A bit more info: Their production models are actually reliable because they had to use prototypes like this to figure out what the issues lie. Same with the Germans developing the FG42 in the first place. This was actually initially not supposed to be aired, but i twisted his arm to air it because I wanted to address how difficult it is to run a small arms development program. "Imagine spending $500k on tooling and first production parts for the prototype to not work, then spending another few years to tweak it until it does, still be in a financial red and have to buy a lot more materials to push production, ensure QC is working, and actually have production models that buyers are quite happy with. " ---> This is the prototype that we are working on. Also RE: the firing pin ignition I think my comments could have been misleading. There's an acceleration spring, but even with it, we had big problems touching off primers with a limited lock speed since the entire carrier and piston group has to move forward like an open bolt machine gun to gain the momentum. The entire BCG/piston pulls moves forward like an M240 type long stroke system and is mostly reliant on the recoil spring to push it forward. We initially thought that this may only be an issue with the repro prototypes until we worked with a source who wishes to remain anonymous... he worked with some real FG42 type 1, and when they tried to shoot them on semi, this was 100% a very big problem where it would not fire over and over again. Only on full auto was it truly reliable to ignite the military primers.

Frohe Weihnachten from Austria. This videos comentary section now belongs to german speakers :-p

Thanks for being open and showing us part of the process. Every gun has gone through this same kind of 'growing' pain.

I love this rifle please please please gimmie

Worse than a Remington 700 BDL trigger ?

But Stoner returned to FG42-like with the m16. Totally rectilinear, elevated sights and machined receiver-like. I think he himself, said it.(things of which commies told Schmeisser and the german team no to do on the Ak47 despite the obvious conveniences. Until they tried the fix it somewhat with AKM buttstock)

@@sebastiandc1392 Russians rectified it largely via AK-74. They didn’t want AK to be particularly accurate cause they didn’t need it to be with their doctrine of 1950s. It was a replacement for PPS-43, not SVT-40.

The thing is, it wasn't actually that good a concept. I mean, it *sounds* like a good concept, but it didn't really work any better for Germany than it did for America (although at least the Germans never intended the FG-42 to be a wide-issue weapon). Arguably it worked for the Swiss, but their needs are unique, and they've moved to a more-or-less normal assault rifle since then.

@@jic1 they didn’t have the luxury of hind sight and good logistics. On paper, an auto loading rifle that was shorter and lighter and shot the same ammo was a pretty amazing arrangement if they could get development and production in order

@@9HoleReviews Well, I did say that it sounds like a good idea. And my comment wasn't purely about Germany trying the concept, it was others being inspired by the concept even though it had already been shown to be flawed.

I mean it's pretty accurate. Henry wasn't even able to walk them in because of gun failures but still regularly got 1st round hits and 23 for the course is pretty good.

@@nath9091 Oh, of course. Ian has done great work with the rifle as well. It's more me laughing at Josh's impressive abilities, considering I'd struggle with 500 with a good trigger and modern-style optic.

I agree, I wish we knew how much was bag and how much was "other"

Yeah, the machine work on the parts is really nice too.

I wonder how Shoei dialed-in their replicas. My Type 1 replica switches from open to closed bolt nicely and has a buttery smooth trigger. The action feels good and there's a strong hammer drop. Switch that from pot metal to CNC milled 4140.

@@clevlandblock are you referring to an Airsoft replica?

@@williamflowers9435 I think he is. 🤦‍♂️

@@clevlandblock thats stupid comparison

You should offer your rifle to the to use. I'm disappointed that this is what they are showing the world. It's making the fg42 look pretty bad.

@Fraser Fir hey yeah I feel like a bit of a ass because I started commenting before I got to the debrief portion of the video. I was really looking forward to this video. Hell for years I've been asking for a fg42 video from Henry and Josh in the comment section of thier videos lol There's not alot of fg42 videos on KZfaq and I think its a top contender for best small arm of ww2 and I was eager to see what Henry could do with one. Long story short I jumped the gun and I apologize.

100% + 'issues I had' Uh wut?

@@randomidiot8142 pretty sure what he’s saying is with brass ammo it works 100% of the time, with steel cased ammo it has issues.

WHAT'S THE COST ON ONE OF THOSE?

damn well said.

After all these years I'm surprised you don't have a magnificent oil painting of your....... interesting eyes.

I want one *so* bad!

Agreed on that. So we had a friend who's worked on the legit FG42 and the type 1 they had also had issues touching rounds off in semi, but no issues on full auto. The trigger on this prototype is especially bad because it's a prototype.

People say it recoils like an AR which seems pretty wild considering the caliber the FG42 uses

@@Phantom_Aspekt AR10 maybe?

@@23GreyFox yeah, full power cartridge, inline recoil with a buffer in the stock, supposedly makes them feel fairly similar recoil wise

@@9HoleReviews I’m more intrigued by the horrible trigger than anything. I’m still fairly novice in the shooting world, so I’m still having a hard time gauging the amount of pressure I apply to it. But so far, I think the worst trigger I’ve fired from was a Steyr AUG.

It's ugly as hell are you all blind

Calling it ugly is laughable. Looks super cool.

@@reefread1234 in my opinion it is one of the coolest looking guns maybe not one of the coolest but the coolest.

@@tiortedrootsky he don't know what he is talking about.

I bet your favourite gun is a competition AR-15 Haha@@reefread1234

Also used by the First Special Services Force.

A reproduction of, yet improved M1941 would be awesome!

Very true. Apparently it was horrendous to shoot because of the short recoil operation and the single stack magazine was unnecessarily long. Fairly advanced otherwise.

@@borkwoof696 The semiauto rifle variant of the M1941 wasn't much better either. It used a 10 shot rotary magazine with a side loading gate that can insert either loose rounds or with with the help of stripper clips. It's not a bad thing being able to top it off at any given time, but made the rifle rather bulky and reloads could be a little fiddly. Since it was short recoil operated like the LMG variant, while it had a bayonet lug, it wasn't a good idea.

@@JEJAK5396 I just want a brand new semi auto grease gun in 9mm with bare minimum to make it legal

This is reassuring to hear. I have a type 2 308 on the way (got the "send in your final payment" email last week so soon™!) and I already bought 500 rounds of Tula steel case 308. Was kind of worried since steel case can cause issues, but everything I read says it gladly eats through Russian steel.

About time.

The story I heard about the NYPD trigger is it would force the officer to shoot and handle a semi-auto more like a double-action revolver.

@@Oberkommando probably normal issue as on top of all the ridiculous requirements he listed in the video, it need to be a LMG, Sniper Rifle, Battle Rifle, have a bayonet, and use a grenade launcher

Welllll... That's still the DOD's accuracy requirements for M16/M4 rifles to this day.

@@Terran994 smh.. that is nonsense isn't it? Scar-H came to mind but as a LMG? nah...

@@TheBucketSkill if you read up on it, when the original proposal for what became the FG-42, they wanted a gun that could fill the role of a 98K,l and MG34. The G43 and STG-44 didn't exist yet. If you look at the ZB-26, ZB-30, or the A2 WW2 variant of the BAR, they all used 20 round magazines, which by modern standards is crap. Those were all called LMGs back in Those days, but would be more like Squad Automatic Weapons by today's standards, like the M27.

That's something hard to explain to some guys. People either appreciate the craftsmanship that it took to bring a super cool obsolete design to life (which is probably us), while some say it's bad because a $750 S&W MP15 has better reliability without understanding the amount of development time that the AR15 has had opposed to the FG42. On top of the production line SMG FG42's work just fine, people who typically criticize aren't the ones who can / would purchase anything close to this anyways.

@@9HoleReviews Rick will also fix any problem you have - I think that makes the difference. If he was able to make 20,000 a year and get them into everyone's hands, then sure we'd expect perfection at this point... When I purchased my rifle, he was only make 20 of each caliber type 2 rifle! Awesome video, love your work!

@@Lavthefox if it's anti seize, just be aware there are minute particles of metal in most of them which will accelerate wear on metal parts.

@@TheNapalmFTW David brings up a good point! So just use the whole tube in the receiver and thin it out with motor oil. She'll run like a champ! (Jokes aside: it is a good point!)

Do you also need a guy with a sickle to go with the guy with a hammer

@@stoggafllik Only in East Germany.

Nope, just need to keep from blocking the cocking lever. On the other side the trigger is just as bad as the VP-70.

@@stoggafllik what is genjer-genjer

A mortarman.

Beat me to it. 😁

Can you let me in on the significance of this statement? I know very little about this rifle. EDIT: never mind, I just thought about. Ha Ha Ha! I forgot they were a little preoccupied with not getting occupied by Ze Germans.

@@bombfog1 basically the RAF were bombing Germany and it affected the development of their firearms and etc

Classic Henry 🤣🤣🤣

@UCYCHl1ppohBcBIhf-Z0R4vA as well as the Luftwaffe HQ in Berlin, with all their archives and documents.

The website is crap how do you contact them?

besides mg42, some even with drums.

The problems he is having in the video are not true problems with fg42s.

@@Oberkommando i always wondered - if the belt is wrapped around the barrel, wont it "jam"? or will the belt just be pulled in? is it necesssary to "losen" the belt around the barrel or will it fire just like that?

@@Schimml0rd They would prob unwrap the belt before firing, I think he means it was just easier to carry with a wrapped belt instead of a drum

hahaha

Germanic Black Magic for sure

This should be pinned. Thanks for your hard work Rick. Hope you guys get back up to speed soon

Sturmgewher definitely. I'd own one if I could afford it.

Yeah the production models are far better functioning than the prototype!

Man we’re pretty excited to debut the new year

No worries. It’s all in part of dealing with prototype weapons, it’s interesting to have learned the issues, but the process can be maddening

@@9HoleReviews Thank you for the work you do! One of my favorite channels, and definitely an inspiration.