Imagine being just two dudes in a shed making rifles for competition shooters and then getting told you have to supply standard armaments for one of the largests militaries in the planet .
Pope Francis may not have one of the largest, but still extremely large and one of the most advanced. Usually ranked at around the 5th most powerful military in the world.
The Spitfire was designed by a man in a shed. Shed's in Britain are the last refuge of the thinking man, some of our best achievements as a nation came out of the simple garden shed.
@uncletigger Cost is a direct result of the subjective worth of an item for some individuals. If you don't want something, yet somebody else does, the cost still stays high, even if you want to argue it will not. If goods of any kind can be sold to someone for a price, it has worth, even if you want to judge the idiots buying it. So no, he isn't.
@uncletigger It strikes me that you aren't familiar with the game he is refering to, as the price of an item, and it is digital and pointless, I'll give you that, is not determined by a developer like in most others. Different items are more or less rare, and given Counter Stikes' status as an Esport, historically relevant, which dictates the price they are bought and sold for between players, collectors and traders. This price is, like most other things on the open market, directly linked to the worth and prestige people see in what they spend it on, which more than justifies the colloquial use of the word "worth". A player owning, say, an AK74 Case Hardened Scar pattern owns a digital item worth around 20,000 dollars of real money, not just a one-time purchase that goes up in smoke. Items from ten year old collections cannot simply be recreated, as the number of entities is artificially limited, and therefore owning them holds tremendous value to some, elevating them to status symbols worth as much as a rolex. It seems utterly bonkers, but given the history and place in the heart of many players of the game, the internal economy deals with similar principles as any other form of goods. There is no dictionary needed here, simply insight into the weird world of digital inventory being bought and sold for real money, making some people millionaires.
@@sodium2195 yup, valve (game developer) has compared weapon skins and other digital items to baseball cards. While they have little to no practical value, collectors will pay a fair sum of real money to "own" them.
@uncletigger Counter Strike cosmetics have an official open market. There's no MSRP, they sell for whatever people are willing to buy them for. That is their worth per the free market.
1:05 No, you can absolutely say two guys in a shed. Very few Brits will take exception to that since we all know that much of our industrial history, and arguably the beginnings of the industrial revolution, is littered with examples of blokes farting around in sheds. It's an area of national pride.
TheExpatpom yeah I will agree with that, I remember my dad and grand dads constantly going to the shed when ever something broke to see if they could muck about with it till it worked. It really is a national activity.
I think you've misunderstood, he wasn't really trying to be respectful to the British. He was clarifying that it isn't exclusively the British that have the stereotype of 2 guys in a shed making a product. Basically the 2 guys in a shed deal shouldn't be a sticking point of national pride since it also happens often in many other countries, and is stereotypical for small arms development in general regardless of nationality.
"Better rent and decorate a warehouse so they don't find out we're just two blokes in a shed." +inspection commences+ "Really, we were only making sure you're not just two blokes in a shed." ...👍
Same goes for supercar production. And it’s insane to think a person could make a convincing Ferrari or Lamborghini kit car off the body of a Fiero and fiberglass
@Mira Ferriviario Yes, but those engineers account to those at the top, and they will have their decisions swayed by those in charge. For example, at my workplace, those at the top decided the business model should be based on a 5* service to the customer, and before long everyone was coming forward with ideas on how to make the service better. Five years later there is a change at the top, they still want the 5* service to the customer, they just want to make more money from it, so the pressure is on to save money. And instead of asking "What is the best material we can use for this" the question is "What is the most cost effective material we can use for this" For example, stopping using 302 Stainless and replacing it with 304
Yep, asked to make 10s with malfunctioning machines because it still having moving components. Asked to repair the machines by using the "glare eye" instead of calling the repairman for a week knowing we do not have any profession of a repairman. Meanwhile asked to work at same pace with a 25% reduced manpower makes some become specialists who can not do anything else and has not the time do all the tasks. Accountants for these mistakes are what we call mini-bosses.
yup. I can almost feel some engineers complaining 'come on guys you cant be serious...?' while management informs that this saves x% of money... deservedly took themselves down, sorry to say but what a fail
As an engineer myself I find extremely foolish of this manufacturer to make such novice mistakes you never mak3 changes without consulting the designer such display of foolishness...
"Cut them up and dumped them in the North Sea" I sense a great disturbance in the force, like a million gun aficionados crying out and then being silenced.
I think that the British Government cut up the Serial Numbers. Not the rifles themselves. I think what happened was that the old Numbers where used somewhere else and over used in the Company itself so the British Government cut the (out/off) numbers and dumped them.
hearing that the pylon company went out of business made me happy. because that's what one deserves when you messed with a design you don't understand.
Yeah, really interesting story. I wonder if that's the typical experience for "two guys in a shed"? A big company is assigned to manufacturing but because the designs came from "two guys in a shed", the big company immediately decides because they have more money, they must be smarter and therefore, able to make "corrections" that I hope never permanently maimed any soldiers.
@@july1730 It's not just a problem for "two guys in a shed" designs getting manufactured. It's a common problem in manufacturing anytime a design isn't going into production the same place it's created, and even sometimes when it goes into production where created if there is sufficient disconnect between design and production crews. I've heard of cases where there ended up being production quality differences between first and second shift crews even, because one crew followed designs to the letter and the other decided they could run the production in a slightly different way and they failed to foresee how that would impact the process in full.
Unfortunately its a very common thing over here. Our government (and a lot of the social 'conditioning') is very anti-gun ownership and does not like the idea of firearms, especially "military grade" ones, getting into civilian hands. So once a military gun is decommissioned it is usually pretty much destroyed. I guess we should be lucky the rich enjoy hunting, otherwise we would lose gun rights all together.
I love how you say “two guys in a shed”. The story of the Cosworth DFV (the most successful Formula One engine of all time) is pretty much the same thing.
The Accuracy International MoD story reminds me of I think it was Porsche or Ferrari with their Le Mans racing car in the 1970s where they had to make 200 cars to be legal to race and they only had 100. When the officials visited to see how many cars they had, the 100 were put in a yard, the officials were taken to lunch and the same 100 cars were moved to another yard and counted twice.
I heard it was Lancia, with their rally cars - on a 'Top Gear' or 'The Grand Tour' episode. That said, it sounds like the kind of thing that a number of small-scale companies would try.
Simon Munden small scale? Hell Dodge apparently did the same thing with the winged wonder Charger Daytona back in the ‘60s and they were part of America’s “big three”. They cycled Daytona’s and Super Birds back through the assembly line.
IIRC that was Lancia. Porsche or Ferrari would have had made the 200 cars to keep it on the up&up. Lancia had to get creative just like Accuracy International.
Imagine how pissed off the AI guys were when the people who had been given the job of manufacturing their equipment went and fucked everything up right off the bat.
Honestly by the time Ian told of this I was expecting that all the blame for the failures was put on the AI as an original designer - because that's EXACTLY what you'd expect from a typical bureaucracy. Props for the British MOD for doing the proper research into what exactly happened and punishing the culprit rather than the victim.
@@mihan2d British sense of fair play...still alot of decent people in the military and MoD. It is different blaming a faceless corporate entity, then 6 guys in an industrial unit. But yeah you are absolutely right in your comment.
@@tybeejeffro No it wasn't, it delayed it. They became successful in spite of this. If they'd gotten to a similar point in the US and a huge scandal had happened, they would have just been dropped rather than given a second chance
The British way - lets invent something innovative and great, then fuck it up by not caring about quality or just being stupid to save pennies. Its amazing the country has carried on for so long. Well, that's over and the crap has come home to roost. The last time I was home the only thing we were creating seemed to be Balkan shoplifters. A shit show.
Well we live physically isolated from everyone else so it's easier to snipe than to go across the channel to try to hit them with an SMG, carbine or assault rifle
@Mufti Husayni, Nazi General, Palestine MUSLIM OFFICIAL google it: IslamicPogromsOnJewsBEFOREzionism You have an Ultima! Does it run? Please tell me you do track days!
@@jubuttib any version with higher gears and/or more HP: "The Ultima 1020's top speed is *restricted by its gearing* to 240 mph (386 km/h), which the Forza renditions of the car always exceed". ...but most ar home-built, custom jobs, not a "version" really.
@@StaxRail i give u another example. i startet my own business this year.. and created a solution 4 a problem one of our wolrds biggest companys could not solve in 3 years with over a hundred well paid engineers and shit...
So you'd create a company with that name? I bet your mates would have a field day with that one, or that could just be my diseased filled, "Americanized", brain. :)
Sadly these day's blokes, chaps, geezers, fellows and characters in sheds are becoming a rarer sight and occurrence. As with many of the best things about our culture and way of thinking. These days people are far too spoiled and entitled. Most tend to have very little interest in interesting things. I would think buggering around in sheds is becoming far less common. At one time most people would have at least one grandad, or an uncle or even dad who buggered around in the shed. FFS. Most folk these days cannot put on a plug or change a damn car wheel. Never mind be capable of mauling around with tools and such. The education system really does not help these days.
The AW model is almost identical to the standard L96; it just has a few features that make it easier to operate in cold weather conditions (namely a larger trigger guard and larger bolt handle to accommodate shooters wearing thick gloves). The AWM, if memory serves, is very similar to the AW variants of the L96, except that its the same modifications done to the modern L115A3 and its in .338 Lapua Magnum.
They pulled it off, britush officers.. we just wanted to make sure you wernt 2 guys in a shed. A i . Fancy a cucumber sandwich sir.. splendin splendin.
You couldnt write a story like that because nobody would have believed it if it hadnt actually happened. Like two guys entering a home garage built Formula 1 car for shits and giggles and placing first.
@@greyman6353 There's a scene at the beginning of Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton where the first manned landing on Mars is interrupted by a couple of asshole Stanford dropouts who invented wormhole tech in a garage.
Ian, I know this channel is called forgotten weapons but I’m so glad you’ve started to cover well remembered weapons in depth. We often don’t hear the stories behind some of these classics in nearly the amount of detail which you provide such as in your Thompson history and British smg series. Keep up the great work!
I was an Armourer in Northern Ireland (1987) when we received 9 L96s to replace our L42s; we kept 3 and returned 6 as the quality was awful. I saw the threaded holes between the chassis and receiver that are mentioned, where the tip of the screw protruded into the bolt way causing gouges down the bolt! The bonding agent (Belzona Super Metal) that is supposed to sandwich between chassis and receiver was added later like a cosmetic feature, so the two parts were getting loose. When I first saw it, I thought it was utter crap. It was incredibly accurate though. Working on it was vastly different that the L42, which required considerable hand fitting of parts - a true 'craftsman's rifle' when you build one. I recall spending hours stoning parts to fit them... Interestingly, about 7 years later I was involved in a trial for a different kind of sniper rifle; I met Malcolm Cooper who told us the whole tale of AI's birth and the L96. He brought along a new product from AI - the AW. By comparison to the L96, the AW was mind-blowingly good. The quality was superb and it was incredibly easy to fire accurately, as was the L96. The 'design' would pave the way for the future AW-derived rifles and they were all excellent. When we saw the .338 Lapua Magnum AW rifle it blew away everything else and gave the Army a world class sniper rifle, which could reach out way beyond the capability of the 7.62mm.
The fact they saw their final place being in the sea saddens me for a rifle that holds a such a strong memory real or fictional in so many peoples lives.
@not a real person Problem is there's been too many British soldiers shot by guns that originated from the British military. With the more effective guns they don't want to take the risk of any of them falling into the hands of terrorists or enemy militaries. A single one of these sniper rifles could lead to the deaths of dozens of British soldiers, and while they could just as well be using any other sniper rifle it's really not good to have your own guns being used to kill your soldiers. It is a shame that these guns were destroyed but their fear of it being used to kill British soldiers isn't unreasonable
14:58 That rear sight is a jewel. Only the Brits could put such a piece on a battle rifle. I wonder how good the rifle performs using these iron sights and a good load. Excellent walk around Ian.
@@adog3129 i read it more as "only brits would waste money on such great engineering on infantry" which i find quite true historically, the men sent to war usually are only weaponized with the cheapest and most easily produced rifles. doesn't mean i don't love the simple AK over the AR platform though... sometimes simple can be better. putting such effort on a iron sight is like putting on a really nice hand crafted knife as a bayonet, really beautiful but realistically more of a artistic decoration more than anything. unless you're really worried about backglare from your scope.
@@adog3129 the Lee Enfield series of rifle was the best battle rifle to be produced nigh on half a century. Don’t let your discontent for the English in tandem with stupidity cloud your historical judgement
Although I enjoy all(most) of your episodes this one I found to be quite enthralling. I grew up hunting with a sporterized 7.62 Mauser war trophy with double set triggers My father informed me, upon gifting it to me, that with the iron sights I could shoot a deer so far out that it would spoil before I could walk to retrieve it! I miss it and him, but never missed a target! Thank you for bringing history to the masses!
That's probably because most people have seen the AWM more often than the PM or AW. The AWM chambered in .338 Laupa Magnum, and consequently a noticeably larger rifle.
I remember when I was like 7 - 9 years old when I found one of these in my Grandma's closet, I was visiting her in Phoenix AZ while bored one day and left alone for the day. I don't know how or where she got the damn thing, when asked about it by my father she said she got it at a garage sale and that she thought that it would be a good rifle for me and my brother when we were older. Sadly my father didn't agree and I believe took it down to the Police station and "Discarded" the rifle to them.......I could have had one of these along with a Sharps Buffalo rifle, I've been screwed out of having two awesome piece of firearm history. Edit: 28:10 ...........................yep......blood is now boiling.........
Steve Houghton’s book is absolutely brilliant. I got mine this week. If the subject interests you, talk to Steve. He is very helpful and dealing with him was a joy. Cannot recommend the book, or Steve’s expertise enough. Also, Ian, thank you for these superb videos for enthusiasts. A great match for Steve’s offering.
Pamela Houghton I hadn’t missed the shared surname, it’s just great to have shared interests in families. 😀. If I wrote a quality tome such as this, I would be thrilled that my family were proud of my achievement.
I am immensely proud of him, Thankyou. I even got a mention in the book which I was Thrilled about! The only thing he allows me to have anything to do with it though is helping him carry them all to the Post Office! 😆 our son is also on here and is closely following in his footsteps. 😊
There was another submission for the contract, (I do believe). This was Pip Watts of Edgcumbe Arms in Dorset and I was closely involved in the company at that time. The rifle was fairly conventional but had a couple of interesting features, one of which was an interrupted thread locking lugs and another was recessed iron sights. I have some photos, if you are interested.
This rifle is amazing. It's so light and precise you can run full sprint, jump and snap a bullseye mid-air and never miss a beat. Oh CS, you so silly...
Typical British beginning. I love the way the two fellows fooled the MOD. A brilliant rifle which would today be a beauty on a long distance range but no, the bloody government goes and destroys them.
no the Government destroyed the ones they owned, you can still buy brand new ones from AI as a UK citizen, well the updated one, the PM is now outdated it's the AT now in tacticool black or the AX in .50 BMG
I've had a chance to fondle one of these, never got to fire it though as it was part of a display. Really nice, albeit fairly light compared to some boltguns I've handled. Thought I'd hate the thumbhole stock, but it's surprisingly comfy, even for a leftie like me 👍
@@marionette5968 Vikings at Waterloo , or we had one good pair of snips, an molds made from tree stumps. Rover where by Rolls-Royce's account massively under equipped and skilled.
During rhe Bosnian conflict we would rotate into theatre for about 10 days at a time. We didn't have individual rifles but had designated scopes and would sign the scope out of the armoury and fit it to the rifle we took over, the outgoing man woukd remove his scope and pack it in its case. The only rifle i ever used that you could trust to do that on.
I always love how Forgotten Weapons doesn't have a long intro sequence or lots of extra talking beforehand, you normally expect to have to skip to the middle of videos that look like this to actually get to what it's about. But naw, just a couple seconds of a silent logo screen with the gun name, and Ian gets right into it
I did a lot of shooting with the cadets in the early 2000s. I was sure that we had fired a 7.62 bolt action rifle with a later designation than the l42. It looks like we were (and cadets still are) firing the Parker Hale rifles with iron sights. It was great fun to shoot and spot out to 600m as a teenager in a country where access to firearms is otherwise so heavily restricted. I do wish I had been given the opportunity to shoot one of these just once though. Thank you for the video Ian, highly entertaining as usual.
The L81 (commonly called the elephant gun😁) Fired it myself with cadets. I remember having to stand with my foot wedged against the feet of a tiny 13 year old cadet because every time she fired (prone) she slid back about 6 inches😄
thejudge 1897 good lad. I’m very near to you. A few friends in emsworth and I can safely say that a good night can be had with a piss up in the coalie, bluebell and raglan. Followed by a curry from the small curry house in the square.
Got to have a shed mush. Ow and a 2 stroke engine either in tool or motor bike form. A freindly little dog, fridge for beer and fishing bait. Chair. Gota have a good chair. Tools preferable imperial and at least 80 years old made in Sheffield. .22 air rifle.
The AI story is a pretty funny anecdote, but hey, even Apple Computers started off as "Two Guys in a shed." Kind of comical, though, that large manufacturing concerns lost out to them.
Lot easier in many ways for two guys in a shed to explore new concepts than a large company with employees to pay, more rigid manufacturing processes, and management/investors to keep happy. To be fair though, for every small outfit like AI that tried something new and were successful, there are probably twenty others whose ideas never went anywhere.
Sad to hear they are virtually all gone. This was an awesome rifle, last fired one in the mid 1990’s whilst in Bosnia. I can vouch for the simplicity and ease of use as by this time it wasn’t a specific sniper rifle as they where ageing and got passed down to us mere mortals to use! Great to see one again....loved that safety in the cold so easy to check and use Peace Charlie UK 🇬🇧
Hey Gun HeyZoos ( Gun Jesus )...... When I was in the Australian Army aka ADF from 1990-1995 - our Sniper were issued the Parker Hale Model 82. I was in a Armored Recon Unit - 2nd Calvary Regiment ( Recon)- we had M113's, LAV-25/ASLAV-25's, and also the 76mm variant of the M113- which we called the "beast".... I am not sure whether or not you know Ian - but 2 Cav Regt - we had a number of "Assault Troopers" - basically armored trained soldiers, and then they did a course to learn how to use numerous weapons like the 82mm Carl Gustav/ LAW 66/ mine clearing/ 50 cal/30cal/M-79/ Claymore, etc. Basically like a mix of infantry/armor/engineer/heavy weapons/sniper/recon..... And we had a few guys in the Squadron that qualified as "Marksman" then had to qualify on all weapons - SLR ( FN-FAL ) , Browning 9mm, M-60, and then get recommended for the Sniper Course from our OC ( Major). One of the guys in my Sqn, he blitzed the Sniper Course - and before joining Armour, he was a Carpenter in the Engineers..... He was an absolute outstanding Sniper - and back then, he was issues the Parker Hale Mod 82.......
I think I'm in love. I wanna shoot that gun so bad! Edit: oh ;-; they threw them into the ocean... god it feels like I've been rejected by my crush again
10:25 It's the history of an iconic weapon that's so appealing IMHO, the L96 ALMOST wasn't adopted several times, they didn't want to submit for the trials, but still did, expecting to fail, they beat SIG, HK, and Remington, they didn't have a shop, but they bluffed it, they almost got screwed by the changes made by the other production company, but STILL made it where they are today, really rocky road to get there, but I'd say it was a solid "wurf"
Yep, every once in a while a particular piece speaks to me. I'm a machinist by trade so I'm partial to fit, finish, and lean design. I'd love to own one of these even if only to admire it.
I actually used an Accuracy International rifle that induced me to take on my last mission. I am certain that my bosses knew that was the only way they could get me to return from retirement. AI make superb tools. If you can afford one, you won't be disappointed with their ability to place your rounds in target. Good shooting.
The Brits (Scots) invented the ghillie suit c. WWI. The word Ghillie is British (Scots), referring to an estate's gamekeeper, specifically Scottish. The first Ghillie suits were made and used by the Lovat Scouts, a unit made of sharpshooting ghillies, during WWI.
@@jamestarbet9608 The word 'gillie' isn't British, it's Scots Gaelic for 'boy'. It precedes Britain by centuries. Gillies became so called because they were simply referred to as 'boy' or servant in the Gaelic language. The reason the Lovat Scouts adopted the word is because many of them were Gaelic speakers and estate workers. The 'h' appears in some spellings of the word because people who don't speak Gaelic began using it and don't understand that the 'h' isn't part of the noun, it's a grammatical insert and is only used in certain cases, such as the dative and genitive. Using it in a noun on its own is basically a spelling mistake, which has stuck because most people don't know any better.
Always fascinated by snypers .There are so many variables to get a shot at a distance bearing in mind once you fire you have said " hello,I am right here" The gun has to be good but only ever as good as the guy using it? Alot of science going on.Great content. Cheers.
I bet that the direction of those curves in the flashhider matches the rifling. It would be cool to see a test if that improves accuracy, making the transition into the open air smoother.
Retired Royal Marine Commando/C Sqn SBS (1978-2008) lost track of the various firearms we used but this one was hoofing! Britain has a long history of producing incredible, often world beating engineering, with a a bloke or two working in a shed! Never underestimate the typical British bloke that enjoys tinkering with an idea he’s had especially when he has access to a shed (even a basic garden shed is often the place where great engineering starts to grow) but it can be occasionally derailed slightly whenever the Civil Service, Ministry of Defence, or a “proper” engineering company get involved, just as happened here. Its fascinating to recall that if it wasn’t for the profit chasing, penny pinching attitude of the “professional engineering company”, then the early rifles might not have caused the problems nor the injuries that colleagues might be affected by.
Someone should figure out the ratio of "Weapons from Forgotten Weapons that got into H3VR" to "Weapons that were in H3VR before Forgotten Weapons" I hope I'm making sense here.....
Sgt, you seem to be misunderstanding the FW audience. Average blokes don't watch a half and hour video about a bolt action rifle. :) If the bolt is like I think it is, then it's just a matter of unscrewing the striker from the back of the bolt body, which is under quite a bit of spring tension. (Remington 700 experience talking here.)
@SoaraPerformance Exactly. I am a pacifist and very interested in arms technology, although I also follow a number of other gadget and machinery channels. Like that one with the Swedish guy who collects old calculators. Edit. as a sidenot, I grew up in a household with guns (my older siblings competed) and am not a bad shot myself. Not a hawkeye, but have some knowledge of shooting.
