In one way or another, I’ve been floating around in the world of firearms culture seemingly all my life. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad’s (unsecured) wall-mounted gun rack in our home. On that rack rested three guns: a shotgun whose make is lost to my memory, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington and a Nylon 66 .22LR. These guns captivated my attention from time to time as a youngster and even more so when I was old enough to tag along on squirrel hunts, and my favorite, coon hunts. My brother, being nearly 5 years older, had by 13 years old developed quite the knowledge base for guns. It was evident early on that his interests were heavily favoring military-style arms. He was kind enough, or maybe just out of sheer necessity to share his books and knowledge with me.
While I was not quite the sponge for such esoteric knowledge that he was, I did learn to spot those Mauser’s, Lugar’s, Enfield’s, and Springfields in various movies and television shows we were able to watch. Even the old Western’s featuring single-action army’s, break-top Remington’s and the obligatory lever actions were fair game for our firearm identification exercises. To absolutely no one’s surprise Jerry, my brother, eventually went on to serve our country and state in the Arkansas National Guard until he was medically discharged some 15 years later. I’ve always said of Jerry that he’s forgotten more about guns than most people will ever know.
Be Legendary
So how I ended up working in this industry, I’ll never know for sure. However it worked out, one fact remains: Umarex has the most vast catalog of airguns in the business. This diversity of offerings is good because we likely have something for everyone in the digital pages of our website. From the new REKT foam dart blasters to high-end milsim airsoft, from backyard BB plinkers to serious real deal .50 caliber air rifles that have been used on dangerous game– Umarex has a vast selection of products in many different categories. And among the vast choices in our website are our historical replicas, most found in our Legends series of BB guns. Yes, most of them will be classified as Legends, but some, due to existing license agreements, will be found in the appropriate brand heading.
Let’s take a few moments to go through these Legends, whether or not they are actually classified as such in our catalog.
Slightly favoring the Eastern Bloc countries, the Legends line is populated with such handgun replicas as the Soviet Makarov, the German P.08 Luger, as well as the German M712 “broomhandle” Mauser. The Makarov famously borrows from Walther’s PPK in design and function, just without the graceful design of its German inspiration. The P.08 with its unique “toggle” action is modern-looking, even today, It and the M712 Mauser were actually chosen by George Lucas as the base for which a pair of blasters used in the filming of the Star Wars movies.
Moving on to the carbines, the first long gun to get the Legend’s treatment was the German-built Legends MP based, of course, on the MP40 submachine gun used in World War II. While not the first fully automatic BB gun on the market, it was certainly one of the coolest ever. The next long gun to be produced was actually a side-step to the military-themed models that haunted the Legends series. It was the Legends Cowboy Rifle that was intended to be a nice companion to the licensed Colt Peacemaker’s we were already producing. This lever-action used the same cartridge shells that the Peacemaker used and even ejected spent shells via the lever action.
After the dust settled on the Cowboy Rifle, we payed homage to the “allied” side of the military small arms arsenal. This time we took on the famous Thompson submachine gun with our Legends M1A1. Like the Legends MP, the M1A1 also featured fully automatic function and looks and feels amazing.
Just this past year we announced yet another fully automatic addition to the Legends line, the American M3 “grease gun”. This submachine gun was borne out of necessity when the M1A1 was both too slow and too expensive to produce in the quantities needed for the war efforts. While homely, the M3 did not lack for utility. The Legends M3 Grease Gun works to help balance the portfolio a little within the Legends line, but do remember that I wrote earlier of our license agreements.
Licensed Historical Replicas
I already let the cat out of the bag with our license agreement with Colt in the paragraph about the Cowboy Rifle. One of our perennial best sellers in the Colt family is the Colt Commander, a 1911 inspired blowback BB pistol. This model does have a skeletonized hammer and trigger, but except for that, is visually very similar to the original real steel. On the premium side of the Colt offerings is the .177 caliber pellet shooting Government Model 1911 A1.
But before I wrap this blog entry up, I have to take us back across the pond to Germany. These days Umarex and Walther are sister companies, owned by the same fine people in Germany. We make two “legendary” replica Walthers that fit the scope of this missive. Both of these Walthers have roots before the start of World War II, the PPK and P38. The PPK was typically found in .32ACP in this time period and the P38 in the hotter 9mm Luger round. The PPK in our catalog isn’t 100% true to form. It more closely resembles the PPK/S with the exposed frame on the back strap and longer grip. This is due to the length of the 12-gram CO2 cartridge used to power this replica. The P38, however, is nearly spot on in every single way when compared to the real steel Walther.
Do keep in mind that of the products mentioned above, these are only those that fit into the historical replica category. We are the King of Replicas afterall. I didn't even mention all the other replicas Beretta’s, Colt’s, GLOCKs, Heckler & Koch’s, Smith & Wesson’s, or Walther’s in our webstore. Like I stated earlier, we’ve got something for everyone, whether you are a history buff, reenactor, cosplayer, recreational shooter, collector, hunter, or competition shooter. Stick around and explore all the Umarex products and brands!