Looking Beyond July 1

As we enter the final days before Virginia's new firearms laws take effect on July 1, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has continued to support Freedom Forge Armory during what has been one of the most significant transitions in the company's history. 

Over the past several months we've seen a surge in firearms transfers, and I want to thank everyone who trusted us to handle those transactions. 

Yes, I am aware of the court cases and litigation that is playing out across the state, and I like many others am hopeful that the majority of restrictive laws are overturned. That being said I can't sit around wishing and hoping for a brighter future while things play out in what is sure to be a lengthy legal process. 

That being said, some products and services have been discontinued, others have changed, and our focus has shifted considerably. While those changes were driven in part by new legislation, they also gave me the opportunity to take a hard look at where I wanted this company to be five or ten years from now.

The answer became clear.

Freedom Forge Armory is no longer simply a firearms shop. It is becoming an engineering, testing, consulting, and instructional company.

Beginning July 1, the shop building will undergo a reorganization that better supports the Ordnance Development Division. This is something I've been building toward for quite some time, and I'm excited to finally dedicate the resources it deserves.

One of the first major development projects is the T469 Modular 60mm Training Projectile. The goal is simple: create a durable, affordable, reusable training system that helps solve the growing shortage of available 60mm training ammunition. Rather than relying on decades-old surplus ammunition that becomes harder to find and more expensive every year, we're working toward a modern, modular system designed specifically for instruction, testing, and training.

Alongside the T469, development will begin on the T371 37mm Training Projectile. This project is intended to provide a realistic chalk-marking training round for 37mm launchers while remaining economical enough for repeated use during instructional events and force-on-target exercises.

These projects are not overnight endeavors. Like any serious engineering project, they will go through multiple cycles of design, prototyping, testing, evaluation, redesign, and testing again. There will undoubtedly be failures along the way, but every iteration brings us closer to a practical solution.

To support these efforts, we're also expanding our in-house manufacturing capability.

Over the coming months the shop will gain advanced 3D printing equipment capable of producing engineering prototypes, tooling, fixtures, and many of the composite components used throughout our development projects. Additive manufacturing has reached a point where it is becoming a practical engineering tool rather than simply a hobby and integrating that capability allows us to move from an idea to a functional prototype in days instead of weeks or months.

For our customers, that means you'll begin seeing more original products developed entirely in-house. Rather than adapting someone else's design, we'll have the ability to identify a problem, engineer a solution, prototype it, test it, refine it, and eventually place it into production when it meets our standards.

That capability won't just support ammunition development. It will allow us to design training aids, range equipment, instructional models, gauges, fixtures, replacement components, and many other projects that previously would have required outside machining or prohibitively expensive production runs.

This transition also represents a change in philosophy.

Rather than waiting for someone else to solve the problems facing the destructive device and ordnance community, we're going to build the solutions ourselves.

Whether that's modern training ammunition, instructional equipment, UXO training aids, consulting services, or entirely new concepts, the Ordnance Development Division exists to identify real-world problems and develop practical answers through engineering, testing, education, and practical experience.

There is a great deal of work ahead, and much of it will happen quietly behind the scenes before you ever see a finished product. As projects progress, I'll continue sharing updates, development photos, testing results, and lessons learned here on the website.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported Freedom Forge Armory over the years. The company may be changing, but the mission remains the same: provide professional instruction, honest information, and develop equipment that serves the people who actually use it.

The next chapter begins on July 1, and I look forward to seeing all of you again after the 15th.

Brandon
Owner
Freedom Forge Armory, LLC