Last month I was in Germany for a week. While I was there, I stopped by to check out IEA MIL Optics. I know them as one of the premier night vision dealers in Europe. They are an L3, Unity Tactical, EOTech and Wilcox dealer. They have other products not just those and they are a firearms dealer. Their head of workshop, Leon Kurz, gave me a tour of their gun room. They have some very interesting firearms.

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I went to IEA MIL Optics to acquire some HK furniture and a red dot. But due to Germany’s stricter laws (more strict than they were 4 years ago), I would not be able to export them. As a consolation prize, they gave me a tour of their facility. In their lobby, they have an H&K GMG pointed towards the door.  It is like a German version of an MK19.

Their vault room is a cornucopia of German firearms. These immediately caught my attention. IEA MIL Optics lists the HK416 cutaway on their website for sale but it says “call for quote” which sounds expensive. Next to that is a cutaway MP5.

I had my two kids with me so my attention span was limited. Trying to wrangle a restless 6-year-old and rambunctious 2-year-old is taxing. So I dismissed this other cutaway gun at the time. I mistakenly thought it was an Uzi. Clearly, I was wrong.

I reached out to my friend Scott Howard aka Machinegun Dad as he is my go-to source for machine gun information. I still thought this was some sort of submachine gun because the short barrel tricked me and I did to recognize the receiver. I was again wrong. It is a cut down cutaway Swiss STG57!

Since IEA MIL Optics is known for night vision, they have a number of rifles with night vision scopes on them.

Apparently, Starlight Scope eyepieces contain Thorium. Insert eye cancer joke here.

Just before my trip to Germany, I had written about old first-generation cascade night vision and my HK91 clone with Hensoldt Fero Z51 were used in that article.

And they have something similar at IEA MIL Optics. Interestingly, this HKG3 has a bipod mounted at the back of the handguard.

It is hard to see but this is a dedicated night vision clip-on for the G36 platform. It plugs into the hole in the carry handle and has an inverted periscope that projects the night vision image into the 3x scope. This is a dual optic carry handle. IEA MIL Optics sells this for €4,500 but you have to be approved and have a reason to buy this in Germany.

Of course, they are an H&K dealer and they have HK416s.

All of these below are MR223 rifles.

On the deck, behind my daughter is a clear cutaway G36. They sell this for €2,000. I wish I could buy it but like a cutaway Glock pistol here in the States. This G36 is still considered a firearm in Germany and you need a license to buy it.

IEA MIL Optics has a number of pistols in display cases. These cutaway HKP7s caught my attention.

Unfortunately, the glare from the display case glass makes it hard to see but I was trying to take a picture of the VP70 with stock.

The stock makes it full auto. Although this one is missing the selector switch.

This is a bullpup rifle from TecTarget Schneider.

Leon works on night vision so he did not know some of the guns in their collection. Here are some that caught my eye. I did not want to impose by touching things plus I had to keep my kids in line so I did not pull these guns out to get a better look at them. Check out the rifle with the large offset suppressor. Leon said it came from Munich SWAT. Of course, they have night vision scopes on them similar looking to my Oldelft scope.

These green-stocked rifles are an oddity. Leon claimed these were the predecessor to the WA2000. But my google search has not yielded what these are.

This bolt gun has what looks like an integrally suppressed barrel.

After the gun room, Leon took me on a tour of their night vision workshop. I was not able to take photos but I was able to finally see and take pics of a Thales Lucie. A night vision biocular that is my current grail. However, I have not found one in the price range I would like to spend. These are rather rare and not many are in civilian hands.

Thanks to IEA MIL Optics for showing me around their facility. They are definitely an amazing place that works on GPNVGs, fusion goggles, and all manner of night vision for a lot of military and LE departments. They were cleaning and purging PVS-15s for the British MOD. I wish I had more time to take better photos of their guns and Leon is a wealth of night vision knowledge. Thank you.