Our Rich History

The Navy Arms story is very much the story of America — a big idea borne from humble beginnings, leading to great successes, then overcoming challenges through an enduring commitment to quality and service.

Since 1957 when my father began Navy Arms from an old, dilapidated bank building in Bogota, New Jersey, Navy Arms has changed the face of the firearms industry. While most famous for being the "Father of the Replica Firearms Industry," his contributions to the field of firearms in his 72 years on this planet is genuinely extraordinary.

Aside from conceiving, engineering and manufacturing over one hundred different models of replica firearms, Val Forgett, Jr., also:

• Cleared Bannerman's Island of thousands of pounds of live ordnance for the Bannerman Family prior to the island's sale to the State of New York.
• Purchased numerous historically important items from the Maxim family Estate, including Hiram Maxim's prototype machinegun, which he donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Museum.
• Purchased the W.W. Greener Museum, and owned W.W. Greener for approximately 5 days, selling it to Webley & Scott, but retaining the rights to the Greener Harpoon Gun and the Greener Police Cartridge.
• Developed the first all-stainless steel double-action 9mm semi-auto pistol, the Mamba.
• Founded the U.S. International Muzzleloading team that won five consecutive World Championships, a feat unmatched to this day.
• Served as President of the National Firearms Museum that under his watch, conceived, financed and built today's NRA Museum in Fairfax, Virginia
• Imported, processed, marketed and sold well over 1,000,000 surplus firearms of historic importance, including Johnson Rifles, MAS-45 .22 training rifles, M1 Garands and Carbines from Korea, and the only cache of Enfield L42 Sniper rifles ever imported into the United States.
• Became the first hunter in 100 years to take the African "Big Five" with a muzzle-loading rifle, an achievement recognized by Safari Club International in 1986

Those are just some of the things he achieved, he did so much more. While I knew of these achievements, and personally witnessed many of them, to me, he was Dad. He was a guy who loved me and my sisters and my mother, who led by example, who worked hard and succeeded almost without exception. Yes, occasionally, he failed, and it was those times I learned the most from him. I learned many lessons from my father, the most important one being this:

Never give up. He never did, nor have I.

I am now in my 50's, I have my own family, and have operated Navy Arms, along with my other companies and brands, Midland Arms, Old Western Scrounger, for 30 years now. I know the value of persistence and hard work, in business and in life.

I invite you to come back to the websites of all our companies, often, as we continue to introduce (and, perhaps "re-introduce"), new, rare and innovated products to Navy Arms' customers, and am very grateful for your business.

Sincerely,
Navy Arms, LLC
Val J. Forgett III
President & CEO