[ Luxembourg FN-D at the Range ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and courtesy of Morphy's today,
we are out at the range with an FN Model D.
This is a Luxembourg contract FN-D
chambered for .30-06 Springfield ammunition.
... I did a video a while back actually, elsewhere, about the mechanics and the history of this gun.
This is a little bit nicer model that we're out here to do some shooting with today.
Now, ... a little behind the scenes thing: normally I try to have some particular hook,
something interesting about a gun, if I'm out at the range, that I want to highlight.
I don't really have anything like that for the FN-D here today.
I have this out at the range because
this is the best version of the BAR ever, and I just really want to shoot it.
So I am using that as a flimsy excuse to drag it out to the range,
thanks to Morphy's, and just run some ammo through it and get a feel for this gun.
Because I think it's going to be fantastically fun to shoot.
Now I will say, one thing that we can take a look at, and we will,
is ... this has a selector switch, which like some of the ... US military BARs
does not have a semi-auto setting: it is safe, slow and fast.
So let's actually take a look at the difference between the high and the low rates of fire.
We'll start with low.
That is a really nice, lazy, controllable rate of fire.
This is in fact the best version of the BAR without any doubt whatsoever.
And it's doing a pretty consistent job of throwing spent brass over there too.
Alright, but before we move, let's go ahead and try the high rate of fire.
Also, most open-bolt guns when they're empty,
the bolt slams forward because you've been holding the trigger down.
The FN-D has a bolt hold open, so when the magazine's empty it stops.
It doesn't close the bolt, and it locks open waiting for you to put another magazine in
so that you don't have to run the charging handle when you do load a new magazine.
Alright, now high.
[Whoops! I didn't lock the selector in fully,]
[and it bumped back to "slow" when I started shooting...]
I don't know if you guys can see it with the camera being that far back,
but this is doing a really good job of spitting cases out in one almost perfectly straight line.
Of course whether they hit grass or how they bounce off the ground affects how far they go,
but I've got brass all right here.
So that's pretty much the full extent of the cone of brass ejection,
and that sort of consistency is often a hallmark of a really good action.
And this is a good example of it.
Oh man, this is just a really nice gun, this is as nice of a machine gun as I thought it would be.
... People often ask me about surprising guns,
and my answer is often the Johnson light machine gun is really surprising
that it is such an unpleasant gun to shoot.
And I'll tell you what, the FN-D is exactly the opposite.
It is - it's just wonderful.
It is controllable, it's just fantastic.
In fact, I bet it's controllable enough
that I can shoot this thing off the shoulder, let's give that a try.
Alright, let's give this a go.
I've got it set to slow.
I think that makes more sense than fast for firing from the shoulder.
Right, here we go.
Alright, the only thing that makes that difficult in any way
is the fact that the gun weighs 22 or 24 pounds, it's a chunky boy.
Is it an FG-42? No, in part because it weighs twice as much.
And it does bounce around a little more, but honestly I think part of that is just
difficulty for me holding it steady because of the weight.
Now the other thing that ... a gun like the FN-D has over something like the FG-42 is durability.
The FG-42 from an engineering perspective is
really kind of on the ragged edge of having enough safety margin.
And they had to do that in order to make it as light as it is.
This thing is ... a Browning Automatic Rifle at its heart.
It is indestructible, it is bulletproof, and it's got a quick change barrel.
You can just pop that off, swap out barrels, and you can just keep shooting this all day long.
Sadly, I think we have come to the end of today's video,
because I've come to the end of my ammunition supply - tragically.
But I tell you, you know what? Even the magazine changes on this thing are cool.
The little trigger style mag release that FN updated these guns with,
man, you pull it, mags just drop free. Way nicer than the early BARs.
So, we will, as tradition has directed,
go ahead and end this video with a full-auto mag dump.
I'm going to move it to the high rate of fire for this one, just for you guys.
I'm a little sad that this is coming to an end, because I really like this thing.
It's really a shame that the US military didn't adopt this thing,
because they could have had this instead of the 1918A2 BAR.
Anyway, once again a big thanks to Morphy's for giving me the opportunity
to come out here and do some shooting with this lovely, lovely light machine gun.
And thanks to you guys for watching.
It's just a very angry sewing machine.