Simon West joined the British Army in 1985. During a full career, he was heavily involved in the operational use and development of gun and ammunition systems. He was the UK MoD Programme Manager for Guns and taught weapon technology at the Royal Military College of Science.
After leaving the Army in 2018, he became Executive Director of the UK Gun Trade Association, providing technical and legislative advice to the industry. In this role he also supported government departments and law enforcement bodies on the classification of firearms and ammunition.
He has been a Registered Firearms Dealer for 25 years.
He has appeared in numerous TV programmes as a weapons expert.
Simon was honoured to be Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers 2023-2024 where he was able to support traditional gunmaking skills and the safety testing of small arms at the Proof House.
