PGM Hecate II: A Battle-Hardened .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle 

The suppressor is just to trick the bad guy into thinking they're being fired at by an unsuppressed .308. "We're behind cover, we're good."

The 'Last Argument of Kings'... Even if you have minimal interest in actual firearms, how can someone not appreciate an historically hardcore declaration like that.

"Have you seen what one of those anti-materiel rifles can do to a deathclaw?"

"Hey, how bad ass is your rifle" "well, I called it ultimate argument" "say no more"

This rifle commands so much respect there's no Frechy jokes in the comment section. Bravo PGM.

The suppressor is so the Martians don't hear you shooting at them from Earth.

We won't go quietly, the Legion can count on that.

As a precision rifle, this is the equivalent of hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.

US: "50 BMG isn't suited to long range precision." France: "...hold my chablis."

to any non-baguette here, you pronounce it "heck at". yours truly, a baguette.

I've seen this in two places. One in Nevada where some courier began sniping some huge lizards and another in Japan used by some girl in blue hair. This rifle's been to some strange places, I tell ya.

Fun bonus fact: The swiss military has also adopted this as their anti-materiel and heavy sniper rifle. (12.7mm Präzisionsgewehr 04)

Ah yes, the perfect rifle for revenge-seeking mailmans or a short girl trapped inside a video game

'purchased by RAID'. My mind instantly thought 'Shadow Legends'. I spend way too much time on the Tube

Note: At least in germany, "ultima ratio" is sometimes used to mean "strongest measure possible" (i think it's similar to how americans use the term "nuclear option"). I can imagine it's also used in french like that. Pretty cool to know the historical context though.

From where you're reading this comment section must seem like a .50 calibre run of bad luck. Truth is, the game was referenced from the start

I didn't think they imported these, ever since New Vegas I've wanted the wood furniture version. New life goal I suppose

The "last argument of kings" seems to be _reductio ad splatterdum-_ "I have reduced you to a nasty smear on the ground".

US SNIPERS TESTING : “this rifle fired exceptionally sub 1 MOA groups at 1700mts , we want it “ US ACQUISITIONS OFFICE : “great ! But we can’t buy it because it’s French! “

As in good old American the “Heck It”

You see what one of those things can do to a deathclaw?

sub MOA at 1700 means

A .50 caliber sniper rifle I've never heard of? Count me interested. Fantastic video, as usual.

"The original adopted guns had wooden furniture on the back" HNNNGGGGG

The fact that so many people here play FNV gives me great joy.

First saw this thing in New Vegas, first heard the name in GGO, but this is somehow the first time I've ever seen it out of a fictional setting. I wonder how its range and accuracy compare to something like the McMillan tac 50. I love the fact the bolt is large enough it looks like some sort of spiked police baton.

I’ve seen this rifle in 2 places Nevada being used by a mailman to kill guy who thinks he’s Ceaser And in Japan being used by a girl with blue hair who’s afraid of guns trying to stop a guy with a murder gun

Ian has just wondered into the Wild Wasteland of Fallout New Vegas references

"Merde!!" "Mon Capitaine, what is it, did you drop your baguette?" "No, I forgot to bring ammo for our snipers when we deployed and was just asking the American troops for some." "Oui, did they help you?" "All they had was 50 BMG, they didn't have any 12,7x99 !" "Sacre bleu ! "

The anti-materiel rifle in Fallout: New Vegas is based on this gun.

I think I can predict a huge grin on Ian's face tomorrow when he shoots it.

“You have discovered deathclaw nest”

This thing is REALLY good on deathclaws.

I was staff sergeant in the 5°RI near Paris in the 90's. My regiment was in charge of the test of many new systems (PR4G radio by ex) and armements (Minimi, PGM 12.7 mm to replace FRF1 and FRF 2, Mas G1 to eventually replace the Mac 50), and my regime was receiving regularly GIGN for training sessions as we had a long range fire field (2.000 m long, originally to fire with the 20 mm cannon we had on AMX 30B (MBT, 2nd gun)) and on AMX 10P... I have had the chance to fire so many times with this gun, never disapointed. I have also fired with the previous long range gun we had when we were in ex-yugoslavian civil war : the MacMillan... My judgement will be severe with this last one, when the PGM arrived, he erased or eclipsed totally the MacMillan which wa sin use in almost all the occidental armies. The Macmillan is less precise (I mean mostly for non snipers but also for snipers I spoke with, and the rythm you can fire with PGM is far above to MacMillan)... Just to give my opinion. oooh, I served and still served. I have served in french army (126°RI, NCO national school, 5°RI then 16°BCP (elite infantry, Chasseurs) then in french gendarmerie (NCO Gendarmerie school, Gendarmerie stations 7 years in Paris area and now in coutnryside) since 1994, twice injuried (explosives where I did a NDE in the mid 90's and by bullets in the mid 2000's). Continue your great job :) Interesting videos :)

Him: Takes Off The Stock Modern Warfare: +ADS Speed -2 Recoil Control

"They're very kind and generous to loan this to me to take a look at." Sounds to me more like free advertising. As long as you have a good product, sending it off to Ian can't do anything _but_ increase your reputation. Of course by the same token if Ian (and Karl) think your product is crap you better be prepared to fix it.

"I got spurs that jingle jangle jingle" *jingle jangle*

First saw this rifle in SAO used by Sinon and thought it was really cool, had no idea it was a legitimately fantastic rifle! Now I actually want one.

This kinda calls for a size comparison: 1911 vs. "The Bolt".

Patrolling The Mojave Almost Makes You Wish For A Nuclear Winter.

“I am sure they will listen to Reason.” Finally, a rifle with a MTBF that is longer than the enemies’ life expectancy.

"...which, I suppose we'll find out-" YES. YES. :D

Curiously the rifle went missing shortly after the video was filmed. Ian has *no idea whatsoever* about the loss....

Hecate or Hekate means "far-darter" in ancient Greek. She wasn't a goddess of "warfare and death," and the javelin thing is probably close but not spot-on- Hekate is the feminine form of Hekatos, the latter being one of the epithets of Apollo, and like other gendered epithets Apollo possessed, the feminine probably referred to his twin sister, Artemis, who is almost always depicted with a BOW. (In fact, Apollo used a bow as well- Apollo's was inlaid with gold and Artemis's with silver, both carved by the cyclopes. It is to these bows that the name Hekate or Hekatos refers, as they could shoot arrows or darts farther than any other archer, mortal or divine.) As a separate goddess, a common theory is that she was distinguished from Artemis when worship of the latter seeped into Anatolia (modernday Turkey), and the cult of Hekate in Anatolia later moved back into Greece, where the Brauronian cult of Artemis had significantly whitewashed the goddess, so this Anatolian Hekate was treated as another deity entirely. The Anatolian Hekate was the goddess of sorcerery or witchcraft, crossroads and nighttime, and had three faces, and so is sometimes associated with the Moirai, or the three Dooms or Fates; It is possible, of course, that the Anatolian Hekate was a syncretism of the Moirai and Artemis to begin with (Artemis is also sometimes conflated with Klotho, the thread-spinner and "maiden" of the Moirai). Anyway, unless the company has explicitly said otherwise, I would assume that the name of the rifle actually comes from the fact that it meant "far-darter" and referred to shooting darts farther and more deadly than anybody else could, rather than to the more nuanced goddess of witchcraft.

"Would monsieur like a rife in an excellent 7.62mm vintage?" " Non, j'ai des appareils de cuisine plus solides, quelque chose de plus fort, s'il vous plaît."

When I got this assignement, I was hoping there would be more gambling....

Ah yes, Deathclaw repellent.

Aaaah! The Hecate II... Now, you're talking. Also, when you're mentioning "King Louis", you should probably add the number behind. Because we've amassed quite a few of these "King Louis", over centuries.

THAT's a day at work: "Hey, Francois, you know zee MASSIVE gun? Zee bolt action big one? Shoot it Twelve thouazand times. Merci Franc, au revoir"

When the French give the Germans and British a run for their money in making precision rifles you get PGM rifles.

The ultimate argument of kings? Does that make the guillotine the ultimate argument of peasants?

Right as i was about to comment on his pronunciation of “Hecate” he brought it up, damnit

New Vegas gang REPRESENT

"You ever see what one of those Anti-Material Rifles can do to a Deathclaw ?"

Hecate/Hekaté (Greek: Ἑκατη) was initially the Goddess of crossroads/forks (often depicted with three heads, one looking in each direction), magic & necromancy. Her name means "Worker From Afar" & mostly refers to ability to cast spells on people at a distance, but she was also depicted wearing maiden's skirts (virgin Goddess) & hunting boots, carrying two short, throwing War (barbed) Javelins, which she could hurl across the battlefield with extreme & deadly precision. As names go for a sniper rifle, this has got to rank as one of the all time damned coolest. I'd actually like to hear what any professional French snipers have achieved (using decent ammo) with this beautiful monster - especially under battlefield conditions...

The perfect weapon for deathclaw hunting.

Never knew that cannon thing. The King clearly had a great sense of humor.

It made my day to hear Ian say, "I suppose we will find out" at 10:23. This implies there will be shooting footage at some point.

This rifle is a piece of mythology. I'd like to thank the Obsidian team that developped Fallout New Vegas for putting this gun in it, and Mr Payen for making this beautiful rifle and giving it the best name ever. Still waiting for muricans to have such taste for naming guns.

Ah yes, the gun that turned Lanius’ face into chunky salsa on my first playthrough

It's... It's the AMR from Fallout New Vegas! FANTASTIC!

This thing is a masterpiece.

I KNEW IT !!!! I said it the last time you did a video on a french rifle. So cool, here in France these things are going for around 8k and the can goes for around 1k...but the ammo is 5€/a piece so it becomes expensive very fast. BTW your pronounciation at 3:54 is perfect

“Have you seen what those anti-material rifles do to a deathclaw”

I am literally drooling over this amazingly beautiful, simple industrial design! Probably from now on my favorite rifle. Actually I would venture out to say that this is the epitome of a rifle

I was expecting SAO comments, didn't know this was in Fallout.

I love all your videos, I'm from the UK and haven't fired anything bigger than air rifle which was 25 years ago! The closest I get to guns is movies and video games. I don't have a particularly mechanical mind, but I find your work fascinating, well presented and very informative from technical perspective and historical perspective. All your work is amazing but I particularly loved the L95A1 'Green Meanie' , The PTRD 41 and the Pancor Jackhammer. Some of my favourite RU-vidrs are great storytellers, you're among the best and that's why these are my favourites.

A sniper rifle within one of my favorite games, and named after a Greek goddess. I'm in love

Shoutout to the courier who really loaned the rifle

i actually have a tattoo of the internal muzzle brake pattern of this gun on my inner right arm i designed myself! i always come back to this video. makes me very happy :)

Everyone in this comment section has some spurs that go jingle jangle jingle

Sinon: *heavy breathing* * w *

So - The poor devils who get hit by these things; Is there anything left to bury ? A pair of smouldering boots, perhaps ?

It's nice to see this very high quality precision, long range rifle reviewed by Forgotten Weapons. This superb rifle enables the mighty 12.7mm round to extend it's range of engagement with unequalled precision. A wise military would acquire and appreciate such capabilities.

Gorgeous rifle, great video. Obviously loved it FNV but awesome to see such an in-depth video of the real piece. Looks like a great piece of work

Very neat and beautiful gun. And also Iconic. Maybe even as memorable as the Barrett itself

Ah yes, the perfect Deathclaw exterminator

The ideal rifle for knocking that guy who keeps making that same old surrender joke down a couple pegs.

PGM Precision is actually a very small company located in a 7000 habitant town where I was born. It's funny to notice that no one there know there is a gun manufacturer in town.

3:37 Hecate is the Greek (in Asia Minor primarily) goddes of the Night, Magic, Witchcraft, Necromancy and the Underworld and Death, and also the knower of Poisonous Herbs and Medicines (aconite, belladonna, dittany and mandrake, but also garlic for example are associated with her) Also she was associated with crossroads, walls and doorways sometimes What she was NOT, is a goddess of warfare and throwing javelins However there was a celtic goddess called Morrígan - she had similar spheres like Hecate - War, Fate, Sorcery, Death... and she also was often depicted with a Spear or Javelin. Also both were concidered triple godesses So I would rather say, when it came to naming that gun, they were thinking of Morrígan first, but then they decided to go with Hecate because of similarities and because the latter was way more ancient; as Morrígan was was first mentioned in the 9th century - while Hecate dates back to the 6th century BCE!

Ian in another video: Ww2 antitank rifles were not for sniping. French: Sacre bleu! Hold my wine, I present le ultima argument of kings!

I was fortunate enough to test fire this at a range event. One of the best things I've ever done.

For anyone who hasn’t spent time on or around the M82 Barrett: Ian is spot on. It is not a precision rifle. Yes, we are aware of some of the speciality rounds that help with this. But on balance, the Barrett doesn’t stand up well and gets more props than it deserves because of movies and video games. Our slang term for it around here is 50TBI. Regards, Marky

I would love to see a video on the MacMillan Tac 50 as it currently holds the world record for longest confirmed kill. I think it’s particularly interesting because of the buffer system in the stock.

When I first saw pictures of this rifle about 15 years ago the giant muzzle brake was something that really stuck with me. It's nice to see a video of it. Thank you Ian.

PGM: how big should the break be? Also PGM: Yes.

Ah yes the Deathclaw killer from Fallout New Vegas.

Never have I ever cklicked so fast on a video

Hey I got to shoot one of these with the supressor at my range! I live not far from the factory and a guy I know bought one! Funny thing, it is worth 4 times the car he uses to transport it...He is quite a small guy and it is so funny seeing him with that thing! The supressor works so well it was almost an underwelming experience! The rifle is exceptionaly well built. Better precision than a swiss watch (I make swiss watches and a friend use to work for PGM...so I know...). Basically the insane precision is no secret: just very well made parts. You can buy any part for the rifle (even critical ones like the bolt) in 20 years and it will be a direct fit, no fitting required whatsoever...

Thanks for wrangling this monster around in front of the camera for us! Really appreciate your work always but especially now as like many I'm stuck home! Hope everyone is doing good; this is an awesome community.

Who immediately thought of Sinon when they saw this?

As someone from the American Southwest, not defaulting to the Mexican Spanish pronunciation "heck-a-tay" must be really difficult!

Hey Ian, might try to take a look at a FR-F2 someday? It was our standart mid-long range rifle for a long time

super rifle, I served as a long distance sniper group in the French marine troops, at 500 meters it is a formality with groups under 1/4 moa. At 1000 meters are on 1/2 moa with perforating ammunition

A week ago I was looking for a video of you about PGM Precision rifles...and here it is, you did it 👍🏻

Hot damn, I was just reading about the lesser known modern French small arms and was hoping to find more information on the sniper rifles. Now if only Ian could get his hands on an ANF1 GPMG.

Acknowledges his lack of pronunciation knowledge, admits he butchers names into 'murican. You are a good yank.

Hi i'm french, you're channel is amazing, and i want to say, you're accent in french is not bad at all ! you're job is very great !

Your prononciation of Hecate is almost perfect Ian, sounds like french without effort. Great content as usual, thanks for sharing !

I've read a little about this rifle, but not to the extent you cover it Ian. Really great to see the features up close rather than blurry pics. That is a hum danger of a gun for sure. Looks like PGM put a lot of thinking and lessons learned into that gun. No wonder the French are still planning to use it through 2030.