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WF-51: A Swiss Intermediate-Cartridge Copy of the FG-42 (Ad-free)
🕑 Added 2024-08-05 12:00:02 +0000 UTCAfter World War Two the Swiss needed a new self-loading military rifle to replace their K-31 bolt actions. Two major design tracks followed; one being a roller-delayed system based on the G3 at SIG and the other being a derivative of the German FG-42 at Waffenfabrik Bern. Bern, under the direction of Adolph Furrer, had been experimenting with intermediate cartridges since the 1920s, and they used this as a basis to develop an improved FG-42 using an intermediate cartridge (7.5x38mm). The program began in 1951 and went through about a half dozen major iterations until it ultimately lost to the SIG program (which produced the Stgw-57).
Today we are looking at one of the first steps in the Bern program, the WF-51. The most substantial change form the FG42 design here is the use of a tilting bolt instead of a rotating bolt like the Germans used. It is a beautifully manufactured firearm, and a real pleasure to take a look at...
Many thanks to the Royal Armouries for allowing me to film and disassemble this rifle! The NFC collection there - perhaps the best military small arms collection in Western Europe - is available by appointment to researchers:
https://royalarmouries.org/research/national-firearms-centre/
You can browse the various Armouries collections online here:
https://royalarmouries.org/collection/
Comments
Reed Gregory
extremely cool
z c
An FG-42 with a respectable grip angle!
Guido Schriewer
who could blame them copy a FG of all things. that furrer didn't toggle lock a shotgun... or did he? the safety is awefully far back out of reach. doubt a viewers level of fun compared to playing with the darn thing, too!
BEAUSABRE23
The FG42 bayonet was the French MAS 36
Dana Arbeit
I very much enjoyed it!
Glenn Miller
Great video, great firearm. Wow, so much machining to make one of these.
Christian Γelund
Regarding how the selector switch works, it looks exactly like that of the FG42, which has a sear that can pivot in two axis. It can of course pivot up and down (like any regular sear) but also pivot left and right. The plunger on the selector applies an inward pressure to either the front or rear of the sear which is what is causing it to pivot either left or right. (so the plunger is not there as a device that secures the position of the selector as one might easily assume... the plunger is what actually changes the firemode (this is also the reason why the selector needs to be secured by the spring plate on the backside, otherwise the plunger spring would try and work out the selector switch)) When the rear of the sear is pivoted to the left it will engage the closed-bolt sear notch on the bolt carrier, and it will also allow the bolt to hit the disconnector as it is moving forward. When the rear of the sear is to the right it engages the open-bolt notch on the bolt carrier and the disconnector is out of reach when the bolt slams forward. It is really quite simple.
Lawrence Wills
Another outstanding episode the ongoing extended superlative series "Ians Adventures in the NFC" . Worth every penny, sorry cent of my Patreon sub. π
