A Spitfire's trigger, a homemade zip gun and Genghis Khan at the Royal Armouries
Two winter lectures, one on the Mongol conqueror's memory and one on medieval tournaments, joined Jonathan Ferguson's weapons work on the museum's shelf.
Royal Armouries
Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
The IRA's Homemade .22 "Zip Gun" with firearms expert Jonathan Ferguson
Jonathan Ferguson spent the week doing what he does best: taking objects apart until they explain themselves. On the Royal Armouries' channel, the national collection's Keeper of Firearms and Artillery started with a Short that asks how Spitfire pilots fired their guns. He had no Spitfire on hand, so he used a CO₂ capsule to show how compressed air could release the firing mechanism of a wing-mounted Browning .50 calibre. That Short has passed 300,000 views.
Then came the main event, as we reported here: "The IRA's Homemade .22 "Zip Gun" with firearms expert Jonathan Ferguson", a new episode of What Is This Weapon? about a crude, craft-made gun captured by British forces during the Troubles. In under two days it has gathered more than 400,000 views, and its comment section has turned into a workshop. The most debated question is what the three small holes near the front were for.
The quieter half of the week belonged to the museum's winter lectures. Dr. Alex Chelleger of the University of Leeds asked how Genghis Khan is remembered differently from one society to the next, and a second talk traced how medieval tournaments developed.
Together they brought the channel more than a million views for the week, well above its usual pace, and about 2,000 new subscribers. Among similar channels, only Daniel Davis / Deep Dive and Combat Veteran News gained more views. Legally Armed America had a quiet week.
Published on Trari
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The videos drawing views on Royal Armouries right now
- Channel
- Royal Armouries
- Subscribers
- 437,000 ▲ 2,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,059,600
- Videos published this week
- 4
- Video published
- October 7, 2026
- Video views so far
- 426,281
- Views on its first day
- 251,310
The numbers
Here is how the Royal Armouries' week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire. Which city became its capital under his son Ögedei?
Ögedei Khan made Karakorum, in the Orkhon Valley of present-day Mongolia, the imperial capital in the 1230s.