What is the first rifle design that includes an adjustable gas block?
Posted by Upper-Signature-359@reddit | ForgottenWeapons | View on Reddit | 10 comments
As the title suggests, I am curious to know from the collective knowledge of the Forgotten Weapons community (and shared with others) which rifle design was the first to include an adjustable gas block. I have an FN-49 (SAFN), which has an adjustable gas block, and it struck me to wonder whether this design was inspired by earlier rifles or if it’s an ingenious original choice by Dieudonné Saive. I’m interested to hear from the collected intellectuals of Reddit on this topic.
Looking forward to your insights!
PartyFriend@reddit
I believe Wilhelm Unge's patented gas-operated rifle in 1890 features an adjustable gas block.
DeFiClark@reddit
Unge had two patents on his automatic rifle design. The earliest is as you say 1890; he improved the design in 1891.
Mondragon’s design of 1887 came before Unge (though he only got a patent in 1907); strictly speaking the adjustment on the Mondragon is a gas cut off that makes his rifle a straight pull but it predates Unge if off/on = adjustable.
Unge is slightly better known as a pioneer of rocketry.
PartyFriend@reddit
If we’re including gas cut-offs then the patent by Richard Paulson in 1886 mentions that which I have linked to below (first mention is on page 2).
https://imgur.com/a/paulson-patent-3-gnGLUuZ#JiH4PzF
Upper-Signature-359@reddit (OP)
Wow, that’s amazing!
HCompton79@reddit
Standard Arms model G circa 1909-1912 has an adjustable or at least regulated gas block. The manuals suggest you can use it to vary the cycling power, but my observations combined with that of a couple other collectors is that it pretty much only operates as a gas cutoff switch, IE on or off.
Beyond that, adjustable gas systems were common in machine gun and light machine gun designs quite early. The Hotchkiss 1914 and Hotchkiss portitive being notable designs that come to mind
Upper-Signature-359@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the info! That’s really interesting about the Standard Arms model G. Even if it primarily functioned as a gas cutoff switch, it’s still a significant step in the development of regulated gas systems. The Hotchkiss models you mentioned are also good examples. It’s fascinating to see how these early designs in machine guns paved the way for further advancements in rifles. I appreciate the insights!
Noodle_Long_And_Soft@reddit
Not the answer to the question at all, but with the Browning Auto-5 (1905) you can change the arrangement of the friction ring for heavy and light loads, so the concept of the adjustable action itself had been around for a long time.
Upper-Signature-359@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the response! That’s an interesting point about the Browning Auto-5 and the concept of adjustability in the friction ring for different loads. The turning dial to adjust for friction in the Auto-5 does seem quite similar to the dial-style gas port vent on the FN-49. I wonder if Dieudonné Saive, who worked with Browning in the 1920s, might have drawn inspiration from that design when developing the FN-49’s adjustable gas system. It seems like there could be some shared thinking between the two systems!
bellowingfrog@reddit
Prototype rifles would have them from the very beginning, because as design changes are made, it’s inconvenient to rebarrel actions. As a practical matter, they may have tapped the gas port and inserted various sized port pieces to play around with sizing. But every design change requires retuning the gas settings so this would have been essential.
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