Q&A 54: Machine Gun Questions w/ Msgt. (Ret) John Keene

[@pancakerizer]

In my head his name is John McKeen, and he specialises in McKeen guns

[@mokonono5903]

Hah! Reminds me of the TF2 Comic gag where Scout pronounces it as a Mackeen gun. Such a shame we're probably not getting another comic anytime soon. I'm actually going to graduate highschool before they release another chapter..

[@deanschaal1540]

One of the 3 original MacLean guns was in pound Wisconsin

[@andrwblood9162]

We've been saying it wrong all these years...

[@leofender5033]

Classic

[@machstem6390]

Nice

[@geodkyt]

I would say one "machinegun" that shouldn't be under the NFA - M2 Carbine marked receivers without the M2 full auto parts kit. After all, the M2 (in a mechanical sense) *doesn't really exist* - it's just an M1 semiautomatic carbine with a drop in "machinegun conversion kit", and like AR15 RDIAS and HK registered sears, should be considered a Title I firearm that has a Title II "firearm" (the conversion parts) dropped in. And declaring a specific component of the M2 full auto parts to be the "receiver" of a "machinegun conversion kit", while removing the carbine receiver *itself* from NFA control would be consistent with the Vollmer case over some HK rifles with registered sears. (Vollmer installed the registered sears, then figured since they had "machineguns", they could go ahead and restore the rifle receivers to original selective fire configuration. ATF said, "No, because the receiver is now a 'machinegun receiver', so you now have *two* 'machineguns' in one gun and only one of them is registered. Note that ATF was *absolutely correct* , statutory speaking. So Vollmer restored the receivers back to the original ATF-approved Title I configuration, leaving the registered sears in place. ATF then invoked the "once a machinegun, always a machinegun" and said that all of the converted receivers were *still* unregistered machinegun receivers. The court ruled that ATF was insane - since the receivers had been restored to be *identical* to legal semiautos, ATF's position on "once a machinegun,.always a machinegun" was absurd and legally unsupportable. Unsurprisingly, and exactly as they did for years with the T/C Contender carbine/pistol kit ruling, ATF refuses to admit this case has any precedential application.)

[@ForgottenWeapons]

That's an excellent example, yeah.

[@mp3545]

Really the idea that a machinegun is “always a machinegun” is just plain obtuse. Other jurisdictions, especially in continental Europe, allow for semi-auto downconversions according to a regulatory standard with zero issue. Of course, the point of the NFA is to make ownership non-permissible and so it makes sense in that context, but it doesn’t stop it from being stupid.

[@beargillium2369]

Kinda like how California simply ignores supreme court rulings against their ammo buying laws and aw bans...

[@geodkyt]

@@mp3545 ATF's position has *never* been legally supportable - particularly when they've been consistently interpreting "readily restored" to mean, "if an expert can readily *convert* a legal Title I firearm into a machinegun", which is an utterly contradictory position. If something is *mechanically identical* to an otherwise legal Title I firearm, there is no statutory or legal authority to declare it will always be a "machinegun". And Congress was explicit enough the NFA that they knew how to differentiate between "things that eternally remain X" versus "things that *can* be changed from one category to another" when they specified that a short gun made from a shotgun or rifle would remain a shotgun or rifle- merely a "short barreled" one. They could have done that with machinegun receivers *if they intended to*

[@ReverendMeat51]

@@geodkyt With the whole tommybuilt debacle recently, we can add "readily restored" to mean "We can fit the full-auto parts into the gun using a hammer and possibly blowtorch functionally destroying the receiver"

[@jean-philippedecarie2024]

Ian, you should invest in some clip-on microphones for when you do these hotel room interviews

[@ryand2939]

Yeah but it is that or a bucket of 7.65×20mm Longue.

[@OttzelTV]

Doesn't he have one of those though? I've seen them over on InRange, maybe they belong to Karl?

[@curious-relics]

It wouldn't be Forgotten Weapons if it didn't have some persistent audio issues. With how long FW has been running (and how much money the Patreon brings in) it's really something that should be addressed.

[@AbananaPEEl]

if not, at least give John the mic, and talk a little louder yourself

[@francospapperi7252]

Ho già comunicato che non do risposte pubbliche traduci in inglese hrazie

[@janwacawik7432]

I love the videos with John. Nothing like pouring myself a glass of whisky, relaxing and listening to an intelectual, well-informed discussion of two eloquent gentlemen (with a small grain of dorky humor, which I appreciate greatly).

[@wolflegion_]

John’s first answer is the diplomatic version of: “it’s worth whatever an idiot is willing to pay for it”

[@kmikzikrs1959]

You can tell Ian wanted to correct him by saying "No, its worth whatever the buyer knows the worth"

[@88porpoise]

He was kind of in an awkward place there. Saying something is overvalued in such a public context is not good considering his role. When Ian brought up the German guns you could see him trying to say that they were overvalued without actually saying using the terms. L It probably would have been better to rephrase the question to remove the negative connotation of "overvalued" or "overpriced".

[@Valkanna.Nublet]

It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. So if you're a seller, hope to find some rich idiot who's desperate :D

[@88porpoise]

@@SimuLord let's be honest, unless you are setting up a paramilitary force or planning a spree shooting in a crowd, you aren't buying a machinegun for practical reasons. So how "good" it is isn't a factor. So long as it meets a bare minimum of being reliable enough for you to enjoy it and you are able to maintain it, that is all that matters from a practical side.

[@Valkanna.Nublet]

@@SimuLord We don't always love because they are the best (just ask your ex-wife :p) I'm the same with the Sten. It's such an iconic gun I just can't help but love it.

[@WalkaCrookedLine]

Interesting to hear John plug the Knight's armament machine guns. I really feel like the U.S. army is dropping the ball in this category. The existing stock of M249s is wearing out but the Army seems very reluctant to replace them. Guess what, those guns got worn out because troops in the field found them highly useful and used the heck out of them.

[@nigeh5326]

Every time I watch Ian’s videos I want to visit the US on vacation, I’m a Brit. I used to shoot pistols for fun in the 80s and seeing these videos brings back good memories.

[@danschneider9921]

Pardon my ignorance, but outside of shotguns (over under, double barrel) and some bolt guns- what can you even legally own over there?

[@edenranchshootingsports3689]

@@danschneider9921 Semi auto rimfire rifles, semi auto shotguns, bolt and straight pull rifles, underlevers, and loads of cheap and easy to get suppressors. You can own a pistol in certain circumstances, but may have to store it at the range.

[@RellikSlacan]

I feel you on that. I'm a Yank living in the UK and had to leave my fireaems in the care of a freind with visiting rights haha

[@clairevero]

Why would a Brit call a holiday a vacation?

[@nigeh5326]

@@clairevero because I have some US friends and so can adapt to suit. As most of the viewers of the video will be Americans I used vacation instead of holiday.

[@SamGray]

"MG-42s are hot guns." lol. Of course, because it's time to change the barrel.

[@kaschberle6948]

Basilone style

[@claudiodominguez.]

Especially if Merkel is dancing the ballet, Spandau style.

[@tomcraven47]

The railroad track anecdote is a little off base. All track is essentially consumable, and you're more likely to see 1980s-90s rail being replaced simply because it's subjected to much higher tonnage then the rural track behind the woods. There's still 1920s, very light rail in the country, but it's just not seeing a lot of use, so it's lifespan is much longer. Planned obsolescence is a very real thing, but it dates much older then the 1980s (look up the lightbulb cartel), and it doesn't apply to train tracks. The railroads buy and replace their own lines, so it's in their own best interest to use the best rail they can, simply to reduce their own maintenance costs. Love the Q&As, great work!

[@wingracer1614]

Also just because something wears out faster, doesn't necessarily mean it's worse. Imagine if one rail manufacturer offered rail that would last 50 years but cost 100k per mile (I'm just making up numbers here, I know nothing about rail economics) in materials and installation while another offered rail that only lasted 20 years but cost just 30k per mile. The "lower quality" rail is much cheaper in this example in both long and short terms.

[@thomasa5619]

Yeah, my railway has their own track laying machine that’s exclusively used to replace track. But also, that track sees 180 megaton of traffic a year.

[@eberbacher007]

That only applies if the head of the railroads plan longterm and their pay isn´t related to numbers that could be "improved" by using cheap stuff. happened in Germany with railroad sleepers, they changed from expensive oak to concrete, but used cheap concrete and after 10 years they all started falling apart piece by piece

[@thomasa5619]

@@tomcraven47 I was agreeing with what you said about train tracks degrading due to normal use?

[@tomcraven47]

@@eberbacher007 that's not the same thing as planned obsolescence. That's simply shortsightedness. The railroad in your example doesn't gain anything by the ties failing - they don't own the concrete plant, and they're not being paid to replace them. Those in power would make the same money if the ties didn't fail. Contrast that with a cartridge printer - it's in their interest if their ink cartridges fail prematurely. You'll have to buy more (more $) and you'll have to spend it at their company (you have to use their cartridges).

[@BiggumsMcHoney]

They are all "over-valued", the prices are artificially inflated by the NFA which creates a fixed supply by law. The real market value of the guns should be much lower, aside from possibly rare historic pieces that are actually more limited in real numbers (as opposed to artificially limited to the number in the NFA registry).

[@Jezus42]

An excellent example why we should ban the nfa. It's nonsense crap! If everyone just made short rifles with brp triggers bumpstocks and solvent traps we could flood the market.

[@Jezus42]

I'm of the opinion kinda like DeBeers, these old guys are trying to control the market with the help of the government. Down with the cartels!

[@geodkyt]

@@Jezus42 I've literally *never met* a machinegun collector who didn't want the Registry reopened to new guns (or the NFA scrapped entirely), despite the hit it would cause their "investments". But then, I've never spent any time around around the kind of machinegun "collector" who Peter Kokalis described as, "You could sell them guns without firing pins, and they'd never know the difference, because they don't ever shoot the guns, and bought them as pure investment properties.")

[@ReverendMeat51]

@@geodkyt Yeah, going from my current financial status all the way to Bezos money and everywhere in between I can't think of a situation where I'd ever NOT want the registry opened or NFA outright abolished. If a dude who likes MGs has a bunch of them lose value overnight I'd imagine he'd still be thrilled he can buy a bunch more, and newer, MGs to add to the collection

[@МихайлоРостов]

@@geodkyt I've met a lot of mg owners who are against Hughes being repealed/registry opened. Alex C of TFBTV is one example. If you spend a lot of time on NFA/MG collectors forums & such you'll definitely find a lot of people who are against reopening the registry. You'll frequently see comments complaining about "the poors" & their strong disdain for them. They're seriously obsessed with it. I saw a comment two weeks ago where a member said "The poors should quit whining about not being able to afford an mg. If they actually went out & got a job then they'd be able to afford one, but no one wants to work these days they just get free money from the government which they spend at Starbucks." Often times it's not always about their "investments" dropping in value (that's a large part of it though) but also because they like the exclusivity of owning machine guns in the US. This is something seen throughout the firearm community, not just with transferable machine guns. The funny part is a huge portion of mg owners who hold those opinions didn't pay $30,000 - $80,000 or however much for any of their transferable machine guns. They're just old enough that they were able to purchase their transferables years ago when those guns were cheap.

[@jameshealy4594]

I appreciate John so much, his thoughtfulness and the consideration he gives to each answer is just fantastic. Only slipped a little on the Laphroaig slope too!

[@marpfel]

@Forgotten Weapons Thanks for bringing back Mr. Keene. But: Can you please strap a microphone to him? It is often quite hard to hear him properly. And thanks for all the good work you have done so far in these last 10 year. Kind regards

[@Taurevanime]

I would like the expand upon what John was saying with things aren't built for long term anymore, mainly based off of my own experience in selling equipment down in the Caribbean. I have a regular client whom every year comes to buy a new water pump to replace one that broke. I'll happily sell a replacement, but every time I also offer him a pump that is guaranteed to last ten years, and it only costs about twice as much. So if the pump lasts 3 years he is already saving money. But still he wants the cheaper pump. So it's not that things that last cannot be built, or aren't even available. It's that customers want the cheap stuff now.

[@henrikoldcorn]

I've deliberately started trying to do this in my own life - buying quality stuff that will (hopefully) last. It takes a bit of extra effort to find out what's good and not just expensive.

[@johanmetreus1268]

@@henrikoldcorn This is my major problem. The really cheap stuff is almost inevitable crap, but there are no guarantees that even premium priced things have any better quality.

[@warrenharrison9490]

Buy once, cry once😉

[@ThisNewHandleSystemSucks]

@@johanmetreus1268 Yup. There's a whole market now of products that command a relatively larger premium just to make you feel as though you're buying something of quality.

[@captainscarlett1]

I was trained as an infantryman on the Bren in the Australian army in 1981 where it was 2nd line. We also used Vickers guns in the SFMG role for training purposes since we had lots of them and lots of WW2 ammo. Warehouses full. (Not for overhead fire.)

[@tocsa120ls]

Having a DShK guarding the gate of an American camp had me laughing, good story :D

[@leppeppel]

I have one thing to say about planned obsolescence (and sentimentalism and survivorship bias): "Say what you will about the past, they built things to last back then. They also built plenty of things which didn’t last, but obviously those aren’t around anymore to remind us of that fact."

[@ryand2939]

So much of the conversation explains that "Yes, there are guys who have stacks of Thompson SMGs in a vault somewhere" and no worry because of the unsaid "every part is still being made by Auto-Ordinance."

[@eberbacher007]

although if the guys are clever, just for safety, all the parts that aren´t NFA items are in a vault in their name, and all the NFA parts are in a vault that was rent under the name of a dead relative or so ;)

[@milkapeismilky5464]

Picking up a mac-11/cobray 10 years ago when they were "junk" was absolutely the right thing to do. I think the Mac 10 and mac-11 without the fancy Lage upper are always going to be iconic collectible weapons. And they are fun as hell to shoot, even if you don't hit anything!

[@rtefgd1234]

I spent quite some time searching my house for the source of the "UTINNI!!" as a jawa fan i have quite a few sources of this, Well played you two.

[@darthhodges]

I actually thought it was my phone at first since I use the exact same sound for text alerts.

[@playmaka2007]

Love you guys! Also, abolish the NFA and the ATF. Every American deserves full auto weapons that don't cost $10,000+

[@craigevans6156]

Thé best sound was the cork coming out of the whisky bottle 🥃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@alexv6324]

I personally liked the Star Wars Jawa notification ring tone going off periodically.

[@rodgerjohnson3375]

I like the inconspicuous placement of the bottle.

[@garywheeler7039]

At one point it seemed to be half full, and never seemed to go down. Not that that is a problem.

[@leonpeters-malone3054]

Excellent choice of a drop to enjoy. You should try the Quarter Cask and Triple Wood. Those are bottles to be savoured.

[@winj3r]

Ian, have you considered using RTX Noise Removal, to improve the audio in these videos?

[@alt5494]

Value had always been a strange beast. It's literally what someone is willing to sell it for combined with what the other person is willing to pay. In a world that makes fiction look mundane!

[@mp3545]

I once mentioned to my Vietnam vet father that there were some criticisms floating around of the M60. He looked at me like I was some kind of stupid and said “nah, they worked great. No issues at all.”

[@matthayward7889]

“Prompting more honest answers” with laphroaig 😂

[@pillscottvt6628]

BAR at deer camp 1978,,, FUN. Old timers are cool

[@gabrielcarneiro4622]

This is one of my favorite videos from Ian

[@iLLeag7e]

"Have another drink!" was Ian at his savviest. Good stuff friends

[@billstevens5277]

I agree about the cannon community. I used to roam around with that bunch for awhile. Nice fellers.

[@warrenharrison9490]

I guess the have some booming gatherings 😏

[@Lithui]

On the subject of price, what I was raised to believe is that everything is worth exactly what a person is willing to pay for it in the moment.

[@hase99]

I really like machine guns.

[@sulla175]

Ah yes, my favourite artist, Machine Gun Questions.

[@kjedmondson182]

Does the villa perosa require 2 tax stamps?

[@SeanDulany]

Ian...seriously...please use lavalier mics. That background noise and echo makes these long form videos painful. I'll pay for them and send them if need be.

[@zerojunior3679]

51:46 asking that question made Ian level up

[@ernstthalmann1262]

Last time I was this early, we still see the blew open Ross bolt in the intro.

[@sethy5136]

Ian and John are so humble. I really enjoy both of them

[@stephencase5160]

AMEN to your statement about long-term thinking and short-term gain!!!!!

[@oceanhome2023]

I like the background ocean surf !

[@johanrunfeldt7174]

3:45 Ian: ... bring back P38... My brain: Hmm, Lockheed Lightning. Talk about plain (plane) crazy.

[@nohandlesavailable677]

Out of all the guests on Forgotten Weapons John Keene was one of my favorites, this was exactly what I wanted to see again.

[@eberbacher007]

I somehow wish he would retire so that he finally can speak without holding his tongue ;) I can´t even imagine the stuff he tells Ian off the record.

[@svenw688]

The MG 34, FG 42 type c, MP 38 and yes lugers too, are beautifully made especially for its time.

[@michaelguerin56]

Ian, next time you should open a bottle of single cask Laphraoig. John is worth it. Also, Glencairn glasses are available in twin packs which are great for storage in between group tasting sessions and will be perfectly suitable for transport in your suitcase. 🙂

[@JW...-oj5iw]

Wouldn't it be wonderful for Mr. Keene's NFA expertise to culminate with the sentence, "That's when the unconstitutional edict was overturned by a patriotic judge, and upheld by a Constitution honoring Supreme Court."?

[@adamtennant4936]

An Irish toast with Scotch?!?! Outrageous!

[@ICNine]

Sláinte is common in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The word is thought to originate from old Irish with lineage to Latin and German. Common phases: Irish Gaelic, "sláinte mhaith" and Scottish Gaelic "do dheagh shlainte".

[@BootedVulture]

I'll just watch a quick forgotten weapons and then have lunch I think.... 75 minute episode drops...

[@BLUGGLES]

Can't wait to sit down and watch this later! Woooo!

[@userJohnSmith]

Haha yep😆

[@christianrisoli8700]

What a genuinely passionate and lovely guy , excellent interview

[@greatcolor]

Haha of course the Type 11 audio in Battlefield V is John Keene's gun. Love that thing.

[@suddenwall]

We got any fans who know a little audio engineering? No offense but maybe someone could enhance this and send it in to Ian

[@KMcKaig72]

I'm liking this video purely for the Laphroaig. My favorite scotch.

[@ramblers32]

This was an absolute delight. Hope to hear more from John in the future. Thanks Ian

[@bobhill3941]

Fantastic interview and q&a, I love this channel. Thanks for the "touch stone" reasoning for getting what you want to get into. For me (with that reasoning) I'd love to get a Sten. It was the gun my grandad carried in the army because it was easier to use as opposed to a leeenfiend in the cab of his recovery truck. Also, I fell in love with perfurated barrell shrouds ever since I got a Tec 9 toy as a kid.

[@lunchpin403]

It's funny to me that in such a short space of time someone can say it's important to support a country's military industrial complex and then bemoan the impacts of the short-term profit-seeking of that complex.

[@kmikzikrs1959]

God tier comment. Ian should pin this

[@shanut8139]

I think hes implying one can exist without the other and hes upset about the fact that it currently isn't that way

[@mortisCZ]

I understand it as a wish to cultivate that industrial complex to higher standards. It's of course difficult to support longer term investments into quality of production and design in current atmosphere but I can get behind that wish.

[@mikethurman3147]

You've had several guests. You've had drinks with at least a few. Bring ALL of them together. But start filming no earlier than the third drink.

[@TheFreakedoutduck]

1:03:51 Was that a Jawa ringtone? "Utini!"

[@lilrobi45xxx42]

Yep

[@timotoxic4664]

Very nice Q&A.

[@10mikemike89]

Thanks for another Q&A. Excellent job.

[@My_Name_Suc]

I love how the very first question goes for 15 minutes

[@defm1]

Islay Scotch and machine gun conversation, what's better than that???

Quite interesting Q&A. Even if next to nothing is relevant for me as a German in Germany. The thing about the MG-42 was intersting. And please get back to that Java, it seems to be urgent :)

[@KinoTechUSA69]

Best kind of questions

[@RealRedHotSteele]

Shall not infringe

[@fruitbat4429]

Neat Q&A and John's final point, think quality & long term, could apply anywhere.

[@cavalinorampante1]

Love it when John is on. Should be a semi regular segment.

[@SuperMarshall2009]

Machine guns like MACs that can be both collectible, run reliably and modular for conversions to other calibers and configurations are perhaps the best value for entry level MG. The problem is the current scarcity of ammo and having the ability to shoot them.

[@snowdogs01]

Ah, bringbacks.....My Dad returned from Europe with an MP-40. It lay around until he donated it to a museum, where it is on display to this day.

[@ralphg1891]

That is a shame.

[@mpetersen6]

My dad brought back a 98-K. My brother has it now. The only time it was fired since it came over was in the 60s when my other brother used it for deer hunting. Commercial 7.92 ammo was available. I'm not sure if the surplus ammo market existed yet. My dad said they had gotten their hands on some sub guns but their unit officers took them away from them and turned them over to what ever unit was collecting as much of the German and Italian small arms laying around in spring of 45 in Northern Italy. He told us that the Beretta 9mm sub gun shot really nice.

[@theblackprince1346]

Ian you have a great taste in whisky, Laphroaig is one of my favourites.

[@davidwatson2399]

Excellent 😎

[@curly_bill1629]

One of my favorite Scotches. Nice and peaty.

[@bartcalder2791]

Enjoyed immensely! Waiting for the next one!

[@Jimmy-3294]

Has the FG-42 always had a steep price tag, or has it sky rocketed in value over the past few years?

[@themasterofdisastr1226]

Since the FG-42 was produced in very small numbers only, I cant think of a reason why it whould have been cheap at any point in time. Oh and there is a premium on german arms. Short: probably yes.

[@phillipsturholm8156]

6:36 I paid $2,900 for a Valmet M76 with sling and bayonet that only had one mag through it.

[@SuperMarshall2009]

I really enjoy John Keene's videos. Hope to see more NFA discussions

[@SuperMarshall2009]

What this channel discusses as undervalued seems to turn into a larger demand Like French Weapons we used to get cheaply.

[@EnokInTheTunic]

You should do a parody video about the AK-50 with Brandon Herrera

[@LifeisGood762]

The answer to the first question is basically all of them.

[@philllax1719]

I absolutely love Matt Larosies sense of humor, I'd love to see him more on the channel if you're looking for a gun lawyer

[@geodkyt]

The M60 had (IMNSHO) a few shortcomings, compared to some of the other ".30-ish" GPMGs out there. And two of the biggest were pointed out. 1. As stated, there was no reason to design the gas system so it *can* be assembled backwards (I believe they fixed that in versions after my service). 2. It's definately not as robust as many other MGs... OTOH, it did reduce the weight noticeably. Yes, we can build even lighter today with longer service life, but for the 1950s it was a reasonable tradeoff, given materials science and production engineering of the period. 3. There is NO excuse for having a quick change barrel gun where all the zero sight adjustments are on the rear sight on the reciever. The '60 should be zeroed from the *front* sight, so that both barrels can be zeroed to the same gun (another thing I believe was at least partially fixed in later iterations). In fact, one could "factory zero" ALL the barrels to a common fixture, and thus they would have a consistent zero to *any* receiver - whatever zeroing adjustments the gunner would make for one barrel would apply to all barrels. 4. God preserve me from bipod and gas systems hung on the detatchabke barrel. Make the majority of the gas system mass fixed to the receiver, and fix the bipod to the gas system, so a "spare barrel" means *only* the spare barrel. That saves weight on the crew. And I know everyone who addresses the M60 mentions this, LOL.

[@vitoscaletta7151]

It's overhated or overloved depending who you talk to. Not much in between

[@geodkyt]

@@vitoscaletta7151 Well, aside from those of us who had a love/hate relationship with them. LOL I *loved* the Pig... when I didn't have a clapped out old cow, and wasn't carrying the spare barrel. Of course, at the time, I didn't have a lot of experience with some of the other options out there the Army could have been using... 😎

[@vitoscaletta7151]

@@geodkyt Just having the handguard goes a long way.

[@geodkyt]

@@vitoscaletta7151 They also balance *really well* when being carried on patrol, due to the "semi-bullpup" layout with a bunch of the working bits in the rear - sliding the bipod back to the gas cylinder would improve the balance even more. The ROF is, in my opinion, excellent for a GPMG in dismounted infantry use. And *shooting* an M60 is rather relaxing, like getting a shoulder massage. Unfortunately, the White "self regulating" gas system is a failed concept that "works" about as well as the Blish lock- i.e., it really doesn't work as envisioned and intended at all... by the time the gas piston has moved far enough to "cut off" any excess gas, the gas system has *already* depressurized close to ambient because the bullet is long gone from the barrel before the bits have moved any appreciable distance. So the M60 is woefully undergassed and belt lift suffers because the mechanism is underpowered. (This also has a lot to do with why it is so pleasant to shoot - the reciprocating parts are moving just fast enough to work under normal conditions. Which is cool, but I'd rather design my MGs for adverse conditions, and trade some harsher felt recoil for more reliability.)

[@88porpoise]

I think it may have been a recent Q&A from Ian where he discussed MAG vs M60. The lighter M60 makes more sense in a world where your rifleman is carrying a battle rifle that cannot provide effective automatic fire and your GPMG is your squad level machinegun. The M60 was designed under German universal machinegun concept. However when you move to an intermediate cartridge for your rifles, a squad level MG using the intermediate cartridge and as it is no longer in use at the squad level your rifle caliber MG doesn't need to make as many concessions to reduce weight. In essence the world abandoned the universal machinegun concept and went back to the LMG plus MMG idea. The M60 obviously has its flaws. But so does everything else and they can often be fixed. The real fatal thing for the M60 was its niche was changed such that it clearly didn't fit it as well as competitors. And with MAGs already in the system for vehicle use (where it has clear advantages over the M60) it made sense to adopt it for infantry use rather than improving the M60.

[@carlcarlton764]

Rails: This might be survivors bias. Rail from the 50s are light by today's standards, so they only survive on lines with not a lot of heavy traffic. The main lines have to take the ever longer, heavier, faster trains and that causes wear.

[@wmlukepriest8012]

Excellent Q&A!

[@TheOriginalFaxon]

Until you posted your content on the STG and mentioned it's modern options, I'd always assumed that if I bought one ever, my first machine gun would be a MAC, and that I'd get one of those modified kits for it with an AR style upper/mag well combo. You could swap the original parts onto it and have a proper machine pistol for 9x19 or .38 ACP, and then once you run out of that you chould move to shooting 5.56x45 or whatever other calibers they make adapters in. It may seem ghetto rigged at first, but i've never seen anybody give any of these modified rifle products a bad review, since the most modified ones tend to just use the old registered autoframe with a whole bunch of new parts, and a modified AR pattern BCG.

[@pablowentscobar]

"That's a whole different kettle of wax." Lol, what?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

It's the best kind of metaphor; mixed.

[@8-7-styx94]

@@ForgottenWeapons mixed, like a fresh cocktail.

[@moosemaimer]

Metaphors are like falling off a log: once you learn how you never forget.

[@theredneckengineer]

I love my ZK383 (post-86 MG I built from a kit) but all my mags are modified Uzi mags. I'd pay good money for some original mags, but they just aren't any to be found in the US.

[@jimmywilliamson8540]

I think the thing to remember is that all gun laws are unconstitutional, if you legally own a gun and you do something illegal you become a criminal if you’re a criminal before you try to obtain a weapon you can’t get it so there’s no reason for any regulation, and we also have said that will except some regulation in Regards to background checks for example but basically that’s the only thing that’s acceptable. The fact that the NFA exists all is A slap in the face of all Americans.

[@atlas5220]

Ian did you remove that video of you buying a bundle of guns at rock island auction? I cant find it on your channel. The one that ria gave you a spending money and you bought a bundle of bolt action rifles

[@zachleprieur2871]

Hes very keen on machine guns

[@arkadeepkundu4729]

This guy seems really Keene on machine guns. Idk why. 🤔

[@8-7-styx94]

I think the loss of quality vs quantity we've seen over the years has been somewhat in part due this strange obsession with becoming the biggest, the best, the all encompassing, the reach everybody out there, sort of business. To do that it has to be fast, affordable(for the company), and accessible to the consumer. So in order to hit all 3 of those marks we have had to drop the quality of products to meet both the speed that rising demand, as well as production costs. This shouldn't have been as big of a surprise as I think it was, I mean we have had a rapidly growing market with numerous advances in automation for over a century now. It was bound to happen eventually. That makes it no less sad though that we cannot get the sort of durability older items generally have.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

Shouldn't L2 "Sterling" be pretty high in the list of best post WWII SMGs, or it was not mentioned because it is not present on the US collectors market?

[@vitoscaletta7151]

A lot more of them on the market than you'd think

[@lordsummerisle87]

"Amongst the better" WW2-era SMGs arguably yes. Its longevity in service as a "good enough" PDW attests to that. As a contender for "best" post-WW2 SMG on a level with, say, the Uzi, Walther MPL, Charlie G or MP5? Not so sure.

[@TimPimentel3006]

Didn’t George Lucas buy all them up? 🤔

[@TotalRookie_LV]

@@TimPimentel3006 Right? Every time it's mentioned, Stormtrooper blaster comes to mind. XD

[@88porpoise]

The Sterling is actually a WWII submachine gun. The first ones (known at the time as the Pratchett Machine Carbine after the lead designer at Sterling) were used in Operation Market Garden. The end of the war and massive stockpiles of Stens kept it from general adoption for a while. But the Sterling was just a Pratchett with minor updates.

[@dirus3142]

I love the last question. John's answer truly can cover a lot of the problems in our culture right now. That short term thinking not only produces problems with product, but infrastructure, job security, education, home ownership, much more. It also creates a problem in other ways. We have a problem with people wanting the big 'important" jobs now, instead of taking the time to do the work of educating, listening, and learning what is needed to achieve that dream job, and do it with a mature mind.

[@nobletaco2188]

That’s my favorite scotch

[@lxxwj]

its absolutely fantastic. i do prefer port charlotte 10 though

[@visionaryfirearmsllc9999]

These are the best Q&As.

[@errolreeves5296]

1:11:05 a good gun rights lawyer may be Matt from Fuddbusters, Othias is friends with him so he could get you two acquainted if you aren't already.

[@thomasa5619]

Doesn’t Ian already recommend him?

[@nigeh5326]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see on EBay an ad for secondhand WW2 grenades with a picture of a pile of metal fragments at a crazy price. You can buy just about anything legal on there

[@eberbacher007]

it all depends on the country

[@nigeh5326]

@Stabswache In the early 80s you could buy fake iron crosses and swastikas all over as punks and rockers wore them here in the UK. Never wore one myself my dad would have killed me 😊

[@nobodynoone2500]

Really dig this guy. Please have him back in this long-format.

[@GiggleBlizzard]

Please more Q&A's with John Keene, he's so cool!

[@jagx234]

It's not so much planned obsolescence, as build it and sell it as cheaply as possible right now. Ppl go purely by numbers rather than track record or quality more often than not