Comments by "" (@neutronalchemist3241) on "Costa Rican Breda PG: The First Burst-Fire Rifle" video.

  1. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  2. For the precision. Is very easy to have access/remove the parts that requires more servicing (gas ports and bolt assembly) or that have to be replaced more often (statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin. You can replace them in seconds). To completely disassemble the rifle is more complicated, but it had not to be done that often. In almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles made until then (and several made afther then, think of the Gewehr 41 and 43 for example) the receiver and the trigger group were not made to be removed from the stock that often, infact they were secured with bolts and screws. What can annoy of this design, is that the entire gas piston is not easily accessible, but in reality, all the "magic" happens under the muzzle cover, that contains the exhaust ports too, is exposed once the muzzle cover is off and can be fully cleaned. The rest of the piston is only a piece of steel to which very little could happen.
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  3. I want to see this FIRE! But thanks for uploading anyway. It's really interesting!
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  4. +May your swords stay sharp! (mysss29) To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).
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  5. Mind that this is a disassembly, not a field strip. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  6. It's for strip field. Statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin are the parts that have to be be replaced more often, and the bolt assembly and the gas ports are those that need cleaning. This design grants access to all of them in seconds.
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  7. There is difference between disassembly and field strip. This rifle is very easily field strippable but, like almost every bolt action and semiauto rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifles after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. You'll see the same screws in the Gewehr 43.
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  8. The last burst of a magazine will always be a surprise, and you can't fix it by simply pulling the trigger again. However mind that this is a first. The subsequent implementations of the burst mechanism obviously improved it.
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  9. Yes, it's a Madsen LMG.
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  10. It would require so much skill that it can't be done by chance.
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  11. Field stripping it is EXTREMELY simple. Much simpler than field stripping a M1 Garand for example. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  12. The "single lug rising block" locking system is the same used in the Breda M37 and M38 HMGs, Breda 20mm M35 and Breda 37mm 37/54 automatic cannons (altough those listed are practically scaled-up versions of the same weapon, while the PG had several differences). They were all higly regarded.
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  13. It takes much more time to overheat, and can't cook off an entire magazine anyway even if it does. This is not a battle rifle, but a lighter BAR. Also the machining required was not that much. That of the receiver is comparable to other semiauto rifles of the era (not to say of light machine-gun). The bolt is made of only five pieces, an only has straight cuts.
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  14. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then (See the Gew.43 for example), this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock (that's why they are fixed with screws). While the parts that require cleaning (bolt and gas ports) and have to be replaced more often ( almost universally the recoil spring) are very easily reachable.
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  15. Field strip. To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. The thing can be field stripped in seconds without tools, that was not a given at the time.
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  16. This rifle is actually very simple, with a very low parts count. The filed strip can be made in seconds without tools (that's not a given at that time). Simply Ian decided to do a complete disassembly. That's another thing. To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. that's why they have screws. While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).
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  17. 910mm, with a 18" barrel.
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  18. Field strip (remove the muzzle cover and expose the gas ports, chamber and piston for cleaning; remove the recoil spring for inspection/replacing; remove the bolt assembly for cleaning/replacing of the firing pin) is actually very easy and can be done in seconds without tools. Disassembly requires more time, but almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles' designs until that point, and several later, were not supposed to have the receiver and trigger group removed from the stock that often. That's why they were screwed to it. When Ian reviewed the Gew. 41 and 43 for example, he didn't remove them. Otherwise there would have been several screws to remove as well.
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  19. Single locking lug at the top. All the Breda gas actions, up to 37mm automatic guns, used that lock.
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  20. The gun in itself is fairly simple. The count of the parts of the gas system, the bolt assembly and the trigger group (bar the burst device, that's an added part) is actually very low.
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  21. ? Actually the rifle is very simple. Apart for the burst mechanism, that's an added part, not required for it to work, the parts count is the lowest it could be, and the field strip can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time. To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. The bolt is made of just five parts, included one that doubles as charging handle. The trigger group is very simple too. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is simply not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock (that's why they were secured with screws). While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).
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  22. It's so difficult to do that you can do it only on purpose.
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  23. Thanks to you. Unfortunately, Ian decided to disassemble the rifle (that was required to show the burst mechanism) without showing first how a field strip (that covers all the usual manteinance of the rifle, and 99% of the emergency operations) was supposed to be done. That gave the impression of the design to be complicated. Field strip (remove the muzzle cover and expose the gas ports, chamber and piston for cleaning; remove the recoil spring for inspection/replacing; remove the bolt assembly for cleaning/replacing the firing pin) is actually very easy and can be done in seconds without tools. Disassembly requires more time, but it has to be said that almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles' designs until that point, and several later, were not supposed to have the receiver and trigger group removed from the stock that often. That's why they were screwed to it. When Ian reviewed the Gew. 41 and 43 for example, he didn't remove them. Otherwise there would have been several screws to remove as well. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To remove the bolt from the receiver, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and pay attention to several small parts).
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  24. +Charles Inglin The short stroke piston isn't really needed (IE the Beretta BM59 had a long stroke one, and worked pretty well). The rifle had been made in 6.5X52 Carcano and 7x57 Mauser that, thus being full blown cartridges, develop about 1/3 less energy than a 30-06 Springfield or a 7.62 NATO and, weighting the rifle a kg more than a M14, it was probably enough to make the burst controllable . To me it's a pretty viable battle rifle, or an equivalent of the BAR with half the weight.
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  25. Not really. The rifle is quite simple. The bolt and gas assembly is one of the simplest I've ever seen. Simply, like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then (See the Gew.43 for example), this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock (that's why they are fixed with screws). While the parts that require cleaning (bolt and gas ports) and have to be replaced more often ( almost universally the recoil spring) are very easily reachable.
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  26. The BAR did pretty well. Obviously it did cause it was heavy, but this thing, even if not as heavy as a BAR, is heavier than most semiauto rifles and battle rifles, and I suspect that gas piston assembly makes it point heavy. Couple it with the fact that a 7mm Mauser is not a 30-06 Springfield, and it could make a 4 round bursts still controllable.
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  27. This rifle is actually very simple, with a very low parts count. The filed strip can be made in seconds without tools (that's not a given at that time). Simply Ian decided to do a complete disassembly.
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  28. Field strip (remove the muzzle cover and expose the gas ports, chamber and piston for cleaning; remove the recoil spring for inspection/replacing; remove the bolt assembly for cleaning/replacing of the firing pin), that covers all the usual maintenance work and 99% of the emergency operations, is actually very easy and can be done in seconds without tools. Disassembly requires more time, but almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles' designs until that point, and several later, were not supposed to have the receiver and trigger group removed from the stock that often. That's why they were screwed to it. When Ian reviewed the Gew. 41 and 43 for example, he didn't remove them. Otherwise there would have been several screws to remove as well.
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  29. The rifle is actually very simple. Except for the burst mechanism, that's an added part not integral to the design, it's made of very few parts. In this rifle. Is very easy to have access/remove the parts that requires more servicing (gas ports and bolt assembly) or that have to be replaced more often (statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin). You can replace them in seconds and without tools, that was not a given at that time. To completely disassemble the rifle is more complicated, but it had not to be done that often. In almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles made until then (and several made afther then, think of the Gewehr 41 and 43 for example) the receiver and the trigger group were not made to be removed from the stock that often, infact they were secured with bolts and screws. An M1 Garand for example is made with a completely different philosophy. The rifle is easily disassemblable, but not really field strippable. To have access to the firinng pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have a lot of small parts flying arounf you). What can annoy of this design, is that the entire gas piston is not easily accessible, but in reality, all the "magic" happens under the muzzle cover, that contains the exhaust ports too, is exposed once the muzzle cover is off and can be fully cleaned. The rest of the piston is only a piece of steel to which very little could happen.
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  30. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time. IE field stripping this is MUCH simpler than field stripping a M1 Grand.
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  31. Mind that the military load of the 7mm Mauser, the only relevant for this rifle, develops barely 2787J of energy (173grains at 2300 fps) , that's comparable to the .280 British (that was supposed to be an intermediate cartridge from the start, even if a strong one) and much less than the 7.62 Nato,30-06 Springfield or 8mm Mauser (from 3400 to almost 4000J)
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  32. No bolt action rifle, and very few semiauto rifles, until that moment were meant to be "taken apart" in the field. The parts that required manteinance were easily field stripped (of every bolt action rifle, you can dismantle the bolt assembly from the receiver in seconds), but the receiver and the trigger group were not meant to be often removed from the stock. This is the philosophy of this rifle. The parts that had to be seviced (gas ports and bolt assembly), or that more often needed to be replaced (statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin) can be taken apart in seconds and without tools. The M1 Garand instead is made with an opposite philosophy. It's easily disassemblable, but not really field strippable. To remove the bolt from the receiver, you have to take all the rifle apart.
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  33. The rifle is very simple actually. This is a disassembly, not a field strip.
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  34. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  35. Actually the rifle is very simple. Apart for the burst mechanism, that's an added part, not required for it to work, the parts count is the lowest it could be, and the field strip can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time. To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).
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  36. The rifle is actually very simple. Except for the burst mechanism, that's an added part not integral to the design, it's made of very few parts. In this rifle. Is very easy to have access/remove the parts that requires more servicing (gas ports and bolt assembly) or that have to be replaced more often (statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin). You can replace them in seconds and without tools, that was not a given at that time. To completely disassemble the rifle is more complicated, but it had not to be done that often. In almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles made until then (and several made afther then, think of the Gewehr 41 and 43 for example) the receiver and the trigger group were not made to be removed from the stock that often, infact they were secured with bolts and screws. An M1 Garand for example is made with a completely different philosophy. The rifle is easily disassemblable, but not really field strippable. To have access to the firinng pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have a lot of small parts flying arounf you). What can annoy of this design, is that the entire gas piston is not easily accessible, but in reality, all the "magic" happens under the muzzle cover, that contains the exhaust ports too, is exposed once the muzzle cover is off and can be fully cleaned. The rest of the piston is only a piece of steel to which very little could happen.
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  37. Yeah, cerimonial purposes... http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OyCTyo-O6vo/UE5K9gOVKlI/AAAAAAAAFAc/sx9F-LeWdCc/s1600/15-6dbf6eeff5.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KR-fZYrUvS4/UE5K-RfY8WI/AAAAAAAAFAk/yS3NWBT3dxw/s1600/420746_2931775367694_1060315192_32419321_999907315_n.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZX6VeQSnLI/UE5K_Ur97NI/AAAAAAAAFAs/4AAICxSfgg4/s1600/559545_3863517752172_1405333798_33695823_849344934_n.jpg
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  38. To fire a burst when the selector is in semiauto requires such a precision in finger movement that it's impossible to acieve it not for purpose.
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  39. People clean 8 times a day belt-fed MGs in Iraq?
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  40.  @buckfutter99  Then better to have this than any other semiauto-auto weapon of the time. The field strip of this, to clean the parts that need cleaning and inspect the ones that are most likely to need to be replaced, is done in seconds and without any tool, that was not a given at the time. Not only, but the number of parts is fairly low.
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  41. It's an automatic rifle. It does the job of the BAR with half the weight.
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  42. It actually is. Except for the burst mechanism, that's an added part, the rest of the rifle is WAY simpler than a M1 Garand for example.
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  43. It would be so tricky that you can do it only if you really want to do it.
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  44. Actually is a very simple rifle. Apart for the burst mechanism, that's an added part, not needed for it to work.
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  45. It's part of the strip field. It's not like you have to disassemble the rifle every time. The parts that needs to be cleaned-replaced more often (the gas chamber, the recoil spring and the bolt/firing pin), are easily reachable.
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  46. Field strip is different from disassembly, and what's shown here is a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  47. Simply a disassembly is not a field strip. Wen you find a screw (IE on the Gew-43), it's not the designer being an idiot, and not knowing that a screw requires a scredriver. It's the designer telling you that you don't need to disassemble that part on the field. There is nothing that can really go wrong there and, in the improbable case it does, there's nothing you can do to fix it on the field. The rifle is not really complicate. Burst mechanism apart (an added part, not required for it to work) it's made with less parts than most current gas operated ARs. The bolt is an incredibly simple 6 parts one, charging lever included.
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  48. Except for the burst mechanism, that's an added part not really needed fo the rifle to work, the rest of the rifle is WAY simpler than a M1 Garand.
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  49. So they have allucinations. ;) The bolt of this gun is EXTREMELY simple (it's made of five parts in total. bolt face, bolt carrier, extractor, firing pin, bolt handle that duplicates as retaining pin and link with the op rod. For a comparison an M16 bolt is made of 11 parts without counting those of the carrier, that of a M1 garand of six parts plus the handle), and one of the simplest to strip field I've ever seen.
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  50. LMGs, especially LMGs without a quick exchange barrel (IE the BAR) were not really used in full auto, but in short bursts. You didn't want your gunner to overheat the barrel in two minutes of full auto fire, and then have a weapon barely usable as a club. So someone thought to standardize the burst.
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  51. It resembles it externally, but the action is completely different. The Avtomat is a short recoil design with two lateral locking lugs.
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  52. Field strip (remove the muzzle cover and expose the gas ports, chamber and piston for cleaning; remove the recoil spring for inspection/replacing; remove the bolt assembly for cleaning/replacing of the firing pin) is actually very easy and can be done in seconds without tools. Disassembly requires more time, but almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles' designs until that point, and several later, were not supposed to have the receiver and trigger group removed from the stock that often. That's why they were screwed to it. When Ian reviewed the Gew. 41 and 43 for example, he didn't remove them. Otherwise there would have been several screws to remove as well. There is not "a series of operating arms" connecting the piston to the bolt. There is a single op-rod that links the piston to the bolt (and is linket to it by the handle). The count of the part of the gas system, the bolt assembly and the rigger group (bar the burst device, that's an added part) is actually very low.
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  53. Then how can belt-fed MGs survive any type of field use? Than cuts on magazines instantly make them jam is an armchair mith. In reality the difference in performance on the field is marginal.
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  54. What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.
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  55. Also because the Breda single-lug rising bolt action is a VERY interesting action that Breda employed successfully from 6.5 Carcano to 37mm AA automatic guns. It's simple (that bolt is made of five pieces in total, charging handle included), lightweight (see the dimensions) and it locks on the front of the bolt. The last part is important because we see, I.E., that the tilting bolt, that was very popular in the '30s-'40s-'50s (SVT40, STG44, FAL...) is no more used, because, locking on the rear of the bolt, it requires a sturdy receiver for all the lenght of the bolt itself, while, locking on the front, rotating bolt actions like those of the AR and AK, can have the receiver made of aluminium or light sheets of steel. The Breda action, thus not being a rotating one, has this advantage too.
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  56. The number of parts (apart for the burst mechanism, that's an added feature, not necessary to the firing mechanism) is actually very limited. An M1 Garand is WAY more complicate, and more complicate to field strip too.
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  57. Have you infos about this rifle not being reliable?
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  58. Really is the contrary. Field strip is very fast, disassemble requires time. To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).
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  59. It holds 20 rounds
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  60. Really? It seems to me way easier to field strip than a M1 Garand, or a BAR (that would be a closer comparison) and with a lot less parts to take account for.
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  61. During Fascism, in Italy, was usual to write the U, in capital letters, as V, like in ancient Rome. The writing is actually "AVTOMATICO" (The "I" and part of the "C" are cancelled).
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