I appreciate Ian sitting back and letting his guests take the lead. Some other channel hosts tend to dominate the conversation. Well done Ian and Max.

now if we could get an in depth view of the VSS or AS Val, i would be so happy! but this is great, hearing about the development and history of one of the most iconic soviet snipers.

Max is definitely a fount of knowledge and his English is infinitely better than my Russian.

Thank you so much for doing the captions. That made this so much more pleasant to listen to.

What is really amazing is that while Kalashnikov, Simonov, Konstantinov, and Dragunov had different approaches to the mechanics of the weapons they all designed weapons with a very similar design language in terms of aesthetics. I wonder why different nations tend to produce weapons with such a unique design language. The German weapons have the same thing, they look German. Same with the American rifles up til the M16. The British rifles look like they were all designed to be assembled in a garage.

The table in Russian shown at 17:09 gives standard deviation of 9.4 cm not at 100 meters, but at 500. At 100 meters the deviation is 1.8 cm, which is 3/4" . This is 0.7 MOA, not 3 MOA, as the Russian expert claims while commenting on the table. 0.7 MOA deviation = 1.4 MOA group size.

The SVU and it's Full Auto Version reminds me of the FG42 in concept

The audio disruption at about 6:30 is due to the FBI hacking in to Ian’s call. They realised that Ian was talking to a Russian and mentioning key words like “Gun” and “Shooting”. LOL

36:24 He actually said SVCh (Snaiperskaya Vintovka Chuvakina - Chuvakin's Sniper Rifle) The new modular compact sniper rifle of the Kalashnikov Group.

I love these videos with Max! Thanks so much Ian!

30:29 Was anyone else hoping he would say "And Squirrel"

Enjoyed this ep as always. Would be cool to have a Russian counterpart to the L96/L118/L115 episodes, and hear from Max about bolt-action precision rifles from cold war to present day like the SV-98.

The story of the SVD almost parallels that of the M-21 (an M-14 National Match) sniper rifle. The "special" ammo which Max discusses almost sounds like the 168 grain hollow point boat tail match ammo. The 7N1's NATO analogy sound like the M118 match ammo. Ironically, the US Army and the USMC included modified M-14s used in their respective designated marksman programs as was the purpose of the SVD.

His English is better that most Americans. His effort is to be commended. Thank you sir.

Every American needs a good Russian friend. Max is good friend.

I really enjoyed this video Ian! The SVD has a fascinating history and I learned a lot. It's hard to believe the video was 39 minutes long because the time flew right by! Thank you Ian & Max!

Max is a heckuva guy. I think I will have to get his book. He has been very good about answering my questions about Soviet small arms development.

Fascinating talk on the Dragunov. You think he could do a sit down to discuss some Soviet era shotguns such as the Toz-106 or KS-23? Not a whole lot of information out there and even less videos save for video games.

I had my name down for one here in the UK (obviously semi-automatic only) when we had the general big ban after Hungerford and Dumblaine... Circa 1987. I have never forgiven either government for the ban... Very sad.

Thanks for this Ian..and Max...I love both the SVT and SVD line of rifles...I just wish we could still import them...

The STALKER series of video games is one of the best Advertisements for Soviet/Russian weapons. Getting the Dragunov & using a Vintorez/VAL felt amazing.

I never thought FPS Russia would come out of hiding

Very interesting history. Thank you Ian and Max

2:11 Max says "Soviet militaryt doctrine" 21:40 "obsolete" 24:35 "bullet weight" 26:45 MVD (МВД)

Always learn something when Max visits. Just another reason Forgotten Weapons is worth watching. Thanks!

Always love when Ian has Max on the channel, such a wealth of knowledge on Russian firearm design that is often underappreciated or underrepresented in the west. Max is a great long form speaker and I find his talks very interesting and informative with some nice black humor thrown in. Well done to Max also on his English skills. Thanks to you both for making these videos happen they are such a fantastic resource for those interested in Russian firearm's. Cheers.

Max, thank you for your fascinating presentation. Ian, thank you for hosting and for being an excellent listener (a rare but vital skill).

Many thanks to Ian and Max. Special thanks for subtitles. Of cause, I had no trouble understanding Max being Russian myself, but phone sound distortions makes any language harder to understand. Subtitles were almost perfect. If it can help, I noticed that Russian acronym for Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD or МВД - Министерство внутренних дел) was garbled at 26:45 and 36:01. 👍👍

I really respect the work you do Ian, Thanks to you and your guest.

Excellent work. Thank you Max for such a well researched video. Thank you Ian for having Max on the channel.

I think Max does a great job explaining Russian arms in his second language. If only half of westerns could accomplish such a feat the cold war may have been avoided or at least less dangerous. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MAX AND IAN.

You're videos are done so well. Iv been a fan for over 2 years now. The history and facts are so on point that I'm constantly learning something new. Thank you for doing what you do.

Another excellent video! Well done Ian and Max, I really enjoyed that ;)

Still think the SVD is one of the most iconic and sexy rifles ever. Thank you Max for this interesting and illuminating story!

"Variety is the spice of life". Your channel rocks!

It great to get to hear this information from someone who actually lives and breaths in this country. I think so many times history and information gets twisted and it may not always be wrong but the context can be off. I like all of Ian’s videos but I love these with Max. They cover weapons I have always been interested in and the depth is unmatched. Thank you for bringing these to your channel. Thank you to Max for his time and efforts as well!

Thank you for the pictures (and the captions)! Makes the video way more interesting.

This guy is on point with his conversions

huh, do I smell a future for Max Popenker and Headstamp down the line?

I definitely want more content like this in the future. Keep up the great work Ian.

Loved the captions, and thank you for not constantly saying "mhmm", or "ok" after everything. You're a good overviewer. Great content as always.

i just love listening to max talking about russian firearms development, everytime i am equally surprised at the fact that i know so little about something so fascinating

That was fascinating, really well put together little history lesson. Looking forward to hearing more from Max.

This was great! Thanks Ian and Max. I look forward to more videos like this with Max. Thanks again!

I really appreciate how much effort he is putting into being able to describe all of this in english. If you see this I hope you could let him know because I am truly very impressed. Definitely a high quality guest on the channel. I thought it was funny when he almost said Great Patriotic War instead of WWII.

Interesting, and thank Max for the history of the Dragunov!

What a fantastic interview. Max is awesome. I loved the depth of his insight and explanation, and it really was thorough. Thanks for putting this together Ian. And Max, if you see this, thank you as well

Another thanks to Max for taking the time to make these videos. His English is good, and it's evident that he's working hard on it.

Thank you for giving us an insight on my all time favourite DMR.

Great video and the historical/ tactical concept of the SVD development was as interesting as the actual weapon details. Much appreciated!

I very enjoyed this video. Thank you very much and Max for outstanding knowledge of the svd history 👍

Always enjoy Max's presentations. Great content.

Thank you Ian and your pal Max for great history and development of this rifle.

Great interview! Iain and Max, Thank you.

Thank you Ian and Max for your informative video. Forgotten Weapons has great content.

That's so crazy, I was watching your videos last night hoping you'd do a video on this weapon! That's uncanny!

I'm really glad you were able to make a contact like Max. His insight into Soviet designs is invaluable, and I hope you get to have him over to the US to shoot, maybe even for a match!

Thank you for this Max and Ian. Very well done.

Absolutely awesome bunch of information on the SVD family of rifles. Thank you both.

Ian, if you wish, I can help you with some of the transcribing of Max's audio, for you to proofread afterwards, if you want. I noticed some mistakes, or misunderstandings of his accent. I am from Latvia, my first language is Russian, and I could understand his accent quite well, and you can just check if the weapons-lingo is correct etc... ;)

I’ve been waiting for this video! Thanks Ian and Max

This was excellent ! It would also be nice to see these two have an in depth conversation.

Great video Ian and Max. Very interesting and informative on SVD history

Love your videos with Max is very informative I've learned things that never knew about Soviet rifles

Mr Popenker is great, thank you both for these!

I love the SVD, it was one of the first rifles I shot, learnt how to shoot a pair of years ago while I was living in Moscow.

Great to hear Max again.

Many thanks to Max for this walk-through. Interesting!

Thank you for having Max on. He is so knowledgable!

That was a brilliant presentation. Subtitles made it that much better. Cheers.

Thanks Max and Ian!

MVP&NVD=MVD, ministry of internal affairs (police and such)

Thank you for uploading this and giving us information about this rifle. Yes please the history behind the As val/ VSS vintorev

Outstanding, can’t wait for the next one.

The people behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. must have known their stuff. Almost all the prototypes and bullpups are in the game! Max, did you take part in developement of the game?

As always, great insight from mr Popenker.

At 8:16 it is "well before the Steyr AUG"

So cool to have a weapon systems development put in context. Fascinating.

Good video. Спасибо, Максим) Glad to hear about my hometown of Izhevsk again in some context.

awesome information

Great peresentation! It's always great to hear how much thought actually goes into military arms development. Also I found it hilariously endearing how he goes "Tokarev SVT ssssssss fourty". Not being native English speaker myself, I can sympathize. Sometimes if you say something thousand times in native language it just rolls automatically:)

Thanks Max and Ian! I LOVE

Max is a treasure, thanks for sharing him with us!

The captions are great. Also would love to hear about any history on any Russian firearms from him. Amazing stuff loved it.

Excellent, really enjoyed that. This gentleman really knows how to explain the history...in a foreign language!

Great video, thanks to both of you!

This was awesome, more of Max!

This is like an episode of "Tales of the Gun" I miss the old history channel

Very fascinating history on this rifle! Every mechanism worked and honed like a fine steel bade, in a symphony to orchestrate the same action but each orchestra with its own harmonic signature imparted into the group down range. Perhaps the most amazing of humans' inventions.

Always nice to see Max.

"expected to participate in bayonet charges" that one is a great statement

awesome! thanks for such detailed history of SVD.

Love these Max videos!

Very detailed and interesting! Awesome video.

Great insight an interview. Dragunov awesome beautiful test of time sniper rifle.

This guy is great to listen to. Lots of knowledge.

holy hell, this was interesting! please more of this

Knowledgeable and engaging guest. Didn't personally need the subtitles, his presentation style is great; robust knowledge of Western arms development too.

17:16 the most valuable information on the table is that on 500 meters 50% of the shots will go in rectangular area with this dimentions: 29 centimeters (11.4 inches) horizontally, and 29 centimeters vertically. The table shows vertical (2 column) and horizontal (3 column) *median deviation*, and vertical (3 column) and horizontal (4 column) *core stripes* for given range. Here is what it means (as i understand it): There is circle or ellipse of all the impact marks of shots fired (statisticly relevant amount, no less than 10, a few dozens is ok). We measure so to say coordinates, horizontal and vertical of every impact mark. *Horizontal median deviation* is *half* of the width of a rectangular area, that contains 50% of all the impact marks, 25% to the left of point of aim, and 25% to the right (the gun is zeroed properly). This area goes from top to bottom of the circle/ellipse of all impact marks. *Vertical median deviation* is *half* of the hight of a rectangular area, that contains 50% of all the impact marks 25% above of point of aim, and 25% below. 3 and 4 column shows *vertical and horizontal core stripes* (dont know the proper english word for it). Its similar to vertical and horizontal median deviation, but its *full width* of a rectangular area, that contains 70% of all the impacts. Intersection of vertical and horizontal core stripes gives rectangular area, that contains 50% of impacts. It called *core dispersion* (again, dont know the proper english words)

My jaws dropped while seeing how many versions of this riffle existed! What a learning session it was! Thanks a lot Ian! Thanks a lot Max! 🖖🏻🇫🇷😎🇫🇷🤪🇫🇷🖖🏻