Japanese Contract Steyr-Solothurn S1-100 (aka MP34)

[@user-ns3vs3bp3e]

Got to admit the early 20th century smgs were really nice looking guns

[@dajokes8020]

The row off Tommy guns behide em tho ;)

[@KurwaRomek]

Yup, i get that form must follow function but there's nothing quite as good-looking as wood and blued steel as far as firearms are concerned...

[@miresly777777]

123 456 In deed

[@miresly777777]

Camp Master Noob 😍yeeees

[@finngage2436]

Wooden furniture is better than plastic and aluminum

[@RaDeus87]

You can really tell that this is a peace-time design, once the war kicks off the pipe-guns emerge.

[@jorge8596]

Laird Cummings it would become a STEN

[@nickm9123]

Darth Plagueis The Wise the plumbers nightmare

[@ramjb]

...With a double feed magazine. which means it'd be MUCH better than a STEN.

[@thegreatrobin2329]

Peace time: wooden stock M1928 Thompson, MP-34 (ö), Beretta 38a, etc. War time: cheap, stamped metal M3 Grease gun, Mk. II Sten gun, PPS-42, etc.

[@alexm566]

​@@thegreatrobin2329 and Stg44..oh wait

[@hanswelschenberg2294]

Magazine pouch is certainly not from a Japanese contract. Pouch is an Austrian police issue. Checking the pictures on James D Julia one can read the stamping inside the flap of the pouch. One stamping says: "Gendarmerieposten Leonding - Kreis Linz Oberdonau". Gendarmerieposten translates as police station, Leonding is a city in Upper Austria, southwest of Linz. "Kreis Linz Oberdonau" means District of Linz in the Reichsgau of Oberdonau. One year after the annexation of Austria by the 3rd Reich, the Nazis redrew the boundaries of the administrative subdivisions of Austria and renamed them. Reichsgau of Oberdonau didn`t come into being until the 1st of May 1939.

[@marksman158]

Why no one pins this comment?

[@AdamSticksNTricks]

He says in the video it was German made

[@austin9988]

The Japanese pouch appears to be quite different, more a large leather bag. At least twice the size of the one in the video. I've only seen it in period photos, never an original yet.

[@TheMajorActual]

11:05 - _"...German-manufactured magazine pouch..."_ --- Just because we have Google Translate now, doesn't mean that German/Austrian leather products factories back then knew or cared about how to properly stamp kanji. The Japanese preferred a different style and color of leather (which Ian states clearly), and the factory making the pouches would have simply used the customer's preferred material....and stamped it as they stamped everything else, if there wasn't a precisely specified clause in the contract to the contrary. If the Japanese needed to stamp it with their own markings, they had plenty of space. But -- it's a fitted mag pouch; there likely aren't a lot of magazines in Japanese service at the time that would cross-fit a pouch like this, and the Imperial Japanese military was pretty strict (before things got really desperate) about what gear went with what weapon.

[@bossel]

@@TheMajorActual The point is not that there are German stamps, but that it was issued to a police station in Austria (after April 1939).

[@randywatson8347]

Solothurn... that's a cool name. The machining is a feast for the eyes. That magazine click... excellent.

[@rom7245]

Stopped watching forgotten weapons to watch some forgotten weapons

[@therobotincharge9821]

Rom The Waste of Space Knight I can't stop doing that. Every video is half finished because I see some weird ass gun I need to look at in the recommendations.

[@thatfriggingbathroom2656]

Happens all the time. It's like going down a tvtropes rabbit hole

[@MrKersey]

MP-34 was really a Rolls Royce of sub machine guns, but too expensive for production. Great video as always, thanks!

[@Mongo63a]

Designed by an engineer that loved gadgets but never had to carry something he designed. Neat video.

[@TheAlexagius]

Sadly that happens quite often

[@Thekilleroftanks]

most weapons are in that way. very few are designed with troops comfort in mid. seeing most engineers arent/were soldiers before designing guns. but when you get that combo oh boy you gonna have fun.

[@desroin]

Well the idea with the stripper clip for a gun in this caliber is not bad at all because it basically gives you a rather quick loading tool to fill up your 3-4 magazines. The fact that the gun is pretty heavy wasn't a concern at all in this era really. I have not heard that soldiers had big complaints lugging a 4.5kg submachine gun around as long as it worked :D

[@Thekilleroftanks]

also think about it, what would be better, carrying around 20 mags full of ammo or a few dozen stripper clips and maybe a mag or two just in case. think we dont do that now is the fact most mags dont weigh all that much and just easier to carry a crap ton of them now.

[@ProudToBeNoob]

Laird Cummings 10 round stripper clips would probably have been fine anyway. Those two extra rounds aren't going to make such a difference and if you really want them you can still manually load them. Still faster than doing the whole mag by hand in any case.

[@chrisburn7178]

Just went to a tiny airfield museum in the UK and they had three of these, as well as a mint early pattern FG42, an StG44, MG34 and MG42. Pretty cool.

[@neilbone9490]

Was that Hawkinge? That’s near me.

[@chrisburn7178]

@@neilbone9490 Yeah. Fun little museum, the only thing I don't enjoy is the fake movie-prop aircraft but otherwise lots of interesting stuff.

[@maxkronader5225]

I'm always impressed by the level of machining that went into vintage military firearms; particularly when one considers that these were intended for the type of mass production needed to equip an army.

[@milanstepanek4185]

Milled barrel shroud :O The style and build quality kinda reminds me of the ZK-383 from an older video.

[@plitterusmaximus]

Laird Cummings i seriously love ready all of your comments

[@DrSid42]

Even the bolt with that tail is similar. The guns clearly influenced each other in some way.

[@mrkeogh]

What else are milling machines for, if not the unnecessarily elaborate manufacture of things that will get abused in mud and blood???

[@ohredhk]

German plus Swiss: double the over engineering.

[@plitterusmaximus]

ohredhk it will have a safety for its safety

[@gosonegr]

And a serial number for it serial number

[@markusweissenbock6337]

Steyr is Austrian, not German. At least before 1938 and after 1945.

[@154Kilroy]

I think you mean; German + Swiss + Austrian = triple the over-engineering. 😂

[@limpetarch98k]

@@154Kilroy Idk about the Austrian aspect. They might have their own departure but nothing too crazy like the Swiss. If the Denmark was in ... now we would have talked Triple C.

[@thomyoung5872]

I really love these wooden stocked SMGs which were made before the time when SMGs needed to be as light and compact as possible. A dream would be to spend a whole day at the range with an M-31 Suomi, PPsh-41, Thompson and perhaps a Bergmann MP-18 (if it doesn't jam all the time)!

[@StevieNotStevie]

The design of this gun is insane. I love how you can reload the magazine by attaching it to the side of the mag well

[@howler6490]

That is absolutely amazing...a reloading system built into a magazine well...THAT is attention to detail...taken to ridiculous levels... Amazing...thanks Ian

[@154Kilroy]

Watched the video when released, apparently didnt fully appreciate this awesome subgun at the time, because I now have a new favorite. The over-engineering of this thing is simply fantastic.

[@FirstLast_Nba]

Amazing how history eventually always links together.

[@ultrablue2]

It is a beautifully-made first generation submachine gun. As I understand they were favored by the police of the time. Knowing that these were used by the Japanese in WWII, I hope this will be a springboard into a video about the Type 100 submachine gun, which has to be the least documented gun of that war.

[@LilPistachiofr]

We are still waiting for that episode

[@Calvin_Coolage]

​@@LilPistachiofrUnfortunate that there's so damn few of those things left.

[@LilPistachiofr]

@@Calvin_Coolage So true

[@Metacore91]

Thanks. I really appreciated those close-up shots. The MP34 is easily one of the, if not the, prettiest submachine guns out there.

[@GooglyEyedJoe]

I had seen quite a few photographs before of MP34's being used by Japanese which people almost always mistakenly captioned as "Type-100 SMG" despite being quite clearly different, this now explains why they had a couple, thanks!

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Pretty convenient to have the clip-loading mechanism installed directly on the gun. I'm just thinking of mud possibly being an issue here... That thing looks like heaven for getting mud stuck in it.

[@rubenlopez3364]

Real late, but if mud gets stuck there it's a clear loop, the action of removing the magazine will knock out the dirt from one of the holes

[@chrismichael6048]

IJN saw MP34 as a good highly portable rapid fire gun to supplemented the SNLF's infantry that were mostly equipped with standard service Arisaka bolt-action rifle。It was believed that IJN were more flexible into accepting and adapting to Western powers' trend in equipping the infantry's NCOs with SMG since having LMG/GPMG to provide rapid fire support was felt as insufficient。The IJA，however，seemed refused to accept the idea of equipping the NCOs with a portable rapid fire SMG due to their contempt of pistol cartridge wastage in a single full automatic burst。The IJA felt LMG/GPMG were already sufficient to support the slow-firing bolt-action riflemen and NCOs equipped with only Nambu pistol。In the early years of 2nd Sino-Japanese War，SMG were considered rare for both opposing sides。As the war spilled into the Pacific，only then the IJA felt the US Army and Marines had SMG advantage。IJA did tried to adapt to SMG with the introduction of Type 100 but unfortunately the Japanese military industrial complexes only managed to produced small quantities sufficient only for airborne and special forces units。

[@therideneverends1697]

the scallop cuts on the topcover are probably the coolest thing ive seen all week

[@spetsnazmelayu2011]

*stripper clip guide* oooOOOOooooooh~!

[@ErulianADRaghath]

This looks extremely complicated, or should I say, very interesting.

[@tillmannfischer]

But just like the MP 18, the weight makes these such a pleasant weapon to shoot. We have gotten back to that with more modern SMGs due to smaller calibres (as with the MP7 and P90), but the first gen SMGs are just such a pleasure to shoot despite the ammunition they use.

[@JACKSONLEWISOFCANADA]

the stuff on this gun is actually very smart and well thought out.... and with even looks and build quality I would not doubt this would be pretty close to an early thompson cost wise....

[@angryyogbuscus1578]

"This thing is a stripper-clip guide!" *sudden dramatic zoom*

[@superdupergrover9857]

i can't believe they machined the barrel shroud. the one thing where it would have easier to design and manufacture from tubing and they didn't take it.

[@hakimzah]

Yes it's as if they never heard of sheet metal

[@jamestravis1147]

Late to comment but for the record, the shroud is a separate piece that screws onto the front end of the receiver and is pinned in place. The fit and finish of these guns is just SO great that it is hard to see it, but I have one that is getting rebuilt as a semi-auto SBR and I am pretty familiar with how they are put together.

[@mikeh.753]

The machined receivers are a thing of beauty. The weapons that were hurriedly made that are mainly stamped steel are lighter but not as nice to look at, like the Thompson compared to the M3 grease gun. I prefer the machined receivers for beauty and longevity. Damn I had no idea that this was a Swiss army knife too. HAHAHA but this is back when the engineers thought out of the box when it came to adding needed tools built into the overall design.

[@villainousmaximus8775]

Impressive video, thank you for bringing such detail and knowledge. Greatly appreciated.

[@AndreasMarx]

I have a nitpick around 3:03 - 9x23 Steyr was the Austrian Police version, the Austrian Army had theirs chambered in 9x25 Mauser.

[@bilboproudfoot]

What a beauty, they don't make em like they used to!

[@TheRogueWolf]

So hang on. The magazine well is also an integral magazine reloading mount? That's really spiffy. Not something you'd find on today's ultra-utilitarian weapons.

[@patmcnamara9081]

The Rogue Wolf o

[@grahamlopez6202]

Ultra utilitarian? The galil has a bottle opener.

[@estewart1763]

Kinda cool idea, especially if your backup is a C96 Mauser.

[@captainswoop8722]

@@grahamlopez6202 Only because the squaddies were damaging their weapons trying to open bottles with them.

[@grahamlopez6202]

@@captainswoop8722 I've also taped a swiss army knife to my rpk. Who utilitarian now?

[@xtangero]

This may well be the world's most expensive tube receiver SMG. Holy cow, this could have been made for a tenth of the cost. Quite an interesting and exquisite piece

[@emperorspock3506]

A pronunciation note (since I've repeatedly seen this on FW): in German, you only pronounce 'st' as [sht] if it's at the beginning of a syllable - as in 'Stahl', or 'Sturmgewehr'. Otherwise, it's always [st], and it's indeed [st] in 'Pistole' or 'Österreich'. A rule of thumb: if 'st' follows a vowel, it is almost certainly pronounced [st].

[@MrBioniclefan1]

To me these submachine guns are cool looking

[@blitoris]

Nice selection of Thompsons along the back wall.

[@DtWolfwood]

That built in clip to magazine reload is wonderful

I always liked the mag loader being part of the mag housing. I'm surprised it wasn't copied by everyone. It's an ingenious idea.

[@r.j.lombardi111]

What a lovely weapon

[@PorcuPineAppleSauce]

its kind of funny, these videos are almost like advertisements but theyre the best darn ads ive ever seen

[@stacybrown3714]

Wow, as a fan of the mp-40 I am really thinking this is wicked awesome. I am not at a financial position to bid on this at this time, but if I were I would love to have it. I sure hope whoever buys it really appreciates for all it is.

[@UNIT5016]

such a well thought out design. exquisite machining!!!

[@InfoBlox762]

If this gun could talk, it would say: "I'm so fancaaaaayyyy"

[@gz7006]

I clicked on the video and looked away for a second, thinking it was a Solothurn Anti-Tank rifle again, then got surprised how something so small could be used as AT. Don't judge, I just woke up.

[@vrisbrianm4720]

Just Another Videoless Channel Check out Ian's video on that AT rifle

[@miresly777777]

My goodness very veryyyy well made. It has my 10🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👌.

[@thedrifter2790]

I’ve been playing Post Scriptum recently and after playing as the Germans and using the MP-34 I found myself wondering why I liked it so much (and why there was an ö in parentheses). Anyways I really appreciate the video of satiating my curiosity for one of my now favorite SMGs.

[@ditzylemon1]

Man this thing is beautiful in its own way

[@randyrick8019]

a few of the Steyr m1908 .32acp Pieper Patent pistols of this period also had the Steyr-Solothurn markings

[@cartridgegram]

Now that’s a nice sub machine gun, inter war 1920s/1930’s stuff is so interesting

[@0214Bub]

Gorgeous firearm. Stripper clip adapter quite clever.

[@tomkavulic7178]

5:54 that's the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.

[@Dr_Pepper_King621]

Finally a gun KZbinr without an annoying southern accent

[@seppostolt9024]

Bang, gun. Like this. From Finland!!

[@billy56081]

That is a very interesting piece, thanks for sharing.

[@b.griffin317]

.30 Mauser is roughly equivilant to 7.62 Tokarev, so its a respectable SMG cartridge.

[@Verde-s9a1]

I'm surprised Ian's never gotten his hands on the Type-100 SMG.

[@AntonisHL]

Greek Gendarme had purchased Steyr-Solothurn MP34 SMGs, about 2000-2500 in mid 1930's. Interestingly, they were chambered in 9X25 Mauser.

[@petros311]

fine submachinegun! also used by the Greek Royal Gendarmerie in WWII, a few thousands bought in 9mm. they seen some action in WWII as the Royal Gendarmerie also participate in the war as military police, transferring prisoners in the rear and enforcing order in occupied territories, few must have used in the battle of Crete as Gendarmerie men were participate in the battle, especially in Rethymnon region.

[@HimmelGanger]

@Ian the AG stands for aktiengesellschaft (stock company), so next time we would love for you to say that ;-)

[@worldtraveler930]

I hope to one day see Ian shooting one of these.

[@ellomdian]

Incredible that the pouch is in such good condition after 80 years.

[@FloVoDW]

This is an Austrian magazine pouch. It’s from Stolla, a famous leather company which made all of the Austrian military leather gear.

[@happyhaunter_5546]

Awesome! Thanks Ian

[@Yuzral]

Random thought - if this gun was for the Japanese market, why are the control markings in the Latin alphabet rather than one of the Japanese alphabets?

[@tillmannfischer]

Because that was one of the options that Soluthurn-Steyr offered: German (default) markings, Spanish, or Portuguese. They simply didn’t offer anything different, and I doubt they would have even bothered to do anything different (perhaps just leave the markings away entirely, if the Japanese had so requested, but that’s about it).

[@ohredhk]

If you follow these kind of subject you will find it to be totally normal for weapon imported to Japan to have the original foreign markings. It clearly avoid the extra cost of a special request. The solider who use these would only need to treat the "E" or "D" as symbols. It not that difficult.

[@svtirefire]

Slaughter Round- *grammar emperor

[@LovableCoolGuy]

Slaughter Round - Not to be a pedant but I think you mean pedant.

[@Erebus494]

Not sure if this would carry over to historical context but generally the Japanese use our numbers (1, 2, 3, etc) in lieu of their native numerical characters for writing.

[@mcuffman1]

They need to do a video on the other smg Japan imported. The M1920 Sig Bergmann

[@SomethingEls]

This gun looks really good

[@tylerhiggins3522]

What a thing of beauty.

[@TheAlmostbob]

God this gun screams overbuilt, but in the way that makes you love it more.

[@johnyricco1220]

These were also made in 9mm Mauser Export, the most powerful submachine gun cartridge of the time.

[@51WCDodge]

The Swiss did very well out of WW2, they supplied watches and optics to both sides, and famously one of only two existing steroscopic photo viewers to the British for photo recon analysis. This particualr dveice was shipped through Germany , much to thier disgust, however it was allowed as upsetting the Swiss was considered to high a price.

[@iClamber]

That stripper clip reloader in the mag well seems like a genius but of design to me. Maybe it was something done by others but I have never seen it before.

[@austin9988]

Based on period photos the Japanese didn't use the S1-100 with that style of pouch, rather sam belt esque setup with a large leather satchel attached

[@西牧慶賢]

thanks

[@DanvonVolksburg]

Your German sounds pretty good,only your Österreich needs some improvement. 😂 Cheers Dan

[@Jorvard]

I was thinking: Maybe the O designation didn't stand for Österreich, but for Ostmark, the Nazi-correct name for the land. That probably would've been easier to pronounce.

[@DanvonVolksburg]

Jorvard probably....🤔

[@browncoat697]

The "ö" isn't a sound in English, I know, but it's much closer to "oo," right? Like a mix of "ue" in "glue" and "oo" in "moo."

[@DanvonVolksburg]

Rip Steakface best way is use the google translator app and listen too it. it’s a good way to learn the Ö.

[@tomrisar5492]

Sonnetater

[@alanfaulkner6329]

Bloody gorgeous.

[@XenoTechnian]

What a gorgeous gun

[@originalSPECTER]

Good Lord, that machining.

[@johnthomas-km2bf]

super cool video.

[@vguyver2]

A hefty, durable SMG for collectors.

[@rejmons1]

Steyer is the city in Austria. In the time of "KuK" monarchy (imperial-royal Austro-Hungary). In this city was lokalized the one of most important weapenery factory in the country. And probably in those city was builded the protothype of the Austro-hungarian semi-auto pistolete, called "Standschütze Hellriegel 1915" (Machine gun of reservist Hellriegel 1915). But unfortentelly didn't stand the test of time. And again - very unfortatelly the technical documentation is also missing! All whot the scientists have are three pictures in National Archive of Austria. And that's real forgotten weapon! Yhe Austro-Hungarian ideas about the mechanic of weapons were very interesting (Schwarzlose M.7/12, Mannlicher M1895 rifle,Steyr M1912 pistolete). Do you know something about this MP? Maybe somebody tryed to make a reconstruction?

[@Bl4ckD0g]

I should really be asleep right now, Ian

[@con6lex]

Ricky the Demon Machine Videos are schedule to drop at certain times. Ian is probably off somewhere filming videos for April.

[@Bl4ckD0g]

con6lex I'm aware. It was a joke

[@nunyabizness199]

I so wish I had one of these, really nice !

[@andibandi5501]

Hi Ian , Would you be willing to do a video on Indian weapons?

[@jeryang1998]

Somewhere along the line, I sense a Japanese Type-100 analysis... Oooh please make it happen :)

[@youmustbethatninja]

I noticed there aren’t a lot of WW2 Japanese SMGs in this channel, did they not use a lot in the war?

[@tedhubertcrusio372]

The MP34 revolutionized the concept of an SMG as a police weapon, not just as a weapon for sweeping trenches. The idea of using SMGs as police weapons passed on to the NKVD -KGB, the Landespolizei Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Philippine Constabulary and the Austrian Polizei.

[@HellbirdIV]

You can kind of see the lineage of the MP-18 in a lot of the interwar guns. It feels a bit like looking at the evolutionary tree of a species, with the MP-18 as the progenitor and many branches of different, variously successful or failed derivatives. The most successful would be perhaps the MP-40, which deviates very significantly in form, and the Sten, which like a lot of animal species focused on being as numerous as possible to the detriment of all its other traits. The Steyr-Solothurn S1-100 would be opposite end of the evolutionary extreme from the Sten, finding success - if somewhat less so - through exceptional quality over quantity, being excellent all-around, at the cost of, well, cost. It is the African elephant to the Sten's field mouse.

[@slipperysam1337]

Beautiful

[@king-oreos4003]

Is that blood on the stock

[@rednecksniper4715]

That stripper clip loading is cool

[@KaletheQuick]

I love this show :D

[@bomf4252]

How fascinating

[@kevinoliver3083]

The magazine pouch was probably a standard production item. Not special for the IJN. German and Austrian police, especially in rural areas, often wore brown leather gear.

[@MyShadowstrike]

I know its probably far too late, but wouldn't a gun like this have the chrysanthemum on it if it was used in Japanese military service around that time? Seems like a fairly easy way to check the provenance of the weapon, unless there was some exception to that rule?

[@imperialbill6925]

You would think it would have chrysanthemum but all Japanese lmgs, smgs and pistols didn’t have those marks . Only there Arisaka bolt actions had them

[@kevinoliver3083]

The Type I rifles that were imported from Italy also lacked the Crysanthemum. Probably because they weren't standard IJN weapons.

[@MasterOfTwisted]

Your German is getting better.

[@zendell37]

Why exactly are there 20 round magazines for submachine guns? For 7.62 and 9mm, 30 rounders are completely manageable. So why bother making shorter ones?

[@clothar23]

My guess..the brush in pacific islands can get hella dense . Not that dropping ten rounds is going to get you a whole lot of wiggle room but every little bit counts I guess.

[@demonprinces17]

Easier to carry

[@artfact2]

Long stock, select fire, controlability, large magazine 7.63 mauser... This sounds like an M14, 30 years ahead.:O

[@rickystober]

Hey Ian, isn’t this the inspiration behind the type 100 sub machine gun? Ive never been up close and personal with these guns but they look some what similar to each other

[@scribejay]

The moment he said the barrels could be swapped with just a wrench: "Yep, that's a Steyr."

[@Biped]

It seems like disengaging the safety could fire a shot if you had messed around with the trigger before... Because it is just a second sear and if both are not 101% lined up (which they probably are but what about wear?) this would be a huge risk, right? Correct me if I messed something up here...

[@fellbatzen7033]

"Dauerfeuer" would actually more closely translate to "continous fire". "Dauer" = "the timespan that something takes". "Wie lange dauert das?" - "How long will it take?". "kurze Dauer" = "a short time", "lange Dauer" = "long period of time". But single shot would be "ein Moment", which generally is not considered when it is about the "Dauer" of something! There needs to be at least a brief passing of time to legitimately be considered "andauernd" (which means ongoing and also "all the time" :). For ongoing we would rather use "anhaltend" and that is also used for firing! Anhaltendes Feuer - a stream of bullets that is seemingly not ending, like in machine gun suppression.

[@imvisier9925]

Dauer actually directly and conveniently translates to Duration, so your paragraph is wholly unnecessary.