Winchester 1964 SPIW: Flechettes and a Blow-Forward Grenade Launcher

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Today we are looking at the Winchester company's entry into the 1964 SPIW (Special Purpose Infantry Weapon) trials. The SPIW program was an attempt to increase small arms lethality by increasing hit probability with ideas like hyper-velocity flechette cartridges and burst fire trigger mechanisms. In addition, the weapons were required to incorporate area-effect elements - aka grenade launchers.
This design used a 60-round drum magazine firing a high velocity flechette as well as having a blow-forward semiautomatic 40mm grenade launcher attached to the muzzle. One of the biggest challenges in the development was the flechette cartridge itself - the sabot holding the dart in place had to be loose enough to cleanly detach at the muzzle, but also tight enough to pull the dart down the barrel.
Ultimately, none of the 1964 trials weapons were successful, and this Winchester design was particularly unsuccessful. In addition to terrible balance and handling, it was not particularly reliable in the firing trials.
Thanks to the Rock Island Arsenal Museum for allowing me access to film this very interesting rifle! If you are in the Quad Cities in Illinois or Iowa, the Museum is definitely worth a visit. They have a great number of small arms on display as well as an excellent history of the Rock Island Arsenal.
www.arsenalhistoricalsociety.o...
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
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[@randomfamilyman4876]

It bothers me that the large switch behind Ian’s head says “don’t shut off” and the switch is in the off position. Yes I’m an electrician

[@nerodcs3087]

thanks.....i did not notice until NOW....

[@shaggnar2014]

What's the point in having a switch if you're not supposed to shit it off?

[@FirstDagger]

Great ... now I am bothered.

[@aidans4866]

Lol

[@xirensixseo]

electrical engineer, different job description, same worry

[@kcathow1814]

The rear sight is almost like "oh crap, I forgot to do that!" Runs over to the M70 line and grabs a rear sight assembly

[@moobsmcgee3554]

the ambient sound in that armory is suited for any horror game

[@Spazzycat14]

The sounds of a power transformer in a utility closet. I love it though.

[@junioraltamontent.7582]

All very Half Life esque, gun included

[@jamesbaker7441]

This guy realize that some people own guns don't understand reciprocating

[@bonidle726]

Glad I wasn’t the only one who picked up on it.

[@medicolkie3606]

@@junioraltamontent.7582 I was just thinking that.

[@weirdscience8341]

White gloves on u know Ian's serious

[@samholdsworth3957]

When is Gun Jesus not serious? Seriously love this channel it's Christmas everyday.

[@dbmail545]

He has stated that some "owners" prefer that he doesn't use white gloves because it makes his hands slippery and more likely to drop things.

[@nelsonglover3963]

I think he’s stated before that he prefers not wearing them but some collections and museums require it

[@FairlyUnknown]

Or you know he's handling a museum piece :) The museum would be crazy to allow someone to touch something as rare as this with bare hands lol.

[@sb-ant6457]

WB Jesus?

[@ChaosPootato]

I really love those wacky tries at innovation. It's always a treat when Ian spends 15 minutes detailing how it operates, what the requirements were and all, but you KNOW at the end he's gonna say "It sucked and they moved on"

[@WoobooRidesAgain]

Though it seems for this one, it's more a gradual, slow build up to that conclusion as Ian goes through the rifle's features to let you come to the epiphany that this thing was one big, green, plastic boondoggle, like with the AN-94. Personally, I got to that point the moment he explained that the soldier who was expected to use this thing wouldn't be allowed to take off that three-barreled engine block strapped to the front of his rifle.

[@yetanother9127]

"It sucked and they moved on" is generally how regular weapons become Forgotten Weapons, one supposes.

[@arihyvarinen9924]

Yeah those are best the forgottenweapons-vids for me, its like company is asked to build something but nobody told them whats it for.

[@Weeping_Willoe]

@@yetanother9127 Plenty of the videos get to that conclusion with "but fascist governments make silly requests, so nothing came of it until sensible people found it after the war"

[@Omniseed]

@@yetanother9127 Yeah but this never became a regular weapon, like so many Forgotten Weapons

[@Halinspark]

"Turns out training everybody to be competition marksmen is a waste of time. We should instead focus on multiple projectile ammo." "But then how would we teach them to be competition marksmen?! D: " It's a wonder the military procurement system accomplishes anything.

[@firepower7017]

Did you just described the Shotgun?

[@oldesertguy9616]

I would have to disagree on that. Marksmanship is still a desirable trait. Spray and pray just wastes ammo without much effect.

[@firepower7017]

@@oldesertguy9616 Conserving ammo doesn't need to be taught really. It is just forcing people to break the habit of wasting ammo

[@jalpat2272]

most military procurement was corruption fest at every corners of the earth and generals usually fighting yesterday war until too many grunts died, us military is obviously the main star of this show but miraciously able to work around or make improvement their toolish tools since ww2.

[@jjtomecek1623]

@@oldesertguy9616 except if you look at combat videos, 90% of the time it just looks like their shooting in the general direction of the enemy. Though I've never been in combat, so i don't know for sure. If any here had been in combat, how often do you shoot at a specific target versus in the general area?

[@Gressethegreat]

I see the "DON'T SHUT OFF" label was super effective.

[@intrinia2832]

It's the containment chamber from Ghostbusters...

[@mattberg6816]

What gets me is that they took the time to label it and not label what it does

[@rionmotley2514]

betting it was for equipment that would have been loud on camera.

[@OD_G00N]

I was hoping someone else would notice this 😂

[@Arthurzeiro]

Project SPIW? They missed a golden chance of calling It the project SPEW PEW.

[@xirensixseo]

Personal Emergency Weapon. PEW

[@MaximilianBrandt]

Standard PEW weapon for space combat.

[@jic1]

There was a project in the '90s to design guided shells for aircraft cannons called BLAM (Barrel Launched Adaptive Munition). I'm pretty sure they started with the acronym, and worked backwards.

[@ironman7261]

It was pronounced spew

[@donaldneill4419]

In 1987 I wrote a defence economics paper on the SPIW program, working from an archived copy of the project reports to determine what worked and what didn't. All it had for imagery was often-photocopied photos of the actual rifles submitted by the trial companies. So cool to finally see one in real life!

[@IronCascade]

With all those requirements for the weapon, it's almost as if they wanted it to fail.

[@orion8981]

They were still pissed about the M14 being a giant pile of steaming shit.

[@lifeatgroundlvl]

@@orion8981 Did you mean m16?

[@arieheath7773]

@@lifeatgroundlvl No he meant M14, the problems with the M16 were caused by active sabotage from the Ordnance Department who wanted to use the m14 instead.

[@lifeatgroundlvl]

@@arieheath7773 I'd just never heard an m14 being seen as bad so it confused/surprised me

[@bilibiliism]

@@lifeatgroundlvl m14 is good as a gun, just not as good as a weapon

[@heathea9678]

Just when Ian thinks he can escape his mortal enemy the BAR bipod it strikes in the most unexpected of places. You might want to check outside your window before going to sleep...

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

I love SPIW. It's goal is so practical and sensible yet the means to achieve it were so... not that way. And the acronym is incredibly apt, given that the concept revolved around the idea of _spewing_ projectiles at the enemy.

[@skepticalbadger]

In UK slang, 'spew' means to vomit...

[@ostiariusalpha]

@Matheus Falango Not exactly the same, the ACR prototype rifles worked markedly better than the SPIW prototypes. The program still failed to meet expectations, but you could see that technology was improving how close they were getting to actually accomplishing the original goals of SALVO.

[@ostiariusalpha]

@Matheus Falango It wasn't a complete disappointment though, the ACR program did show that low magnification optics provided a substantial improvement in hit percentage. Which lead to the M1913 Picatinny rail and the large scale deployment of tactical optics instead of iron sights.

[@joshuabressel1280]

I got to handle ALL of the original 4 SPEWs, at Ft Benning, when I helped on a detail, moving the Infantry Museum. They were freaking cool, and, as Ian said, not practical AT ALL, but very cool. One reason why the SPIW was discontinued, was that the U.S. Army stopped using flechettes. They were deemed inhumane, since they tended to fishhook, and a round fired into a guys shoulder, could bend on impact, and end up in his opposite hip. Personally, fuck it, I've seen way worse. Civilian politicians have no clue what is inhumane, and what isn't, and only we follow these rules anyway. When we emplaced mines, we cleared them. They were a tool for us. We didn't leave them, indiscriminately, like the Russians, but, make pointless gestures. My home defense shotgun actually has flechette ammo.

[@Edeinawc]

@@joshuabressel1280 Spoken as a true 'Murican.

[@markstevens4599]

I would love to see some forgotten ammo episodes. Would be nice to see some of those flechettes and duplex rounds showed alongside their respective guns.

[@bikecommuter24]

LOL as a retired Weapons Instructor and Maintainer this weapon makes me really appreciate the M16-M4-M203 system. Those wing nuts on the bipod I hope they would be gone IF it ever went to into production. Armorer Only thats funny, believe me the solider would find a way to take that thing off.

[@klemanius]

I'm guessing it's a placeholder. No point in developing a proper one until the design is finalised, better to spend that time desperately changing whatever deficiencies show up before the trials conclude.

[@joshuabressel1280]

@1chumley1 the M320 has its uses, but yeah, the FN launcher was so much better. The M320 sucks as an underbarrel launcher, but it's a decent standalone, and has brought back the concept of the standalone launcher, as a secondary weapon. Before the M320, a lot of SOF guys were carrying M79s. That said, the thing is so bulky, shooting a M4, with it on the front, is a freaking NIGHTMARE. And yes, troops will always find a way to do shit. I used to remove the trigger group on my M4 or M16, for cleaning. Freaked out my NCOs. Then they asked me to do it for them. Now I'm a gunsmith, lol.

[@noneofyourbusiness43]

Souns like a challenge! *starts bashing rifle against deuce and a half bumper*

[@chrisperrien7055]

@@joshuabressel1280 the M203 is a great add-on, no need of improvement. I fired one on an MP5 Carbine, 20-30 HE Frag , was tons of fun and accurate. I don't get this new M320, seems they are reinventing the wheel (M79) and the M203 is accurate enough, besides being always there and not demanding a person only having a grenade launcher in their hands(losing a rifleman)

[@joshuabressel1280]

@@chrisperrien7055 yes, the M203 was a GREAT system, portable and light weight. Unfortunately, it had some drawbacks. First, that stupid plastic handguard could and did, break(infantry can break anything), neccessetating high level maintenance, since it's not an easy fix. Second, and this is 99.9% of the reason it was replaced, there are many, modern, "medium pressure" 40mm specialty munitions, that the U.S. Military has begun to issue, and the M203 does not slide far enough forward, to load those rounds. The FN launcher, like the HK M320 opens to the SIDE,(though the FN allows loading from EITHER side), and is both lighter, and better, in my opinion. The HK, however, will take any modern 40mm round, and, like I said before, will do the job well, though it is obnoxiously bulky.

[@HellYeahCorp]

"Entirely cool, completely impractical." I think I'll start using this in everyday life.

[@couchbear6108]

Was this weapon designed by a hipster ? Great idea on paper, innovative concepts, very impractical, and basically forgot in a few years.

[@donjones4719]

I see this in everyday life. A $100K sports car revving its engine to go 25mph between stoplights. A pick-up truck with dualies and chrome push-bars used to pick up groceries.

[@conradkolo]

Religious argument: Could God make a gun so complicated that Gun Jesus himself cannot disassemble it?

[@aidans4866]

Yes.

[@zxgbrider9192]

conradkolo, well in the same sense that Santa can build a toy that is so complicated that a parent can't put it together.

[@aidans4866]

@@zxgbrider9192 santa and God arent the same person ricky

[@aidans4866]

@Baron Von Grijffenbourg that was a quote from trailer park boys .. i am not even getting into this convo

[@Swarm509]

We will find out at Christmas with the G11!

[@RockIslandAuctionCompany]

Neat. Would love to see more of the stuff in their collection.

[@HellYeahCorp]

This comment was an odd sensation.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

I mean, someone from RIAC *winkwinknudgenudge* might be able to facilitate such a thing...🤔🤔

[@RockIslandAuctionCompany]

@@HellYeahCorp It was sincere. They have amazing stuff, but not a lot of presentation on it for those that go. So to have someone like Ian give a gun-by-gun tour of some items that NEVER left government control (and never will), is a pretty perfect combination.

[@HellYeahCorp]

@@RockIslandAuctionCompany That's not at all what I was commenting on. Just the fact that (shortened) Rock Island responded to a video about (a different) Rock Island. I too think it's great that Ian is showcasing "hidden" weapons like this.

[@frostthefoxxo7192]

Would love to see more of your stuff. In my house. But I'm poor.

[@TheWhoamaters]

The fact the US Armament Department is more concerned with having things their way and winning meaningless competition over developing effective weapons, or even keeping existing designs unchanged and functional, is absolutely insane to me

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Years of tradition, unhampered by progress.

[@DingoAteMeBaby]

by the same token, the number crunchers wanted their rifle a specific way, end user be damned - and it turned out like this.

[@GorillaRep]

Look at the Congressional requirements for the M-16. You'll see crazy: a rifle designed to wound not kill.

[@kennethtaylor964]

@@GorillaRepYou realize that it takes more staff, time, and resources to deal with a wounded person than to bury someone?

[@GorillaRep]

@@kennethtaylor964 you realize that wounded people can still shoot you? did you serve?

[@brandonobaza8610]

"...three lug bolt, up in here." Me: *_UP IN HERE? UP IN HERE!_* No? _(car crash)_

[@stephenzavatski8016]

I thought of that too lol

[@blakelowrey9620]

Y'all gonna make me act a fool

[@GermanSharp1]

My grandfather was in the army right before vietnam as a mechanic and rifle instructor, and actually got to test prototype weapons. I remember him raving about a "22-06" (i believe but i may be wrong on the name) which was a 3006 with 2 bullets. He found it to be one of the more accurate and better prototypes, and wished the army adopted it.

[@danielwatters1203]

Ian did a video a while back on a M1 Garand chambered for the .22-'06 during Project SALVO. It had been in a civilian collection and was being auctioned at RIA.

[@johndrake5014]

From the mid-seventies through to 2010, I collected "Project Salvo" and "SPIW" cartridges and projectiles. This video is a real treat. I sold off the last of the collection early last year but kept a copy of Blake's SPIW book. A great reference tome.

[@alexdemoya2119]

did you ever get a chance to fire one out of something?

[@johndrake5014]

Howdy, never did. John @@alexdemoya2119

[@vidard9863]

@@johndrake5014 did any of the duplex cartridges make it to market?

[@Porty1119]

@@vidard9863 Yes, 7.62x51 duplex cartridges (designated M198, I believe) saw service in Vietnam. I've read an anecdote from a Huey gunner indicating that they were used in M60s. Placing coins in the M60's buffer tube was apparently a fairly common practice, and I believe the combination had an effective rate of fire (projectiles per minute versus cartridges per minute) approaching that of an M134 on its low rate.

[@Jesse__H]

No faith in Pvt Snuffy's preferences. How unfair! ;)

[@shawnr771]

Pvt Snuffy would have got that grenade launcher off in less than 10 min. If you want to break something or have it disassembled give it to an infantry soldier and tell them they are NOT allowed to take it apart.

[@shawnr771]

If it breaks in Joes hands before combat then you do not need it in combat.

[@soop597]

Don’t give it to the Soviets They’ll try to eat it

[@Warhamer116]

Big chunk of metal? Check In the front of the gun, making it pain in the butt to carry? Check. Forced to carry it everywhere? Check. Private Snuffy will have the grenade launcher as his paper*weight in few minutes after being assigned to man the gun. *porn images, naturally

[@markreeter6227]

Well, Pvt Snuffy is related to Pvt Snafu, so . . .

[@stoneblue1795]

PROJECT SPEW: An early film by Ron Jeremy, turned into a sexy dart throwing green stocked beast of a rifle.

[@jakedee4117]

"Get my grubby hands on this.." Haha its white cotton gloves material. I love these obscure one off prototypes. You just can't see them anywhere else and it teaches you a lot of history, not only firearms technology but also about the military politics of the times. Thanks Ian keep it up !

[@jameskachman3692]

Really minor correction - the .30-06 necked down to .224" was a 68gr homologue of M1 ball. The 41gr was a necking down of .30 carbine - the average of the two does bear a suspicious resemblance to M193. :)

[@clangerbasher]

When will Kel-Tec have this in stores?

[@stoneblue1795]

YAHTZEE. This idea will go far.

[@thewaraboo2824]

When Kel-Tec actually increases production beyond just getting enough guns for reviewers every year...

[@magustrigger9195]

All 5 will be built and then sold but they will take orders for 5 years before they try to make more

[@88magnum]

That would be Hi-Point ,sir!

[@jerryw6699]

I think, right after they get my SU-16A fixed, which should be any day now, it's only been a yr and a half.

[@chemicaldruid4591]

i would have loved to see this fireing. i mean, the whole gun is crazy (as always) as a concept, but the actual happening of a huge bunch of flechettes travelling above the speed of sound with that pulling part thing would be an intersting thing to witness

[@joeblow5214]

Awesome museum. They also have a open air museum with vehicles and rockets. I'm a local and love going down there.

[@Vladimir_4757]

Lol, love the fact Ian looks like he is in an electrical closet. Also I wonder how M14 fan boys will like to see what looks like a ghetto-fied green M14 thing with a another....thing under the barrel

[@saxon215]

It honestly looks like whoever designed this forgot about it until the night before it was due and put together something that looked like a future concept/kids toy/ bad prop gun out of what they found in their garage. I hope they got an F for effort

[@FIREBRAND38]

Well it wasn't adopted if that's what you mean...

[@danielwatters1203]

Aberdeen Proving Ground said as much in one of their reports - something to the effect that Winchester did not understand the specifications nor the program's importance.

[@jesusisalive3227]

Looks like a high-school science fair project that was done the night before the fair lol

[@alwayscensored6871]

I remember using flechete rounds in M203 and M79 40mm grenades in Oz in the 1980's. Lots of tiny holes in the targets. Working the butts was scary they ricocheted all over the place.

[@blueband8114]

The grenade launcher site looks awfully fragile, and able to snag on anything.

[@joshuabressel1280]

That's where our M203 quadrant sight came from, and why the sight apertures fold into the body, when not in use.

[@adriansaidan1736]

Given the play when he showed it, I'd imagine that's been its fate at least once in its life.

[@johndrake5014]

As a side note, as time went on the grenade launcher was reduced to 30mm. Same High/Low design. Had a few of the dummy cartridges and one cut-away, very slick.

[@danielwatters1203]

That was more during the 1970s as part of the follow-on Future Rifle System/Future Rifle Program. I think George Reynolds is still alive. He worked on the 30mm single-shot and multi-shot grenades while working for the US Army, and afterwards, he continued his work on a stand-alone 30mm semi-auto launcher at Knox Engineering.

[@Morningstar_Actual]

There was limited use of duplex 7.62 nato rounds in Vietnam but they were issued to some special ops units

[@mr.christopherp.4851]

Cool I didn't know that thank you ian should do a video on that if he is reading these

[@binalith4898]

second

[@vettekid3326]

The armory is a cool place to visit. Used to go up to the Quad Cities to ride my bicycle along the waterfront trails and would crossover the Mississippi on Armory Island.

[@moshunit96]

Can't believe he didn't show some of the flechet rounds. I was really hoping to see some of the different rounds made for this.

[@dbmail545]

"How do you win at Camp Perry with a duplex cartridge?"

[@stoneblue1795]

Seems easy enough to me, pull trigger once, hit all targets at same time. Game over, go home.

[@stevekillgore9272]

You win twice !

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

When the Elbonian Army sends their entire paratroop force, consisting of five soldiers and two cats aboard their single 1947-era Antonov AN-2, to invade the US mainland. Due to an unfortunate error in navigation they bail out directly over Camp Perry during the annual All-Army Marksmanship Competition.

[@bellakaldera3305]

I saw the SPIW at the former Ordnance Museum that used to be in Aberdeen Md. You fail to mention as to how the fiberglass splinters from the fletchette sabots could blind the shooter (as was mentioned in the museum display), but still an ultimately cool piece of history, even if you wouldn't want to shoot it without a ballistic face shield! I tend to doubt that even the Old Western Scrounger could find SPIW rounds though!

[@Vincent-S]

No disassembly? Dang. You would've thought that Rock Island would have also gotten and stashed away or written down some documentation about that when they got the rifle. Ah well, hopefully when you get to AAI's ACR you'd be able to pull it apart.

[@chad3625]

The arsenal museum is probably one of the greatest firearm collection I’ve ever seen. I check it out about once a year! Very cool video Ian.

[@andrewpiegzik4121]

They gave you the best place to shoot this video. Nothing like a utility room to say "Thanks for coming".

[@Horseshoecrabwarrior]

Well, guaranteed no interruptions!

[@SaxonArmamentsCo]

Morning folks. This was a nice commute audio. I was a pmc for 7 years, can count on one hand the number of times we were in contact with an enemy beyond 200 yards. Granted I was mostly urban or similar, but that report isnt *all* wrong. Lol

[@SaxonArmamentsCo]

There are no allies in south africa. ;)

[@SaxonArmamentsCo]

Kidding aside, we treated everyone who wasnt in our team as hostile, for better or worse. It wasnt nice, but everyone caught on quickly language barrier or no. Non bad guys cleared out immediately when we showed up so generally speaking only bad guys remained. That wasnt a fool proof system and ugly things did happen. Never said I was happy about it, but thats how it was. Dont buy diamonds. Lol

[@awmperry]

PMC = private military contractor. Saxon, can you say where you were? I married into an SA family, have heard many stories from Angola and the like...

[@SaxonArmamentsCo]

Id rather not be specific but sometimes near AngloGold Ashanti and other KZN

[@SaxonArmamentsCo]

Have to clock in but ill be back later. Hope everyone has a good day.

[@bryankirk3567]

Thank you sir. Once again you have kept me enthralled. Despite being a Rhodesian, I'm not usually into firearms much.

[@Nevernotalone]

I would love to see any footage taken during this platform’s conception and fabrication. Any high speed footage on the range would be amazing.

[@mauserman2514]

Why do I get the feeling this video was filmed 200m underground? Ian may have been kidnapped by another company.

[@willh.7755]

He's trying to signal us with hand gestures

[@bpatos]

Agree. White gloves and the whispering tone are rather spooky...

[@shellcracker18]

Looks like a sweet rifle. Too bad it was ruined by having to have a grenade launcher

[@benlzicar7628]

TBH the grenade launcher was the most interesting an impressive part. The whole feed mechanism and self loading feature just seems so crazy. Too bad this gun didn't have field testing, I'd be curious to see how the grenade launcher worked in combat.

[@MrImperatorAugustus]

I don't know much about guns, but with all the parts to it, it seems like it would jam easily. @@benlzicar7628

[@ToastyMozart]

Seems like it might have worked better had they scaled down to 25-30mm grenades and made it sort of an upside-down tube fed mechanism with the bottom of the handguard.

[@spazmonkey2131]

@@ToastyMozart like the pulse rifle from aliens

[@austingupton8829]

A solid 7 minutes of background/exposition and I am still glued. Good work Ian 👍

[@bobkohl6779]

Green tipped Duplex rounds were produced in large amounts. Used to have thousands of rounds of it and people still have it.

[@SonnyCider]

"it turned out in testing, this was pretty much a terrible gun" hey, no guts, no glory.

[@fogogin]

The grenade launcher looks like it belongs in borderlands

[@OTElron]

I like that sticker on the eletrical switch behind Gun Jesus that says "DON'T SHUT OFF", while it is shut off. Guess that background noise are the ghosts escaping the containment unit.

[@NeoAcario]

Came for the guns.. stayed for the story. Like always. Hope you never stop what you do. Love all the history that comes with these vids.

[@warphammer]

Excellent! I've been there, and wondered if you ever had been. There's so much I enjoyed there - best I'd been at since the old Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen. (Also: "DON'T SHUT OFF" on the turned off switch box on the background is amusing.) Also, 'Glass-Nylon hybrid' would imply glass-reinforced/filled nylon which isn't all that unusual but probably required a lot of tweaking.

[@awmperry]

Is the ordnance museum the one that Atwater curated?

[@danielwatters1203]

@@awmperry - Yes, but they have since moved the entire collection from Aberdeen Proving Ground to Ft. Lee.

[@warphammer]

@@awmperry That is correct.

[@Pocahonkers]

Somebody... TOUCHA MY FLECHETTE! I'm sorry.

[@XxIceCavexX]

13i0Hazard666 don’t be.

[@TylerLL2112]

GET OUT! Kidding.

[@PHURHXD]

No you are not

[@soop597]

You better be

[@kawaiikid9172]

Thats ok

[@jakespeed9419]

I live just across the river from the island, in Iowa. That place is really neat, so much history is there and passes thru. My friend's dad helped fund and found R.I. auction company

[@Louisrockefeller]

You know, my favorite thing about Ian is that I’ve been watching his videos for years and I can’t remember him saying anything bad about another content creator, I have no idea who he votes for, and I have no clue as to his personal life outside of the fact that he really enjoys making videos about firearms history. Thanks for just sticking to your topic. It sounds like a stupid thing to like, but too many KZbinrs get so off topic that I just can’t stand it.

[@danhulson8703]

You got to love government departments spend tens of millions on perfecting something and never use it

[@aidans4866]

Very cool Ian. Thank you for spewing all thay history, to explain this amazing military rifle. This channel and a few others keep youtube going. Thanks for the video. I wonder if you can find ammo, i would love to see this thing shoot. That launcher looks amazing and the rifle looks so barrel heavy.

[@MichaelEdmond]

I don't watch for regular gun stroking (which there is next to none here) I watch for the weird guns, the odd stories, crazy ideas, which is what Ian enjoys too. Especially these weird never to be seen prototypes

[@chuckvan1568]

The Browning Museum has an extensive collection of prototype weapons not found anywhere else. They used to have a team of stuffed horses pulling a cassion and artillery piece, but horses became so tattered they pulled out of the exhibit. They also used to have a Kiowa scout copter with a mini gun on it, but that too was removed. Budget cutbacks have limited their hours of operation and made it difficult to get there despite the fact that I work on the Rock Island Arsenal about a mile away. Still the museum is a fantastic place to visit with tons of history. The RIA isn't easy to get into these day and require a visitors pass to be issued by access control at the Moline gate. That takes 20-30 minutes, so ask for a 12 month pass.

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

Soooo... can I bid on this or not?

[@MrBioniclefan1]

No

[@Hellsong89]

No, but you might be able to make reproduction model if you have all the paperwork in order?

[@avanconia]

The history of the contracts is SO NECESSARY. Thanks for always doing an excellent complete job. I binge and then rest from your channel and every time I'm in one of my periods binging I'm just so glad that you're doing this... There is no way at all that I could ever hope in my life to have all the conversations go all of the places and read the thousands of books necessary to figure out all the cool little stuff you show us with all of the details of the how, The who and the why.

[@whyalfie]

I don't have a crazy love for guns. I've never fired one but I enjoy the mechanics, have read warfare related stories since I was a young boy, and I play lots of violent video games. I am not interested in most gun channels because they are often run by Americans who put a lot of emphasis on how awesome guns are and how cool it is to own them. I adore that you focus on the mechanical, historical, and practical aspects of firearms which is the stuff I am interested in. Its hard to think of killing people as cool but obviously the inventions are and all the little mechanical differences and the reasons behind them/generation of the ideas behind them is super cool. Thanks for keeping it classy.

[@Scooby556]

Great to see you visit Rock Island Arsenal! They have some great stuff.

[@attackcadillac2404]

3:55 I didn't realize they made a Remington 11-87 in the 50's.....

[@danielwatters1203]

It was the 11-48.

[@attackcadillac2404]

@@danielwatters1203 I know that... It was a joke.....

[@rotwang2000]

Saw another version of the SPIW at the Ordinance museum at Aberdeen, great museum ! One of the photos I took there even made it on mythbusters.

[@zombiexgalaxie]

Awesome videos! Thank you for all of them and for the information. I love watching your videos and learning about all of the strange weapons you get to check out and experience.

[@Zode123]

This is really cool. Thanks for continuing to make these videos, Ian.

[@Daemascus]

Dont forget the not so small arms outside, like the M65 "Atomic Cannon"

[@D.Holliday112]

Rule #1 of a combat rifle: a Idiot should be able to figure out how to disassemble and reassemble it. This rifle fails in that aspect. Edit: Gun Jesus is NOT an idiot.

[@MrCmon113]

An idiot should never be handed a rifle. A moron perhaps, but not an idiot.

[@jameson1239]

Taxtro what’s the difference

[@duanequam7709]

You did a great job of explaining what is not explainable. Thanks so much for all your efforts. I don’t often leave comments but you are special.

[@Kyanzes]

Awesome channel. The usual quality review is delivered once more. Thank you!

[@hotdog99100]

Cool, would have been interesting to see samples (even inert) of the ammo.

[@FairlyUnknown]

With all of these mega weird and interesting ideas floating around in the US military's head about wanting to attach all this stuff onto rifles, it makes me wonder why they never considered, or if they did why it didn't go anywhere either, making these flechette/grenade launchers into separate, hand-holdable weapons. It seems that they put all the work into developing cartridges but failed to make a delivery system for them that would actually work. At least to me, it seems like they could have easily taken the undermounted launcher from this rifle (or other such designs), developed it more to stick a stock and some sights on it and have a working launcher. Maybe it wasn't worth it to them to make certain soldiers carry around an additional, heavy weapon? But at the same time it must have been pretty obvious to them that the "all-in-one" designs were exceptionally unwieldy anyway and would cause troops to get bogged down with them.

[@ayebraine]

There was a working launcher available at the moment this launcher was developed, it was called M79. Multi-shot launcher for the same 40mm grenades existed too, it is now called a "China Lake prototype". Flechette launcher is the rifle itself. The order was to design a rifle that fires one flechette from every cartridge.

[@fire_tower]

You know you're in for a good one when Ian takes 5 minutes to explain why something ever occurred to someone as something that needed to exist.

[@zeerust_9565]

Absolute beast of a video, Ian. We got history, we got ingenuity, we got eccentricity. So cool, man!

[@fuzzy4461]

When I saw the thumbnail, I thought this was some insane ye olde underslung grenade launcher

[@therideneverends1697]

Awesome video! i was hopeing you would get to a SPIW rifle at some point, shame you guys couldent figure how to take it apart, funny how something that was competing to be a service rifle at some point is now so lost to history we no longer know how to take it apart, i wonder if its covered in the trials reports?

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Ian . Informative and entertaining .

[@carlomaratta5636]

Your videos are always fascinating, great work.

[@ziedhashmi163]

From iraq .. i want to say you are the best sir .. nice show and nice youtube channel.. i like forgotten weapons

[@m.a.rahman400]

Hey Ian is any of John garands early 1920s prototype rifles still around? I recently read about them and was hoping you can show them off someday since they're so fascinating.

[@hipopotomusman]

i think you are the best gun review / gun historian dude on youtube. you are extremely informative on stuff that is not boring hahah

[@akatripclaymore.9679]

"Wow" that would be a truly forgotten weapon! Never even heard of it, Thank's Ian!👍

[@YaBoiKennyG]

Perfect way to start my morning

[@JonathanRossRogers]

This is the 1960s OICW. Or, more accurately, the OICW was the 1990s SPIW.

[@ghostfactory5305]

I don't think there will ever be a gun that can "do it all", but that gun and others like it are still extremely fascinating. Thanks Ian.

[@killercrabman]

I love project names. Spe(i)w is so fitting for this weapon.

[@bruhdye]

“Let’s put everything in one gun”

[@PorchPotatoMike]

3:57 I assume you meant a Remington 1100 since the 11-87 didn’t come out until 1987.

[@danielwatters1203]

It was the earlier Remington 11-48, the forefather of the 1100.

[@Eccentric5B]

@@danielwatters1203 Yep. Glad to see you pointed that out. I've been sifting through the comments here to see if anyone else caught the error before posting up about it.

[@RogueBitsMining]

Love the channel and you always keep interesting content. Thank you Ian.

[@willynthepoorboys2]

Interesting find, thanks for sharing it with us.

[@kightremin]

The grenade launcher is kind of a genius design

[@outdoorski6735]

Do the CIA deer gun

[@JohnLeePedimore]

RIA sold one for $25,000 back in 2011. The National Firearms museum has one. For years they claimed they destroyed them all but that is clearly not true today.

[@kroktal8896]

@@slamblamboozled1245 Found no proof of it existing outside of KZbin

[@coltenmeyer2775]

Ian finnaly got ahold of one go look up the video :) he really does get ahold of everything lol

[@zacherysevier1242]

This may be one of the coolest weapons I've ever laid eyes on. What a clever machine

[@moshunit96]

@@zacherysevier1242 😖

[@jasonirion6664]

excellent history lesson thanks Ian.

[@nc_classics_9610]

I love the history lesson and the technical aspects of this video

[@Irondrone4]

"Woah! That's a cool machine gun in the thumbnail! You don't see many heavy weapons with an underbarrel secondary weapon." *Video* Oh. It's a rifle. How did they expect this to work, again?

[@De_Wit]

I hate to blaspheme but...Jezus sure works in mysterious rooms.

[@ES90344]

I was just reading about the Arsenal a couple of days ago wondering when you would visit. Looking forward to seeing their collection.

[@nlaslovich]

Who gives thumbs down on these videos? I mean really. It's exactly what you'd want. An in depth history and tear down of guns that you may have forgotten. The camera work is good. The clarity, the editing. If I could like it 10 times I would