhudson5251
      @gavinhudson5251 5 років тому

      @@WarmasterDeath That's what I thought.

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +4

      Bob Semple Tank stops for nothing (but transmission issues)

  • @PhantomSavage
    @PhantomSavage 4 роки тому +2710

    Submachine guns WWII:
    America: Heavy, beautifully crafted, stopping power, big recoil and iconic design.
    Germany: Precision, practicality over craftsmanship, state-of-the-art engineering, easier and cheaper mass production.
    Australia: Local boy makes Mad Max-eskque fully automatic contraption out of pipes and spare shop metal, changes country's entire military history.

    • @CommunistPinkiePie
      @CommunistPinkiePie 4 роки тому +227

      Some of the biggest issues with German weaponry was that it was craftsmanship over practicality which hindered mass production lol

    • @dizzygunner
      @dizzygunner 4 роки тому +165

      It funny you picked out the Thompson for America considering there where so many more grease guns which sound exactly the way you described the Owen gun.

    • @bigchief7900
      @bigchief7900 4 роки тому +18

      @@dizzygunner and funny thing is the the thompson was created by the irish Republic army

    • @austinm.9832
      @austinm.9832 4 роки тому +71

      @@bigchief7900 is this a joke?

    • @jamesforgie6594
      @jamesforgie6594 4 роки тому +39

      Certain Australian mechanics have become moderately famous in Australia for being able to fix just about anything with just about anything. I’ve also got a book about Aussie sappers in Vietnam who blew up a sabotaged bridge to get it in working order.

  • @andrewstrongman305
    @andrewstrongman305 3 роки тому +546

    Aussie soldiers didn't think the Owen gun ugly, we adored them. Unlike the Thompson or Sten, they could be dropped in mud or sand and still work perfectly.

    • @danielevans8910
      @danielevans8910 3 роки тому +5

      😂😂 sure bud

    • @johnperks8620
      @johnperks8620 3 роки тому +69

      Yes that is true. My father who served in Borneo told me the same thing. Drop it in a swamp and it would still shoot perfectly.

    • @andrewstrongman305
      @andrewstrongman305 3 роки тому +62

      @@danielevans8910 Was I incorrect in any way? Please instruct those who obviously lack your superior knowledge...

    • @idioticseagull3498
      @idioticseagull3498 2 роки тому +1

      @@andrewstrongman305 he may be talking to the guy that said " sure bud"

    • @ninjireal
      @ninjireal 2 роки тому +35

      @@idioticseagull3498 he _is_ the guy who said “sure bud”

  • @certaindeaf8315
    @certaindeaf8315 5 років тому +490

    I have a sneaky suspicion that that gun holds the record for "ways to open a beer bottle".

    • @Thermalions
      @Thermalions 5 років тому +52

      The real reason for the later model cut-outs.

    • @yareyare_dechi
      @yareyare_dechi 5 років тому +30

      no need. all australians come with all the way to open a beer inbuilt.

    • @mumpetwombat822
      @mumpetwombat822 5 років тому +3

      The sights are on the right for a reason

    • @theultimategamer8537
      @theultimategamer8537 5 років тому +2

      I’m pretty sure the Israelis have got the Australians beat on that front

    • @mumpetwombat822
      @mumpetwombat822 5 років тому +6

      THE ULTIMATE GAMER is that a challenge 😂🍻

  • @greencomputerfan
    @greencomputerfan 5 років тому +196

    As for why the sights are on that side of the gun, you have to remember everything in Australia is upside down and backwards so it makes sense with that in mind

    • @IceWolfLoki
      @IceWolfLoki 5 років тому +13

      I thought it was because Australian's fired it left handed leaving the right hand free for other uses.

    • @sovietspaghetti7472
      @sovietspaghetti7472 5 років тому +12

      That's also why the magazine is on top of the gun

  • @JZepfield
    @JZepfield 4 роки тому +551

    "Oops our kid left his machine gun laying around" as an Australian with the kind of gun laws we have now, that's funny.

    • @Scroolewse
      @Scroolewse Рік тому +5

      just make a machine gun lol

    • @JZepfield
      @JZepfield Рік тому +17

      ​@@ScroolewseThe police would stop me before I even start lol

    • @hfhfffhfhf
      @hfhfffhfhf Рік тому +4

      @@JZepfield yeah sure ;)

    • @YoutubeCO713
      @YoutubeCO713 9 місяців тому

      ​@@Scroolewse what use is a sub machine gun in Australia

    • @IntoxicatedRebal
      @IntoxicatedRebal 9 місяців тому +1

      Those gun laws have saved my life more than once. I had a meth head try shoot me with a crossbow once...I just bolted haha.

  • @b.santos8804
    @b.santos8804 3 роки тому +1127

    Mean schoolkids: "Haha your name is Evelyn!"
    Evelyn Owen:

    • @terryfox9229
      @terryfox9229 3 роки тому +8

      Evelyn Waugh

    • @ivanolsen8596
      @ivanolsen8596 3 роки тому +7

      The male name is pronounced Eevlyn.

    • @00_rei90
      @00_rei90 3 роки тому +48

      *pump up kicks played in a distance*

    • @aymonfoxc1442
      @aymonfoxc1442 3 роки тому +37

      Except he was Australian, so he was probably far more sensible and just gave them a thumping rather than becoming a school shooter...
      Buy yeah, you could still play Pumped Up Kicks but referencing a couple of different guns.

    • @bananaboi551
      @bananaboi551 3 роки тому +3

      @@aymonfoxc1442 yeah righto buddy

  • @Dreska_
    @Dreska_ 5 років тому +355

    As an Australian I love this gun. I really feel like it captures the Australian spirit, especially of its era. Nothing fancy, endurance is everything, and gets the bloody job done.
    Worth noting our population was barely over 7 million in WW2. New York City in 1940 had the same population as all of Australia. Yet we still stood up & made a name for ourselves everywhere we went.
    (I'm not military, so don't take 'we' as me taking credit for the service & sacrifice of others)

    • @vincivedivicilextalionas4036
      @vincivedivicilextalionas4036 5 років тому

      @@christopherbertoli7322 lol your country is nearly the size of one state, Alaska.

    • @fatweed3628
      @fatweed3628 5 років тому +13

      ​@@vincivedivicilextalionas4036
      mate alaska is 1,717,856 km2
      Australia is 7.692 million km²

    • @middleclassbogan9741
      @middleclassbogan9741 5 років тому +5

      @@christopherbertoli7322 fucking facts ay

    • @DobroPlayer12
      @DobroPlayer12 5 років тому +14

      @@christopherbertoli7322 FUCK OFF we're FULL. Australia is the driest continent on earth. There's barely enough water for the current population, let alone the 100 million africans you want to import.

    • @nica2411
      @nica2411 5 років тому +2

      @@christopherbertoli7322 that's cause all of the outback is basically uninhabitable unless you truck out water. 99% of the population is concentrated within a few hundred kilometers from the coasts. There is still plenty of room though.

  • @jai4085
    @jai4085 5 років тому +542

    As a proud Australian, I can assure you I’ve been waiting for this.

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому

      and a hd version of the t2 video that even cares to mention the AAA guns

    • @0BRAINS0
      @0BRAINS0 5 років тому

      😎

    • @chrispeterson1247
      @chrispeterson1247 5 років тому +7

      Are you proud of your gun laws? lol

    • @segrientboar5954
      @segrientboar5954 5 років тому +13

      @@chrispeterson1247 Some of us are working on those laws. An uphill battle.

    • @jai4085
      @jai4085 5 років тому +6

      Chris, happy with them, no I think there could be some restrictions lifted but there’s some common misconceptions about what we’re able to access. Proud of them, yes. They’ve helped reduce crimes and we’ve haven’t had a fire arms massacre since the port Arthur shooting which bought them in.

  • @beaudaniel1370
    @beaudaniel1370 5 років тому +462

    I've only ever seen these painted camo, wierd to see it black

    • @zoranhome
      @zoranhome 5 років тому +10

      This one is refinished and repainted, it was camo painted

    • @beaudaniel1370
      @beaudaniel1370 5 років тому +25

      @@zoranhome I watched the video too

    • @sambaggins2798
      @sambaggins2798 5 років тому +4

      They were mass produced with that camo paint job. Unusual to see it unpainted.

    • @averylegitperson6305
      @averylegitperson6305 5 років тому +2

      Black guns matter

    • @omardumbrell435
      @omardumbrell435 5 років тому +3

      They refurbished them in the 50's to try and standardize the various models and make them more military looking.That's probably where it lost it's finnned barrel.

  • @dylanbenjaminwalter2896
    @dylanbenjaminwalter2896 3 роки тому +40

    My grandfather made these in Wollongong at his factory. I took a Chinese property developer there and told him the story. He was in tears recalling the Japanese terror (80yo). My grandfather was Walter Jervis (died 3 years ago). He was MD of Lysaght until 1987.

  • @fredsalfa
    @fredsalfa 5 років тому +151

    Growing up in Australia I also grew up knowing this gun as part of Australias history. I never saw it as "ugly" but quite a sophisticated looking and modern weapon which has a reputation better than the Sten and Thompson

    • @Darqshadow
      @Darqshadow 2 роки тому +9

      The Thompson wasn't bad, just over engineered for an SMG which made it rather bad for jungle fighting. In Urban and European areas? Good weapon to have.
      The Owen is just that much better because it could operate in the Jungle. That alone wins it the acclaim that is due.

  • @MarcinP2
    @MarcinP2 5 років тому +281

    You usually keep one side of weapon clear of pointy sticky bits for carrying on the back. The charging handle was already sticking out on the right. My best guess

    • @leifvejby8023
      @leifvejby8023 5 років тому +18

      Could be the reason we were looking for.

    • @devincook2736
      @devincook2736 5 років тому +33

      Or as a righty you cant the thing so the mag is at more like a diagonal and the sights are at 12 o clock, ie gangster style.

    • @rigobertohidalgo2487
      @rigobertohidalgo2487 5 років тому +6

      Also most Australians are left handed, lol

    • @lancerd4934
      @lancerd4934 5 років тому +33

      Maybe Owen was a lefty and They never bothered to change it. Or it was intended as a conventional bottom feed and they made it upside down because it's Australia, which put the sights on the wrong side.

    • @davidcolter
      @davidcolter 5 років тому +6

      It's a southern hemisphere thing, like water swirling the other way round when it goes down the plughole.

  • @dazaspc
    @dazaspc 5 років тому +131

    The only machine gun I have ever had the opportunity to use. I was 8 years old and I shredded a termite mound. Never forget it.

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +10

      should've saved it for the meat ants like i did

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +2

      That's the best way to get rid of termites, lol.

    • @Leonbray
      @Leonbray 5 років тому +1

      Yep certainly was a nice weapon to fire. Much more controllable than a Thompson

    • @mysss29
      @mysss29 5 років тому

      @@xmm-cf5eg I sorta doubt it was very effective....

    • @alonsocushing2398
      @alonsocushing2398 5 років тому +1

      They were still being used when I was with the Australian Army in Malaya in 1967. I also got to use one. As I recall they climbed right and high a little.

  • @GageFilms
    @GageFilms 3 роки тому +97

    The story of this gun could make a really kick-ass movie.

    • @terrifryday3641
      @terrifryday3641 3 роки тому +3

      Oiii write it ! Before someone else does. Honestly

    • @clayauslewis4236
      @clayauslewis4236 5 місяців тому

      Clearly, if Owen was an American, Hollywood would have made one by now.

  • @samuelberghuvud5527
    @samuelberghuvud5527 5 років тому +413

    5:57 "just falls out bown the bottom of the gun"
    Don't you mean down under the gun

    • @jayzenitram9621
      @jayzenitram9621 5 років тому +94

      Plot twist: since they're in Australia the spent case is actually falling upwards.

    • @Bl4ckD0g
      @Bl4ckD0g 5 років тому +4

      Don't forget your sunglasses and cool walk away with that pun.

    • @lewisirwin5363
      @lewisirwin5363 5 років тому +17

      Can you hear that thunder? You better run, you better take cover!

    • @mainepants
      @mainepants 5 років тому +7

      @@lewisirwin5363 Finally a bloody brilliant Men at Work quote!

    • @stevenbobbybills
      @stevenbobbybills 5 років тому +3

      @@lewisirwin5363 *epic wind instrument noises*

  • @royalbirb275
    @royalbirb275 4 роки тому +4845

    America: basic engineering
    Germany: advanced engineering
    Britain: plumber engineering
    Australia: *angery pipe*

    • @jamesenglish3031
      @jamesenglish3031 4 роки тому +68

      Fan of brandon Herrera?

    • @royalbirb275
      @royalbirb275 4 роки тому +28

      operator james perhaps :)

    • @ajohnymous5699
      @ajohnymous5699 4 роки тому +171

      Soviet: "It looks like we just cobbled some stuff together, and we did, but this surprisingly works well!" engineering

    • @steampunksamp80
      @steampunksamp80 4 роки тому +118

      Sten, Owen, and grease guns all function as angry pipes

    • @billy6044
      @billy6044 4 роки тому +48

      Soviet: Durable engineering

  • @PhotogNT
    @PhotogNT 4 роки тому +925

    A friend of mine who was in the Australian army, served in the pacific, he told me that US troops liked the Owen so much they would swap 2 Thompson's for 1 Owen gun.

    • @hisholiness9016
      @hisholiness9016 3 роки тому +176

      That's actually true.
      I'm not too sure about the exchange rate you mentioned but the boots on the ground, American soldier, fighting in the Pacific was very keen on getting an Owen Gun.

    • @user-njyzcip
      @user-njyzcip 3 роки тому +75

      I mean the Tommy gun was too heavy and quite uncontrollable, the later M1s were especially jumpy

    • @kj_heichou
      @kj_heichou 3 роки тому +62

      Thompson was prone to jamming in wet jungle climates

    • @kickasspeanuts
      @kickasspeanuts 3 роки тому +71

      We trading guns like pokemon cards now?

    • @meranzo8665
      @meranzo8665 3 роки тому +36

      @@kickasspeanuts back in the day

  • @browndog171063
    @browndog171063 3 роки тому +99

    As an Aussie and a veteran thanks for that. Much appreciated.

  • @cambear1435
    @cambear1435 5 років тому +165

    Two days ago i said to my girlfriend "man i wish Ian would do a video on the Owen SMG"
    ..And here we are.
    Thank you Ian.

    • @andrewwaterman9240
      @andrewwaterman9240 5 років тому +35

      Thank your girlfriend. She may have abilities of which you are unaware.

    • @RyTrapp0
      @RyTrapp0 5 років тому +5

      What were her thoughts? Quite layered, I presume?

    • @Viraqua
      @Viraqua 5 років тому +5

      Did you have to blow her back up in the meantime?

    • @issackliener3065
      @issackliener3065 5 років тому

      @@andrewwaterman9240 heheh, abilities

    • @IAM-kc5ov
      @IAM-kc5ov 5 років тому +1

      Cam Bear
      You two may have actually literally manifested this episode. I’m not even joking.
      Our thoughts are frequencies that can affect our reality on a much deeper level.

  • @jeroen6176
    @jeroen6176 4 роки тому +157

    The PK stamped on the receiver stands for Port Kembla, the suburb in New South Wales where Lysacht (which became BHP Steel, now Bluescope Steel) was situated.

  • @hexmark4879
    @hexmark4879 5 років тому +156

    I,ve seen period footage of this weapon being submerged in mud pulled out cocked and fired then reloaded and fired again it,s an awesome bit of Aussie kit

    • @cericat
      @cericat 5 років тому +1

      I know right? Looks like the main place for any issues is the trigger assembly, so simple otherwise. SMH

    • @ThatGuy-te9wh
      @ThatGuy-te9wh 4 роки тому

      It's like a cool Hi-Point.

    • @wimmeraparanormal6581
      @wimmeraparanormal6581 4 роки тому +5

      ua-cam.com/video/23M6H_rec6Y/v-deo.html

    • @kingofthings7929
      @kingofthings7929 4 роки тому +3

      That makes sense, actually. The mud can’t reach the important bits. Might be an intentional choice, given the jungles they’d be used in.

    • @hexmark4879
      @hexmark4879 4 роки тому +2

      @@wimmeraparanormal6581 Ta mate thats the one

  • @m3me_enthus14st8
    @m3me_enthus14st8 3 роки тому +95

    Owen in the Army: Hey this kinda reminds me of the stuff I would goof around with back home!
    Owen later: Wait a minute...

  • @camorpheusau2344
    @camorpheusau2344 5 років тому +197

    Comfy 8:30pm West Aussie upload, thanks Ian

    • @rakkartta4535
      @rakkartta4535 5 років тому +4

      yeah hear you on that from Queensland

    • @angus6858
      @angus6858 5 років тому +1

      @@rakkartta4535 10:30 over here bruss

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому

      why so many gun guys who are queensladers? proud queenslander and gun guy here.

    • @lancerd4934
      @lancerd4934 5 років тому

      @@damonjenkins2185 probably because QLD has the loosest gun and weapons laws in the country - it's basically Australia's wild west. Plus most of the army's combat elements are based there and I guess a lot of those guys stay after finishing their service.

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +1

      @@lancerd4934 loosest weapons and gun laws in the country? is that referring to the fact that you can own pre 1901 guns in an obsolete caliber unregistered, being able to own deactivated firearms or owning things such as the wfa1 on a cat b licence and the wt15-01 on a handgun licence?

  • @wtwarrior7698
    @wtwarrior7698 5 років тому +621

    "Finally we can bring the fight to the emus!"

    • @IceWolfLoki
      @IceWolfLoki 5 років тому +42

      We don't like to mention the Emus :(

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +13

      sad that this is all that's known of out beautiful country

    • @SlavicCelery
      @SlavicCelery 5 років тому +44

      @@damonjenkins2185 it's not often a country has a war with birds and loses.

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +22

      @@SlavicCeleryemus are the least of out worries with 100 types of snake, Gympie Gympie plant, and cassowaries to worry about. we lost the emu war because we started the cassowary war, couldn't get the priorities right with out flightless birds - edit

    • @davidcool5189
      @davidcool5189 5 років тому +13

      Damon Jenkins I had no idea what a gympie gympie was and had to look it up. Seriously, wtf is up with that island? Do you have anything there that doesn't try to kill or maim everything it comes in to contact with?

  • @michaellemmons451
    @michaellemmons451 5 років тому +523

    11:25
    (Heavy Australian accent):"Well, don't drop the bloody thing, ya Pelican!" ;)

    • @John-ww6li
      @John-ww6li 5 років тому +11

      When guns were returned to armouries, many received the 1956 FTR (factory thorough repair) which included blocking the safe position on the selector, and added a radial sleeve at the rear of the receiver so it could lock the cocking handle to the rear. Guns remarked as Mk. 1/3 or 2/3.

    • @DonHavjuan
      @DonHavjuan 5 років тому +14

      We would say "ya wombat" actually.

    • @insertname.5985
      @insertname.5985 5 років тому

      Yes. Don’t drop it!

    • @willspears754
      @willspears754 5 років тому +6

      legitimately how an Australian would deal with that situation

    • @TheLexiconDevils
      @TheLexiconDevils 5 років тому

      No one says pelican ...

  • @123Jokkmokk123
    @123Jokkmokk123 3 роки тому +122

    One thing i've noticed about SMG's, is that the simpler one's tend to be good.

    • @sovietsquirrel1315
      @sovietsquirrel1315 3 роки тому +10

      Uzi, sten and grease gun are some of the best SMGs out there!

    • @chrystynec1496
      @chrystynec1496 2 роки тому +11

      @@sovietsquirrel1315 do not forget the ppsh-41 or sumoi

    • @acidicvial
      @acidicvial 2 роки тому +4

      @@chrystynec1496 Or the PPS-43

    • @carlhilber2275
      @carlhilber2275 4 місяці тому

      Well yeah, that's the niche they fill. Small easy to produce automatic fire power. As our production capabilities have improved, smg's have gradually started to die off.

  • @scorch855
    @scorch855 4 роки тому +199

    "It was well liked everywhere"
    Well excluding the people on the receiving end lol

    • @raptorjesus3894
      @raptorjesus3894 3 роки тому +28

      "Motherfuckers just came up from a giant pit of mud, how the hell are they firing?!"
      -Some Japanese soldier after getting shot by it.

    • @hisdudeness8328
      @hisdudeness8328 3 роки тому +3

      "Him no good."
      Relatable quote from an Indian that was on the receiving end of a Colt 45 peacemaker.

  • @salokin3087
    @salokin3087 5 років тому +200

    Had the pleasure to pick one of these up, definitely a case of not judging a book by its cover!

    • @CaptainCiph3r
      @CaptainCiph3r 5 років тому +13

      Pretty sure if you judge a book by it's cover in the SMG world, you'll never own an SMG.

    • @ostiariusalpha
      @ostiariusalpha 5 років тому +11

      @@CaptainCiph3r The Thompson is a beautiful gun, and the MP5 is quite handsome. You would miss out on a lot of great SMG that aren't as good looking though.

    • @CaptainCiph3r
      @CaptainCiph3r 5 років тому +5

      @@ostiariusalpha Agree to disagree, cause I think the Thompson is awkward looking, and the MP5 is just as ugly as every other stamped HK gun.

    • @ostiariusalpha
      @ostiariusalpha 5 років тому +9

      @@CaptainCiph3r Sounds to me like... HERESY!!

    • @ramjb
      @ramjb 5 років тому +1

      @@CaptainCiph3r I also think the Thompson is not exactly a looker. But the MP5 is a thing of beauty, come on...looks like a cute small G3, and we all know G3s are beautiful :P

  • @lt_dagg
    @lt_dagg 5 років тому +1408

    "Oops, our kid left his machine gun laying around."
    If only we could go back

    • @theblacksmith7523
      @theblacksmith7523 5 років тому +18

      love that im not the only jojo weeb in the comments

    • @C39SHARKDRAKE
      @C39SHARKDRAKE 5 років тому +12

      Aye man, miss the good old days of the TAS full auto club.

    • @xeonespydonum4995
      @xeonespydonum4995 5 років тому +47

      We can and probably will. Socialist societies tend to collapse.

    • @1stdaybreaker707
      @1stdaybreaker707 5 років тому +12

      Xeo Nespydonum Name 1 non-communist social democracy that has collapsed

    • @doctorcropse2795
      @doctorcropse2795 5 років тому

      yeah lol

  • @ianpaterson5000
    @ianpaterson5000 Рік тому +26

    The ejection port also had a sliding cover to keep dirt out. It would fire after immersion in mud and water and was held in high regard by Australian troops in Vietnam.

  • @grasonicus
    @grasonicus 5 років тому +483

    The army rebuffing them was like bureaucrats everywhere. It's always the same story - if they didn't come up with the idea they don't want it.

    • @kingsarues1586
      @kingsarues1586 5 років тому +23

      A French Australian designed the first ever mechanised troop carrier/ light tank in the 1910’s. But British high command “lost the design”

    • @two_owls
      @two_owls 5 років тому +8

      I wonder how many conservative bureaucrats have saved taxpayers from technological pipe dreams. If only some of that inertia had stopped the F-35 from sucking up hundreds of billions of public dollars!

    • @kitwalker2968
      @kitwalker2968 5 років тому +3

      Burzynski cured cancer but FDA wont approve it since he has the patent. Big pharma won't benefit so all FDA does for 40 years is try to shut him down. Meanwhile people keep dying on chemo etc. It's ALL about the MONEY and who gets it, my friends. ua-cam.com/video/qQKaCTdrmJc/v-deo.html

    • @TooFewSecrets
      @TooFewSecrets 5 років тому +12

      ​@@kitwalker2968 Health insurance companies (ESPECIALLY in Europe where the health insurance company is also the government) would push just as hard if not harder in the opposite direction if this actually worked. You think Britain or Germany wouldn't want to save hundreds of millions a year straight out of their own budgets, hospital profit margins be damned? What about Kaiser Permanente here in the U.S.? If the cure, well, cures, he should speak to THEM and not just headbutt the FDA for half a lifetime - but it doesn't, which is why he commissioned a conspiracy documentary instead of actually submitting it.
      If you can't give me a damn good argument as to why he wouldn't just send the drug over to a country with a vested economic interest in curing people if it works so perfectly, please reconsider that entire 2 hour video.

    • @kitwalker2968
      @kitwalker2968 5 років тому +2

      @@TooFewSecrets Your logic sounds reasonable however I think the hand of big pharma regards cancer is global. It is in nobody's interest except the patients to cure cancer, treat yes, cure no. You're assertions are based on the widely held belief that someone of influence may want to cure cancer to make people well again in a world where money is king and greed keeps it that way.

  • @RyTrapp0
    @RyTrapp0 5 років тому +123

    A 455 Webley SMG - that is just absurdly awesome for all the wrong reasons

    • @stevenbobbybills
      @stevenbobbybills 5 років тому +3

      Since you need to pierce the skull to kill a zombie, a .22 LR could do the job.

    • @mysss29
      @mysss29 5 років тому +1

      hahaha all the wrong reasons indeed

  • @Clynikal
    @Clynikal 5 років тому +3232

    They’re rare because we decided to melt them instead of recognising their historic value.

    • @keptinkaos6384
      @keptinkaos6384 5 років тому +246

      if you find your self in Perth the Fremantle military museum is an awesome guided tour with an excellent display of yes even firearms used in both world wars by all sides.

    • @markcharleswashington2073
      @markcharleswashington2073 5 років тому +56

      Terrible idea

    • @vincivedivicilextalionas4036
      @vincivedivicilextalionas4036 5 років тому +249

      Typical leftist ideas lol

    • @GenShark-gh8en
      @GenShark-gh8en 5 років тому +38

      Mark Charles Washington Why.? The guns in museum are welded shut those are the big ones and the shells are inert. The small firearms are treated much the same or if not welded firing pins taken out that such and there cartridges are also inert. One last thing there tied to a pedistool or something like that.

    • @Duhya
      @Duhya 5 років тому +206

      lmao damn leftists, we don't need to regain some of this scrap metal that we gathered in a rush for the war, we need a pile of old useless SMGS. when will the stupid lefties learn amirite.

  • @graemehart4094
    @graemehart4094 3 роки тому +49

    Terrific review, thank you. I fired these when I was a teenager in the Australian Army Cadets back in the 1960’s; you would start your aim lower left and the gun would move to the top right. I always thought this was intended to straddle your adversary rather than aim straight for them. The guns were used in close fighting in Papua New Guneau and the 9mm slug effectively stopped the enemy in their tracks so they didn’t stumble into you with a bayonet. The simple design was a godsend in the mud and slime of jungle warfare.

    • @catinthehat906
      @catinthehat906 Рік тому

      The tragedy was they were replaced by an inferior weapon- the F1- that didn't have the Owen's reliability and resistance to jamming.

  • @Vollification
    @Vollification 4 роки тому +699

    Kids in the rest of the world: Plays with lego
    Kids in Australia: Builds guns

    • @alexlanning712
      @alexlanning712 4 роки тому +2

      come again?

    • @stunseed8385
      @stunseed8385 4 роки тому +44

      You never know when those Emus gonn come back. Best prepare for total war.

    • @anti-loganpaul7827
      @anti-loganpaul7827 4 роки тому +4

      @@stunseed8385 Take out the Kangaroos, there's even more then Emu's and Koalas combined

    • @skelly4024
      @skelly4024 4 роки тому +4

      @Honestly Brutal no, you can buy guns here just not anything semi automatic

    • @4kays160
      @4kays160 4 роки тому +8

      @Honestly Brutal we still have rifles, shotguns, if you join a shooting club we can get handguns too just no one really wants handguns here because there not exactly usable for hunting so most people just have a few rifles and shotguns, we just cant have semi autos anymore, when the semi auto ban came into effect most people were really happy because the government paid the owners who handed in the semi autos and fully autos more than they were worth so we all went and used that money to buy new much higher quality rifles and shotguns..

  • @ajvanmarle
    @ajvanmarle 5 років тому +586

    "No particular complaints about the lack of a drop-safety."
    I guess Australians are smart enough not to drop their guns.

    • @docbob3030
      @docbob3030 5 років тому +62

      They were taught to carry, handle and treat their weapons with the utmost respect. There's nothing available in the deep jungles of the Pacific Islands to repair or replace 😮

    • @danielevans8910
      @danielevans8910 4 роки тому +49

      AJ 1978 shit, I dropped my rifle. Let me activate my super handy Australian telekinesis powers and ummm... not drop my rifle.

    • @SenorTucano
      @SenorTucano 4 роки тому +13

      That’s because Aussies don’t run

    • @klo1679
      @klo1679 4 роки тому +36

      if any aussie drops their weapon they instantly create a black hole and vegemite is spawned, we soon figured out how to not drop them

    • @SeedemFeedemRobots
      @SeedemFeedemRobots 4 роки тому +53

      they dont need drop safety since any dropped gun will just fall into the sun

  • @_Davepocalypse
    @_Davepocalypse 5 років тому +192

    Interesting additional fact, the top mounted magazine is also less likely to snag on branches, bushes etc that made up the jungles in SE Asia. Aussie troops loved it in the dense rain forests

    • @azmanabdula
      @azmanabdula 5 років тому +12

      Gravity feeding plus recoil jostling in the mud of PNG is the reason why US forces traded their tommy guns for an owens gun
      If and when possible
      When you shoot you want it to work
      XD
      *Click*
      *Click*
      *Japanese bloke bayonets you*

    • @kitwalker2968
      @kitwalker2968 4 роки тому +6

      @@azmanabdula A lower profile shooting in a prone position.

    • @azmanabdula
      @azmanabdula 4 роки тому +3

      @@kitwalker2968 Yes exactly
      Which is why they used the BAR for so long
      Well done
      Seriously at such close range it doesn't matter that the sight iron is on the side, not to mention no one that used it cared
      Even at a distance

    • @climax050
      @climax050 4 роки тому +5

      I realised this the other day, a under mag is harder to make and more complicated, side mounted tends to be a bit of a pain and it’s not really ideal for jungle combat, and a top mag is kinda more durable and reliable, ideal for the conditions, even with the drawbacks 🤷‍♂️

    • @corvusboreus2072
      @corvusboreus2072 4 роки тому +1

      @@azmanabdula 1: The US never adopted the Owen gun, they used the M3 'grease gun.
      2 The observation regarding the drawbacks of bottom-feeding magazines whilst prone was a valid one. For example, the BAR, (bottom mag) had a 20 round capacity, whilst the bren gun (top mag) held 30.

  • @PShep4u2u
    @PShep4u2u 3 роки тому +98

    The reason the sites were on the right side of the gun was so the
    shooter had an eye on each sides of the magazine, eliminating any blind
    spots from your field of view. If the sites were on the left side of the
    gun, the magazine would create a blind spot in the shooter's vision. It
    was a deliberate design of the gun to have the sites on the right.

    • @catking.d1854
      @catking.d1854 2 роки тому +2

      i had almost had a stroke reading this

    • @PShep4u2u
      @PShep4u2u 2 роки тому +8

      @@justforever96 Sounds like a comment that someone just made up for the sake of saying something, and make out they knew something about them. How many have you used? I was trained on them, and used them. So stop making random comment up.

    • @Max-lq6jl
      @Max-lq6jl 2 роки тому +2

      I always wondered why the sights were on the right side. When you look down the sights, does the magazine block your left eye from seeing what you’re aimed at? Because then you could shoot with both eyes open and not see double of the target and maintain good peripheral vision

    • @bookman7409
      @bookman7409 Рік тому +3

      On the off-chance someone sees this, I submit that the magazine placement came first, necessitating the offset sights, but here's the twist: Imagine this gun on the shoulder of a right-handed shooter. Now think about which eye would be positioned to use those sights, namely, the right eye. It also allows the shooter to get something of a cheek-weld on the stock whilst aiming. Now, put it on the right side: what happens to this arrangement?
      A: To get the dominant eye to the sight, you lose that weld, not to mention the stable, compact firing position, since you have to hold the gun more to the outside of your stance. My final point is to say that I'm in no way claiming that all those things were intended during design and development. They went with the design and massaged it into something that worked, there was no checklist at the beginning to cover all those things. That's how design and development work, and now I'm starting to wonder if that sight position might have some advantages over the traditional one. Hmm...

    • @georgesakellaropoulos8162
      @georgesakellaropoulos8162 Рік тому

      That makes sense, however unlikely I it sounds.

  • @eobardthawne3333
    @eobardthawne3333 5 років тому +374

    "make it in .38 auto!"
    "No, make it in .45!"
    "No, make it in .455!"
    "No, make it in 9mm"

    • @ToastytheG
      @ToastytheG 5 років тому +47

      Welcome to commonwealth bureaucracy! :)

    • @nicholaspatton5590
      @nicholaspatton5590 5 років тому +58

      Reminded me of US trials. "Thank you all for coming. We liked some of your guns more than others. We wish you all luck at our next trial."

    • @ToastytheG
      @ToastytheG 5 років тому +44

      "Here, fill out this mountain of paperwork on why guns are bad and why you should feel bad about what you are doing. Also, we need a bunch of guns and we needed them yesterday. The queen sends her regards."

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 5 років тому +9

      And the original was in .22 long rifle rimfire.

    • @BeefaloBart
      @BeefaloBart 5 років тому +2

      38 s&w not auto, way different cases. and it was 32 auto, 38 s&w, 45 acp, 455 webly, 9mm para.

  • @markteekasingh4843
    @markteekasingh4843 5 років тому +312

    Mp 40: I'm the best SMG of the war
    Owen Gun: *Laughs in Australian*

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +46

      suomi laughs in Finnish

    • @leterrierdinari2861
      @leterrierdinari2861 5 років тому +19

      Nambu type 100 cries in Japanese. (I know it was really flawed but I like that weapon)

    • @ComissarYarrick
      @ComissarYarrick 5 років тому +17

      Ivan would like to have word with you. And he have PPS-43 in hand

    • @darnit1944
      @darnit1944 5 років тому +3

      @@leterrierdinari2861 Type 100 is kinda a good design, but the cartridge is like a .380

    • @robertkubrick3738
      @robertkubrick3738 5 років тому +8

      Oom Karl with his Swedish K would have a word with you.

  • @Luminite-hx3zs
    @Luminite-hx3zs 5 років тому +856

    "Oh. We apologise sir, our son left his machine gun lying around".
    Australia needs a rewind time.

    • @dandesso8926
      @dandesso8926 5 років тому +7

      Luminite someone get will smith over here

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 років тому +10

      Yes, let's give guns to all the ethic gangs. That'll solve our all our problems, so we can become America's little deputy sheriff!

    • @vincivedivicilextalionas4036
      @vincivedivicilextalionas4036 5 років тому +30

      Back when they had balls before the Left took them lol

    • @Gogglesofkrome
      @Gogglesofkrome 5 років тому +56

      @@grubbybum3614 this implies that the gangs are even following the law in the first place. Literally all of our crime inundated cities are extremely heavy on gun regulation; guess what? Virtually all of the gangs have guns. Your blind trust in corrupt governments to use the law to justly fight criminality is naivety at its worst.

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 років тому +8

      @@Gogglesofkrome crime inundated cities? Wtf you on about? These comments are about Australia.

  • @fredfromoz2788
    @fredfromoz2788 3 роки тому +16

    In my High School days and as a young teenager, I was a member of the Army Cadets and fired many different weapons including this Owen Sub Machine gun. It was a fantastic weapon. You could submerge it completely under mud - pull it up and out of the mud and continue firing - simple and very effective design - fantastic!

  • @richardflanagan6357
    @richardflanagan6357 5 років тому +88

    The PK in the manufacters name stands for Port Kembla, New South Wales.

    • @thatonegoblin7051
      @thatonegoblin7051 5 років тому +1

      it acc stands for PK F I R E!

    • @lordchickenhawk
      @lordchickenhawk 5 років тому

      Thanks for that Richard... I was trying to figure out what that was about.

    • @929Finn
      @929Finn 5 років тому

      @@benwinter2420 can you just spam his inbox instead of spamming Ian's vid.

  • @Timbo5000
    @Timbo5000 5 років тому +271

    You keep saying it's ugly, but I absolutely love the looks of this gun!

    • @amandagardner565
      @amandagardner565 5 років тому +21

      yes, where in the world do fuckwits get an idea that a WEAPON made to KILL should look pretty!
      Owen had the same thoughts as Kalashnikov, keep it simple, less to go wrong cannon fodder soldiers need easy to use/fix weapons.
      and who the fuck needs accuracy at 500 rounds a goddman minute.

    • @dingolad5443
      @dingolad5443 5 років тому +7

      I honestly don't know what gun is ugly and what gun is beautiful

    • @CommanderKraft
      @CommanderKraft 5 років тому +23

      In my opinion there is beauty in simplistic functionality.

    • @terencemcgeown2358
      @terencemcgeown2358 5 років тому +6

      Glocks, AR's, Barrot's, Winchesters, old Colt pistols, anything flint lock, . They are good looking weapons.

    • @svenp2263
      @svenp2263 5 років тому +3

      Agreed. I think it looks pretty cool. Different, original and practical.

  • @m1a2abrams52
    @m1a2abrams52 4 роки тому +167

    Hold on. Can we just take a second to imagine a full auto 455 webly LMG?

    • @georgewhitworth9742
      @georgewhitworth9742 Рік тому +4

      @@justforever96 There are pistol caliber LMG's. The Italians tried them out in WWI

    • @BlueBeeMCMLXI
      @BlueBeeMCMLXI Рік тому

      Webley ... w e b l e y

    • @MyILoveMinecraft
      @MyILoveMinecraft Рік тому

      ​@@georgewhitworth9742or the Czechs in WW2, or the swedes rather recently

  • @andrewcombe8907
    @andrewcombe8907 Рік тому +21

    The Owen was issued to British troops in Malaya in the insurgency wars. Performed in the jungle much better than the Sten.

  • @domitiusseverus1
    @domitiusseverus1 5 років тому +336

    Yep - it’s pronounced Lie-sart. The company is still around today. More tin roofs than sub-machine guns though 😉

    • @Loweko1170
      @Loweko1170 5 років тому +6

      But if you need one while you're picking up some hardware...

    • @IWillYeah
      @IWillYeah 5 років тому +6

      Lies-acht, it's an Irish Name. The "aght" extension is common in Ireland, such as the Irish town of Tallaght.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 5 років тому +5

      They made steel roofing and tubing in Australia before the war too...(WW1 that is...(ok Boer War too))

    • @nathanpleli5780
      @nathanpleli5780 5 років тому +4

      They produced steel helmets too during the 1940's

    • @bonnypop5764
      @bonnypop5764 5 років тому

      Reparations for lie-sart then.... Scratch that....

  • @maddogmorgan1
    @maddogmorgan1 5 років тому +60

    We had a fully functioning .45 ACP Owen hanging on our Squadron wall in the early 90's. I think it was an experimental version from memory..

    • @wernesgruder1
      @wernesgruder1 5 років тому +5

      I heard the US Marines ordered several thousand late in WW2 but the Australians couldn’t supply before the end of the war. Possibly the example you mention may have been a test model for the American .45acp

    • @johnh8615
      @johnh8615 4 роки тому +3

      That thing is patriotic gold.

    • @chimeranhybrid7643
      @chimeranhybrid7643 4 роки тому +8

      I heard a story that some Americans traded their Thomsons for the Owen

  • @daynoncorcoran658
    @daynoncorcoran658 5 років тому +493

    So you're telling me even the guns in Australia are upside down

    • @SeizureSpecialist
      @SeizureSpecialist 5 років тому +32

      wait, do Americans and europeans put the pistol grips on the top?
      weird.

    • @vernym4164
      @vernym4164 4 роки тому +4

      Daynon Corcoran bruh u just copied top comment

    • @KG84C
      @KG84C 4 роки тому +2

      Australians are made of anti matter.

    • @Dawn-hk9uf
      @Dawn-hk9uf 4 роки тому

      @Vegimite Sushi he wrote this 1 month >before< topcomment

    • @abcdefxyz2708
      @abcdefxyz2708 4 роки тому +1

      the gun is so australian that even the mag is upside down

  • @PShep4u2u
    @PShep4u2u 2 роки тому +18

    "LOOK after her well! " he said, as he handed her to me, "and she'll never let you down when you're in trouble. Study her and get to know her ways - after you've lived with her for a while, you'll find she's your best friend."
    The phrase sounded vaguely familiar; they'd told me the same thing about a rifle, long and slim and deadly, when I first joined up, and then about a Tommy gun, short and squat and ugly, and now they were saying it about this-this bit of wood and iron, roughly painted yellow and green and about as substantial-looking as the fairy off the top of the Christmas-tree. Well ...
    It all began years ago, in Port Kembla in New South Wales, when a young plasterboard manufacturer, working in a tin shed in his spare time, dreamed up out of the years of experience he'd gained as a hobbyist gun-maker something which he thought would be just the thing in case there was a war. So he laboured lovingly to perfect his design, roughed out a working model and submitted his baby to the Army.
    But that was before the war and, as the Navy, Army, Air and Munitions journal of the day succinctly puts it, "its merit was not immediately recognized". A masterpiece of understatement! Evelyn Owen, the inventor, was on his final leave before going overseas in the A.I.F. when he was recalled to demonstrate the weapon he had offered years before.
    She passed the most gruelling tests with flying colours, and rightly claimed superiority over the American Tommy gun, the German Bergmann used by the vaunted Nazi paratroopers, and the British Sten. During those tests handfuls of sand were thrown over the gun to simulate desert conditions, and it continued to fire when the Thompson and the Sten jammed; when buried in a heap of sand the Owen gun was the only one of the three to continue firing; when plunged into a tub of water it fired more evenly than either of the other types. In its final tests, submerged in a mud-bath, it continued to operate after the others had stopped.
    She had only three movable parts as opposed to twenty in a Tommy gun, and if she only had a shanghai range, so what? A man needed pretty good eyes to see more than fifty yards in the jungles that were to become her stamping ground! You could knock her to pieces-and what comically rough pieces they were!-in a matter of seconds, and slap her together again as quickly, jam a mag on her and she'd fire until hell froze over. And the cost of her -a mere six pounds against the sixty the Government paid for every one of the boat-loads of Tommy guns that found their way into the jungly islands up north. So you dropped your tacky little Owen in the river? You could drop nine more before you lost the price of one Thompson!
    They gave her to me before I left Townsville for the Islands-Owen gun No. 213821. She was covered in grease and packed in a flimsy cardboard carton like a child's Meccano set. She was in pieces, but a little booklet in the carton gave me the good word and in no time I had her assembled. She seemed toy-like and light after the wicked-looking and beefy Tommy gun they'd just taken from me, but she nestled in the crook of my arm with her pea-shooter barrel and ragged-looking compensator poking out at the world like a pugnacious little snout; somehow, I'd already half-overcome the skepticism implanted by the sergeant's words. Best friend ...
    She was all of that. In a couple of weeks of hard training I learned all about her, how she kicked, when she sulked, why she smoked, and what, if anything (other than an earthquake), would make her jam. I fired her in the rain and the heat and the mud and the dust, quick and slow, hot and cold, at tins, trees and cardboard Japs who bobbed out of
    the scrub at the tug of a cord. I knew her inside out and respected her, and after a while., she got to know me, and she'd do just about anything but come to my whistle.
    She never left my side after that-during the day she rode comfortably on my hip, and at night she slept with her muzzle awake across two forked sticks by my bed, her fighting nose pointed towards danger, just where I could lean out and give her the office to spit her ugly little slugs out at about six hundred per. And when the war finished and the time came for me to hand her into whatever oblivion of grease and uselessness overtakes weapons in peace time, I looked for the last time at her paintless barrel, worn woodwork and dauntless snout, cocky as ever, and there was a lump in my throat.
    Well, perhaps I was a little sentimental; but there was many another like me who hated to part with his Owen and who'd still like to shake the hand that first fashioned the matchless little fighter that did so much towards winning the war for us in the South-West Pacific.
    Evelyn Owen died on I April '49 in the Wollongong District Hospital after a short illness. He was thirty-five years of age.

  • @Ashfielder
    @Ashfielder 5 років тому +763

    Americans have Florida Man, the Australians have Local Boy.

    • @StaffordMagnus
      @StaffordMagnus 5 років тому +41

      Oh we have Florida Man over here as well, we just call 'em Queenslanders.

    • @jarlnieminen4307
      @jarlnieminen4307 5 років тому +14

      @@StaffordMagnus in Queensland we call them either Victorians New South Welsh or Tasmanian. We can't decide whose idiocy entertains us more. Typical rivalry but I always wondered why WA SA and NT seem to miss out.

    • @professionalfunny1414
      @professionalfunny1414 5 років тому +7

      @@jarlnieminen4307 because no one lives here in SA and NT

    • @bladez479
      @bladez479 5 років тому +10

      @@jarlnieminen4307 I dunno man, looking at newspaper headlines I reckon that the NT is the most batshit crazy place in the country.

    • @tom_2258
      @tom_2258 5 років тому +2

      Actually we have the trolly man

  • @diegoeduardonunez7097
    @diegoeduardonunez7097 5 років тому +90

    Got here by accident.
    Sir, you are VERY CLEAR. Your explanation is excelent. Thank you for it.

  • @gregorymartin6488
    @gregorymartin6488 4 роки тому +55

    Soldiers fighting at close quarters in Vietnam found the top mounted magazine helpful in moving leaves and vines away as they crept silently through jungle paths.

    • @3_too_won
      @3_too_won 3 роки тому +3

      And look how that ended nobody won .

    • @allenrosales9738
      @allenrosales9738 2 роки тому

      @@3_too_won The North Vietnamese won

    • @Darqshadow
      @Darqshadow 2 роки тому +1

      @@allenrosales9738 can you call losing thousands of people winning?

    • @allenrosales9738
      @allenrosales9738 2 роки тому +4

      @@Darqshadow If the outcome favoured them, than yes. It’s not pretty and the amount of death is appalling, but such is history

    • @OGbluetooth_
      @OGbluetooth_ 2 роки тому +2

      @@Darqshadow do you even know what war means? Sometimes i feel like 8 year olds are watching these videos...

  • @dfm-fn1qg
    @dfm-fn1qg 3 роки тому +116

    this gun is literally the epitome of australia. its a thompson with an upside down mag

    • @tobimoore9853
      @tobimoore9853 2 роки тому +12

      Ah but it rarely jammed and was reliable

    • @jokesonyou1253
      @jokesonyou1253 2 роки тому +1

      How dare you call this hideous tube with a firing pin a Thompson?

    • @buzzfeeder_70
      @buzzfeeder_70 2 роки тому +11

      This gun shits on the Thompson.

  • @smonyboy
    @smonyboy 5 років тому +1719

    Russians: we make the crudest weapons ever conceivable!
    Australians: hold my beer

    • @xgford94
      @xgford94 5 років тому +25

      smonyboy For the win, best comment yet!

    • @Leo17453
      @Leo17453 5 років тому +6

      smonyboy literally

    • @MosoKaiser
      @MosoKaiser 5 років тому +38

      I didn't know Fosters qualified as beer... ;)

    • @utubrGaming
      @utubrGaming 5 років тому +57

      @@MosoKaiser Hold my fuckin VB mate.

    • @1SaG
      @1SaG 5 років тому +82

      Except an Aussie would *probably* hold on to his beer... ;)

  • @Somerandom216FTW
    @Somerandom216FTW 4 роки тому +19

    Hi Ian,
    The sights are on the right so that they don't get caught on your webbing or clothing. Right handed shooters will hold the left side of their guns against their body when walking or running and if you suddenly need your gun you don't want to find out it's snagged on something. It also makes it a little easier to lay down with as you can tilt the gun.

  • @hallutz8743
    @hallutz8743 4 роки тому +75

    "oops, our kid left his machine gun lying around."

  • @russelljones5176
    @russelljones5176 3 роки тому +11

    My father served in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies with the Australian Army during WW2 - and he loved his Owen Gun. It was reliable, accurate and handy in the confined quarters of jungle fighting, where almost all the action was at close range. However, you had to treat it with respect, and not drop or throw it to the ground (11:38). This was vividly demonstrated to Dad at the end of a patrol when another bloke in his platoon tossed his own Owen on the ground, when the round up the spout discharged - the round travelled up Dad's shirt sleeve, popping out the shoulder of his shirt, leaving a long burn along the entire length of his arm - the scar was visible for the rest of Dad's life. Needless to say, Dad wasn't impressed by the other bloke's action, as the training for the Owen covered exactly why you shouldn't do this. There was a brief yet intense non-verbal exchange of views between Dad and the bloke, which ended with the bloke unconscious on the ground with a broken nose and two black eyes. When the incident came to light the following day, Dad avoided a charge (unusually for him), while the offending bloke was transferred to a rear echelon unit where he didn't get to carry a firearm.
    So the Owen Gun, while it was a terrific SMG for fighting in the jungle, wasn't perfect.

  • @DP-fq7iy
    @DP-fq7iy 4 роки тому +732

    Japan: Tries to “invade” Australia through a swamp.
    Aussie Swamp Wildlife: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

    • @ExternalInputs
      @ExternalInputs 4 роки тому +42

      Just ignore the fact that Japanese troops never got to Australia to encounter the wildlife. Don't let the truth get in the way.

    • @geesecouchtaming7223
      @geesecouchtaming7223 4 роки тому +27

      WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP!?

    • @wyomingptt
      @wyomingptt 4 роки тому +7

      What does this have to do with the actual video?? Or were you just dying to make a cliche Australia Scary joke??

    • @matthewcullen1298
      @matthewcullen1298 4 роки тому +7

      Not just crocs. The taipans are not to be played with either

    • @loafofbread9400
      @loafofbread9400 4 роки тому +16

      Litrally everywhere with water is pretty sus in australia. Going near mangroves is sea snake city

  • @pseudomastix2916
    @pseudomastix2916 5 років тому +388

    Australian public: "we need a submachine gun"
    Australian military: *sniff*... "Whatareyatalkinabeet"

    • @australianwi-fi
      @australianwi-fi 5 років тому +10

      CLARENCE

    • @Brunhemoth
      @Brunhemoth 5 років тому +44

      "Ya don't undastand leslie, we need a submachine gun for close quartarse combat. Previous military doctrine is outdated, rifles are cumbersome and overcompensate and the sten is a buncha bollocks"
      "Shut the fuck up Clarence"

    • @blackcountryme
      @blackcountryme 5 років тому +2

      Silly kent

    • @erickane8163
      @erickane8163 5 років тому

      what a beautiful show

    • @MagpieOz
      @MagpieOz 5 років тому +3

      "abeet" is Kiwi, Aussies say "abowt"

  • @jjshaw8360
    @jjshaw8360 5 років тому +87

    Ugly? I actually think it's quite pretty. The simplicity of it is very appealing, like the Sten.

    • @CaptainGrief66
      @CaptainGrief66 5 років тому +2

      Well, expect that this is rather effective and actually good looking compared to the Sten Gun.

    • @nuttex
      @nuttex 5 років тому +1

      @noided The barrel with grips thing can be applied with most SMGs with tubular receivers.

    • @lewisirwin5363
      @lewisirwin5363 5 років тому

      Without its stock I can totally imagine Schwartzenegger firing it single handed.

    • @Gantradies
      @Gantradies 5 років тому +1

      and it actually works, unlike the (early) sten~

  • @janebtar2167
    @janebtar2167 2 роки тому +11

    Every year, when a new call of duty comes out, I get tons of recommended videos from Ian for guns in that game, coincidence?

  • @wingnoot048
    @wingnoot048 4 роки тому +388

    "Ugliest SMG" but also one of the Best?
    Yeah, that's pretty much how anything australian made works.

  • @shallNOTbeinfringed-vp9wo
    @shallNOTbeinfringed-vp9wo 5 років тому +26

    As a American this has to be one of the coolest firearm histories I have heard. Top 3 for sure. I really hope Owen is honored for this.

    • @John-ww6li
      @John-ww6li 5 років тому +8

      No mate, Evelyn Owen is not honoured, except by us gun nuts and generations of diggers that used the Owen Machine Carbine in the south-west Pacific during WWII, K-Force soldiers in the Korean War, Aussies and other Commonwealth troops (inc. Rhodesian SAS) during the Malayan Emergency, Aussie SAS and Commonwealth forces in Borneo during Konfrontasi (Confrontation with Indonesia) and Anzac troops and SAS in the Vietnam War.

    • @bigdog4173
      @bigdog4173 5 років тому +3

      shallNOTbeinfringed 1776 sadly he was not..messed around by his own Government,they gave him money then took most of it back on tax,he was out of the Army,and impoverished.invested in a lumber mill,it failed,he drank,and eventually died of heart failure,hadnt been a very healthy person to begin with..

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +1

      He lived in Australia, of course the government shafted him.

    • @JMS1089
      @JMS1089 5 років тому

      @@bigdog4173 the boy shouldnt have had to pay taxes for the remainder of his life imo. Taxes support the nation and he already paid his due.

    • @paulobrien3241
      @paulobrien3241 5 років тому +2

      The Owen gun was unstoppable but had a very short range .This was all that was needed in the thick jungle of New Guinea . This gun was a god send. The Australian Infantry Museum at Singleton NSW has a large collection of Owen guns & is well worth a look on line . This gun makes the AK 47 look like a toy & is far more robust . Most Americans are unaware that New Guinea was the principle battlefield of the Pacific War for the period from 1942 to late 43.The Marines just have a better PR department . It was also such an horenous theater of conflict that few correspondents would go there . It was due to innovations like this gun that the Australian Army inflicted the first land defeats on the Japanese. ( the battle of Milne Bay ). When you read your history of the Pacific War you will regularly see references to MacArthur's forces not the American Army . The reason is that for is that the Australian Army constituted the bulk of McArthur's troops for the first 2 years of the war but the US media & McArthure were loth to credit any troopps but Americans . They also suffered the largest amount of casualties in the South West Pacific theater. One would never know this by reading the histories of the Pacific war.

  • @Space_Reptile
    @Space_Reptile 5 років тому +81

    "he liked to tinker w/ masculine things like bombs"
    what a dude, casually messing around w/ bombs like that

    • @clasdauskas
      @clasdauskas 5 років тому +13

      like normal kids, in other words.

    • @dunno6442
      @dunno6442 5 років тому +1

      @@clasdauskas can blow my arm off for $5 but it's worth the boom 😂

    • @mojowwwav4357
      @mojowwwav4357 5 років тому +1

      Lol reminds of what happened to a few kids near where I live in Aus, they where trying to make smoke grenades out of gold balls and ended up blowing their hands to bits.

    • @dunno6442
      @dunno6442 5 років тому

      @@mojowwwav4357 wtf kind of smoke bomb were they trying to make 😂

    • @mojowwwav4357
      @mojowwwav4357 5 років тому +1

      @@dunno6442 I think the issue was that they used to much gun powder or some other ingredient that made it go off.

  • @dfor50
    @dfor50 3 роки тому +9

    Thanks for this. I'm an Aussie and I learned more about the Owen from you then I have here in Oz. Lysaght was a steel mill company.

  • @Tetracarbon
    @Tetracarbon 5 років тому +237

    This is a typically Australian response to firearms.
    Aussies are proud of their ANZACs, and yet the NSW Government is actively attempting to destroy the Lithgow firearms museum.

    • @antonschollum3128
      @antonschollum3128 5 років тому +7

      Sounds about right, probably took a tip from NZ

    • @oglack6137
      @oglack6137 5 років тому +18

      Is Gun Jesus aware of this act of blasphemy?

    • @1969cmp
      @1969cmp 5 років тому +14

      Our leaders are slowly choking Australia, one way or another.

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +10

      I feel terrible for Aussies whenever someone brings up their government policy.
      And careful with those Parentheses good sir, would hate for the comments on this video to get blocked like the South African FAL videos did.

    • @RockSolitude
      @RockSolitude 5 років тому +11

      Government in Aus still feels like a British holdover sometimes. The political class, silver spoon in mouth, and are the opposite in almost every way to it's populace.

  • @IanFSearle
    @IanFSearle 5 років тому +51

    I well remember using the Owen often as a member of the Western Australian University Regiment in the early 1960s. It was quite hard for unpracticed reservists to shoot straight (it has a nasty habit of pulling up and to the right). I only got the hang of it towards the end of my service in 1963. Crouch low over the weapon when firing from the hip. If you stand up straight you have no hope of hitting anything. Actually, if you followed the instruction pamphlet you would do all right. It was pretty effective up to 25 yards (not metres in the 1960s) but not too effective beyond that.

    • @Andy-jh3ov
      @Andy-jh3ov 5 років тому +3

      Semi auto over 25 yards mate, full auto closer range. :-)

  • @ohyeahyeah544
    @ohyeahyeah544 5 років тому +252

    The question is......
    Can it kill an emu?

    • @whitebloodism
      @whitebloodism 5 років тому +20

      Would cost a few billion in ammo

    • @Bazza-1989
      @Bazza-1989 5 років тому +12

      Those demon birds...? Nah we ain't tryin that again!

    • @tarraynegee5984
      @tarraynegee5984 4 роки тому +1

      No

    • @johnh8615
      @johnh8615 4 роки тому +1

      Only way to stop them is to take off the head. They just keep running and don’t stop.

    • @squirrele.1266
      @squirrele.1266 4 роки тому

      Oh yeah Yeah oh the emu war

  • @lesgriffiths8523
    @lesgriffiths8523 Рік тому +3

    During jungle training at Canungra, I was issued with an Owen SMG....as a school cadet in 1957. Thus Owen had a safety slide which could block the cocking handle when loaded. We could immerse the weapon on mud....slide the safety slide back......and the Owen would fire the entire magazine without a stoppage. Amazing weapon. Loved it.
    Les Griffiths

  • @randomfamilyman4876
    @randomfamilyman4876 5 років тому +1261

    Bloody aussies... wait I’m aussie

    • @TheWolfsnack
      @TheWolfsnack 5 років тому +27

      ...so...I guess that means you can't own one....

    • @shodefektiv
      @shodefektiv 5 років тому +30

      @@TheWolfsnack but we can make one and leave it leaning against out house while we go to war, oh i see some emu's, BRB

    • @CrazyDog651
      @CrazyDog651 5 років тому +5

      Denis O'Brien Can have a deactivated one on a collectors license or if you a gun dealer or film armourer.

    • @trapper9998
      @trapper9998 5 років тому +21

      @@TheWolfsnack whats worse is our company can make stuff here and sell it to you yanks but not to our own bloody shooters

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +5

      the law means you can't do something legally, not that it isn't possible. just leave it leaning against the house afterwards

  • @jamesletendre6456
    @jamesletendre6456 5 років тому +69

    Because he comes from the land of plenty.

    • @ThZuao
      @ThZuao 5 років тому +11

      Does he come from the land down under?
      Where women glow and men plunder?
      Also, can't you hear the thunder?
      You better run, you better take cover!

    • @KenworthW900HG
      @KenworthW900HG 5 років тому +1

      Look at me with a brand new Hyundai

  • @daviddixon9458
    @daviddixon9458 4 роки тому +30

    My favorite weapon when in the Australian Army. Never let me down.

  • @georgesakellaropoulos8162
    @georgesakellaropoulos8162 Рік тому +6

    The magazine being on top of the gun would enable the operator to get really low in the prone position. That had to be a big bonus to the troops using it.

  • @jerribee1
    @jerribee1 5 років тому +208

    Screwed by the government; well, there's a novelty.

    • @zogworth
      @zogworth 5 років тому +13

      Well, by the military. As Ian says the civilian govt were the ones who told them to stop being knobs

    • @ianashby1449
      @ianashby1449 4 роки тому +2

      This weapon is featured in danger close the battle of long tam

    • @rethguals
      @rethguals 4 роки тому +11

      Yeah, he got given a hard time because of military hierarchy, not the government.
      Imagine you're a Major General in charge of ordnance, and the designer of the "revolutionary firearm" that one of your staff Captains has been nagging you to meet turns out to be a Private soldier from a volunteer infantry battalion. I'll bet he gave PTE Owen the absolute minimum amount of time, asked him a few dismissive questions he didn't expect him to know the answer to, and showed him the door - probably didn't think a junior soldier from Wollongong could have possibly come up with anything better than what Britain's arms industry was working on at the time.
      It took a career politician in government to get actually get this gun adopted, by overriding the MAJGEN's decision.

    • @herbertliedel7019
      @herbertliedel7019 3 роки тому

      @@ianashby1449 Great movie. Found it while aimlessly running through movie searches on the web.

    • @jamesdanton9033
      @jamesdanton9033 3 роки тому +3

      That was Australia then and now: 'Did you do something good? We NEED to stifle, control and eventually ban it.' I really hate this country.

  • @70snostalgia
    @70snostalgia 4 роки тому +27

    Still used in combat by Aussie troops as late as Vietnam. Valuable piece of gear at the Battle of Long Tan.

  • @Anthony-yn9dg
    @Anthony-yn9dg 5 років тому +175

    Australian govt is still off it's head like this.

    • @damonjenkins2185
      @damonjenkins2185 5 років тому +19

      government is always off its head, knows everyone who can get gear in town

    • @maxnaz47
      @maxnaz47 5 років тому +17

      Worse... Have a look at some recent bills that have been passed, there is no longer a term of service required for PM pension, if you had the job for a day, you've got pm pension for life... Yet they want to introduce a 40% tax on inheritances of the common folk while the PM's chair has become a revolving door for as many as they can squeeze through... I've given up remembering any of their names...

    • @uncleputes
      @uncleputes 5 років тому +10

      Fuckn John Howard buying back guns to stop crime but the black market gun smiths are still in full swing

    • @uncleputes
      @uncleputes 5 років тому +6

      @@deaddoll1361 Yeah I dunno to me it seems like every week some retards in West Sydney are shooting at each other...

    • @xmm-cf5eg
      @xmm-cf5eg 5 років тому +3

      Australian Government's probably worse than a lawless state at this rate.

  • @blueshellhater1845
    @blueshellhater1845 2 роки тому +71

    The ugliest submachine gun ever conceived by humankind, he clearly hasn’t seen Vanguards gun editor yet

    • @TragicTester034
      @TragicTester034 2 роки тому +6

      Oh no we must protect Ian from that heresy

    • @blueshellhater1845
      @blueshellhater1845 2 роки тому +4

      @@TragicTester034 Owen gun is especially cursed dude, what you can do to it is beyond heresy

    • @TragicTester034
      @TragicTester034 2 роки тому +1

      @@blueshellhater1845 I know I’m on vanguard now

    • @Linak47
      @Linak47 2 роки тому

      Well I mean, this video came out before vanguard so..

    • @blueshellhater1845
      @blueshellhater1845 2 роки тому +1

      @@Linak47 Don’t think to hard about a joke on the internet:)