Ian forgot one accessory that came with the rifle: the free eyebrow scar from getting “kissed” by that scope when you touch off a 8mm 220gr hunting round.

@Seeker-wq8jc

22 күн бұрын

And an eyepatch. For, you know - seeing in the dark. Wear the eyepatch all day, pretend you're a pirate by day, your eye stays adjusted to the dark, and then you take it off at night and presto, you're ready for some night fire drills and covert ops. So the manual says, anyway... Not included with the standard kit, must be purchased separately!

Dang that’s cool. “ my rifle has a MG 34 barrel” Just to be able to say that to your buddies is a real point of pride.

@petrimakela5978

22 күн бұрын

Lots of LS26 barreled hunting rifles in Finland. Someone apparently ordered "ebough" barrels for those

@Nate_the_Nobody

22 күн бұрын

I don't know if I would use "pride" there, 100% a flex though

@sorenlilienthal1368

22 күн бұрын

With a machine gun barrel installed, it's practically impossible to wear out the barrel of a hunting rifle, in a normal human life span. So it also has practical value.

@petrimakela5978

22 күн бұрын

@@sorenlilienthal1368 yep and they are usually extremely well made, LS26 ones turn out to be good shooters too. I have one pistol with a barrel turned from M/31 SMG blank

@abaialsa712

22 күн бұрын

​@@petrimakela5978are you homosexual

I think I like the box more than the rifle to be honest.

@roum22

23 күн бұрын

Looks like it was made by "Bubba" on an of day. The woodwork is amatuerish, and you'd be lucky to get a chin weld let alone a cheek one with the scope mounted at that height..

@beargillium2369

22 күн бұрын

​@@roum22there's no way that the childish crosshatch pattern was from the factory. The stippling sure but I want to see another example.

@donwyoming1936

22 күн бұрын

Everything made by Cugir looks like it was made by a blind, drunk farmer.

@randymagnum143

22 күн бұрын

​@@roum22 hey, if it's good enough for AKs, it's good enough for Mausers, right?

@molochi

22 күн бұрын

@@donwyoming1936 lmao.

Hold my beer and hand me the chain saw, I is gonna make me a gunstock.

@martinswiney2192

23 күн бұрын

I have a stock on a sporterized 03A3 that I want to checker. I fear it might end up looking like this. I traded for the rifle not realizing that it was a nightmare gun. I wanted to put it back original but it was too far gone. So I reworked everything on it and im right proud of it. But the stock is slick as hell. But this gun is really what i fear i would end up with.

@c1ph3rpunk

22 күн бұрын

@@martinswiney2192the stippling stamps aren’t terrible, with a little practice they can be made to do decent work. But, the best option is hand checkering, IMO. It’s not the easiest thing to master, but also not the hardest. Practice on some softwood, pine for example, if you can make that look good, any hardwood will come out better. Walnut in a stout thickness, 8/4 for example, is pretty readily available in most parts of the US and is fantastic to practice on. That, and wood turning, are my zen spaces, once you get started just zone out and let it flow.

@martinswiney2192

22 күн бұрын

@@c1ph3rpunk im a machinist and do great with metal. Woodworking is tricky for me. Appreciate the advice. One thing I did learn on this stock. No polyurethane. Nope. Stain to a shade I like and linseed oil. I think I refinished the stock 5 times before I was satisfied. Glass bedded the action. Free floated the barrel. Raised the dents with steam iron and sanded em out. Was broken hearted that someone had drilled the receiver for scope mount and drilled thru the 0 in 03A3. Its a 1943 Remington. Even worse they had a B Square see thru scope mount and a 4x K Mart brand scope. Of three screws on the mount only one was tight. I made a sleeve to cover where the front sight should have been so the barrel has a banded look. You cant even tell it. Polished the action and had it blued. That turned out beautiful, like a Colt deep dark blue. Ended up putting a scope on it with the highest mounts I could find and the bolt handle barely clears the eyepiece of the scope. But I got it done. All that and the bore is +.002 so its not even accurate. 😂

@frankbrowning328

22 күн бұрын

HA HA HA! Perfect reply!!!😊 That's probably the reply my stock instructor would have said when I was in gunsmithing school had he seen this rifle.

@paulketchupwitheverything767

22 күн бұрын

I thought the work on the stock had a human, artisan look to it and rather liked it. Sometimes, if something is too 'good', it can start to become a bit sterile and synthetic and might as well be moulded plastic or CNC machined.

The technical manual with the explosion drawings is very nice.

@bulukaki7063

Күн бұрын

Yeah and the handwritten notes look so neat and tidy... great collectible

The 2LPI checkering is exquisite 😁

Ian has blessed my Friday with another certified Forgotten Weapons classic. This video is proof that you don't need to be a good woodworker to be a gunsmith LOL

Even though this firearm in not the best workmanship I appreciate the hunting background.

It looks nice. The MG34 barrel is very cool. The furniture looks like the final sanding was done with 80 grit and then dipped into a vat of lacquer and left to drip dry.

@molochi

22 күн бұрын

Pretty much

@davidcarr7436

22 күн бұрын

@@pedestrianrights1257 well, since you put it that way..... yeah, even cooler!

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

@@pedestrianrights1257 Since Ian said that the MG34 was still in Romanian inventory until just before they started making the rifles, and machinegun barrels are consumables, they were likely made after WWII.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

@@pedestrianrights1257 1:22 He very clearly states that the Romanian Patriotic Guard still had the MG34 in inventory into the '90s, and that Cugir was responsible for maintaining and overhauling them.

@thescatologistcopromancer3936

22 күн бұрын

​@@pedestrianrights1257sry didn't read all that

I bought a mauser around 1980 from a local sports shop that had a mannlicher stock, double triggers and quick release stock mounts, think I paid around $200, was in beautiful condition. Action was smooth as glass. Never seen another like it.

The clearcoat on that stock was absolutely the wrong direction for them to go in; I think it would have looked a lot cleaner if they'd just went with a normal gun wax finish,

@donwyoming1936

22 күн бұрын

Looks like it was sprayed on by a drunk 6th grader

@bigmike-

22 күн бұрын

@@donwyoming1936 It's just so... thick. It's like they went as heavy as they possibly could with like 10 coats of clear coat.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

They probably just used whatever they finished the stocks of their military rifles with, even on this 'deluxe' version.

@KR-hg8be

22 күн бұрын

The world's first Soviet cosmolene based gun varnish

@kw9849

22 күн бұрын

​@@jic1I don't think they were using such a glossy finish on their military arms.

Sure, it's an interesting rifle but that finish is atrocious - and they gave this to the prime minister?! Can you imagine what kind of crappy rifle they would sell to normal people 😅

There's no accounting for taste, I like this gun for its weirdness.

This is like the rifle incarnation of my 1991-made Kiev-60 medium format camera, and the most bubba looking presentation gun ever! That glossy varnish hurts the eye, and the scope looks like it would be even worse to at least one of your eyes at the first shot!

ATF would classify this as a "bolt action machinegun" :)

@sn0wgnome

22 күн бұрын

nice

@michaelmccartin2054

22 күн бұрын

😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪

I love the transition in Ian's pronounciation, from Koo-geer some years ago, to the present day kud͡ʒir 😅. Nice job! Also, chuffed to bits seeing him finaly visiting the NMM in Bucharest.

This rifle seems to be quite the nice mix of gun parts to make a brand new one for hunters, thanks for showing it to us Ian.

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

My only question is: What horrors lurk in the Romanian forrests that require 8mm Mauser to reliably take down. I mean, I like the history, the concept of making it from what was available, and even the look (they they were at least aiming for), but I consider this "a shoulder cannon".

That's basically the definition of "weird flex".

I always get excited when i see a thumbnail with my country's flag in it, specially when its about historical stuff. Great video.

That is interesting. Much like telling your friend...she has a really nice personality.

That backwards Eotech is back! My Tism is acting up

@Mario_bland

22 күн бұрын

its so you can pretend you are taking farther away shots!

@Stoopidmunky

22 күн бұрын

I think it's a sightmark lol which is somehow worse.

@bower31

22 күн бұрын

That's a sightmark, it supposed to be that way

@isaachany2461

22 күн бұрын

@@Stoopidmunky Below it is also a backwards Eotech.

@aaronkong8393

22 күн бұрын

@@Stoopidmunkylook below it

The rest of the following videos will be various other firearms each containing 1 part of an MG34, so if you collect them all you have one complete MG34. It's like summoning Exodia.

Im pretty sure I scratched higher detailed "checkering" into exam desks as a child armed with nothing more than a compass

This looks oddly reminiscent of last-ditch Volksgewehrs

I have a Mauser 98 that looks very similar to this Cugir - double triggers; claw mounted scope; silver oak leaf enlayed in rear of stock; 8mm. Father-in-law was in Germany after wwII for around 14 years in Army counter intelligence.

@Dominic1962

22 күн бұрын

…yeah, but I would bet you the level of craftsmanship is magnitudes of degrees better than the rifle in the video.

@molochi

22 күн бұрын

How does it shoot tho? Thst's really all that matters.

@Dominic1962

22 күн бұрын

@@molochi Is it though?

Talk about that awesome Mauser from “Public Enemy”!!!

A true forgotten weapon. Anything with repurposed MG34 barrel is cool.

"Cu respect și prietenie" translates to "with respect and friendship" (friendship equates to collaboration, in this context - I would say)

The manual is what attracts me the most on this weapon. The workmanship is highly questionable... Romania was in an economical debacle in the nineties, though. Thank you for sharing! 👍

I wasn't even born until 1998, but it's still crazy to see a rifle this recent with that style of scope mount.

To think that this rifle was made the same year I was born, is mind-blowing. I have been far too long on this planet.

Interesting content, thanks.

"Okay Mr Prime Minister, welcome to the new job, here's your complementary gun." "Wait what" Meanwhile Keir Starmer gets handed a cat and directions to go speak to the King.

The stock is something to behold, not mentioning the 1950s tech on a rifle made in the 90s. But the stock really triggers me something hard. They took a old 98k stock, sporterized it, made a attempt on checkering (not even 16 lines checkering) and stippled it with a standing drill and not to forget glaced it. Well, at least they tried to make a "Suhler Einhakmontage" for the 4x scope of dubious quality.

@brittakriep2938

22 күн бұрын

Einhaken oder Einhacken, das ist die Frage. ( Aus Hamlet, Theaterstück des britischen Nationaldichters Shakespeare)

@rauchgranate5648

22 күн бұрын

@@brittakriep2938 Touche, da hat sich doch glatt, ein Rechtschreibfehler eingeschlichen.

@brittakriep2938

22 күн бұрын

@@rauchgranate5648 : Sie haben mir meinen Scherz hoffentlich nicht übelgenommen. So etwas kann vorkommen.

@rauchgranate5648

22 күн бұрын

@@brittakriep2938 Aber keines wegs.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

I think that was probably a newly manufactured stock, they just didn't do a great job.

Magnificent.

Today I learned I share the same birthday as a Romanian PM

@causewaykayak

22 күн бұрын

Then a Happy Birthday to both of you. 🎉

Nice to meet you, Back Here.

Pretty! I like Mausers

Good God...the height of the detachable claw lock scope mounts would be high enough to use as a chin rest...

Hello, thank you for the video and information. Sincerely, Antonio Constantin

Not bad for an industry just getting on it's feet.

Great! Another Romanian firearm I need…

“sporty Cugir” has a different meaning these days… great video though! Beautiful Plumage!

Man that is a beautiful rifle

@trooperdgb9722

22 күн бұрын

Only to Bubba!

Looks like it was made with an angle-grinder and a pocketknife. 😆

That is one swaggy case

That's pretty cool Bolt action rifle

Props to Cugir was doing the best they could with what they had, during a very difficult time. Is there any word on how the rifles performed?

@causewaykayak

22 күн бұрын

Its surprising that they could put a workforce together given the economic & social conditions of the time. Give some credit for keeping the business going. FWnever disappoints A super interesting guided tour.

@molochi

22 күн бұрын

Gotta get Henry over there to test it. heh.

@blahorgaslisk7763

22 күн бұрын

My guess is they did OK. It's hard to make a really bad Mauser rifle. That hunters bought them say they weren't awful, but the triggers probably wasn't a all that good. If the trigger action shown was that clunky, then a more standard trigger actions probably weren't any better.

@causewaykayak

22 күн бұрын

@@blahorgaslisk7763 I suppose a competent locksmith or even a general gunsmith could rework the trigger ?? Is that a possibility ? This thing looks good to kill a bear. South China Morning Post reports today on a growing Bear attack problem in Japan. The hunters need police permission to fire a shot (USA !! What did you do to that country after WW2) ... but the shooting doesn't work anyway as the Japs are using scatterguns. Maybe they need to talk to the Romanians 😊.

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

@@blahorgaslisk7763 The set trigger was heavy, the shooting trigger was light (but awkward). On Mausers without a set trigger it cocks on reload, so I would imagine they would have a medium but crisp trigger pill like other Mauser. The Mauser format is almost hard to screw up. And with that klonker of a barrel 8mm Mauser might only kick like a mule (ass opposed to kicking like a zebra with 50 meters of run-up as sporterised Mausers with pencil barrels do).

I've see a Aot of people Mouthing off about the Quality of the stock as this one is done, so I will say if it was given to me I would Smile REALLY REAL BIG and say Thank You Very Very Much!!! 🤠👍

Ian, you have to go to Serbia and review some of the rifles from Tito's collection. He had some masterpieces out there

@woutergijs5246

22 күн бұрын

I went to the museum in Belgrade. First thing I saw was the Marshall his personal hunting rifle: a Zastava in stutzen execution, exactly as I have one in my vault. And big surprise as a Belgian: one of the gifted hunting rifles was a FN .

@SamuraiAkechi

22 күн бұрын

@@woutergijs5246 I've got a pdf file, an album from the Tito collection exhibition. He had lots of stuff there: Cosmi semi-auto, soviet shotguns, some Ferlach guns, one Indian rifle and so on. But the most interesting would be Interarms Mark X with suppressor and ART scope (a gift from US, rather funny one, considering that Mark X is actually Zastava LK M70) and a sporterised Mosin built in Hungary on the request of Hungarian leader Janos Kadar - it's a mix of russian design and german style of craftsmanship, with double set trigger, GDR Zeiss (I suppose) scope and so on

@aasphaltmueller5178

22 күн бұрын

Little OT Info for those who do not know : Tito was a test driver for Ferdinand Porsche at Austro Daimler before WW I - so a genuine petrol head

@woutergijs5246

22 күн бұрын

@@aasphaltmueller5178and a womanizer, but that is a totally different vlogger department 😅

@SamuraiAkechi

22 күн бұрын

@@aasphaltmueller5178 wow. And I thought that the only things they had in common with Brezhnev were passion for hunting and WWII service

The scope mounts are the best part, they should just sell those. I'd buy a set

nice

the glass cases look cool

EOtech in the background distubs me more than I am willing to admit.

@Rancor12

22 күн бұрын

Lmao, I hadn't even noticed that. I was too distracted by the bridged Sightmark on the rifle above it. On HKs no less.

Ian releases a video about a Model 92 romanian Mauser. Me thinking: Cool, something Mauser from Romania even before the Gewehr 98 🤣🤣🤣

Makes me appreciate tenite.

Frickin early gang. Lets go.

Is kind of interesting to see lower quality arms, when you get a story as to why.

All the random little german bits and bobs that pop up any time Ian discusses an eastern/central european firearm that's not actually Russian gives the distinct impression that they were quite reluctant to use soviet parts unless they absolutely had to.

@spellsecurity

23 күн бұрын

It wasn't reluctance, but a point of pride to not be a simple copypasta of whatever soviet system was en vogue at the time. You can see this play out all across the Warsaw Pact satellite states, with Yugoslavia being an extreme example, fully embracing the Mauser legacy whenever possible.

@DebatingWombat

22 күн бұрын

@@spellsecurity And they also tended to have used German calibres and arms pre-WWII and it’s also worth noting just how massive quantities of WWII inventory these countries tended to have in stock. Why buy new things off Moscow (and thus incur at least some level of foreign debt), if you can refurbish your own that’s “good enough”? They also seem to have followed the Soviet/Russian pattern of rarely clearing out and selling/destroying their old inventory, but simply stockpiling it “just in case” (as seen currently in the massive Russian “reactivation” of old Soviet gear for their war in Ukraine).

@DebatingWombat

22 күн бұрын

Come to think of it, a lot of the former Warsaw Pact, now NATO countries still had quite a lot of old Soviet style gear in inventory when Russia invaded Ukraine, which is essentially what constituted the first round of massive, immediate, military aid for Ukraine.

@mariusdragoe2888

22 күн бұрын

The Romanian communist leadership criticized the USSR for the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 so they were cut off from most military developments that followed. That's why Romania had to come up with the PSL and why we are using local variants of the T 55 tanks instead of the later soviet models.

This thing actually has potential to be the coolest hunting rifle ever. If only it could have a takedown barrel, slightly better stock and pivot mount instead of claw mount. And some better optics like S&B.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

So if it was a completely different rifle other than the action and the source of the barrel blank, then?

@SamuraiAkechi

22 күн бұрын

@@jic1 right.

@sorenlilienthal1368

22 күн бұрын

They should at least have used one of their premium domestic IOR riflescopes. The claw mounts are classics, though a bit outdated.

@SamuraiAkechi

22 күн бұрын

@@sorenlilienthal1368 claw mounts are classic, but they're kinda hard to install and there's a lot of room for gunsmith's error. That's why I proposed a pivot mount instead. Or a siderail mount like Apel or Griffin and Howe.

@sorenlilienthal1368

22 күн бұрын

@@SamuraiAkechi I know, that claw mounts require a lot of hand fitting and are therefore relatively expensive and outdated. An EAW pivot mount would be a more economic approach, for sure.

Mg34 barrels can hold up quite good speed and energy ,in the .30 cal a .30-338 Win was popular to make over here .,

The background HK with a Sightmark and backwards Eotech are cracking me up.

The Swedish" Mauser" was good as a sniper rifle during the WWII. That one is too fancy. Too shiny.

The work done on the rifle mechanism looks great with the exception on that double trigger. But the woodwork on the stock is just awful! It reminds me of those cheap "fancy" walking canes I see in small discount stores. It would have been better if they kept it in a semi-military style.

The first gun I ever bought was a Romanian WASR-10, which Century Arms totally fucked up the conversion from single-stack to double-stack, making loading a magazine into the rifle a slow, careful process because if I just loaded it like a regular AK the magazine would jam in at a weird angle, rounds would slam into the lower receiver instead of the chamber, and then it would take a hammer and an act of God to remove the magazine so I could reinsert it more carefully so it would actually feed rounds into the chamber. Which I blame Century for, not Cugir. Besides a Raven .25 ACP pistol I got for free, it's the only gun I've ever sold.

The Sightmark on the H&K 416A5 is going to make my heart stop...

I bet that book cost a thousand times more than the gun.

That's a pretty crude looking rifle. It's a cool piece of Romanian history though

Not a huge fan of the colour of the wooden stock, but besides that- a very interesting weapon. Good find!

@philhawley1219

23 күн бұрын

The stock is terrible. What kind of wood did they use? A beam from an old pigsty that fell down?

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

@@philhawley1219 My guess, since it seems to be the most common wood for cheap gunstocks in Europe, is beech. Heavy, but inexpensive and very tough, and probably what they used for their military rifles.

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

@@philhawley1219 It's the lacquer and the carve job that makes it look bad. If this had been made by a competent woodworker, and it had been finished with mat wax, the same piece of wood would have looked stellar.

Ian did they let shoot a video at the military museum in Bucharest? I was there and it is amazing! Please please please a video please!

Hmm. I'll take my Cugir M44, thank you.

I like the metalwork. The wood, shiny finish, and gouging/stippling/3 lpi checkering . . . not so much. But if it is accurate then much would be forgiven.

Sure is nice to watch some videos on youtube that aren't political or stressful lol. Thanks!

Dang, if that is the presentation grade version is the stock on the standard grade just some pallet slats nailed together?

👍👍👍👍👍👍

At least the wood is nice😊

Very strange scope mounting system. Scope looks kinda high. Also it seems more craftsmanship went into the box instead of the rifle.

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

By 2006 they weren't licking their pencils and reusing mail envelopes as post-it notes.

Looks like he was about to give a hand puppet theater show

Cool rifle! Nevermind the woodwork. How does it shoot?

The scope is at the same height as a WASR-10 with a side mount. LOL.

Ian I was under the impression that firearms ownership was/is BANNED for private citizens there.

@lardomcfarty9866

22 күн бұрын

It's incredibly regulated, but people in the countryside have hunting rifles and shotguns fairly often

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

Most of the European countries allows firearms ownership. But most either bans or make it a very lengthy process to get pistols or revolvers. I can't think of a country off-hand where hunting rifles and shotguns are prohibited.

The 4 coats of Ronseal polyurethane varnish on the woodwork don't help.

@andersjjensen

22 күн бұрын

"Dip it in the bucket. Count to 10. Pull it up. Let it drip for 5 minutes over the bucket before hanging it on the rack. If the lacquer gets so thick it drips for more than 5 minutes give it a squirt of thinner... any questions?"

^How are the gun laws in Romania now?

@lardomcfarty9866

22 күн бұрын

Awful

@lipym

17 күн бұрын

Restrictive

Usually vids are with Ian McCullum talking about guns. This one was about gun being talked about by Ian...

Apparently, even Romanian rifles come in coffins?

Wow. Was the whole thing just dipped in Jell-O?? LOL

Pardon the rifle because it was made from the hatchet.

Id rather have the mg34

Well. It is spiffier than my WASR 10 double stack.

Damn! Did they varnish that with a wallpaper brush?

I like to think some of Mark Serbu's distant Romanian relatives worked on stuff like this

To be honest it is the type of rifle used by Ralph Fiennes who played the untersturmfurher amon göth in Schindler's list

What a waste of an MG34…

are you gonna look on new CZ bren 3 that came out?

It is interesting but I can't imagine many people buying this in 1992. By this time, you could buy something relatively inexpensive and much more modern without the scope being mounted 40 miles in the air, no steps in the barrel, a hinged magazine floor plate and a modern stock design and much better workmanship & finish.

@timofiy98

23 күн бұрын

you say that, but was it really the case in 1992 Romania?

@frankbrowning328

23 күн бұрын

@@timofiy98 Good point if we are talking about them selling the rifle in Romania. However, if they were trying to sell it in the US in 92 it would have been a very difficult rifle to sell

@Jerkzilla

23 күн бұрын

That Cugir built these in the early 90s I don't find that surprising, what is hilarious is that this was offered to the prime minister in 2006. Those two probably laughed it up in private, or at least one of them did.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

@@timofiy98 Well, obviously they didn't even sell well in Romania if they only made about 2500, and still had unsold rifles in the mid-2000s...

@timofiy98

22 күн бұрын

@@jic1 you are missing the point

Hi Al

Sometimes the failures of an industry is much more interesting historically than the successful ones.

Maybe they could pay some people to take them.

Looks like acrylic varnish too, not great....

That lacquering is awful as well, to be honest

@JohnSmith-pl2bk

23 күн бұрын

Someone used a cold can of spray on varnish....on a cold winter day...outside.

@jic1

22 күн бұрын

I don't think that's lacquer, I think it's some kind of polyester resin varnish, probably whatever they used on their AKs.