Steyr ACR: A Polymer Flechette-Firing Bullpup From the 90s

[@cedar2865]

It looks like someone tried to draw an AUG from memory

[@Zakumei]

Or drawn by like... a cartoon caricature artist. lmao

[@wowersdh1]

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@serjtubin]

hahaha made me laugh so much :D

[@Pommezul]

Looks like it belongs to a game like Grand Theft Auto

[@jts.97]

Your comment made me forget what the AUG actually looks like, I had to look it up because that ACR replaced it in my brain

[@acrobaticalpaca6675]

Not to be confused with the CAR, the ARC, the RAC, the ACR or the ACR. Edit for inclusivity's sake: Not to be confused with the CAR, the AR-C, the AR-CL the RAC, the ACR, the ACR, the ACR, the MDR, the CPR, the XCR, the RCA, the DVR, the XM8, the AUG, the BAR, the pallet rifle, the R E S P E C T, the ARAK, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the M2, the SCAR, the Kar, the SLR, the VCR or the fucking ACR, now are you people happy?

[@KingHalbatorix]

Stop that

[@wyattfulkerson8719]

Don't make me think about that.

[@xavierspirit1811]

Thanks for clarifying

[@meechg0stupid110]

Not to be confused with the bushmaster or Remington ACR.

[@OmegaZero1242]

Or the MDR.

[@wiryantirta]

Every gun in the 90s-00s: “LIFE IN PLASTIC! ITS FANTASTISCH!”

[@retroicdescent]

I mean, how else was the military going to stop Magneto?

[@357-swagnumultramagax9]

Only the glock survived

[@357-swagnumultramagax9]

Thanks to the America police agencies

[@irelandgunner9511]

@@357-swagnumultramagax9 yup only glock. And 80% of modern firearms.

[@connor3288]

Cmon Steyr lets go party

[@xx_insert_cool_username_he6876]

Steyr: We need a better AUG. Steyr employee: *Bullpups the AUG more and made it fire flechettes* Steyr: Perfection.

[@Julianna.Domina]

I love the Austrians so much. Must be the altitude or something that makes them come up with such wacky, wonderful weapons

[@SNOUPS4]

For those who may wonder: In french, basically, "flèche" = arrow; "fléchette" = little arrow, dart

[@leonruvalcaba1549]

ulala señor frances v:

[@jacobstaten2366]

I always wondered. 🤔

[@jrsharker23]

Nobody: Absolutely nobody: The French: FANCY WORDS FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

[@cesarandrade1987]

@@jrsharker23 Well, I guess that's why american English has to borrow words in other languages for the complicated concepts, like zeitgeist, tour de force, infant terrible, schadenfreude, faux pas, genre, rendezvous, glitch, klutz etc. (jk, english is cool too).

[@admpandora91]

I had always wondered. Thanks

[@five5105]

Looks like a tactical fish.

[@SuperTelecom]

Lazy haha at least the XM8 has a friend to hide from the FN F2000 fishing boat with.

[@damienairalay552]

Lol I wasn't the only one who said this darn it!!!! Lol agreed

[@fokjohnpainkiller]

Good enough to be supersized for the hottest momma ever to use

[@Snagabott]

Not all guns can match the beauty of the M2010.

[@bloodeleine]

what

[@jamesagenbroad1930]

Just to point out that just like arrows, the slow spin imparted on the flechettes doesn't actually serve to stabilize them through gyroscopic force. Rather it averages out any imperfections that would tend to make the projectile curve away from it's point of aim. eg if there is a slight bend, or one of the fins is slightly bigger than the others so the slow spin puts the projectile into a corkscrew rather than curved flight.

[@hunterbidensaidslesion1356]

It's been a while since I've read the book The Black Rifle, by Edward Ezel (spelling?), but I thought it was stated in that book that the purpose of the slow rifling was to cause the petals of the sabot to separate reliably and consistently from the flechette, so as not to effect the accuracy too much. But the corkscrew flight path makes at least as much sense as that, and I know that some air-to-ground rockets have had spin imparted to them for that reason.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

I think the flechette design could be improved using modern design to provide far better stability and dynamics using Engineering AI techniques for accelerated generational improvements, then using industrial 3D metal printing.

[@justcallmenoah5743]

​@@user-yv2cz8oj1k there is no need to use AI to design something that simple, a half decent engineer whose been properly briefed on what you need could design one in traditional cad software in like, a day.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

@@justcallmenoah5743 There isn't a total necessary use, an engineer can knock out something basic, but AI can give options to a set of requirements to provide design options a human engineer may not think of, and can provide iterative generational designs to provide rapid development of improved designs.

[@justcallmenoah5743]

@@user-yv2cz8oj1k dude, it's a dart. What possible design variations would there be over what an engineer could think up relatively quickly? Want multiple variations about fin size, count, and weight? Just add parameters to your model, takes about 5 minutes total and you can generate new models with any number of parameters in milliseconds. Want variable infill, which would only really apply to 3d printing, although it could be a useful technique to have lower infill at the back, allowing the penetrator to stay dense while dropping the total weight, parameters, about a 5er. How about variable thickness across the width of the dart, or maybe even variable length, each a handful of parameters. Basically my point is that the design of a small metal dart is so simple that you could devise an incredibly customizable and tweakable model in basically the same amount of time it would take to make a one off model of a single idea. AI would be entirely unnecessary for something this simple.

[@Mr2h294]

The whole gun looks like when chocolate melts in the sun then cools back down and you unwrap it.

[@supermachine2275]

But instead you melted an AUG, cooled it back down, and got this thing.

[@sttonep242]

I bought AUG and it was still in a box in hot car. This is what came out.

[@ARSZLB]

uhhh no it doesn’t. sorry.

[@jadedclone6728]

Dude. Yes it does. This is the epitome of melted dog shit

[@christopherdrekr1078]

Yes I think you're right that's pretty similar to what I was thinking

[@liquidsnail7305]

To hear this gun has malfunctions breaks my heart.

[@LDSG_A_Team]

Same. I want it to be reliable so bad. It's such a sexy gun otherwise

[@henryc7548]

@@LDSG_A_Team well it’s a prototype, a production rifle probably would be much more reliable

[@THRAKORZOD]

Every gun has malfunctions at this point of development

[@peaceraybob]

35-odd years ago, I was briefly involved in the Australian Army trials for a replacement for the SLR. Based in the north-west Queensland desert, we headed out bush for the hot-dry and bulldust testing of several rifles - including the Steyr AUG, M16A1, M16A2 and I vaguely remember the guys talking about a Singaporean submission that had failed out of the trials early on.While not an actual selling point, the AUG receiver had a little switch that allowed you to select either full auto or 3-round burst. You did have to remove the butt-plate and pull it out to do so, but this only takes seconds. No, the real selling point was how freakishly accurate the AUG was - especially given that we were all used to shooting SLRs and F1s. It really was the gun that didn't miss.While the M16A1 was then in limited use and fairly popular among the SF community, such as it was, the M16A2 was an utter failure just during the period of my own observation. There were at least two parts breakages just during the fortnight I was out with the team. The real killer, however, was how quickly and badly both M16 models jammed up when faced with the talcum-fine bulldust so common to central-Australian cattle stations.

[@matthayward7889]

That’s really Interesting!

[@glenn.c]

great story! Any chance the Singaporean rifle was the SAR-21 used today by the military? It's a Singaporean-made bullpup that resembles the AUG somewhat; used it for two years during my service.

[@ongjunhong]

@@glenn.c It was probably an SAR-80, which was an AR-18 clone made by Chartered Industries Singapore (now ST Kinetics). They hawked it around a couple of countries in the 80s, but they didn't get any large orders outside of Somalia.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Ahh yes, the Austreyr

[@vi5ionary]

I was an infantry instructor in the Austrian Army for several years in the 90ies, so I trained hundreds of guys on the AUG. In addition to that, my dad was a General and for most of his career, he was responsible for choosing, testing and selecting equipment for the Austrian Army - among many other things, the AUG. He used to tell me this story that you could bury the AUG in sand, leave it for a while, and when taking it out again, it’d still fire without a hitch. While neither the M16 or the G3 passed a similar test. Don’t know the veracity of this, or if it was just an anectote, but in my experience, both in hot summers and very cold winters, the AUG hardly ever failed or misfired.

[@MrKoala-kv5qd]

Seeing this basically end up in Cruelty Squad (as well as the USAS 12, an94, zip 22, pm-9, g11, etc) is insane. The coolest guns never go into full on production, stay as prototypes, are way to expensive, or all of the above

[@308enjoyer]

You have the soul of an emperor

[@shotgunjustice9605]

Divine light severed You're a flesh automaton controlled by neurotransmitters

[@ronansorgdrager]

Almost all your targets are inhumanly narcissistic, it's no wonder that their guards are armed with extremely rare firearms.

[@axis5519]

CEO Mindset

[@limecoveredbrick]

mfw VAG-72...

[@UnitSe7en]

"Stiff Piston and the Charging Handles" is my new band name.

[@lieutenantkettch]

I wake up every morning with a Stiff Piston.

[@dergenmusic2081]

Both these comments have made my day.

[@Chevypotamus]

This is just a teaser for that G11 video you've been keeping from us, isn't it

[@DuesenbergJ]

SnoutBaron It’s from a Patreon supporter. They get early access.

[@iancornell141]

SnoutBaron I think he must be one of Gun Jesus's disciples

[@TaurionMartell]

P a t r e o n

[@jameshealy4594]

I believe I'm correct in saying that if you're a $10 Patreon supporter you get early access to content. I would also caution people that binging on Gun Jesus videos can lead to withdrawal when you realise that means there is no new content for weeks. By all means, support Ian if you want to, but use caution when subjecting oneself to the addictive substance that is early access.

[@timturbo7727]

I wanna see that german space magic gun jesus, *I AM YOUR DECIPLE FIREARM LORD*

[@sallaity7999]

It looks kinda like the Pallet Rifle from Eva No wonder why, it was probably the most futuristic gun they could find, they already used the G11 for the UN so yeah

[@SF7PAKISTAN]

It is the Pallet Rifle for the Evas

[@belluh-1iroquoishuey343]

International Coalition IRL : HAHA 5.56 GOES BRRR

[@lime_cat13]

They both look like the stern M17 from cruelty squad

[@ELSuperJake]

I vividly remember reading a magazine article in the late 90s as a kid about what "future soldiers" would look like. It heavily featured this rifle, the soldiers were fully armored in sci fi looking armor, and there was a heavy focus on night vision goggles in the helmet as well haha.

[@AshleyPomeroy]

I remember a lot of articles like that at the time - there was also an emphasis on less-lethal weapons because the envisage future conflicts were Somalia-style policing operations. It was the heyday of Metal Storm and airburst 20mm grenades and so forth.

[@HalJikaKick]

Back in 1995 I saw this gun in an Ian Hogg book and it fascinated me. Almost 25 years later another Ian explains it further. 😄

[@salokin3087]

Damn, it's like a melted Aug and famas merged together

[@ALucienLachance]

It's got the g36/ f2000 rail and the grip and scope of a steyr aug

[@laurentthibault7648]

Salokin lol

[@nickey3633]

Yeah right, the gun looks really garbage

[@maxman1602]

It's like something you'd see in a cheesy futuristic movie from the 90s.

[@wraithdino1217]

well in the 90s it was one of the "rifles of the future"

[@Chevypotamus]

Seriously one of the coolest guns I've ever seen, surprisingly simple action too.

[@blackwolf7777]

Well, for a cat...

[@MaximilianBrandt]

Futuristic weapon

[@PaulMauser]

Cat It’s so fackin ugly

[@athodyd]

Seems almost like an open-bolt action.

[@MrS22222]

I would love to see someone remake this mechanism to fire brass, they would be cheap to produce.

[@enlujes8226]

Car salesman:*Slaps gun* this bad boy can kill so many Angels

[@dergenmusic2081]

*Screams geometrically*

[@digitaleventhorizons]

**decisive battle starts playing**

[@gnomeam]

Don't they only kill a single Angel with that gun? The acid spider one

[@waremergencypower6024]

Austria: We supply the weapons required to kill eldritch abominations to anyone who wants it! Yes, even Non-State Actors!

[@belluh-1iroquoishuey343]

- Makes a Tactical Fish - Rejected by US cuz its not as good as M16A2 - Sells it so a kid with giant robot and depression - Makes it bigger + Explosive rounds - Still Fucking Useless

[@johnfrench5279]

Three years late I know, but I just discovered how to complete the disassembly the Steyr ACR: “By removal of the rear plastic stock, the soldier can pull a quick disconnect sleeve [the red collar in front of the chamber block - I think] and remove the barrel with a quarter turn. From this point, the gas piston return spring is free to be removed, the misfire ejector may be removed, and the mechanism is easily broken into several sub-assemblies. Springs are easily compressed by hand while pins need only finger pressure to remove or are easily punched out with the sling pin.”

[@B1rd0fpr3y]

I just realized, that this is the gun used by the EVAs in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The japanese really have quite the taste when it comes to guns xD

[@NafeeDoesStuff]

Now that you say it, yea!

[@mikestavisky8009]

Heck yeah! This is probably lo y do to them not being allowed to have em, so they are great at "ogling" and drooling over firearms.

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

@@mikestavisky8009 I do feel in this specific case it was chosen because of the flechette thing, as it needs to go through hard to penetrate energy shields. Pointy=better penetration is my guess for the reasoning at least Might just becuase it looks cool and futuristic

[@d.akross3639]

A flechette firing weapon makes sense at an Eva's scale because it would need to penetrate armor and a lot of it. If the ACR's flechettes were scaled up to weigh 660kg instead of 0.66g but maintained their muzzle velocity of 1450 m/s, they would have kinetic energy of 693 MJ, twice that of the USS Iowa's 16 inch guns firing 1225 kg shells at 762 m/s. Of course it doesn't compare to the positron rifle charging up from Japan's power grid (187 GW) for 30 minutes, then letting it off in two 4-second shots (effective power of 42 TW), but still.

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

@@d.akross3639 i had an extremely similar line of thoughts, especially since the pallet rifle is intended to take down an Angel's AT field before going in for a killing blow if I remember correctly

[@MegaAndyman101]

Please do a video on the entire ACR program!

[@DirtyHairy1]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4iuYnpsnLqqaZo

[@fredwupkensoppel8949]

@@DirtyHairy1 It's private now :/

[@ferna2294]

It´s interesting how war went from trying to shoot more and lighter projectiles per shot, to talk about the 5.56 not being effective enough to kill at long ranges and showing new ammo that is heavier than a 7.62NATO (if I can recall).

[@Passw0rdYT]

Such is the neverending arms race between offensive technology and defensive technology. We are at a turning point in history where defensive tech, kevlar body armor and the like, is beginning to really take control and shape the future of that arms race again for the first time since the era of ye olde platemale

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

well this thing could possibly solve both problems, flechette design does wonders for AP capability and makeing round go fast is one the ways to extend range

[@TheRogueWolf]

And I just mentioned this gun in a comment a week or two ago. Nice to see it! I've read that another issue the weapon ran into was the sabots leaving the barrel at high speed and being potentially dangerous to the shooter (possibly rebounding off the ground if firing while prone) or to allies ahead of the shooter. Still, it's an amazingly forward-looking concept, and it's a shame that it never went anywhere.

[@thkarape]

Stop teasing us and release the Kraut Space Magic video! Please

[@orderofdusk2382]

He will when he finishes his course on space wizardry so he can understand how it works.

[@jackandersen1262]

Order of Dusk there is a manual that detailed every single piece, and complete disassembly on Small Arms Review.

[@johannesklug3197]

The intention behind the 1.5x AUG Sight is that the area within the circle has a viewing angle of 6 mil (=~ 21 MOA) , so at 300 meters, a standing 1.8 m person would fit exactly in the inner area. The outer edge of the border corresponds to an angle of 12 mil (=~ 41 MOA) so it's the same with 150 m. So the idea behind this is having a distance estimation based on average human height integrated in the center of the crosshair. Additionally, as of my training at the Austrian Armed Forces, soldiers are not intended to kill but to make someone unable to fight, so a fine crosshair wasn't perceived to be necessary or even to not be compliant to the international humanitarian law. However, well trained soldiers are able to shoot at least 10 cm groups with the old "donut of death" at 200 m and the modern "AUG A2 SF" in the austrian army has a 3x magnification with a fine crosshair going to the center of the donut with integrated MILDOTs

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Makes sense - thanks!

[@agp11001]

Ah yeah, that old "we don't kill, we incapacitate" motto. Our NCO repeated it like a mantra, the guy on the shooting range always told us "it's fine in training, in an emergency, nobody cares about it." Where were you stationed? Ex-recon company from Bleiburg here.

[@TheRazePlayz]

Is this the 5.56mm doctrine that states by injuring one enemy you incapacitate another 1-2 enemies because they now have to give first aid?

[@Dies1r4e]

Give me a nice ACSS optic or a good old fashion cross hair any day. If I want to aim to wound let me aim to wound not just hope it goes somewhere inside of a 21 MOA ring sheesh. nuts you guys trained that way, I remember first getting a look at an AUG's optic and being baffled how people managed hits with it, but it seems to work really well in the hands of Austrian armed forces so who am I to bitch? if it gets hits it fits. Thanks for the background information on the Donut of Death Mister Klug.

[@TheRazePlayz]

@marissa bolino Regardless of how you feel about it is a genuine doctrine used by genuine militaries. It's not the first time militaries have espoused stupid beliefs in saying that what makes you the one to tell them their wrong?

[@sillylittleowlguy2392]

(Cruel angel’s thesis starts playing)

[@ZeD69420]

G11 is still by far one of my most favorite guns. Would love to actually shoot one one day in the 3 shot burst mode.

[@IainDelaney]

The G11 was only three burst mode. That was the whole point. Ian explains the recoil effect in the video.

[@themilkman6969]

@@IainDelaney what?? no, it had semi and full auto

[@stickiedmin6508]

​@@IainDelaney Don't you remember the part of the video with the selector lever?

[@Moondog66602]

Somebody's got Ian boarded in. This is just his cry for help.

[@ianfinrir8724]

They didn't board him in. He boarded them out.

[@kebinshields]

I thought this was a 9mm AUG when i first saw the thumbnail.

[@davidl7813]

brockhampton so did I lol

[@kmeredith8653]

Me too i think thats the aug a3

[@Gigas0101]

This whole design could do with a few tweaks and an update, loving the mechanics of this thing.

[@yetanother9127]

When I look at it, the first thing I think of is how that extractor-free action could easily be adapted to caseless rounds--without all the complicated clockwork of the G11.

[@yetanother9127]

@@smorrow How does a rotating rather than sliding chamber aid the hyperburst?

[@yetanother9127]

@@smorrow Interesting. I wouldn't have thought the magazine being horizontal was necessary--for instance, the AN-94 (which has the magazine and action recoil together for the same reason as the G11) used a more conventional out-the-bottom magazine, albeit with a weird internal configuration to improve cartridge presentation speed.

[@madrenwillims4391]

I use an optical with the same type of reticle and I love it, it is quick and easy to pull up to the target even at fairly Ling ranges(especially for the rifle it's on)

[@thedamnyankee1]

They Back loaded all the complex manufacturing into the ammo.

[@burkeysvids]

It'd be so good to see some manufacturers try modern day builds of some of these prototype technologies - I'm sure we have the tech to improve on it. I love all of the non-traditional ammo type guns - this, the LSAT, the AAI, or the G11 - all such interesting concepts.

[@frankdindl790]

Andrew Burke I was thinking the same thing. This rifle looks like with some improvements would be a great rifle. I love how simple the mechanism is.

[@beelz5932]

@@frankdindl790 One improvment I could think of was maybe making the flechette out of tungsten, make it a bit heavier and give it better penetrative capabilities, bring it up to maybe 25 grains

[@nohow4715]

Cruelty Squad truly is a great game for having this in it’s game Other than being what it is of course

[@xyxxanx9810]

Did they bar the door behind Ian with so he couldn´t run away with the rifle? Nice try, but the bar is on the wrong side, so Ian is probably on some remote island, cradling his new conquest by now.

[@philiproszak1678]

yeah, whats going on back there?? my interest in the door situation is equal to that rifle.

[@Jasonliggett69]

@@philiproszak1678 this comment is why I'm here. What is going with that Door?

[@philiproszak1678]

@@Jasonliggett69 yeah man, you're asking the right questions.

[@TheOzTurkish]

If it's like the Aug optic the ring should cover a 2m tall target at 300m, zero the rifle to 100m and it will hit Centre mass at 300

[@DC2007A]

TheOzTurkish With the AUG’s donut of death, if you aim center mass you are gauranteed a hit at 400 meters and below. Great system!

[@TheOzTurkish]

nirfz it was 15 years ago since I last shot one, it might have been zero at 200, I'm pretty sure it was 100 though

[@rossmum]

There are no points marked, but you can still hold off by mentally picturing them. Been a long time since I last shot an F88 but I never had any problems with hitting what I wanted to (then again, nothing I ever shot it at was making a conscious effort not to be shot) out to 300m. During the first firepower demo I saw with the rifle it was being used to engage point targets out to about 800, obviously with very good weather for it.

[@rotj4587]

Using the F88 sight, zero at 100, at 300 shot fall is at the same point of aim. After a few shoots I learned to aim about half a reticle (donut) low off the point of aim to hit the csm at 200.

[@WyrdRune]

When I was a member of the Austrian Armed Forces ("Bundesheer" in German) around 2000 we used the Steyr Aug and they (the instructors) told us, that Austria and it's weapon manufacturers were not allowed to use crosshairs in optical targeting for international legal reasons according to stuff related to WW2, so the ring was used. Don't know if that's really true.

[@olafunti9299]

As someone who used the AUG for quite some shots, I can tell you that the "Donut of death" is quite good for scoping. The max OPERATING range on the AUG is about 300m (sorry, no convertion to cheeseburgers per footballfield) and on this distance you can aim really well. So you can be sure that this scope is alsofine.

[@CrizzyEyes]

300m is about 3 football fields, assuming a McDonalds cheeseburger.

[@sierraecho884]

I really love the idea behind it. I can´t believe that we don´t use the same working principle as with a smooth bore APFSDS round from a tank for rifles and shotguns.

[@geodkyt]

Because the APFSDS concept just doesn't scale well to small arms. 1. Shotguns trying to fire a bore appropriate APFSDS projo would almost invariably explode due to the pressures involved with driving the projo to the velocities where the concept works better than "traditional bullets". Shotguns are invariably designed with much thinner walls in the chamber and barrel, because they operate at pressures under 12K PSI as opposed to over 50K PSI for a 5.56x45mm. If you build the shotgun to that pressure standard, it would be ridiculously heavy...and the Cube-Square law means your pressures for a "shotgun" sized projo will be higher than the "rifle" version - there's a reason the Rheinmetall 120mm runs near 100K PSI. So, your shotgun would likely have to be designed around a chamber pressure of [gazes at ceiling, SWAGs it] probably north of 65K service pressure. That's a LOT of meat you need to avoid it grenading on you, especially wrapped around a 12 gauge sized cartridge... 2. Bundles of flechettes (such as you find in some artillery and rocket rounds, and has been trialed in shotguns and 40mm grenade launchers) doesn't work, either, even when using the exact same flechettes you use in your artillery rounds. There's a variety of reasons for that, but every time we try it, we find it *at best* no more effective than plain old buckshot pellets (and generally worse). 3. For precision fire, the APFSDS simply doesn't scale down very well, because almost imperceptible imperfections that don't matter on the APFSDS projo for a 105mm or 120mm tank round are fatal to accuracy and terminal performance on a projo small enough for an infantry "rifle". And you really can't do even the level of QA inspection on them that the tabk rounds would get, due to production volume and cost - you're trying to crank out *billions* of rifle rounds before you even field the gun, whereas the total production volume of a tabk cannon round is much, much lower.

[@sierraecho884]

@@geodkyt 1. "...to the velocities where the concept works better than "traditional bullets"..." I don´t understand this, can you please explain further ? Let´s say you do take a traditional shotgun and make undersized ammo for it like an APFSDS. You use the same pressure as before. An undersized round should be lighter and given the same pressure should reach higher velocity and because it has less impact surface should penetrate better, give the material is hard like tungsten or similar and the rod is long enough for stabilization resons. 2. Yes I thought so too when I saw the Russian flechette bombs, most of the small darts don´t hit in the right angle either and they seem to be too short to be stable enough, I too wondered why they don´t simply use balls instead. They probably made them and didn´t bother. 3. Yes that is a very good reason, the quality would have to be superb which is not feasible for a low cost item like simple bullets.

[@liquididentity101]

Having watched 2 videos now, I have to say, the information and presentation in these videos is amazing. As an armchair modern historical firearms aficionado, these KZbin videos are perfect.

[@BigBellyEd]

How the 1970s 1980s are more innovative than todays times...

[@ostiariusalpha]

You might be surprised to find out that the U.S. military is now strongly pushing development of polymer case-telescoped ammunition (PCTA) very similar to the Steyr ACR's, but loaded with conventional bullets instead of flechettes and using standard centerfire primers. Look up "Textron," "LSAT," and "CTSAS" for more information.

[@KyussTheWalkingWorm]

I was gonna say something to this effect. This rifle's operating mechanism looks like it would be a good base for a PCTA rifle. Attempts to use saboted ammo usually suck in small arms because we can't manufacture the ammo consistent enough for good accuracy compared to larger weapons using sabots, or small arms using conventional projectiles. Currently used rifle actions don't do great with telescoped ammunition, so simple designs like this with few moving parts and seemingly low reciprocating mass during operation are interesting.

[@Boreasrex11]

'PCTA' yeah right. Imagine this kind of ammo gets adopted. During the change over troops will say, "do you want circumcised or not?"

[@thebowtieguy777]

That and we dont always see the military prototypes as their happening

[@BigBellyEd]

The telescoping ammo and the XM-25 with its airburst capability. There is defenetly a progress.

[@steevan]

>Neon Genesis Evangelion released in Netflix >rewatch again when the last time i watched i was still a 10+ years old kid in the 90s > realizing that Eva's Pallet rifle has a similarity design as Steyr ACR

[@michoi2]

Just a thought, could the small magazine capacity have to do with the plastic cartridge casses? Bigger magazine would mean more spring tension wich may have led to cartridges deforming.

[@mikoajpietrych6168]

maybe, but doubt it, they are designed to survive chamber pressure so it would be kinda wierd if you could deform them with spring tension

[@ActanonVerba.308]

No.

[@mango9087]

Such a brilliant exercise in weapon crafting. Although all contenders were deemed failures, the unique features introduced were excellent lessons in craftsmanship. Such a clever design in this super soaker-looking gun

[@SolidTaylor]

Why the gun from Evangelion is so small?

[@ObsoleteVodka]

It's a scaled down model

[@phucprice6698]

Evangelion used ze G11 though lol

[@MEGATRYANT]

He isn't talking about the JSSDF rifle. The EVA rifle was based on the ACR

[@SolidTaylor]

Leonov Martinovich what do you mean by "based on"? Isn't that real?!

[@MEGATRYANT]

Giant humanoids piloted by emotionally stunned teens aren't real fren

[@Mikelauder2009]

Please do an video on flechette rounds I feel it was a huge innovation left behind in history

[@tulipalll]

Yes please! I have no idea why they exist. I have been looking but can find no advantage over the conical bullet

[@LDSG_A_Team]

@@tulipalll extreme velocity and armor penetration relative to the weight of the projectile. It's the same reason why APFSDS rounds are shaped in much the same way. As a couple of additional benefits, due to its shape and very high velocity, it has a tendency to dump most of its energy early in a soft target and will sometimes shatter in the process, giving you more stopping power and less overpenetration, which seems counter-intuitive, considering its relatively better armor penetrating capabilities. The other couple of significant benefits are extremely lightweight ammo, especially with the polymer case, and much less bullet drop, again due to the very high velocity of the projectile. The downsides are mostly due to the nature of flechette-type round at this size and with the goal of cheap manufacture. As another commenter pointed out, the slow spin given by such shallow rifling is actually to compensate for any slight manufacturing imperfections in the flechette, not to stabilize it in flight, because it behaves more similarly to an arrow or dart in flight than a bullet. Any slight difference in the size of one of the fins will give the flechette a curved trajectory, so by giving it a slow spin, you instead turn it into kind of a corkscrew trajectory. Depending on how significant the corkscrew is, this can actually affect accuracy quite a bit. The only way to really compensate for this is the same way they account for it with the large APFSDS rounds used in modern Main Battle Tanks: Precision Manufacturing. You have to machine each round with extreme precision, which is justifiable for tank rounds because they're big and expensive and fired from a smoothbore cannon, etc. It is not as justifiable for an infantryman's rifle cartridge, where you want your ammo to be cheaply and quickly mass-produceable. TL;DR flechettes have better ballistic properties in theory, but have downsides that cost too much money to fix in practice. I do wonder if flechette-type cartridges are more viable now, given the last 30 years of advancement, though. Especially in regards to the durability problems with the polymer case that Ian mentioned, as well as the precision manufacturing issue I mentioned above. Are we able to mass produce something like that more cheaply now or not? Only time will tell.

[@wilemelliott]

correction on the G11. While yes it did have that high cyclic rate burst optoin, it also had a "recoil inside the shell" system where the gun recoiled while firing, but the rifleman didn't feel it till the last shot because it was still travelling backwards in the shell, similar to the recoil mitigation of the PAW you reviewed, but intended for burst fire. It also was to have a slowed ROF full auto and semi auto mode available.

[@inanecathode]

Dude. There is *nothing* to that lockup. That is the simplest, slickest action I've ever seen. Metallic cartridge ammunition really must be almost perfect if something like this isn't worth the cost of adopting.

[@toolthoughts]

cool different tech! smart the way it loads a cartridge

[@andrewmandrona7891]

I'd love to see a version of this in regular 5.56 telescoping ammunition. And only half the accuracy? That's pretty unacceptable in general, but pretty great for flechettes.

[@supremeovernerd]

I was thinking the same just now..

[@samobispo1527]

Great video. Very rare rifle. The camera work has never been better.

[@gaeligame]

I think this very interesting concept will definitely come back in the near future once the ammunition gets perfected, especially with all the appeal and development of Gauss systems

[@SporadicallySane]

Having had some trigger time behind AUG's with the 'doughnut' optical reticle and the low power magnification sights, what you describe is essentially what happens. For longer range shooting over a couple hundred meters, the eye will naturally centre the target in the middle of the reticle. It's the not greatest for 'precision' shooting of course but for combat snap shooting at human size targets it's more than acceptable and actually rather quick to acquire and use.

[@TheAustrianAvenger]

Considering it's the same crosshair like the AUG, I assume it has the same magnification like the AUG, which is 1.5

[@danielwatters1203]

The ACR optic could be switched from 1.5 to 3.5x by twisting the eyepiece.

[@ridermak4111]

When you mentioned the “special purpose infantry weapon” program, my brain couldn’t help but put it together. S.P.I.W. 🤣

[@yalelingoz6346]

Thanks so much for this video. Back in the 90's I read about this fascinating rifle. But until you showed it I had NFI how the 'rising block' worked. It's a clever idea that I reckon could have been great with further development.

[@jameshealy4594]

1:85" is 1:215 centimetres, 215 millimetres would be 1:8.4". This is not a comment on either system being "superior" in some way, just a clarification. Thanks for another great video!

[@connorwald2016]

Are you saying metric is superior, shame on you. (:

[@charliewolf7500]

Using Imperial measurements makes Jesus cry. And this guy sux at Maths/ Unit Conversion (which is why America crashed one of their Mars probes).

[@Chasmodius]

Is it just me, or is that rifle really pretty? Especially compared with the G11, which looks like a metal brick someone stuck a handle to the bottom of. The G11 looks like a weaponized monolith from 2001. It looks like a giant Wonka Bar with a scope. I could go on. But unlike the Vektor CR21, the form for this Steyr actually seems to follow the function. And while the flechette itself might not have been the best projectile in the world, the casing design looks really interesting.

[@thekaxmax]

replace with long-ogive spitzer boat-tailed round.

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I would think that unless the plastic is extremely high temperature, after heating that chamber up a bit, the spent cartridge might melt while waiting to be ejected, possibly causing a jam. I wish they had worked this and other issues out. The steel flechette was a NASTY armor piercing round, and because of the fins, it was quite a shredder.

[@abodeofthedamned]

Thanks for this Ian. I have an old magazine which talks about this rifle and shows a stripped view but I never fully understood how it worked until now. Great video. Wish you had a chance to film it being fired. I remember in the article that they found in test firing that the cartridge ejected about three feet up when fired upside down.

[@damnedlegionaire]

That looks suspiciously similar to the Pallet Rifle in Eva.

[@Kendo_Ikari]

They might not have been fielded by the US Army in 1996 like they envisioned, but at least they can rest easy knowing it helped defend humanity from the Angels in 2015 in the hands of monstrous demi-human chimeras.

[@strikerE92]

I'm pretty sure the mechanical designers of Eva were looking at the ACR program for their vision of future military units since the Eva units use giant Steyr ACRs and the JSSDF soldiers in the movie use HK G11s

[@ineednochannelyoutube5384]

+Strikerrr Common in sci fi to use the next hot flavour of thenmonth gun. SG used P90s, nowadays everything uses Kriss Vectors.

[@johnbrowning6304]

There is nothing better than the M41-PulseRifle

[@CaptainBardiel]

I'll go with the FN SCAR 7.62×51mm NATO for the JSSDF

[@sinachilles9086]

Wooohhh2 this is literally the Evangelion Pellet Rifle

[@Leander_]

This is a very cool prototype!

[@dutchman2205]

Forgotten Weapons/ Ian McCullin! You just made my day! I remember this rifle was in a Dutch Gun Magazine in 1989. I was a kid in those days and I was obsessed by this rifle! It was together in that article with a Anti Material rifle, also made by Steyr. Because it was almost Top Secret in those days, the article only talked about the outer futures and the data the Austrians were given to the press. I always wondered how this system technical was working. I was on an metal engineering school in those days, and I really knew how guns mechanical worked, but I couldn't figure out how a rifle like this (or the H&K G11) could even function with the polymer cases. So thank you! After more than 28 years I finally know what's going on inside this rifle!

[@ForgottenWeapons]

You're welcome!

[@dutchman2205]

Forgotten Weapons any chance to show the anti material rifle from Steyr ?

[@DiggitySlice]

I was wondering why this looked so familiar. As far as I know I've never seen this before. Then it hit me: Pallet rifle from Evangelion

[@Drrolfski]

When can we expect the G11? I know the Dutch Military Museum you visited has one.

[@BlazingOwnager]

I loved this gun in the 90s, I don't know why it didn't get more popular.

[@col.greasebagmcqueen9933]

I remember getting the Guns&Ammo magazine in the mail that featured this weapon. I thought it was pretty darn cool when i was a kid.

[@YayaxLetsPlay]

I think, Fletchette's are quite interesting as an Objekt for a Video, specially their use in modern weapons.

[@VarvasNukka]

Well they're used for anti-tank rounds because of the speeds they can reach. I would imagine that if body armour improves, flechettes or atleast saboted rounds would become more common.

[@VarvasNukka]

A lot of anti armour rounds are apfsds aka a heavy metal flechette surrounded by a sabot.

[@VarvasNukka]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but isn't a flechette just a long metal dart?

[@VarvasNukka]

Ah I see what you mean. My point was that those darts could be down scaled to rifle size to defeat body armour. Thanks for clarifying.

[@mango9087]

Such a polite interaction!

[@highchamp1]

I like the Safety / Semi / Burst. Better than using the AUG trigger pressure (Semi / Auto) which is crap. Australian F88 Steyr Shooting on the range everyone uses the ALO or "automatic lockout" button or (single shot lockout button) under the trigger. Otherwise an embarrassing burst of automatic fire can sometimes be heard on the firing line.

[@agp11001]

Same here. One accidental full burst ONCE for a full company. And that guy was an idiot anyway.

[@certaindeath7776]

in my serve time in austria i could easily fire single or auto. i prefered prefered to shoot doublettes, which was very well doable. push trigger through for a short time, so that 2 rounds are triggered. so you have 2 pretty accurate rounds heading to the enemy, the third one would not be accurate enough anyway. Only flaw with the trigger mechanism was, that its too hard to push. if you pull the trigger to the pressure point, and then above, its so hard, that your gun will move a tiny bit. so high precision firing for long distance shots is not easy with this gun. It may be, that the australian trigger pressure points are way softer, then in austria, so that a bauer lounging with sausage fingers, with the sensetivness of an crocodile may trigger full auto more often by accident?

[@alatar7773]

Also referred to by the infantry as the "Numpty Button" or "Idiot Button"; Because only idiots needed it

[@shovington67]

Looks like something an extended AWAY TEAM from the original STAR TREK might have armed the lower ranking (expendable) crew members with.

[@SearchEast2069]

PLEASE get your hands on that AAI rifle. I need more of it than that damn army video from the 90's. that burst fire is just so sweet...

[@BlackhartFilms]

Considering the whole ejection is based on the case falling out the front, could that mean if you were firing down from an elevated position you could potentially cause your rifle to jam because gravity pulls it straight through the chamber and out the front of the ejection before the action is able to close? It seems like this system relies very heavily on a very precise timing to close around the bullet rather than on it, like trying to trap the case between two guillotines.

[@esrvdb88]

As long as no length is lost from the cartridge on firing, and the chamber isn't longer than the fired case than it shouldn't matter what orientation it is when fired. It'd be a similar concept to a full length ejector on a revolver, but with less to get hung up on.

[@whyjay9959]

Maybe the cartridge is thick enough that it can't move through the chamber unless pushed?

[@herberar]

Why Jay . I think so. It must be a tight fit. Thats why when all the parts raise their temperature due to sustained fired, that plastic cartridge ( nylon I suppose) may be subjected to some deformation or sticking into the chamber. These are all suppositions. Cheers!

[@arvidsylwan]

Blackhart Films

[@certaindeath7776]

Steyr makes very reliable guns since way more then 100 years. I am sure the gun itself with its mechanisms are flawless, if there were problems, my bet is on the not finished refining of the ammunition specifications and not optimised production line for that unique type of ammo.

[@A.lasdair]

Praised be Gun Jesus.

[@sergeyrodionov9417]

Ryan Gosling, To praise Gun Jesus, obviously!

[@TheIrishAmish]

(facepalm)

[@autofox1744]

*Gesus

[@ringingsteel2432]

aBren

[@penguasakucing8136]

Jesus' Guns be Praised Hey look, Ian come to see us! God save you Ian!

[@sweater7630]

Definitely one of my new favorites. I love the no bs features, looks like it’s just point and shoot

[@basedury]

even with the weird magazine, this is one of the better looking prototypes.

[@exidy-yt]

Just don't let Shinji Ikari anywhere near this video. He'll go all PTSD and flood the world with soul-melting Tang.

[@bmhater1283]

"soul-meting Tang" lmfao

[@exidy-yt]

@@bmhater1283 Hehe. I wonder if they even sell Tang anymore, I haven't seen it for ages. Mind you I haven't really looked for it either.....

[@marcoantoniosalazarmatamor9496]

@@exidy-yt Tang is still sold in Latin America and Europe.

[@Kullioking]

Whats the circle for. = A target with the sice of 1,85 Meters (Standart european man sice) will fit exactly in to the circle at a range of 300meters.

[@noahmiller4839]

Really wish you could shoot one of these, Id love to see one tested beyond the very limited information in military testing

[@5amH45lam]

Looks like what we used to run around in the dark in the 90s, pointing at each other in the local Laser Quest.

[@lolimoka3654]

Also known as a Pallet Gun *from evangelion*

[@bunkyboy9156]

That feed system is really interesting in its simplicity. I wonder if you could take that and make it work with standard rounds with a rim

[@AsbestosMuffins]

Bunkyboy 91 no because the rim locks against the barrel and brass itself expands and stays expanded until it cools whereas this polymer case probably wasn't very intact when it exited the front of the chamber

[@whyjay9959]

Maybe not too standard; If the firing pin breaks, and you're not sure what happened and cycle manually, you'd have a tip of a bullet pressing against a primer.

[@danielwatters1203]

Steyr patented a rising chamber mechanism for bottlenecked cartridges. It would eject downward behind the magazine. patents.google.com/patent/US4739570

[@musFuzZ]

The madsen rifle (rekylforsøgsgevær) functioned in sorta this way with a rimmed cartrige

[@peterhoulis1184]

I like the futuristic looks of this weapon

[@benokanruzgar8863]

Wow. I ignored this episode for week long. Just after watched this one, searched and watched at least an hour footage on youtube. Man, these are true forgotten weapons! And the it was from just yesteryear! H&K was an "west german" company :) My God. Cool weaponary and fantastic piece of close history. Thanks a lot.

[@whyjay9959]

A barrel that goes almost all the way to the back... I didn't think there was another gun but the TKB-022 that did this. I think the LSAT/CTSAS program's guns use similar chambering and ejection methods. Also, with a muzzle energy of just under 700 joules(minus the sabot anyway), I wonder if this should be classified as a submachine gun rather than an assault rifle.

[@thekaxmax]

The LSAT is basically this in the action and ammo.

[@TheGorillafoot]

I wonder what 90s action and sci-fi movies this was on?

[@ineednochannelyoutube5384]

Things never change I guess. Nownwe see the Vector everywhere...

[@santi-xj1qr]

I think Reese from the first Terminator movie had one of these

[@zaca3256]

Also featured in Evangelion. Though upscaled for a giant fighting robot.

[@scootkamp]

I would pay big money to see someone make a Steyr ACR Style chassis for the AUG! I think the ergonomics and design of this rifle are so cool, super space age and futuristic

[@YouDice]

Such a cool design and functionality.

[@Punisher9419]

They need to start these programs up again because i think there is some real potential that just wasn't realised. They gave up without really trying or developing the ideas fully.

[@ostiariusalpha]

They have restarted them. Look up "Textron," "LSAT," and "CTSAS." The Army wants polymer cased ammunition to replace conventional metallic cases very badly, and they're pushing their development pretty hard.

[@2Potates]

Unfortunatly they combined them with a general purpose cartrige and the cased telescoped carbine turned out to be quite heavy. They should also slim down the casings to keep down magazine bulk.

[@ostiariusalpha]

+MrPotato The carbine prototype is indeed too heavy and bulky for what it could be. The intermediate type CT cartridge isn't all that fat, and it's shorter than 5.56x45mm, so you could probably fit another pouch on a chest rig.

[@2Potates]

The 5.56mm CT is 11.4mm wide so the mags would be ak mag levels of long, the 7.62/6.5 CT however is 12.7mm wide wich is already enough to moke it significantly longer then a 7.62x51 magazine.

[@ostiariusalpha]

+MrPotato 40rd pmags don't bother me, even from the prone, and 5.56mm CT mags would be shorter than those. Perhaps a ~30rd coffin mag might get the mag height down more.

[@jonbeck5945]

I would love to see the G11. Any plans to check out the Grey Room in Oberndorf one day?

[@G4m3G3ni3]

I am from austria and all the praise of Steyr hbere in the comments fills me with pride :) Thank you for recognizing my home lands engineering efforts!

[@IRMentat]

3:40 it was at this point that I started getting curious about this mechanical device.

[@8siandude72]

This gun is sci-fi af.

[@bmhater1283]

Oh hey, its the guy who made Paimon for the gnome and also made great gun mods for L4D2

[@Jasper-Holland]

Please do the G11 next!

[@caseyplunkett6083]

"Soldiers in combat don't tend to hit very much." This is why Marines have to come in and actually get the job done.

[@vector3647]

Been waiting years to see this one. Thank you Ian!

[@GlennForbes20]

You do unknown as well as forgotten weapons. Request for a future video. Noreen BN-36. The Garand of the 21st century.

[@musFuzZ]

i just looked that up, and i have fallen in love

[@Blancinnoir]

One of the cool things I'd buy if I won the lottery

[@Hannah_Em]

In the ammo discussion at around 7:40, the remark about "around 213mm" should actually have been "around 213cm" - 213mm would actually be about 8.5".

[@drm4rd3r94]

im not into guns and never owned one eather, but your vids are great for the technical aspects and the wow-effect of those crazy mad-scientist inventions. thx again for another great vid!