Q&A Questions for October/November?

Hey Ian I was watching your video on the Lee Navy recently, and I was curious about the clip system that it used, to be able to load the rounds in a single packet, before the clip was ejected as it was not part of the feeding system. Could you go in depth about how that system worked, and why it wasn't used in anything else? I was also curious if there were other non standard clip systems that would be interesting to go in depth with. This could be a good way to take a look at feed strips on some early machineguns and how revolvers use clips Thanks

Toby Williamson

In the past there was certain diversity in locking mechanisms of automatic firearms. However nearly all the locking mechanisms of the past have vanished in favor of rotating bolt. What is it that made/ is making rotating bolt the ultimate winner in this field ? Is it just a matter of cost and efficieciecy within the manufacturing process? And speaking of the machanisms that vanished from mainstream firearms manufacturing (for instance tilting bolt, flapper lock, and even delayed blowback [inspite of not being technically a locking mechanisms]) what were the unique advantages and disadvantages of specific locking mechanisms?

Hi Ian! My great uncle served in Vietnam, and said he took a .357 magnum as his sidearm because he didn't trust autoloaders. Would this be a legitimate concern in a jungle environment? And also, do you know of any other examples of soldiers replacing their service weapons?

I've encountered several rumours down the years that the British, before WWII, planned to change to a rimless rifle/MG cartridge. This was apparently aborted when it became clear that a new major war was in the offing (just as a similar project had before WWI). Can you tell us any more about this? What cartridge, rifle and MG were candidates for adoption?

John Dallman

Elbonia have created a SWAT/Urban Ops special forces unit. What weapons (pistol, rifle, smg etc) would you equip them with that look the most impressive/cool/ally whilst being the most impractical and useless possible?

What 19th to 20th Century military firearm served the longest in its original, unmodified form.

Nick Brodar

Hi Ian love your contact. My question is what ever happened to you and Karl going back to tiger valleys two man Team Match. In 2017 it seemed like you guys were very pleased with that match and the environment that it offered. I’ll be honest that’s one of my favorite string videos you and him have ever put out together. Any particular reason or backstory behind why are you never attended the match again.

Derrick Warren

Hi Ian, How about a discussion of the mini Martini 310 Cadet rifles from BSA and W.W. Greener used by Australia, perhaps including a brief history of the development of the mini Martini by Greener.

A good buddy of mine, callsign "Lowell" was a JTAC when he was in the Air Force. He used to say, "You might not be afraid of me, but you would be if I had my radio." I know this is a bit out of your area of expertise and coms aren't traditional "weapons", but a radio can call in a whole hell of a lot of whoopass. How about a brief history of battlefield coms?

The Elbonian double reverse! You are the new defense minister for Elbonia, and you are tasked with picking (modern) small arms. Of course you are secretly a spy for Elbonia’s enemies, but even more secretly you are still loyal to Elbonia! How do you pick an array of weapons that seem bad or obsolete but are actually competitive?

Why was no one able to duplicate the success of the blowback high power Astra 400/600 pistols?

Michael E Halbrook

Hi Ian, recently I have been seeing, from the corners of the internet, various commentary about how AR-15 style “Direct Impingement” guns are obsolescent because everyone is running suppressors (I know it’s not actually DI, but for the sake of simplicity we’ll say it is). The military has adopted suppressors on the new M5, and many avid civilian shooters are running cans on their primary rifles. I have heard that piston-driven guns work better with suppressors in terms of their noise reduction. I was hoping you might be able to take a few minutes to comment on this controversy.