The Owen gun's charging handle being located in a different isolated space negated the need for having any other holes in the bolt space which also coincidentaly prevented any dust to enter while the top loaded magazine with the open ejector at the bottom meant that any sand that entered eventually just got "sweeped" down there and out. Interesting.
A huge help to it's reliability is the gravity-assist with the feeding, and the fact that theres a huuuuuge amount of distance and plugs internally protecting the inner action from dust etc
The guy firing also seemed to be able to reload and operate it much faster and easier than the others even with all the dust. But you're wrong, that is one ugly gun lol
My father was a Sargent in the Australian Army in the mid-50s and was involved in another series of tests of submachine guns. This time the Stirling and M3 were included. Again the Owen gun won the tests against all other guns.
this is the best, most amazing 'real deal' testing I have ever seen! It should be done with every armies firearms, not only to see the serious shortcoming of the weapon, but also how to unfuck it. Here's to Oz & the Owen!!!
LOL 4:18 The dude covered the magwell with his hand unlike all the others. To be fair, the owen is actually a great smg. Pretty overlooked nowadays, sucks you don't see it in video games either.
That's how the magazine was designed to be changed, acts as a guide for the next magazine in prone and low visibility, the advantage as a cover is an additional benefit. Each gun was operated as it would be in the field.
The first prototype of the Owen gun was developed by Evelyn Owen in 1931, who finalised the design in 1938. Owen submitted the design to the Australian military, but was rejected, as they were waiting for the British Sten to finish development. After all if it is built by the British it must be better than something an Australian can build ( attitude of our politicians of the day,) By May 1940, Owen had enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, and was set to deploy to the Middle East, but after speaking about his design to the manager of a local plant of Lysaght, who had an interest in the design, Owen was transferred to the Central Inventions Board. ItIn June 1941, Owen was discharged from the army and began to manufacture the Owen gun. After conducting tests in September that year, the Owen was found to be more accurate and reliable than competing designs such as the Sten and Thompson. "As your excellent little Historical movie shows ." It always bewildered me why we did not arm our African and European troops with the Owen rather than the inferior Sten. Even General Douglas MacArthur was considering arming his troops with the Owen. and a lot of Australian solders felt that the Owen saved their lives in the Jungle , Including my father. It eared the nickname Diggers Darling. ("Digger". Nickname for Aus troops derived from ww1 (They felt they were always digging so started calling each other digger) The Owen was used by the Australian army till 1971 A testimony of how good a weapon design it was. Thank you for showing this movie Well done.
No cabe duda que este subfusil australiano fue muy bueno en todas las condiciones de combate en que fue usado. Estoy sorprendido de los resultados de los otros modelos y no me imagino los percances de los efectivos que sufrieron en el fragor de la batalla durante la segunda guerra mundial.
The advantages of the Owen’s top mounted mag are readily apparent. Gravity assists with feeding ammunition, making it harder for debris to enter. And if it does, then it will likely drop straight out. But the real advantage was housing the bolt in its own seperate chamber which really helps cut down blockages and then machining that chamber with a little extra space been the end of the bolt and the back of the chamber, so that if something does get in it won’t foul and jam. The 600 rounds per minutes rate of fire and double handgrips make it easier to control than many sub machines guns, the magazine carries 33 rounds of easily obtainable 9mm ammunition, and it came with select fire in a lightweight durable package. As the tests here demonstrate, for jungle and desert combat, it was the best LMG of the war.
Thankyou for posting this film of the owen. Been wanting to see field test of the owen, fn good design and reliability. Be very happy to take the owen to war.
The test is performed on what is plainly an MP 38, misidentified as a "Bergman". Evidently, there was some confusion in the Canadian Army that connected the MP 18 of WWI (designed by Hugo Schmeisser and manufactured by Bergmann Waffenfabrik) to the SMGs designed by Heinrich Vollmer for the Erfurter Maschinenfabrik. After they realized "Bergman" was a mistaken identity, they switched to calling the gun a "Schmeisser", another mistake. The Americans also called it a Schmeisser until late in the war.
If the owen had the forward grip to the side & no pistol grip...it would be an Aussie sten. Mag up & not horizontal wouldn't affect your ability to fire from the prone. I'd love to shoot this on a range. I think the Sterling was awesome but this is a dream of a sub machine gun.
I don't think they all had the same mud treatment, which then leads me to question how they were all lubricated for the sand test, maybe the Owen was running dry (or dry lubed) with the others oiled?
No, The spring and piston are in a chamber which is sealed at both ends which prevents the ingress of dust, mud and sand. There were major tests done on the Thompson, the Sten, the Owen and one other by the Canadian, US, British and Australian armies. The OMC won hands down against the rest, especially in terms of reliability, and maintenance.
He’s covering the mag well with his hands between reloads on the Owens during the sand test. This was not repeated with the other guns. Not dogging the Owens, but not really a fair test. Sand eats up most guns, if not all. I have seen so many ak failures in Ukraine at this point it really seems to come down to mostly how well you can keep the action clear, or how easily and quickly you can “clean” it.
Depends who got to shoot..I worked with a 9th division Sargent Major gold coast city council. Owen and Bren and 25 pounder. Blokes with shattered limbs went in to fight. I reckon a canvas cover might of solved the sand problem
I noticed that too. Guess the Canadians favored adoption of the Owen. Certainly not fair to all participants. I didn't like the way the Owen was treated in other tests. Mud test for example, the tester appeared to take care to avoid debris in the bolt cuts while other SMG's got dunked well into mud. Hmmmm.
It appears to me that we (Aussies) have, just like everyone else in the world, have come up with great ideas and fabulous engineering solutions to so many different problems. That eventually end up in the bin because some shiny arsed bean counters just "know" that an indigenous product is going to be inferior to a more expensive imported item for the same role. We used to have a quite vibrant manufacturing industry. Those days are long gone. Who cares about the local businesses and their workforce...if a similar item is 10c cheaper per unit from a foreign state lets use rhem The share holders and way over payed board members and CEOs don't care about the thousands of employees and other local suppliers providing parts and services. They dont care that their new suppliers/joint venture partner are embedded with their dictatorial government and its armed services. Who will flagrantly use and abuse their new partner for their own profit. Too many of these people do not care about the future.As long as they can live their chosen lifestyle until they die. And stuff everyone else.
The Owen was the most reliable and simplistic sub guns of WWII. Some say it was lacking in looks but, it wouldn't let you down, as opposed to the pretty, pretty ones.
What we are seeing are untrained operators and a wind-blown sand test that is far from consistent. Furthermore, I would suggest that should a sandstorm be that bad, no one would be able to see each other, let alone fight.
"I Pray!" this information was filmed and ment for a fare demonstration of these "very modern" and Very "Advanced" small arms of these days? History! and Hind Sight! show 100% Great or at Minimum? Satisfactory? Small arms of these days! some in servece today? Just pee on it! It'll be fine.
The Owen gun's charging handle being located in a different isolated space negated the need for having any other holes in the bolt space which also coincidentaly prevented any dust to enter while the top loaded magazine with the open ejector at the bottom meant that any sand that entered eventually just got "sweeped" down there and out. Interesting.
My late father fought in New Guinea in WW2 and swore by his Owen SMG, and said it saved his life on many occasions.
Bigo! what is best? the "best?" or the one that "Works!" Every Time! every place, or condition?
The owen smg is not an ugly gun, it's simplicity and cheap cost to manufacture make it a masterpiece of mechanical engineering artwork
Amen!
The Owen isn't the world's best looking SMG, but it worked beautifully well...
A huge help to it's reliability is the gravity-assist with the feeding, and the fact that theres a huuuuuge amount of distance and plugs internally protecting the inner action from dust etc
The guy firing also seemed to be able to reload and operate it much faster and easier than the others even with all the dust. But you're wrong, that is one ugly gun lol
Like the grease gun for U.S. Army
My father was a Sargent in the Australian Army in the mid-50s and was involved in another series of tests of submachine guns. This time the Stirling and M3 were included. Again the Owen gun won the tests against all other guns.
What a great piece of engineering the Owen . The inventor hopefully got a medal
He was only about 15 years old.
Sadly not
But it was a brilliant gun
@@dr_cynix Ok. Maybe he was a bit older.
this is the best, most amazing 'real deal' testing I have ever seen! It should be done with every armies firearms, not only to see the serious shortcoming of the weapon, but also how to unfuck it. Here's to Oz & the Owen!!!
LOL 4:18 The dude covered the magwell with his hand unlike all the others. To be fair, the owen is actually a great smg. Pretty overlooked nowadays, sucks you don't see it in video games either.
Unless I was seeing things wrong the mag jammed just as bad as the other weapons.
That's how the magazine was designed to be changed, acts as a guide for the next magazine in prone and low visibility, the advantage as a cover is an additional benefit. Each gun was operated as it would be in the field.
Sorry dude, the operator tried to shield the magazine port on all the sub guns being tested there. No favours for that Owen prototype.
he covered the mag well of all the guns
The Owen was the best allied smg of the war tbh
Owen & the bren were great weapons!!!!
The first prototype of the Owen gun was developed by Evelyn Owen in 1931, who finalised the design in 1938. Owen submitted the design to the Australian military, but was rejected, as they were waiting for the British Sten to finish development. After all if it is built by the British it must be better than something an Australian can build ( attitude of our politicians of the day,) By May 1940, Owen had enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, and was set to deploy to the Middle East, but after speaking about his design to the manager of a local plant of Lysaght, who had an interest in the design, Owen was transferred to the Central Inventions Board. ItIn June 1941, Owen was discharged from the army and began to manufacture the Owen gun. After conducting tests in September that year, the Owen was found to be more accurate and reliable than competing designs such as the Sten and Thompson. "As your excellent little Historical movie shows ." It always bewildered me why we did not arm our African and European troops with the Owen rather than the inferior Sten. Even General Douglas MacArthur was considering arming his troops with the Owen. and a lot of Australian solders
felt that the Owen saved their lives in the Jungle , Including my father. It eared the nickname Diggers Darling. ("Digger". Nickname for Aus troops derived from ww1 (They felt they were always digging so started calling each other digger) The Owen was used by the Australian army till 1971 A testimony of how good a weapon design it was. Thank you for showing this movie Well done.
I thought that they were called diggers because a lot were former miners...??
@@jayytee8062 Actually it became a term of endearment from the early days of gold mining. even if you werent a miner
Gold mining or Gallipoli trenches,
Diggers and Proud
Mate..that was a lot of information for a chap three sheets to the wind
I'll read it again tomorrow!
Interesting how when changing a magazines he kept his hand over the magazine well thus preventing debris from entering the area
No cabe duda que este subfusil australiano fue muy bueno en todas las condiciones de combate en que fue usado. Estoy sorprendido de los resultados de los otros modelos y no me imagino los percances de los efectivos que sufrieron en el fragor de la batalla durante la segunda guerra mundial.
The advantages of the Owen’s top mounted mag are readily apparent. Gravity assists with feeding ammunition, making it harder for debris to enter. And if it does, then it will likely drop straight out.
But the real advantage was housing the bolt in its own seperate chamber which really helps cut down blockages and then machining that chamber with a little extra space been the end of the bolt and the back of the chamber, so that if something does get in it won’t foul and jam.
The 600 rounds per minutes rate of fire and double handgrips make it easier to control than many sub machines guns, the magazine carries 33 rounds of easily obtainable 9mm ammunition, and it came with select fire in a lightweight durable package.
As the tests here demonstrate, for jungle and desert combat, it was the best LMG of the war.
Sub machine gun LMG was the Bren
Thankyou for posting this film of the owen. Been wanting to see field test of the owen, fn good design and reliability. Be very happy to take the owen to war.
I notice the soldier is covering the magazine weld with his hand in between mag swaps on the owen. He did not do that with the Sten.
Owen so stable.
After the fourth magazine. It was just showing off.
The test is performed on what is plainly an MP 38, misidentified as a "Bergman". Evidently, there was some confusion in the Canadian Army that connected the MP 18 of WWI (designed by Hugo Schmeisser and manufactured by Bergmann Waffenfabrik) to the SMGs designed by Heinrich Vollmer for the Erfurter Maschinenfabrik. After they realized "Bergman" was a mistaken identity, they switched to calling the gun a "Schmeisser", another mistake. The Americans also called it a Schmeisser until late in the war.
07:56 "Bugger" 😂
As an Army small arms instructor in the 1950's we taught users to only load 28 rounds in the OMC 32 round mag to prevent possible jamming.👍
Who cares what it looks like as long as it is reliable under battlefield conditions.
The Sten was set to "5-round bursts"
If the owen had the forward grip to the side & no pistol grip...it would be an Aussie sten. Mag up & not horizontal wouldn't affect your ability to fire from the prone.
I'd love to shoot this on a range. I think the Sterling was awesome but this is a dream of a sub machine gun.
at 11:01 they show an original Sten Mark 1.It would be as rare as it is ugly these days.
I don't think they all had the same mud treatment, which then leads me to question how they were all lubricated for the sand test, maybe the Owen was running dry (or dry lubed) with the others oiled?
Some piece of kit the Owen 👍
What if they fired the Berman upside down and the Sten side ways mag up. I think it will work as good.
No, The spring and piston are in a chamber which is sealed at both ends which prevents the ingress of dust, mud and sand.
There were major tests done on the Thompson, the Sten, the Owen and one other by the Canadian, US, British and Australian armies. The OMC won hands down against the rest, especially in terms of reliability, and maintenance.
@@ianlowery6014 Don't forget that the Owen was also lighter, more accurate and more controllable than most existing weapons
It's Bergmann not Berman
@@calcutt4 Actually it was fairly heavy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Balance and controllability are more important in action.
He’s covering the mag well with his hands between reloads on the Owens during the sand test. This was not repeated with the other guns. Not dogging the Owens, but not really a fair test. Sand eats up most guns, if not all. I have seen so many ak failures in Ukraine at this point it really seems to come down to mostly how well you can keep the action clear, or how easily and quickly you can “clean” it.
I notice the owens detractors are all absent from here
He put his hand over the mag well when reloading! How is that fair?
@@andymaciver1760 when reloading youre going to do that anyway
@@andymaciver1760 he did that for some of the other ones too
@@discount8508 no way dude. Totally not fair
Owen gun put through its paces, wonder how the Russian ppsh Tommy gun would have gone in tests.
Why was it replaced with the F1 ?
they were worn out
Like all great designs, some jerk thought he could improve it I guess!
Also the advent of the AR15 made SMGs largely obsolete.
Great footage!!!! interesting about the MP40 jamming....could also be the ammo...a sensitive weapon when it comes to ammo ballistics.
Thats pretty impressive
The Owen SM served well and in the terrible terrain of New Guinea proved its worth.
The Diggers Darling Australian and the best
Depends who got to shoot..I worked with a 9th division Sargent Major gold coast city council. Owen and Bren and 25 pounder. Blokes with shattered limbs went in to fight. I reckon a canvas cover might of solved the sand problem
He kept his hand over the open mag well on the Owen when reloading but not the others.
I noticed that too. Guess the Canadians favored adoption of the Owen. Certainly not fair to all participants. I didn't like the way the Owen was treated in other tests. Mud test for example, the tester appeared to take care to avoid debris in the bolt cuts while other SMG's got dunked well into mud. Hmmmm.
You cower behind a cowardly fake name while commenting on real soldiers! Funny old world.
@@MichaelKingsfordGray moronic.
@@MichaelKingsfordGray yet you don't refute what he actually said, because it's true. Totally biased testing.
@@kmcgovern2012 I despise cowardice in any form.
One cannot trust anything that cowards utter, in fact: the reverse!
My wife's 3rd cousins uncle used a Owen fighting the Germans at Pearl Harbor.
Wait a minute, lads; we're going into a muddy swamp, so plug your muzzles.
It appears to me that we (Aussies) have, just like everyone else in the world, have come up with great ideas and fabulous engineering solutions to so many different problems. That eventually end up in the bin because some shiny arsed bean counters just "know" that an indigenous product is going to be inferior to a more expensive imported item for the same role. We used to have a quite vibrant manufacturing industry. Those days are long gone. Who cares about the local businesses and their workforce...if a similar item is 10c cheaper per unit from a foreign state lets use rhem The share holders and way over payed board members and CEOs don't care about the thousands of employees and other local suppliers providing parts and services.
They dont care that their new suppliers/joint venture partner are embedded with their dictatorial government and its armed services. Who will flagrantly use and abuse their new partner for their own profit. Too many of these people do not care about the future.As long as they can live their chosen lifestyle until they die. And stuff everyone else.
Looks like the aussie have/had a good submachine gun!
Cause unknown?? 😂 You're blowing sand all over him and across the gun
owen wins 🎉🎉🎉
very cool!
i dont live in a desert or a jungle so id still have the thompson :P
The Owen was the most reliable and simplistic sub guns of WWII. Some say it was lacking in looks but, it wouldn't let you down, as opposed to the pretty, pretty ones.
What, the Sten gun was pretty?? LOL
You must remember this, A kiss is just a kiss...
Nz army got to use stens for practice in the 60s junk
reliable western guns...:)
Didn't the Canadians sit most the war in the UK?
Best you read up on Italy and NW Europe young fella
7.55 bugger
Don't describe your hobbies.
@@MichaelKingsfordGray Don't indulge in yours! 🙂
saving,
InRangeTV, 1940
I love the Owen Gun...it's so BAD!!! ---------------------‐-----------------------🔫 😎
What we are seeing are untrained operators and a wind-blown sand test that is far from consistent. Furthermore, I would suggest that should a sandstorm be that bad, no one would be able to see each other, let alone fight.
not very scientific was it?
"I Pray!" this information was filmed and ment for a fare demonstration of these "very modern" and Very "Advanced" small arms of these days?
History! and Hind Sight! show 100% Great or at Minimum? Satisfactory? Small arms of these days! some in servece today? Just pee on it! It'll be fine.
Too bad they didn't have a Russian machine gun.
Good old Owens Gun
Owen rules