HK P11: NATO's Secret Underwater Pistol

[@Tornado1861]

Ian is piecing together his Atlantis Brutality kit. I can't wait to see him duel wield a brace of these while going after an underwater spinner.

[@bodyno3158]

Must be the lionfishes

[@ChA0s_AgeNt]

He gonna geddit...?

[@FUBBA]

Calico and G11 with Soviet Spear rifle

[@doped1able]

Mer-Man from Polenar gets a trident, pic-rails all the way is too heavy. Mer-Bloke steals the win.

[@ROBERTN-ut2il]

@@bodyno3158 No it's the Tiger Sharks

[@alancranford3398]

I forgot how many decades ago that I saw photos of the HK P11. Thanks, you added to the limited details that I had learned in the past.

[@reiisthebestgirl]

Sending barrels to factory for reloading sounds really German.

[@Dylan-M]

It must be at the proper specifications!

[@Gruoldfar]

Na, more like Apple...

[@RustedCroaker]

@@Dylan-M This and the fact that people in HK loves extra money too.

[@scratchy996]

@@GruoldfarSteve Jobs' mother was German...

[@user-me6td1up1m]

I have an idea about why they opted for electric firing. A more traditional firing mechanism that uses a striker has moving parts, which would make it more difficult to maintain a watertight seal to keep the propellant dry. It would probably be easier to create a decent seal around those electrical contacts in the barrel cluster, since they don’t need to move to function, they just need to be able to conduct electricity. The actuator that controls which barrel receives current is then outside of the barrel cluster, meaning that a moving part is less likely to compromise the seals.

[@dfpguitar]

After seeing the shooting into water episode of mythbusters years ago I am astonished they mamaged to achieve such great range. To pierce a gas cylinder at 15 metres is incredible. I suppose it is the length and mass of the projectiles that really helps.

[@akaron5498]

1:30 Any rough estimates on when we can we expect that future APS video 👀? Now THAT would be a treat

[@raguyver]

This would've been a great upgrade from the tunnel rat revolver during Vietnam. I'd imagine that para-troops could easily keep the pistol in a dry-bag until needed, for better reliability. One could possibly modify the 4 barrel COP 357 Derringer? Edit: Thanks Ian, for yet another really neat video!

[@gunnerbhb50]

I saw a section on these in a gun magazine (can't remember which one) about 20 years ago

[@demongrenade2748]

I had no idea this was a real firearm. I remember seeing this gun in 007: Nightfire on the PS2 way back in the day and I just assumed it was a made up weapon made specifically for the game. Its really neat that its a real thing.

[@MatthewJBRO]

In 007: Nightfire this pistol was used as a tranquilizer gun in the skyscraper mission.

[@danosdotnl]

The denser the medium, the further sound travels, thats why these are ‘silent’, not really about bubbles 🍾

[@RagnAR-15]

Reminds of the the Tranq gun from the old 007 games. 007 Nightfire to be exact

[@peepsbates]

NovaLogic's Delta Force gang. Who up?

[@firecrow7973]

I cant believe ive never seen this in a sneaky video game

[@michaelinsc9724]

Very cool!

[@exuberance3973]

Ian needs the APS for the two gun underwater match

[@ironmikehallowween]

Very interesting pistol. Thanks for the video.

[@Basedmursenary]

Oh wow I think this is in 007 Nightfire on the mission “Nightshift”

[@richardharpin9988]

Well Royal Armouries is next to a canal basin, so there's an immediate option on water next to it. Poor viz though.

[@LukeSolo-One]

big love

[@edward9674]

I dont understand how the sabot system works. The gun shoots its load, the sabot instead of going outside and dropping off somewhere it just instead retracts back inside?

[@Crodmog83]

Sweet

[@hughfoster9632]

What about an underwater gun that has a compressed air tank attached so that every time you pull the trigger, it injects a blast of compressed air into the barrel, blowing all water out of the barrel, a fraction of a second before the round is fired, so that the round travels down a barrel that has only air in it, no water?

[@PunkinsSan]

I remember seeing this gun in game Delta Force.

[@mikemoore4033]

Very 007.

[@potater6877]

Anyone remember this gun from playing 007: Nightfire?

[@moemaster1966]

Hydro matic disadvantage

[@Fxcloud9]

Are the darts coated in a hydrophobic material?

[@eugenohanka]

isn't the battery 9V?

[@ballehakan]

Oooh! I hated this one in Delta force: Land warrior.

[@normang3668]

Why does this thing look exactly like a First Strike FSC paintball pistol?

[@arpioisme]

can't wait to see jonathan ferguson collab

[@mojomanrosie]

Can someone give me a scenario where this gun would be used?..how often are 2 divers battling underwater?

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

1:29 that is the most wirey wire stock of all time - as if it was made specifically to upset ian!

[@fainterdot]

The fact that the HK greyroom doesn’t even have them really shows how sneaky and covert the pistol is

[@TheInfidel_SlavaUA]

well that ship has sailed i guess ^^

[@SeanCMonahan]

​@@TheInfidel_SlavaUAWouldn't a submarine be more fitting? 😅

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

They have plenty of them. They are just so sneaky you can´t see them.

[@dembro27]

Maybe it's in their Blue Room. 🤔

[@shooteveryday1841]

@@SeanCMonahan literally. These would certainly have been (and currently?) used on SDV’s alongside a suppressed Mk23.

[@CuteKiller313]

@3:57 this gun must have technically the longest reload time ever if you have to mail the barrels back to the manufacturer to reload them for you and then mail them back to you to be ready to fire again

[@claudiodominguez.]

You would need lots of DGS to wait for delivery. Does UPS deliver under water ?

[@oddctioum]

you just know that technically this gun shoots 120 shots or more per second on paper. but practically its exactly as you say. and you didn't even mentioned the electronic Trigger machanism that comes with its own baggage.

[@Gurkenkasper]

@@oddctioum Hallo!?

[@oddctioum]

@@Gurkenkasper kotz dich aus Gurkenkasper. nur redenden Menschen kann man helfen.

[@Nightdare]

Hell at least this is sent to Germany, back when people were still using film to make pictures, we had to send our rolls to the developing countries

[@applechocolate4U]

Retaining the sabot to suppress the gun is some ingenious engineering

[@alun7006]

I think there are some Russian cartridges that use a piston type system to similar effect. Completely contains the firing gasses so no muzzle report. Very clever.l!

[@Tunkkis]

There's also a German recoilless launcher that uses the same principle, the Armbrust and its further development, the Matador. What makes them interesting, is that they seal both ends of the tube.

[@hanelyp1]

Extremely effective, but not a mechanism I see scaling to higher ballistic performance.

[@livingcorpse5664]

@@alun7006 Yep, they go by a few names like captive-piston rounds.

[@jeromethiel4323]

@@alun7006 I was going to post this very comment. Sneaky fucking Russians! ^-^

[@ajhoward8888]

I remember seeing this gun in an illustrated firearm book in my middle school library. Lit my young brain on fire with the idea of nato frogmen having underwater gun battles with underwater terrorists (and possibly sharks). So I've been waiting for this one.

[@paulparsons2085]

Saw that too. Think it was a blurb about Italian Frogmen.

[@romgl4513]

Sharks with frikin' laser beams attached to their heads!

[@greycatturtle7132]

Cool

[@GeoStreber]

Terrorist sharks sounds like a nightmare scenario. Or a upcoming creature feature on Syfy.

[@ripvanwinkle2002]

undwerwater shark terrorists!

[@dangerjoe8911]

I love how Ian can casually reference any weapon and reliably say "We'll cover it in a future video" or "We have a video on it".

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

He has mentioned before that he potentially has a multiple year backlog

[@nunyabidniz2868]

Excepting of course, the Federov Avtomat 1916. IIRC, he's still trying to find & get access to one of those. That pesky Putin & his attempted conquest of Ukraine certainly put the kibosh on *that* project!.. (for now.)

[@yorick6035]

​@@nunyabidniz2868or thanks to the war it might end up in Ian's hands due the Ukrainian army capturing some Russian conscript who was randomly issued that weapon due to weapon shortages

[@kyriss12]

I don't know who's crazier. FPS Russian with his near suicidal usage of Tannerite and blatant disregard for the IRS. Scott from Kentucky ballistics with his manic 5-year-old energy and love for oversized guns despite a near brush with death from an exploding BMG. Or Ian who regularly gets his hands on 300-year-old museum pieces. Explaines how only 3 were ever made, and it probably cost more than the contract on his life. Then loads the things with explosive powder and fires some rounds down range without a care in the world.

[@johnsanko4136]

An underwater pepperbox pistol whose electronic firing system works like a distributor cap. Wild stuff.

[@andersjjensen]

Just HK doing HK things I suppose.

[@XJ220NJ]

A distributor cap is EXACTLY what I thought of, too! Just that this one can cause a completely different kind of misfire.

[@alexb7641]

And ultimately the big question is who the hell are you shooting underwater to necessitate this.

[@MachinistJohn]

​@@alexb7641Mermaids. E-thots of times gone by...

[@TheLukasDirector]

​@@alexb7641I'm afraid that's not how military procurement works.

[@Pusserdoc]

If it hasn't been mentioned earlier, these things were made when most SF divers used oxygen rebreathers, which don't produce bubbles but can't be used much below 10m because the water pressure any deeper risks fitting/dying from oxygen toxicity.

[@notesfromthebunker6250]

Between the G11 and the P11, Ian is probably the only human on the planet, outside of HK, to ever handle both.

I'm sure there are a number of guys outside HK who haven't just handled both, but even fired both. Just a handful or two, I give you that.

[@RodrigoRodriguezowl]

i think it would be more accurate to say he is the only one to have in depht assenbly, dissasembly and history footage of the guns

[@RamadaArtist]

Apparently Germany actually had a short production run of 1000 G11s, some of which were distributed to the Bundeswehr. If it had only ever seen trials, I'd be more inclined to believe you are correct, but I've got to imagine at least a few German special forces members have had the opportunity to handle both.

[@JamesTrewolla]

​@@RamadaArtistwhy would Budweiser need underwear guns. Is that how they got rid of those frogs?

[@Case16710]

If Ian ever gets to shoot this underwater on video, he should do it wearing his Bond tux with scuba gear.

[@mickleblade]

In Arizona ?

[@Case16710]

@@mickleblade he’s been known to travel

[@Statusinator]

He's still saving up for a Rolex Submariner to wear.

[@wewillrockyou1986]

Electric firing mechanism is likely because any mechanical striker/hammer/etc based system would perform differently in water compared to out of it. Sealing water out of electronics is relatively easy.

[@DanStaal]

That and just general reliability/usability - a mechanical system that can cock and release a hammer is going to have trouble if water gets into it, and it would have to be cocked by hand for each firing. Which means harder to use, and harder to keep water out as moving parts have to be exposed to the water. VS. Electrical where they have almost no moving parts, and all of them that do move are very low-powered, and driven directly by the trigger. It also makes it 'automatic' in that you can fire multiple shots without having to manually cock the gun. Biggest issue is likely water getting into the battery compartment, and as long as it's just a little even that wouldn't cause any issues with firing it.

[@d9720267]

@@DanStaal Make more noise too.

[@ChannelSho]

And even if there's water around the pins for firing, as long as there's metal contact, electricity uses the path of least resistance so the water wouldn't matter anyway.

[@GeorgePoggington]

⁠@@d9720267 A hammer being lowered in water would be almost inaudible due to the way sound travels in water.

[@andrewdenzov3303]

So how Russians made underwater assault rifles?

[@ericgrumbles447]

I saw this thing for the first time as a kid in a volume of Jane's Infantry Small Arms. Later in life I worked for a guy who was a former SEAL and brought the book into work and he commented on this gun specifically. He said it worked better than anyone thought it would and that the waterproofing was absolute garbage. Apparently if you fire it in a bare hand underwater, it gives you quite an electrical shock.

[@hanelyp1]

Tells me it uses a spark gap ignition, not resistance heating ignition.

[@BatCaveOz]

This pistol had a 24 Volt system... generally at least 30 Volts are needed to overcome skin resistance.

[@eiv-gaming]

@@BatCaveOz I also seen a cap in that, could be using a buck boost to push it higher.

[@luislongoria6621]

Aside from the ballistic rods specifically made for sharks, a decent electrical charge should in theory, deter a shark from taking your hand. I can't imagine a shark gun would ever be used by a diver when there are better options except as a training aid when you really want to get someone's attention

[@thysonsacclaim]

@@BatCaveOzNot in water. Especially not with ions in it.

[@the_snobot]

I read an interview somewhere with a former Marine National diver (the French navy) who said the vast majority of his time underwater was less than 10m deep, so the relatively low water resistance isn't all that surprising in that context. I suppose if you're swimming through a river or something to covertly access a remote facility then the water is more there for concealment, and as long as you're deep enough to avoid detection from the surface that's all you need. If it's murky enough that could easily be less than 10m of depth.

[@pvecchierini]

I think it's linked to the fact that combat divers don't use classical compressed air bottles but oxygen diving devices that can't be used below 6 or 7 meters under water.

[@alexandrelarsac9115]

Pure oxygen used in rebreather become toxic at a depth of 7 meters, 22 feet. For most of people, there is a danger at only 4 meters with pure oxygen. "Oxygen toxicity occurs in most people when the partial pressure of oxygen reaches 1.4 atmospheres or greater." That's why combat swimmers dive at only 6 meters deep, 19 feet. So this weapon being rated to 10 meters max depth is enough.

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Combat divers generally stay within NDS (No Decompression Stop) limits, though they can push them in practice. If you're sneaking around in a harbour you don't want to be waiting around trying to avoid decompression sickness.

[@selachianseas999]

@@alexandrelarsac9115 - It's something of a bell curve as not all people react the same to equivalent oxygen partial pressures. When dive tables were first created based on military diving research, 2.0 was the limit for the same reason as the US Navy decompression tables were more lenient - they were dealing with a pretty uniform sample set of physically above-average subjects. Recreational dive agencies toned that back to 1.6 and then in the last 20-25 years to 1.4, because there is a percentage of the population that has a lower physiological tolerance and may tox above 1.4 while most people were perfectly fine at 1.6.

[@maximilianmustermann5763]

Combat divers usually only use water as a means of covert transportation. They don't really fight battles in water, they just get to places without being seen in the water. Then they do whatever they do outside and maybe dive back into the water to get out.

[@tacticalmanatee]

I still remember this gun from the PC game Delta Force: Land Warrior. It was certainly an odd one and I always figured it had some special purpose.

[@rwkerstetter]

Same here. That was the only game I recall playing that used this firearm, but it sure was memorable.

[@PrekiFromPoland]

Oddly enough, you could equip the Soviet underwater APS rifle as your primary gun.

[@formerpilgrim4934]

I just started playing this again for old times sake.

[@a777aa64rus]

Oilrig night mission...

[@romgl4513]

It was so secret, only to be revealed in that popular PC game.

[@akizeta]

Maintaining the supercavitation bubble in which the underwater dart travels is very pressure dependent. The P11 is probably rated only for 1 atmosphere gauge pressure (30', 10m) because deeper water lowers the range drastically, with the minimum speed required to keep the supercavitation rising. Also, I'd guess special forces don't spend a lot of time deeper than about 30'; they probably don't want to take time to decompress after coming out of their sub if they're heading towards land.

[@lc4biker]

Another thing is that rebreathers (the bubble-free/closed circuit breathing apparatuses commonly used by the SF community) generally has a depth limit of about 6 meters anyway, due to oxygen toxicity at higher pressures.

[@pan6593]

It‘s also that it‘s simply not needed most of the time. You have a relatively high grade of ‚invisibility‘ at those depths already.

[@Bearmauls]

@@lc4biker I think that's only an issue for a pure-oxygen rebreather. Modern systems can use a nitrox or heliox mix if you need to go deeper, but I recognize that those technologies may not have been sufficiently mature for military rugged requirements at the time this firearm was developed.

[@cedricathlan9399]

Something about this pistol just *screams* retrofuturistic pepperbox 😂

[@agoogleaccount2861]

ROTFL. It's true!!

[@krissteel4074]

For when the fish cheat at poker or the shark at the bar slaps your girl on the arse

[@cedricathlan9399]

@@krissteel4074 😂

[@billrowan1957]

By "something" you mean Everything?

[@JakeRidesBikez]

I'd be curious how much each loaded barrel-cluster costs when billed to a NATO military

[@TheFreakedoutduck]

1:29 I remember playing a game called "Depth" a few years back and seen these firearms in-game. I was aware that there are a handful of "underwater guns" but its cool to learn some real life details.

[@DoitForTheLolz1]

Oh cool! I remember this being featured in the 007: nightfire videogame. Interestingly, they portrayed it as a tranquilizer dart gun, which I guess it could have that kind of ammunition, but I don't think they ever made such a thing in real life.

[@alexbellington9243]

Lol i beat that game on ps2 so many times. The multiplayer was pretty dope too.

[@RageMagikarp]

That game went so hard

[@caylumhenderson9396]

Wow was just thinking this as I looked at where the ammo went

[@aidanfarnan4683]

I seem to remeber the pen gun being the tranquiliser, and this just being a silenced dart gun?

[@BleedingUranium]

Night Shift. And yeah, Nightfire is an awesome game. I grew up with the Bond films, and this was my first FPS and first multiplayer game. :D

[@WolfoftheWoodsAirsoft]

A P11 type ppistol was seen in the TOMB RAIDER - CRADLE OF LIFE film. Used by Lara Croft in a scene it was seen firing 'darts' above water. I have never bothered to check out IMFDB on this as i knew from journals and books that the P11 was a 'secret' pistol. So very cool to see it.

[@craighansen7594]

New movie, Shooting Nemo.

[@yorhaunit8s]

Who operates from a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob HecklerPants!

[@JGCR59]

I guess 15 m underwater is quite ok because seeing someone underwater at 15 meters, especially in the Baltic or North Sea where the Kampfschwimmers it was originally designed for would operate is rare. Especially at night where most operations would take place. Re depth, Combat divers are not supposed to dive deep. They have two missions basically, either land insertion or port sabotage (placing charges on ship's hulls etc) or countering both of those. You don't need to dive deeply for either.

[@from_space]

Still makes me wonder why they didn't make it capable for more water pressure. So you at least have the option to dive deeper if required for part of the diving route

[@quakethedoombringer]

@@from_spaceit is just not necessary. Most of the high valued target (ships, docks, etc.) are on the surface. I can only see that scenario plays out if aircraft or satellite parts falling into the ocean floor and the military prefers sending divers because subs are clumsy and you as the host nation does not want that. The problem is that it is extremely likely + you can just sonar ping the enemy frogmen with the submarine in that case

[@Alphagaming55-s2x]

Bond James Bond

[@oscarsadler7873]

James Pond

[@jft1911]

Destin from the Smarter Every Day channel and the Slow Mo guys did a collab about a decade ago firing guns underwater. It's fascinating, and shows how poorly a regular bullet functions underwater.

[@tz8785]

And the Mythbusters tested shooting bullets into water (also not very effective, the bullets lost speed quickly, some shattered when hitting the surface).

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I wonder if you could design a super-cavitating bullet?

[@Bacteriophagebs]

There was a Underwater Demolition Team mission in WWII where the UDTs had to swim up a river with numerous Japanese defenses on the shores. The river wasn't very deep and was quite clear, so they were visible to the enemy, who shot at them hundreds or possibly thousands of times. The UDTs just swam through the rain of sinking bullets, catching some of them as souvenirs.

[@MrDgwphotos]

The Imperial Japanese Navy had shells for naval guns that were specifically designed to retain their ballistic properties after hitting the water, so that they could penetrate the hulls of US Navy warships even if they landed short and cause flooding. At the Battle of Cape Esperance during the Guadalcanal campaign, USS Boise was hit by two IJN 8" shells below the waterline that penetrated and started a fire in the forward magazines. This fire might have detonated the ammo stored in the magazines, but the flooding that was also caused by the shell hits, put out the fire and saved the ship, as the men who would have carried the order to intentionally flood the magazine were dead, killed by that same fire.

@@Bacteriophagebs[citation needed]

[@LazyLifeIFreak]

I can understand why the barrel clusters would have to be returned to factory for reloading, there is a lot of intricate components and reassembly required, tight fittings to ensure a proper seal.

[@spacewater7]

No my friend it's just that same old tactical strategy used by HP in their inkjet printers. To make it cheaper to buy a whole new device every time to squeeze as much $£€ out of you as possible 🤑

[@LazyLifeIFreak]

@@spacewater7 Nah, once you line up the costs on a spreadsheet and factor in everything ill bet 100€ on it being more expensive to get ones own troops to correctly reload these barrel assemblies.

[@hanelyp1]

Remove the breech plug. Clean and check spark gap. remove spent sabot and clean barrel. Replace sabot, with new projectile. A little wax around the edges of the sabot can deal with the seal. load powder. insert breech plug, with an elastic seal. Not a field operation, but doesn't look much more complex than reloading spent casings.

[@LazyLifeIFreak]

@@hanelyp1 One would assume so but I am certain there is more to it than that, there is almost always more to something than initially thought.

[@andersjjensen]

@@spacewater7 The "test cartridges" you get preinstalled on printers contain about 15% as much ink/toner as a real one. But people who don't realise that think "uh, a new set of cartridges is more expensive than a new printer... so I'll just buy a whole new printer!" but you're losing A LOT of money over time that way. A full set of toners for my laser printer is about two times the price of the printer. But each color is 3000 pages and black is 5000 pages compared to the 400 and 600 pages, respectively, I got with it from factory. It doesn't take a PhD in math to calculate that buying a new printer is a stupid idea, even when factoring in that the printer needs the drum replaced every 50k pages, and a drum is about the price of a black cartridge.

[@DigitalApex]

I distinctly remember seeing this in the 007: Nightfire video game. Thought it was a unique design for the game, come to find it was actually a covert handgun. Neat.

[@22HRR]

Please do more videos on underwater firearms! There are so many odd and cool guns in that world

[@hibob841]

The 10m depth limit is kind of surprising, but operationally it might not have been so limiting a factor. Not that their tactics are well-publicized, but my understanding is that frogmen-types tend to stay pretty shallow. They're just trying to sneak into a harbor/boat/whatever without being detected; 15-20 feet is plenty for that, in most scenarios (particularly at night). They almost always use rebreathers, which make few bubbles.

[@Saint_Wolf_]

The British Royal Armored museum!? If Jonathan Ferguson doesn't make a cameo I'll be disappointed! Let's be real that's the only reason many of us watch are subscribed with the bell on to Gamespot. Of course in joking, in assuming, Jonathan is a busy man when caring for his museum, but crazy to know Ian and Jonathan could be in one video, or even a photo together!

[@beelow84]

They’ve done several videos together. One that comes to mind is a video on homemade guns in the uk. Way before the video game videos.

[@Saint_Wolf_]

@@beelow84 sounds like it, but I'll go watch it now.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Royal Armouries.

[@Saint_Wolf_]

@@AtheistOrphan auto corrected, not editing now.

[@bobjordan8283]

The fact that you had to send the empty barrel units BACK to be reloaded shows that something crazy is going on with the actual rounds themselves!! Also more money for H&K lol!!

[@christopherharmon2433]

Also H&K can control who has access to loaded barrels.

[@hanelyp1]

Reloading the barrels looks similar in complexity to reloading a spent shell.

[@sparky4878]

So it’s a water pistol? Sorry.

[@alt5494]

Given the Russian combo of armed combat dolphins & patrol boat's underwater weapons can be essential.

[@harrypalmer728]

The advantage of the Russian system is that it is reloadable by the user and its limited by depth only by the effective distance of the round. The deeper you go the shorter the effective distance. I'm looking forward to the video in it.

[@LaVistasays]

When are you taking this spearfishing?

[@sheenufilms]

I WAITED FOR A VIDEO ON THIS GUN FOR SO LONG! Thank you!

[@michaelnolan6054]

So, a pepperbox with an electronic firing system. Looking forward to their waterproof matchlock.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Matchlock Minigun

[@roykliffen9674]

Let's see if I get this correctly; you discharge the gun, sabot and projectile accelerate, sabot plugs the narrowing in the barrel - trapping the expanding gas inside - and the projectile continues on its merry way. No wonder users were not allowed to reload; with all that pressure trapped behind the cartridge you could actually shoot yourself with the cartridge if you managed to pry it free.

[@ToastyMozart]

I think the soviets ostensibly had an above-water suppressed revolver that used the same principle.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

​@@ToastyMozartthey still do, it's a weird piston type cartridge.

[@thekraken1173]

@@ToastyMozart Its Russia not USSR. OTs-38 Stechkin silent revolver was designed in 2001. *PSS silent pistol in 1979.

[@Horseshoecrabwarrior]

Quite possibly, yeah. Over time, the pressure would probably leak out, but it would definitely be dangerous.

[@vapormissile]

Oops. Did not think of that. My rich self in the parallel universe just died 😢 "Hah! Observe whilst I reload my OWN cartr"POW!

[@joeysimunds6352]

Id love to lurk with Ian sometime procuring rumors of secret vault guns or history and seeing the possible years it takes to find and then arrange to be able to get a proper shot(video) of said artifacts

[@TheMainMan.]

So you'd love to be his apprentice

[@GigAnonymous]

Oh, underWATER! I read underWEAR, that was very confusing...

[@lobotomite9767]

I grew up playing delta force land warrior on my dads work computer. It had a bunch of weird guns in it like this, the pankor jackhammer, the OICW and the caseless G11. Great game.

[@sksthrowaway2270]

>game is called land warrior >has an underwater gun

[@arandomuser1723]

​@@sksthrowaway2270two of them. You forgot the APS underwater rifle

[@lobotomite9767]

@@sksthrowaway2270 it had two underwater guns.

[@robertm8401]

Exactly what first came to mind! Loved that game, only one back then that also featured bullet drop.

[@kevinkoster8066]

Ofcourse its from germany 🇩🇪

[@mutantfmj]

close circuit diving like Dreager re breather combat diving you are limited to only diving down to 30feet. We in Recon and Navy Seals train all dives at maintaining approx. 30 feet or less of depth when inserting by re breathers. The Navy also uses a LAR5 LO-MU re breather (back mounted) for EOD that goes deeper, as well as a tri-mix gas system for even deeper dives.

[@DanStaal]

30 feet is also likely all you're going to need when using the water as cover to attack a target. Any deeper and the target is going to have be a submarine or similar of some kind, and therefore not something you can attack directly with manual tools. But 30 feet is plenty to give you cover when approaching a beach or a surface target.

[@hardmcshaft7931]

The limit with rebreathers is only 10m on units that only replenish oxygen. If unhave a separate bottle of dilutent to dilute the mix as pressure increases u can go much deeper. U just have to monitor the ppo2. U can use sodium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide for the co2 absorber

[@stephencolley334]

​@@hardmcshaft7931 Really unwanted technical info, and of doubtful credibility.

[@Hoplopfheil]

This would have made a lot more sense in Splinter Cell compared to a suppressed Five-seveN.

[@BOTSamJ]

When will louis rossmann talk about right to reload

[@00Q722]

I'm somewhat surprised that it is battery powered, and not a piezoelectric crystal system. Perhaps I overestimate the power or reliability of a potential crystal system.

[@michelesilvestri8340]

piezo electric cristal arenot able to produce the 24v used by this gun tho

[@JohnWilliamNowak]

Or put the battery in the magazine so you swap out a fresh battery every time you reload.

[@fricki1997]

@@michelesilvestri8340 The piezoelectric crystal in a standard electric gas lighter can easily produce 800 volts....maybe they simply don't have enough amps to reliably trigger the electric cartridge, or they wanted to prevent a possible chain fire event?

[@1210alpha]

I have a strong suspicion that the 24V is required for exciting the propellent in both under water and above water. It would be a very legitimate reason to have the chemical formula tightly kept within in H&K. The same era when the G11 was in full swung development with the concept of caseless ammo

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

If you've ever used a cheap piezo lighter they're pretty darn reliable at least as far as sparking every time.

[@TBAG]

I think you use this gun as a non-lethal weapon shooting tranq darts in James Bond: Nightfire

[@KuruGDI]

I was hoping for a "stay tuned for the next video when we take this one out on the range" at the end 😟

[@History_Coffee]

Wouldn't want to be vulnerable to aquatic communists

[@TimberWolf762]

IDK how secret this is. It was featured in 1999's Delta Force 2 game by Novalogic.

[@orbiradio2465]

Were the specifications in the game correct? And can you prove it?

[@TimberWolf762]

@@orbiradio2465 Irrelevant whether they got the specifications precisely right. The point is that the existence of it hasn't been secret since at least 1999.

[@hans-joachimtenhoope1744]

Yes! You got one! The first time I saw it was decades ago in an article in the Dutch gun magazine SAM. The article showed several pictures of the gun, including a picture of divers posing with it and one picture with a lose barrel cluster on the gun. Needless to say, H&K was not happy with that.

[@bennesky4323]

Waiting also for Russian APS, FN Minimi, and TMP..

[@seanylewl]

I've always been curious about these since first reading Firewall by Andy McNab. After your explanation about how quiet the pistol would be to shoot, it makes a lot more sense in the context of their appearance in the book!

[@montlejohnbojangles8937]

I've got to admit I didn't think we'd ever see a P11 on the channel! Impressive work.

[@luce163]

Forgotten Weapons uploads a new video Brain: YIPPEE!!!

[@JohnDoe-es5xh]

If I right remember, the US navy seals, who destroyed North Stream 2, wore also this type of gun.

[@TiocfaidhArLa34]

lol wtf are you smoking?

[@jeffie8696]

I remember this as being the same concept of the silent shotgun shell , it contained the discharge within the shell and required no modification to the weapon

[@VaguelySynthetic]

There's an old Delta Force game, came out in like, '98 or something that features this pistol, if I remember correctly.

[@danielyu8022]

My thoughts exactly!

[@dibingsdibingens8463]

The sealing element that makes it basically silent kinda reminds of the Russian PSS with its self-sealing cartridges

[@fainterdot]

The lion fish video finally pays off!

[@jessicahamby6373]

Really? I personally thought that video was sick! Now if he combines the two....❤

[@marcusmoonstein242]

If you dive less than 10m you don't need to decompress when you surface. You can just swim straight up. This is a real advantage to military divers if your equipment gets damaged/malfunctions. I imagine most real military diving happens within 10m of the surface.

[@macmccollum6064]

I've used a speargun for decades while scuba diving, and I have to say that pistol has an incredibly effective range underwater. I need one! Great video and description of its use and features.

[@atomic_wait]

I wonder if a color besides red might be better for an underwater pistol's safety. Red tends to get washed out pretty quickly as you descend. Bright yellow tends to be more common on dive gear I find as a 'high contrast' color.

[@tinysim]

Were underwater weapons ever used ? The odds of encountering enemy divers during covert ops seems fairly unlikely.

[@Gameprojordan]

If they were used it would have been a handful of times at most, and more than likely kept secret

[@realQuiGon]

Sharks

[@alun7006]

We'll likely never know specifics. All sneaky beaky stuff with people going places they're not supposed to be.

[@roberthartburg266]

This gun is from the same era in which the USA and the Soviets trained Seals and Dolphins to attack enemy divers with knifes on their heads.

[@twosheds7105]

The only scenario I can think of that is somewhat possible would be divers defending a harbor/ship encountering attack divers.

[@jasonyama333]

Hello Punisher's Armory Issue #2, anti dolphin weapon....

[@Spectrecontrol]

Considering water visibility and currents, these would probably be mainly used for close-in work. Interestingly it might actually be possible to shoot 'around corners' if the current is strong enough and the range is far enough away to allow time for the projectile to curve. Super keen to see you out on the 'range' with one of these!

[@Randystudio217]

You can’t fool me, that’s the Tranquilizer pistol from 007 Nightfire

[@whiteskyflyer]

Ahhhh NFA question! If a civilian in the U.S.A had procured this said super rare and presumably expensive gun. Would it be considered integrally suppressed by the vague and often changing verbiage of the ATF?

[@beelow84]

yes

[@すどにむ]

This type of setup is not a one-off but used in Russian silent pistols too, often referred to as "captive piston" ammunition(albeit this one is clustered and barrel included). Few of those found its ways to US so they have precedents as to how civilian ownership is legally handled.