Farquhar Hill: Britain's WW1 Semiauto Rifle
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- The Farquhar-Hill was a semiauto rifle developed in Britain prior to World War 1. It was the idea of Birmingham gunsmith Arthur Hill, and financed by Aberdeen industrialist Mowbray Farquhar. The design began as a long-recoil system, but that was replaced with a unique spring-buffered gas operated mechanism before and production began.
Basically, a gas port in the barrel taps gas off to a piston, which moved about 3 inches rearward and was then caught and held by a latch. At that point, the other end of the spring would be released to move backward, pushing on the bolt and bolt carrier, unlocking and cycling the action. This gave the rifle a very light felt recoil impulse, and also buffered the bolt from potential over-pressure cartridges.
The Farquhar-Hill was chambered for the .303 British cartridge, and in its military form fed from 19-round drum magazines. A large order for 100,000 rifles was placed by the British military, but cancelled when WW1 ended. A small number of the rifles were sold in the military pattern as well as in box magazines fed sporting patterns, but Farquhar was more interested in pursuing military contracts, and would continue to work with machine gun designs going into the 1920s.
Thanks to the Institute of Military Technology for giving me access to these two rifles: www.instmiltech...
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Moubray G. Farquhar. Even his name sounds expensive.
Moubray Gore Farquhar
HikoSeijuroXIII
Farquad
That's because dude bought up all the vowels.
Sounds like the dude in Shrek !
José Heggs did you know they got that guys name by the word fuck wad lol
Farquhar and Hill where unquestionably two innovative farquhars.
Har har
i wonder what happend to them after they prepared for massproduction and then it was all abandoned
:-/
@@Blei1986 they weren't laughing to the bank that's for sure
Ah yes, the Farquad rifle. Bane of ogres. Destroyer of onions.
WHAT ARE YA DOIN IN MEH SWAMP
You made laugh really hard 😂
if destroyers of onions, does is also destroy ogres? i mean, ogres are like onions: they got layers.
@JordyAfterHeroin it's a reference from "schrek"
Hell yeah dude...
Its a shame this never went into serious production. That operating mechanism is really interesting. Would like to see what modern engineering and materials could do with that kind of mediated piston system.
I'm wondering how useful it would have been as an early automatic rifle, like the BAR. Probably would have been at least as controllable, and much lighter.
@@off6848 easy to do
"People of Duloc! I give you, our new champion!"
Somebody once told me
Hey know your a rockstar get your game go play
@@doctormantistoboggan2339 That rick was gonna roll me
Actually a pretty ingenious mechanism, with multiple benefits. Complicated, but the complexity is there for reasons. This probably would have gotten a lot of fame if it was used in combat.
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@@michaelsanford3937 3
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I can't explain why, but when you cycle it.. the click, or the smoothness, or something? It's just so satisfying. I'd probably annoy everyone in the room if I had this in front of me, I'd just keep fiddling with the slide. One of those mechanical things that's so much fun to mess with over and over.
the firearm equivalent of clicking a pen
My favourite firearm ever, hands down. I think it has an interesting operation, interesting history, and interesting physical appearance. A beautiful gun.
who remembers ian dumping the mag on the old video
Ernest Chin and that face was priceless😎
I laugh every time I see it, his face as he looks down at the dumped ammo on the ground.
Not that he'd do that of course.
My first memory of watching this channel ! It blew my mind that WW1 era gun technology was that advanced. Like most people I believed that WW1 == bolt actions, then I met our savior Gun Jesus and He opened my eyes.
If gun Jesus did such a thing it was certainly only to enlighten the mere mortals we so sadly are.
This would have been cool had the British adopted this fully going into World War 2. I'm guessing they would have modified or changed the magazine entirely to be a lot less complicated. Probably even making it compatible with the Lee-Enfield or Bren mags.
westofreaches i was just thinking the same thing about the bren gun magazine.
Might have obviated the need to move to the FN SLR too with a re-barrel to 7.62 Nato.
This is honestly a really complex design which is both expensive and fragile.
+Dylan Lammi It really doesn't look that fragile. The Mauser Selbstlader was much more complicated. Plus, this gun looks like it'd be extremely resilient to dirt, as it is pretty closed in the locked pisition
+Feraligatorade 1999 *position
Nice re-visit! This is another I'd love to see reproduced. Funky operating system, quite unique - and for once "unique" does not mean "fail."
I must say, this gun was far ahead of its time!
A little more development into the magazine would have made it really viable for WW2.
beautiful gun, this is why i love this chanel, it introduces me to so many cool weapons
No.5 is my favourite Chanel
KenworthW900HG damn I was going to use that joke haha
You're joking. When I think of beautiful guns, I think of the M1911, the M1897, the Auto 5, the Henry Repeater, the Hi-Power, the Python, the Thompson, the Garand, the Sturmgewhr, the K98k, the MP40, (unpoplar opinion here) the FAMAS F1, and my past self can't believe I'm saying this, the Kalashnikov; for it's strange, rugged look that I've come to admire. I certainly don't think of the Farquhar Hill, especially with that goofy, kitchen-appliance-looking foregrip. Unique, but not beautiful.
Kusagari Blues i mean i sorta get the python, its nicesh i guess, but the M1911 and thompson are hidiouse guns
If you think the M1911 and Thompson are hideous, you need to get your eyes checked. I don't even want to know what you consider an attractive firearm. If beauty wasn't purely subjective, I'd call you a fucking idiot.
That rifle has some really nice features. The increased leverage allowing for primary extraction should really help reliably a lot. Also, only a very under powered round would prevent the gas system from working. other then that, you have very even pressure pushing back on the bolt. This does make the gas system a bit complicated though. It is a shame this never saw service.
I have never owned a gun and don't plan to yet i love watching these videos. It's so interesting to see ingenuity that goes into building these things. So many different solutions to similar mechanical problems. One of my favorite youtube channels right here:)
I didn't say never. Maybe if i took up hunting i would. But right now, i have no reason to. Target shooting with a firearm does not really attract me. I target shot with a bow and get a lot of enjoyment out of that:)
I also live in a relatively safe country so i feel no need to arm myself for self defence.
pulpnonfiction owning a firearm increases the risk of successfully committing suicide significantly. As someone who's tried to kill themselves in the past I'm thankful I didn't own one.
So don't watch gun vids mental case.
Enter a name here im curious...what country do you reside in? Im not trying to chastise you or call you names im just honestly curious what country makes u feel you can fully trust to get to u and your family if someone is in your home trying to hurt or kill you and/or ur loved ones. If u enjoy these vids so much you would love owning your own and being able to get hands on experience of the mechanisms and craftsmanship of your favorite weapons.
This being said, perhaps you would enjoy watching the development of motorcycles or automobiles over the decades. You may be an incipient engineer or inventor who would benefit from achievable enlightenment.
Kinda want a reproduction of this rifle.
Yeah, that would be sweet. And if I understood Ian’s description of the mechanism properly, you could even (theoretically) make a reproduction scaled up to an even larger caliber and it would still work just fine. Not sure *why* someone would want one of these in, say, .50 BMG, but I think it could be done.
@@willrogers3793 when it is done, other militaries will start adopting it because no more soldier will complain about heavy recoil🤣
If you somehow join the British SAS the army would have to make one for you
This thing is straight out of Borderlands
I'd love to see a modernised version of this gun and its system.
I feel dice will add this soon to battlefield 1
They should hire Ian already
chattenmetchad they took a few ideas from his website, Ian once was talking about it
Schmidt Rubin but verdun is cool for historical accuracy but it's so fun. Nobody plays it.
Schmidt Rubin What is a joke is people not researching what the battlefield games are and expecting a red orchestra esque realism elements. If anything BF1 is more interesting to me considering I have been a fan of rare historic firearms as evident from my 5 year subscription to this channel.
Schmidt Rubin And if I don't?
It makes you wonder what might have been! Imagine, Britain going into WW2 with a version of the Farquar-Hill. Obviously, it would have been nice to have seen a shorter version, and a 10 round box magazine (with the feed lips on the mag), but that is hindsight speaking. It's easy to be clever in hindsight. I think that would have given the M1 a run for it's money. :)
No I think it would've just been like yeah Brits have a rifle but nah I don't think it would've give the M1 a run for it's money seein as the rounds tend to jump out of the mag without warning
@@phoenixwyvern355 you missed the bit that by WW the mag would likely have been reworked into more conventional box mag with integral feedlips. The cam track would also likely have been sealed up in later iterations sealing the gun up when the bolt was closed.
@@phoenixwyvern355 you honestly don't think improvements would be made in the 21 years between the 2 wars?
I get it, you're a proud American, U.S.A.! U.S.A.! And all that jazz. But it's ok to admit that another country made a good gun. One that might even have been as good as an American one!!
Don't worry, it doesn't mean you're not still the Bestest Country Ever.
I mean I don’t think it’d give the Garand a run for it’s money. Could it have been a nice rifle? Perhaps. But I don’t really think it’d have any substantial benefits over a Garand honestly.
@@ctgslayer detachable mags my dude
It looks like something from an alternate history video game.
I love it.
Posted only a few minutes ago, already a dislike. I'm curious why someone clicks on a video just to dislike it.
Attila Rischt Ian's internet nemesis of course, bring him down one dislike at a time
Attila Rischt -Gun Satan?
Who gives a shit anyway? Does the like bar dictate how much you enjoy a video? Let em dislike all they want, it makes no bloody difference to me.
Attila Rischt UA-cam just cares about reactions. Good or bad it doesn't matter.
?
I need a gif of Ian pulling the magazine out and looking down at all the cartridges on the ground.
Keep spamming this link: 9:20
I love these old experimental Autoloading rifles from WW1. Thank you for preserving and presenting the history of firearms in an enjoyable manner. I've learned more from these videos than I would've otherwise.
YES! Ian i've been waiting for a much newer video on this... Loved the video years back.
A fascinating weapon. However, having served many years in the British Army, I have a feeling that it's not quite as "squaddie-proof" as it should be, but extremely interesting all the same.
MsG
Hmm, another instance where the worse rifle won out because of insufficient training? Reminds me of InRangeTV's Lever Gun series where the US decided to go with the 1873 Trapdoor over any of the far more advanced Lever Actions available.
@@AM-hf9kk I don't think it's a matter of training as much as people accidentally damaging things, losing things etc.
This isn't a mature design. With a bit more refinement and some army trials and eventual adoption, you'd be facing a much more mature gun that has been made more durable and army-proof. Though nothing is completely army-proof.
@@RockSolitude It was sufficiently mature for the Army to order 100,000 in 1918, just before hostilities ended.
That drum and rifle really have a Fall out vibe to it. Super cool.
I love how weapons designed around looking drums look - the drum partially going into the gun look very cool.
They shouldn’t have canceled the order. They should have just stuck them all in storage, god knows they would have been useful in the Second World War.
Meh, they all would have been lost at Dunkirk, anyway.
The Painkiller the Germans would have found them useful.
@@jackandersen1262 Only if they are chambered in 8mm mauser.
Not really, the Germans in WW2 issued captured weapons to police and collaborator units and some soldiers really liked allied weapons.
@@thepainkiller4939 Dunkirk when the British leave in victory? Yeah don't forget when America came in with the Garand it actually changed the tide of war seeing as the Germans realised the Americans came with a different rifle and not standard bolt actions.
9:00 craaazy how dice remembered that in their reload animation.
great vid as usual!
That bit about the gas piston compressing a spring and then locking to prevent over-pressure is fascinating to me. Genius before it's time.
I remember when the original video came out, one of my favorite guns you've shown. Very satisfying to finally see what that dual spring system was all about. Thank Ian!
I think the best part of this rifle is the tactical foregrip "would you like a flip up lightweight polymer quick detach grip, or should we bolt on the end of a broom?"
I love how cleverly the self-limiting gas system regulates the impulse on the mechanism. It's sort of a lot of parts, but it might have been a nice addition to the 1950s era battle rifles.
Looks like a new Battlefield 1 medic rifle.
Gabbe hopefully this will be in a future dlc ^^
*GASP* Dice right now
+P05TPWN3D Maybe not future DLC, but just new content in an update.
IFDF: Admiral Y11 that'd be great because there's only like 2 or 3 viable medic guns lmao
Gabbe I was just thinking the same thing!
It looks like a Steampunk's gun
HanzFeelsGood Diesel Punk is the cringy label for this kind of style. SP is more ornate and well finished, with lots of craftsmanship and soft metals like brass and good. The complicated mass produced steel look is DP.
Maciej Pociecha
I always saw Dieselpunk as more WW2 to mid-60s era, with lots of stamped guns, and computers in the setting, if any, are pre-IC.
I always saw the Walther MPL as dieselpunk.
Just call yourselves weirdos and be done with it
They're both fairly cringey labels.
@@JvS1711 why?
Enjoy watching all of the great videos from you and Karl (on Inrange). All of the forgotten weapons videos are educational and fun to watch. Have fun and be safe on the range.
Farq, whart?
what a farqing cool gun aye
In years to come this guys channel is gonna be the only way to remmber some of these
That is hands down one of the coolest and most clever designs I've come across since joining your channel. Can you think of any reason the recoil system was not replicated or reproduced in later guns?
Probably expensive and i'm pretty sure that prone to failure. More moving parts always mean more reliability issues. And with the proper spring recoil can be quite manageable, even with a single rod.
I loved the revisit of older footage. So glad you got this chance to do a detailed look
I wonder what it would take to make one of these with a basic machine shop.
That looks a whole lot like a Mauser bolt and extractor with a big roller added to make it semi-auto. Fascinating.
Can you imagine if ww1 lasted two more years holy shit it would have been a blood bath with all the weapons that where just a year to short of making it to troops hands
this is so brilliant!what a perfect way to make a soft cycling magnum or high calibre rifle!
9:19 has got to be one of the funniest things I've seen in my life...
Boy am I glad to see a better video on this incredibly interesting rifle. With so many videos on other early semi-automatic rifles from other nations, I was beginning to feel sorry for this poor old thing being left out~
when I read the name I thought of Lord Farquad from shrek
SomeBODY ONCE
Great...Now I'm not gonna be able to say it the right way.
@@masonsykes2240 told Me
@@lewiscliffe434 The world was gonna roll me
I live in the town Farquhar was from, his house is now an old folks home and I always think of shrek whenever I see it. Which is all the time as it's such a large building
These videos never cease to amaze me on the true engineering that goes into firearms. Knowing systems like these were in experimental phase or maybe didn't even exist at all, and the designer came up with all these moving parts is just awesome.
Ian is right, this is an amazing rifle, considering it is 100 years old, and decades older than the M1. Conservatively engineered and produced with care.
Watching this thing on the range a few years ago was the first ever Forgotten Weapons video I watched and this instantly became possibly my favourite weapon
So jealous in Australia we can't even own a slingshot
F
Get a nice plot of land in QL and start farming. Then say that you have a wild hog problem. Bing-bong you get a semi auto AR-15
Kind of appreciate those restrictions when you see what it's gotten us
@@dolebludger Im sorry but did you just say that the gun restrictions are right?
@@isosev yes. Australian gun restrictions are good
the footage of you dropping all the carts out of the mag was priceless, thank you
I thought the gun was named Farquhad Hill. I've seen too much Shrek memes
One of the most badass looking guns from that time period in my opinion tbh with you.
I love watching these videos for 2 reasons
1. I really like weapons and the history behind them.
2. I play BF1 and love seeing all the cool WW1 guns that might be imported into the game from DLC.
love these videos!
Bf1 is just shitty game for a ww1 setting, they dont know shit about history
I love how the back half of the rifle is so conventional looking, and then you have the front half
I love this weapon. British should had adopted it to widespread usage such weapons prior to WW1. Especially then the only threat their infantry faced were to be overwhelmed by superior numbers back then and their training focused on volume of fire above everything else.
"The Farquhar-Hill was originally patented in the UK in 1908 and in the USA in 1909. The key feature was an intermediate 'action' spring stored recoil energy. Upon discharge, the barrel recoiled while still locked with the bolt, compressing the intermediate spring on recoil. Upon return of the barrel to the forward position, the energy stored in the intermediate spring cycled the bolt back and forth, extracting and ejecting the spent case and feeding a fresh round into the now stationary barrel. The main goal was to achieve smooth and reliable cycling, but the design was very complicated and thus badly suited for a military firearm. By 1911, Farquhar and Hill revised their rifle, changing its source of energy from barrel recoil to more convenient gas operated action. This new weapon also utilized intermediate spring as a source of energy for cycling of the bolt, but the barrel was now stationary, simplifying design and making it potentially more accurate and reliable. During following years this design was further refined and tested by British Army on several occasions. This rifle was initially chambered for the new “.303 rimless” round, designed by necking up the 7.65x53mm Belgian Mauser case and loading it with British-issue Mk.VII bullet of .303 caliber. Later on this experimental loading was discarded in favor of the standard issue .303 British ammunition. After several trials, including troop trials at the Front, in 1918 the Farquhar-Hill rifle was found to be suitable for military use, and an official request was issued for procurement of as much as 100,000 of Farquhar-Hill rifles for British forces fighting on the Continent against Germany. "
In essence, British were time wasting twats. Instead of prioritizing development of very promising technologies, they were jerking off until it was too late and instead of modernizing their weaponary at the end of the war, they decided to screw it and canceled production of new rifles.
REgamesplayer nobody wanted to make weapons after the war to end all wars
Indeed. People back then were stupid. It is just nice that we live in the age then no major wars can ever happen again. It is safe to lower our guard and pursue inresponsible foreign policies since we had 3 decades of relative peace!
So many lives would have been saved. Being cheap about what in the grand scheme of war is a very low expense, rifles, squandered the advantage their soldiers would have had in battle had this been their standard rifle going into World War I. A carbine version would have also been welcome in the trenches. Considering that it would have been a massive firepower advantage in every battle, it would have prevented thousands of casualties. It's a tragedy, and if there's an obstructionist at fault he's a villain.
What are you talking about? The gun wasn't ready until the war was almost over, they needed time to set up a new production line, and they would have had to retrain 4 million troops!
Ian, your face when you take the magazine out and the cartridges went flying around... just priceless LOL
Excellent video, as always!
this is a gun they should make reproductions of. I would love to have a modern remake of this one.
Chamber it for .308 or 5.56 and let it use respective AR style mags and I'd be sold.
Lazy apt name
I was thinking that because this dampens recoil so much, I wonder if they could use this system to tame some of the larger dangerous game cartridges like the .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, and .458 Winchester....
Tuton25 Would love a viable reproduction. But now that I see this system, I think it can be minimized and adapted into a handy hunting rifle.
I agree. It's beautiful craftsmanship, I'd love to see reproductions.
I just love the sound of the rifle being fired. That sharp powerful crack.
Well shit. Some old-world Brit done gone beat me to my own idea for a buffered low-recoil gas system for semi or full automatic firearms......I have a series of concept sketches in a notebook somewhere from back in late high-school/ early community college of essentially this exact operating system. A sort of halfway amalgamation of short-stroke and long-stroke gas piston design. Well, back to the drawing board.
Joshua Redhorse originality is overrated, you can make a gun with this system and no one would call you out for this gun lmao
Joshua Redhorse There is very little in the firearms world that is truly original. If someone designs something, chances are that someone else already used a similar idea a long time before.
looks as smooth as a singer sewing machine amazing for its time ' my great uncle was given the lewis machine gun in WW1 he said the lewis got him out of a lot of trouble but im sure he would have used one of these if they were more readily available
the dam thing is OP in battlefield 1
Ikr.
I love that Ian doesn't take himself too seriously 9:20
this rifle will be in the 3rd BF1 DLC
Deadass wtf
Watching it operate in slow motion is visual poetry
I`m sure the developers at DICE watch this channel too, to keep the details for Bf1
There is a reason I'm in the credits for BF1...
I was hoping you would return to this rifle at some point. I'm glad you finally got hold of another one. Cheers.
Not gonna lie, im here from Turning Tides
This is my favorite channel on UA-cam. I learn so much about firearms and history
Who's excited to use this gun in bf1? I sure am!
David Ratin good news, it’s good and hits like a truck
Kyle Hurd Yeh, that's an unfortunate setback to an otherwise amazing weapon.
talking about that kick lag. Yeah I know about or fired a few different guns. This one is so fascinating. Beautiful piece. Take good care of her.
Maybe another project for the guys that are making the STG-44? LOL!!!
This operating system is one of the best. It's a nearly perfect recoil system.
this is an verry cool weapon! *new weapon for bf1 intensifies* it just has to!
It was never used, why make bf1 even more unrealistic?!
H e i s e n b e r g
The Huot was never used, the Hellreigel was never used and the M1903 experimental was never used. Might as well throw in another one.
Indeed, like why not
Actually it was used briefly by the air force as was the Mondragón.
Cool!
so glad you came back to the Farquhar hill
I can see you working at a university teaching firearm history. I'd be first in line.
It's amazing that they were able to make this gun run at all, much less be reliable
Hah! 17th!. Not quite first, but eh. Best life accomplishment to date.
Very cool design, definitely out of the ordinary. Ian you are so lucky to be able to inspect and even shoot these guns. That Mag Dump was awesome. Lol...
Gun Jesus vs lord farquar
SO glad you did an updated video on this. Such a cool design. Thanks Ian!
15:37
GOTT THAT IS SEXY
been 3 years mate
It was just as funny this time, as it was last time, watching all those rounds dump out. Not to be rude, or critical, Ian is obviously a 10/10 guy. It's just something that I would do.
Still better than the SA80 rifles
Grumpy_Palpatine the a2 is made by h&k
Wow, a controlled round feed auto loader. With a non-rotating Mauser extractor. And Mauser-like initial extraction. With a little cleaning up of the gas system and magazine, I could see it competitive today!
one of the coolest looking drums i've seen...
Quite well done for something that was barely used. Didn't get the recognition it deserved.
YEYT! A full video on this rifle. Thank you Ian!
been wanting to see more of this rifle ever since the last video, thanks!!
I don´t like too much the "British Style" in gun design, but this deserves my RESPECT.
Thanks A LOT for share all this info with us, Ian..!
Kind regards.
Ok that mechanism was cool, quirky, and oddly elegant in an over-engineered kind of way.
I like the operating mechanism. A bit complicated but by the sounds of it that makes it nicer to shoot.
Brilliant. I've been waiting for this video since your channel evolved into its current style. Excellent stuff.
What a remarkable elegant design.
Thanks Ian.
Another excellent clip.
why is this so soothing to watch?
Great video on a beautiful rifle. This would be a Great addition to any collection in either form.Thanks Ian
Awesome weapon. It somehow looks both modern and yet has elements, like the drum magazine, that just screams WW1. People are clever.
Really cool gas system that appears to allow for consistent cycling of the bolt across a wider range of cartridge loads than a directly linked system. Manufacturers of the AR15 should pay attention!