Service Tests of Modern Sub Machine Guns 1941 and other Historic Films on the Owen Gun 1940s

The release catch for the Owen's magazine, is on the top of the gun. and he was holding it, to get the magazine in and out, not to cover the port - as sand being sand, it could get in and go down to the guns guts, through the uncovered port. It would have been very bad if there was even a whiff of, "Oh he faked it - see!" when he is making the sales pitch for a gun that is very hard to stop under battle field conditions.

Your right - he did do it on the right hand sand blowing test 5:19... It could be construed as faking the results, but to be fair the sand - 1/2 a level teaspoon would have been going into that port every time he did a magazine change... and MOST soldiers would have done the same on the battle field..

@Life_N_Times_of_Shane_T_Hanson: i do not know about most in the field doing that, some might... kinda hard to remember certain things while you are in a firefight...

@sbseed: The test is for the guns resistance to jamming from the ingress of sand.... AND they are just feeding it magazine after magazine full of ammunition... - Different to being in battle..... Also wanted to look up if it had selective fire....e.g. single shot or 3 round burst..... Apparently Not. https://www.forgottenweapons.c....om/the-australian-ow ------------- https://warfarehistorynetwork.....com/article/australi ------------ The top-mounted magazine required the iron sights to be offset to the side slightly, but it made no major impact on shooting since the Owen SMG was often fired from the hip. The magazine design also made for a reliable feed aided by both the magazine spring mechanism and gravity. Since the cartridge ejection port was on the bottom of the receiver tube, dirt that might enter from the magazine would often fall straight through, having no place to collect, which made it ideal for jungle fighting. Also, the top-loading box magazine and catch design allowed for a faster magazine change. The Owen gun was resistant to fouling from dirt and mud. Its front-loading bolt and return spring, which was on a round piston, moved forward and backward in a separate compartment inside the receiver by means of a small bulkhead that isolated the small diameter bolt from its retracting cocking handle, effectively sealing the chamber, bolt, and spring area from the elements. Any dirt or mud that did get in was captured in areas machined on both ends of the bolt or was blown out through the bottom ejection port. Also, the gun had no sliding surfaces under heavy load. This design prevented dirt and mud from jamming the bolt. ---------- https://www.forgottenweapons.c....om/wp-content/upload https://upload.wikimedia.org/w....ikipedia/en/1/17/Owe