Honestly one of the nicest-looking early semi-auto rifles, imo

That's... a strangely beautiful rifle, in its very personal way.

In a box magazine like the Lee or Ross, the cartridge rims need to be properly staggered, so that they don't catch on each other and cause rimlock. The Farquhar-Hill drum holds each round in its own cradle, so the rims aren't in contact with each other.

"Tactical Wooden Front Grip"

I think this is the one video I would like to see remade/remastered.

this gun is one mean motherfarquhar

Actually, the high-capacity drum is one of the reasons it was used by the Royal Flying Corps. Its problems were because of the overly complex mechanism, not the magazine.

The reciprocation of the bolt is so smooth. Especially when he dropped it but also while firing.

The reason they are no longer used is that belt feed has generally replaced box magazines. This tactical role is filled today by the FN MAG and FN Minimi, PKM, MG3, etc. FWIW, the mag-fed LMG configuration of the Stoner 63 also used a top-mag configuration.

Approaching six figures, if you can actually find one for sale.

love the blooper you added there

I haven't taken one apart, but I expect it is because the dual-spring system softens the initial force of extraction to the point that there isn't a danger of ripping the rim off the case. This is helped by the large (and thus strong) rim and significant taper of the .303 cartridge.

Amazing to see how the channel has evolved since this was made!

imagine having to reload this mag while someones trying to shoot back at you

Just by the appearance of the gun it looks like an sks and an mg42 had a baby.

Love it when Ian's old videos are recommended: they seem so familiar, yet so different. Also what a sick looking gun/drum!

WWI tech never ceases to amaze me. Great video, thanks for sharing.

I thought of lord farquad from shrek.

It can't be - did you see any malfunctions? :) More seriously, the Chauchat was a long recoil action, where the Farquhar-Hill uses a gas piston.

I kinda miss these old format videos with the sometimes amusing cue cards. "But wait, there's more!"

I miss the classic style videos such as this

We do have a line on a Pedersen device we can shoot (and we have some ammo for it), but it is a couple thousand miles away. At some point we will definitely do a video of it, though.

My great great Uncle, Lord Eric Nobrot Ponsonby Smythe, bought one of these with his Gardeners pay check and buggered of to India to shoot some natives after tea and scones. Wearing his Lobb of Bond Street Brogues throughout.

Yes, it does have a stripper clip guide. I didn't think about doing that when we were doing the video, though.

This guy has been rolling since house music was called techno and the only thing that changed was his video quality, god bless, Ian.

This is my favourite channel at the moment, great to see all these old guns shooting again. Find a working Fedorov automat 1916 and I will love you forever!

The drum holder 19 rounds. I didn't time myself on loading it, but it doesn't take all that long. The owner of the rifle also had an original pouch to hold a pair of spare drums as well.

2:27 love that crestfallen look of dismay

A pistol grip stock would be easy, although modification to use a Bren mag would be a bit tricky. The real problem is that the design isn't all that good when it gets dirty, which is why it was only used by the Royal Air Corps (not much mud up in the planes).

Excellent video and THANK YOU for showing such a rare rifle...

So it's like a Bubba edition SKS on steroids...

Thank you all from ForgottenWeapons for another fine video.

That look of defeat on his face when he pulled out the magazine...

Awesome video! Never knew you guys existed until today but I definitely will be watching more of your videos!

Nice video...Thanks for the up-load I have never seen one of these before! Its always great to learn something new...Keep up the good work!

Very interesting. Years ago I was lucky enough to visit the School of Musketry museum at Warminster barracks and I recall they had one of these there. It's evident that the .303 round with its savage recoil (which I recall from firing a WW2 Lee-Enfield in my army cadet days!) isn't really suitable for a 'trench broom' weapon. Now if they'd used pistol ammo like they did with the Thompson.......

I think the biggest reason it wasn't adopted or considered by the Brits in WWII is the cost. The mechanism is pretty intricate, and a lot more expensive than making more Enfield bolt actions. It seemed a bit more fragile than an M1 or SVT, but was very nice to shoot. I would be more confident in it as a combat rifle if I could run a few hundred rounds through it, but that isn't something I can do to a collectible like this.

Other top-mag LMGs include the Vickers-Berthier, Chatellerault 24/29, Nambu 96 and 99, Mendoza RM-2, ZB26, ZB30, and Madsen. These guns were collectively used by virtually every major combatant in WWII: Germany, France, Japan, the UK, China, and more than 2 dozen smaller countries. The US used the BAR instead, Russia used the DP28, and Italy used the Breda (although both Italy and Russia also used some of the top-mag guns).

Awesome gun, but that has to be the worst magazine I've ever seen.

Really neat old gun, great craftsmanship considering era and circumstances, thanks for showing that off, I really appreciate it

badass. I love all these prototype guns, France had a cool semi auto MAS too

Dice needs to add this in BF1 on turning tide dlc

I have a Model 8 as well, and it's an outstanding gun. What it doesn't have, though, is the capacity for sustained fire. Once it heats up, it will jam. Keep in mind that it uses the same operating system as the Chauchat LMG (rotating bolt and long recoil action). It's a great sporting rifle, but not a good basis for a military rifle.

That looks like such a beautiful firearm. I yearn for a chance to fire one.

This is a fascinating rifle given its age. I always wonder why these advances were not pushed. Maybe too complicated for every soldier by why not one in every squad? Or shorten it up and you have a pretty fair trench sweeper.

That big hunk of metal that has nothing around it flying back toward my face would be a little unnerving

That's an awesome looking weapon! I'm stoked I found your channel!

Don't know why exactly, but this is my favorite weapon. I've watched it several times. I think I'm attracted to that magazine. Of all things. Thanks for showing it to us.

Every one of these videos is amazing! Keep up the good work. :)

Coincidently I just played with this gun in battlefield 1...

Every time I see one of these weapons I always think of the Degtyaryov and Fyodorov Mosin prototypes (charging handle and bolt carrier are, aesthetically at least, similar, stock is very similar, action is very different though)... except for the fact that this actually works for its intended purpose... and also, Lyman style rear sights are an absolute joy to work with.

I'd love to have one...it's a beautifully made piece...love the working action

omfg thats cool, i like the authority in the bolt foward, slow and purposeful

Lord Farquahr: he huffed, and he puffed, and he...signed an eviction notice 😭

Worth a lot if you ask me. BTW, love your videos and your site, I am a gun nerd and have been devouring both since I discovered you last night. The in-depth breakdown of the function and design in these videos is awesome. Thank you so much. Is there any chance you could do a video on the Johnson M1941 semi-auto rifle? I find it fascinating but have so far only found one video of someone firing it and some stock photos.

Dang, the Farquad rifle is amazing.

Really awesome videos man. Thank you.

probably one of the most interesting rifles i have ever seen.

This thing is soo damn cool. This has to be one of my new favourite rifles.

The way that bolt closed was smooth as heck!

thanks for all the great info

The Bren with the top loading magazine was a fantastic design . Much quicker to reload while in prone , better magazine construction , highly accurate (some soldiers said to accurate) relatively low recoil making it accurate when fired from the hip . It could also use a 100 round drum magazine . Quick change barrel . The Bren is still used in several armed forces do to it's easy of cleaning , reliability in adverse weather conditions and light weight .

This dude had the dlc before the base game even came out

Ian really saw a lot of channel growth in 2020, in so happy for him

The slow bolt release is one of the coolest ive seen on a gun.

Amazing looks like it belongs in a steam-punk FPS thank you for sharing.

I would love it if you made a new (and HD) video of it :D

Damn I've been watching Forgotten Weapons for a long time! Started watching when the channel had 50k subs

im a little dissapointed im just now finding your channel. I've spent the last hour or so looking through and watching your videos, great stuff.

Great video. Never heard of this rifle before this video

excellent sir, thats good to hear. I will definitely watch it

love the cycle and mechanism,

I love weird old prototypesque guns. What a treasure.

Thanks for bringing this interesting piece to our attention. I had never heard of it. Aside from the quirky magazine design, it actually seems pretty neat for it's day. Very nice! Is there any reason why they never made a full auto version of this? (aside from running dry fast, that is, but that didn't stop the BAR)

It's nice to see one in action and get your impression of it. Years ago I read an article on this weapon. They gave it a really scathing review as I remember.

I love these old videos

Another neat video thanks!

I'd be interested to see a vid on this gun taken apart. I'm curious how its gas system works especially - doesn't look like there's much room with the magazine taking up most of the room under the action, and the recoil assembly seems pretty neat too.

pretty smooth action

Well, FWIW, there were versions of the Farquhar-Hill made with standard box magazines.

Great video!

merci pour cette video, je ne connaissais pas du tout ce fusil vous faites des videos tres interessantes felicitations :)

the gun's sound so good!

KZfaq suggested this video. It was nice to see 10 years ago Ian and listen to 10 years ago wind hit the microphone. Ian hasnt changed but FW has better mics now. :-)

very interesting...I had no idea such a weapon existed back then......thanks for the vid.....if you can you should try to get your hands on a penderson device for the U.S. springfield 03 rifles.....basically it replaced the standard bolt with a semi-auto mechanism that was fed from a 30 round box magazine that housed cut down .30 caliber pistol rounds....allowed the rifle to have a lot more firepower for close end assaults and defense

303 british ! Amazing round !

Beautiful gun

Love your videos. I like the tantalising glimpse of the .455 Webley with the Pritchard bayonet that you don't even mention at 1:05. I'll bet you have the Prideaux speed-loader to complete the set. Is there any chance of your doing a similar video with a Mondragon, the German's equivalent of the F-H? it seems to have been a rifle that was decades ahead of its time and its ammunition.

If they'd deployed it into a few battles, they would've eventually come up with a better magazine and would've given the Brits a distinct advantage by the time of the Battle of the Somme.

I really wish a gif of that ammo-eject mishap would become popular.

I'm going to swim against popular opinion and say - this would have been a huge benefit on the WW1 Battlefield working alongside the Lewis Gun in a Company level attack WW1 style. The Lewis Gun was insanely popular with the infantry once it was introduced on the Western Front. Early in the war there was a lot of 'tit for tat' or 'too-ing and froo-ing' on the Front Line. Once side would take huge casualties and gain the opposing trenches. The other side would counter attack and recapture the same trenches before it could be secured. Over and over. The big heavy Vickers and Maxim guns could never be brought across No Mans Land quick enough or be supplied enough to secure the line before being driven out. Enter the Lewis Gun. A company could jump into the German front line and immediately deploy 8 easily portable Lewis Guns on the former German parados and stave off any massed German infantry attack as long as ammunition could get to them. More men, more ammo then the big Vickers guns and the line was secure. You add the firepower of 4 or 5 of these semi-auto rifles and it would have made a devastating impact on counter attacking Germans trying to regain their former front lines. As for reloading and comments re Western Front conditions - it wasn't always muddy ;) But I agree it would be challenging - but no more challenging than reloading those Lewis Gun magazines. Also, the British/Commonwealth Infantry had specialised Company 'Bombers' (Grenade Throwers) that carried huge sacks of Grenades into battle, and a pistol. A few blokes carrying sacks of pre-packed magazines would have been no real burden on the Infantry Company in the line. Love to hear more of why this ground breaking rifle was never adopted ... hell, it wasn't until AFTER the Korean war that Britain and the Commonwealth finally adopted the SLR (FN-FAL) and dropped the bolt action rifle for good, 40 years AFTER this rifle!

beautiful gun!

loved thi gun great explanation of it thanks

Wonderful to see thank you for the video. :)

Very interesting weapon.

What a goofy design. Thanks for sharing!

Sweet looking weapon here's hoping this weapon is added to Battlefield 1 so I can have a go at it XD

Nice. I think i had only ever heard the name and didn't know much about them. Interesting to speculate "what if" on guns like this.

Very cool.

Love this rifle