Comments by "SlavicCelery" (@SlavicCelery) on "Curators Speak Out: Danny and Ashley on the World of Firearms Museums" video.

  1.  @Dathkami  Needle guns had military acceptance, so I wouldn't say they were unpopular. Franco-Prussian War should not be forgotten. Also, if we're discussing Semi-automatic arms development, commercial acceptance was much larger in the USA than much of the European market. See Remington Model 8, various Winchester semi-autos, etc. The US military avoided semi-auto designs largely due to logistical concerns when participating in the Indian Wars. That said, outside of the RSC, and the Mondragon - there were not majorly successful semi-auto designs at that time for military use. So it's more of known quality over new innovation.
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  2.  @Dathkami  A little bit earlier 1837 is when the Dreyse was invented. But close enough for Government work.
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  3.  @Dathkami  Well it was adopted by 1911. Before that point in time the amount of semi-auto pistols in Europe was varied depending on country. That said, many many revolvers were still being used by militaries USA and European. So, your statement about unreliable is a general statement about early semi-automatic pistols. Not to mention many of the initially developed were not good enough for military use. C96 and Luger are the stand out designs from Europe at that time. But, adoption wasn't decades before the USA. 1904 is the earlier adoption of the Luger before they standardized on the P08 model. Which is all of two years before the 1911. And all of that to say that the 1911 was part of a number of trials that predated the adoption. So, historical evidence says that USA or Europe was not "preferred one or the other". USA police forces did use revolvers as a duty weapon for a long time after reliable semi-autos were on the market. That said, you can point at many European police forces that used revolvers late into the 20th century as well. As far as semi-automatic rifle designs, the most successful ones largely were the designs of JMB. The RSC would be the largest issues Semi-auto rifle until really the Garand. Yes there are a few Russian designs that were interesting, but not practical. So in conclusion, I really don't get where you're coming from. This isn't an American exceptionalism... This is both sides of the pond didn't want a new design that couldn't hold up to combat needs. Until proper semi-auto rifle designs came along, both sides tested various designs. Semi-auto pistol adoption is not separated by decades. Revolvers got used for decades after they had become obsolescent. As far as lever action rifles, yes those were more popular in the USA side of things than Europe. But that's probably as influenced by the fact that the best lever gun designs were all being made in the USA at the time.
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  4.  @jamesdevore3022  Which all of that is deliciously ironic considering the development of the BAR and the 1919. Leaving a cutoff shows a system wherein the soldiers are supposed to support different weapons systems primarily.
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