Duration: 13:32

In 1958, Val Forgett of Navy Arms contracted with Beretta engineer Aldo Uberti to produce 1,000 reproductions of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver. That turned into the beginning of many decades of production of a wide variety of revolvers and rifles, from the LeMat to a line of Winchester lever actions. Fueled by both organized Cowboy Action competition and general widespread interest in these guns, Navy Arms grew very successful in the market, attracting many other companies who continue to exist to this day. Today I'm talking with Val Forgett's son (also Val Forgett) about some of the interesting details of the business.

Duration: 13:20

James Warner was a gunsmith and owner of the Springfield Arms Company. In the 1850s he produced a series of revolving rifle designs which are interesting, but poorly documented. Only a few hundred of each were made (at most) and they appear to have begun as with a design intended to sell when Colt’s patent was supposed to expire. This used a single-action mechanism with an open frame, and had to be changed when Colt was able to extend his patent. A new model followed which was much simpler, probably trying to compete on price since the patented elements remained protected.

This simpler system was manually indexed and used a simpler receiver and side plate design than before. It also eliminated extraneous features like the loading lever. These are all roughly .40 caliber, six-shot guns and usually have 22-23 inch barrels (this example was shortened at some point).

A final change in design took place around 1856 when Warner moved to an enclosed frame design, before moving away from revolving rifle designs entirely. There are a few records of Warner revolver rifles in the Civil War, and these were most likely the latter enclosed frame type.

Video on Warner’s single-shot breechloading carbine from the Civil War:

https://youtu.be/C7lIjY-UYZU

Duration: 27:39

Guatemala was one of the handful of countries to purchase original AR-10 rifles, made at Artillerie Inrichtingen (AI) in the Netherlands. The sale was made by Sam Cummings, legendary arms dealer. He spent much of 1957 and 1958 traveling through Central and South America demonstrating the new AR-10 to virtually every country’s military. In Guatemala, his demonstration resulted in an immediate order for 450 rifles to be delivered to the Escuela Politécnica (the military academy) for more extensive testing. The guns were delivered in late 1958, with serial numbers between approximately 3000 and 3500 (they were made immediately following production of the Sudanese contract batch). These Guatemalan rifles are distinctive for their ventilated bayonet shrouds, which were provided on no other rifles. While none of the Guatemalan rifles were fitted with bipods, a shortage of regular hand guards led AI to fit many of them with leftover Sudanese contract hand guards contoured for folding bipod legs.

The Guatemalan AR-10s were sold as surplus by the Escuela Politécnica to an American importer in 1985, and they were brought into the US as a mix of parts kits and pre-86 Dealer Samples. Today, most of the intact and unmodified Dutch-production AR-10s in the US (including this example) are from the Guatemalan contract.

Duration: 02:56

OSS Special Weapons & Equipment:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/purchase/p/oss

CIA Special Weapons & Equipment:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/purchase/p/cia

As part of the Kickstarter for "Licensed Troubleshooter: The Guns of James Bond" we obtained the rights to reprint H. Keith Melton's two books on OSS and CIA weapons and equipment. These are the tools of real-world espionage form World War Two and the first half of the Cold War, written by America's premier collector of such things. We are happy to announce that both books are now in our warehouse, available and shipping!

Duration: 04:56

In 1929 Elek B. Juhasz of Lebanon PA patented this sleeve gun. It is a single-shot, manually cocked firing mechanism with a screw-on barrel and is worn on the inside of the forearm, presumably under a sleeve. The firing sear is connected to a pull string, which is to be tied to a finger ring. The gun is then fired by lifting the hand up, a la Spiderman shooting webs.

The design was manufactured by Elmer Carlstrom of Chicago, but only a small number (a few hundred at most) appear to have been made. Despite often being referenced as using a .30 or .32 caliber pistol cartridge, this example is made for a blank or tear gas round - which would be a lot less randomly dangerous than a live bullet in this sort of very impractical device.

Duration: 05:46

Available and shipping now:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/licensed-troubleshooter

Licensed Troubleshooter: The Guns of James Bond is a celebration of the most fascinating small arms wielded by one of the world’s most acclaimed action heroes, 007. This in-depth analysis spans the entire collection of Bond films and the novels that inspired them, including those authored by Ian Fleming and also those of the continuation authors. This visual history thoroughly examines the design and implementation of Bond’s tools, and of course, their impact on 007.

Beyond simply paying tribute to the fictional hero of James Bond, Licensed Troubleshooter shines a spotlight on the real-world operators employing the same firearms, featuring interviews with current and former military and intelligence personnel from agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States, including the CIA, MACV-SOG, U.S. Navy SEALs, DSS, and more. These interviews, combined with substantive historical research, provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the often incredible history of these firearms, including their use in combat and clandestine services. Be prepared to see Bond’s guns in a way you’ve never seen them before.

Notable firearms featured in this book include:

- Walther PPK iconic compact pistol

- Analysis of Ian Fleming’s “skeleton gripped .25 Beretta”

- An exploration and identification of Ian Fleming’s “long-barrelled .45 Colt Army Special”

- ASP 9 mm pistol

- Walther WA2000 precision rifle

- Scaramanga’s famous “Golden Gun”

- Heckler & Koch P7 with squeeze cocker and piston-delayed operation

- Walther P99 polymer-framed pistol

- SVD Dragunov, sniper rifle of the Iron Curtain

- MBA Gyrojet firing rocket-propelled projectiles

Licensed Troubleshooter also offers a number of vignettes detailing other non-incendiary items fundamental to the character of Bond, such as:

- Timepieces

- Tailoring

- Cocktails

Though this book provides significant written analysis and commentary, it is also presented in part as a pictorial study in order to best highlight the varied and unique details of the noteworthy firearms used by Bond. The masterful photography of James Rupley jumps off the page, often exhibiting these small arms at larger-than-life scale. Equally appealing to both firearms collectors and Bond aficionados, Licensed Troubleshooter serves as the first book to celebrate the small arms of the literary and cinematic Bond in this comprehensive manner.

Duration: 04:25

Ambient Arms has recently released a suppressor which pulls cool air into the body of the can in several places, mixing with combustion gasses to (among other things) keep the can from heating up as quickly as traditional designs. Since I was recently at a night vision match, I thought it would be interesting to test this out not with a thermometer but rather by seeing how much the can glows as one fires. So I took the most rapid-fire stage of Moons Out 2026 and compared the Ambient Arms EXO 5.56 to a couple other suppressors being run by other people on my squad.

Does it work as advertised? Yes, absolutely. It doesn't stay cool to the touch, but it puts off far less IR light than anything else out there. Pretty neat!

Duration: 05:01

Check out the full Conch Republic history video on  @DeepDiveWithIan  :

https://youtu.be/wBUfknotHN8

More details on the Conch Republic Military Forces:

http://www.conchrepublicmilitaryforces.com

Conch Battle Hymn in full, sung by Conch First Sea Lord Finbar Gittelman here:

https://youtu.be/HM1q5WN-XoE

Duration: 20:02

TRW's Low Maintenance Rifle seems to have been the result of a program to use a blank slate and a modern space age scientific mindset to develop a rifle that would be more reliable and effective than other existing designs. It was contracted to TRW during the Vietnam War, and they produced a very light, long stroker gas piston rifle with a roller locked bolt. It was chambered for the XM216 single-flechette cartridge, with a muzzle velocity of a screaming 4700 fps. After production of three prototypes, the design was revised to use standard 5.56mm M193 and M196 ammunition. Three more rifles were made in this form before the program was cancelled in 1973 as the end of the Vietnam War caused funding to dry up for this sort of thing.

Thanks to the Ordnance Training Support Facility at Fort Lee for giving me access to this fantastic artifact!

You can find the full Low Maintenance Rifle technical manual here:

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/rifles/trw-low-maintenance-rifle/

Duration: 10:41

I am really interested in the use of thermal optics for night shooting. As we can see from lots of footage in Ukraine, thermal imaging is a really important technology in modern warfare, and IR emissions like lasers and floodlights are far less useful in a peer-on-peer environment than in the low-tech counter-insurgency the US fought in the Middle East for many years. This yeah I ran an AGM Rattler 640 at the Moons Out match, and this is my takeaway from it, and plans for how to do the concept better next year.

Thanks to Nocturne Industries for sponsoring the match!

Some other videos from Moons Out 2026:

Nova Group's Loadout: https://youtu.be/VAyhmj6dMXs

BrassFacts' Belt-Fed match run: https://youtu.be/Y3uylxKOpg4

Kit Badger's Loadout: https://youtu.be/i34LzooHJsc

Ballistic Aviation's match video: https://youtu.be/2Us4EWEjOgk

C_DOES' match video: https://youtu.be/1S6esEZryIE

Duration: 09:18

Duration: 06:46

In the years after World War Two when the Austrian Army began looking for new sniper rifles, one of their experiments was to use available M1917 rifles and M73B1 scopes (from M1903A4 sniper rifles). The scopes fit onto the M1917 rifles very well, and offered a basically cost-free option for new sniper weapons, albeit one using .30-06 ammunition and relatively low-powered optic. Only a handful of these were made, and there was never a formal test or manual written.

Duration: 14:11

When the US replaced the M1 Garand, the plan was to adopt both a select-fire infantry rifle and a heavy-barreled support weapon on the same platform. During development, both the T44 (later M14) and T48 (FAL) rifles had heavy-barreled versions. In the case of the M14, the final iteration of the heavy-barreled weapon was the T44E5, which was formally adopted as the M15. Before it could be actually put into production, though, it was cancelled as unnecessary.

In testing, first the Marines Corps and then the Infantry Board found that fitting a standard M14 with a detachable bipod gave the same performance as the M15 - and so why bother with an extra version of the gun? Of course, the equal performance was really quite poor compared to proper light machine guns, and once the M14 got into service this shortcoming was noticed. this led to the M14A1 aka M14E2 project, to essentially recreate the M15 with a pistol grip stock and front grip.

Thanks to the Springfield Armory National Historic Site for giving me access to this truly unique specimen from their reference collection to film for you! Don't miss the chance to visit the museum there if you have a day free in Springfield, Massachusetts:

https://www.nps.gov/spar/index.htm

Duration: 25:22

The Remus is the new version of the Laugo Alien pistol. It was released about a year ago, and just recently also made available in a left-handed version - which I have been eagerly awaiting. The Remus is designed to be a more general-purpose and carry-suited pistol in contrast to the competition focus of the original Alien. It adds a manual safety, system for racking the slide with the optic while having a 0.8" shorter barrel and weighing 25% less. The optics mounting options now include the Aimpoint COA, which I am also a big fan of.

Disclosure: Laugo gave me this pistol, so you will have to judge for yourself if I am being bought or if I genuinely believe this pistol is as good as I say.

Some additional related videos:

Aimpoint COA: https://www.floatplane.com/post/YjB8HeUYlB

Original Alien: https://www.floatplane.com/post/iu9uclGIIp

Alien mud test: https://www.floatplane.com/post/v6ruVg4J4H

Alien dust test: https://www.floatplane.com/post/ezcVx2Glgw

Duration: 54:03

I took the opportunity to film this month's Q&A at the Moon Out 2026 night rifle match, where I was joined by Hop, Brass Facts, Kit Badger, Luke (Ballistic Aviation), and PSR. These guys have a lot of night vision experience between them, and I figured it would be a perfect place to answer some of your night vision questions. Thanks to everyone for joining me!

0:45 - Introduction to night vision use for suburban beginners

14:32 - Bridging analog and thermal/digital

18:35 - When will digital NV overtake analog?

25:44 - Will a red dot sight expose you under night vision?

30:03 - How much do muzzle devices and barrel length impact NVG shooting?

34:22 - Shooting passive with a PVS-7 single-tube NVG?

37:33 - Developments in ancillary NVG controls and gear?

45:34 - Full-color night vision?

Duration: 11:19

Duration: 19:45

When Aimpoint entered the competition for a US Army standard-issue combat optic in the 1990s, they really didn't expect to win. The other finalists were Trijicon and Meprolite, and it seems like a safe bet that the American firm - Trijicon - would get the contract. However, it ended up going to Aimpoint's CompM on both price and technical capability. This meant an order for 100,000 of the optics, requiring Aimpoint to massively scale up. It also led to a series of improvements to the design, which became the CompM2, CompM3, and CompM4.

Today, we are looking at the history of this evolution. How the Aimpoint 3000 became the Comp[etition], how the Comp was ruggedized to the CompM[ilitary], and how the Swedish Army Aimpoint CS led to the current CompM4.

Duration: 16:17

Moons Out is the premier annual night vision rifle match, held at the Echo Valley Training Center in West Virginia. This year I am shooting in the Passive division, using a CMMG Banshee 9mm carbine with an EOTech XPS-2 holographic sight. Because I'm in Passive I do not have a laser or illuminator; just a set of dual-tube PVS-14s to aim with.

Thanks to Nocturn Industries for being our title sponsor this year! Individual stages were also sponsored by CTF Photonics, T-Rex Arms, Expedition Training, Varusteleka, and Altama.

http://www.moonsoutmatch.com

Duration: 20:52

Moons Out is the premier annual night vision rifle match, held at the Echo Valley Training Center in West Virginia. This year I am shooting in the Passive division, using a CMMG Banshee 9mm carbine with an EOTech XPS-2 holographic sight. Because I'm in Passive I do not have a laser or illuminator; just a set of dual-tube PVS-14s to aim with.

Thanks to Nocturn Industries for being our title sponsor this year! Individual stages were also sponsored by Virginia Citizens' Armory, Q, Magpul, and Lima Six.

http://www.moonsoutmatch.com

Duration: 43:17

The Bannerman family decided to sell Bannerman's Island tot he state of New York in the 1950s, but the sale required that they first clear all the ordnance off it. That was no simple task, and the military was not interested in the job. Instead, the family found Val Forgett Jr, a demolitions expert who happened to be looking for seed money to start a business making reproduction black powder revolvers. His offer to do the cleanup work was accepted, and he spent a summer doing the job and put the proceeds into the first Navy Arms reproduction 1851 Colt Navy revolvers.

This video includes the talk given by Forgett to the Armor and Arms Club of New York in the 1990s explaining the process of clearing out the ordnance from the island...