I thought I had seen it all when it came to replica airguns. Well, I guess that’s what I get for thinking. There is another other world of options out there that I never knew existed and I started to scratch the surface when I visited Gletcher at SHOT 2015.
What’s a “Gletcher?”
Ok, so let me back up. Several months ago I received an email from a marketing firm about a new airgun company looking to get into the US market. For many reasons I was not able to really do much more than have a short conversation with them. One thing I remembered however was the name; “Gletcher.” It’s a name that sort of sticks with you and it did for me as well.
While going over the list of airgun manufactures presenting at SHOT, I found this funny name again: “Glecher.” Then I got a call from the president of Airgun Depot telling me they were going to launch some of their line of replica airguns. So I guess I WILL be working with this new company after all and I better go find out what they are all about.
Gletcher – Russian LegendsExtremely realistic replicas
On the last day of SHOT I wandered up to their booth and was meet by Boris Shekhman who took the time to tell me about their philosophy and their airguns. What I found interesting, was their focus was not on the typical, run of the mill replicas, but rather really unique and historic pieces from Eastern Europe. Their signature line, called the “Russian Legends” series, is what you’ll find here at AirgunDeopt.com
Boris and the “not so angelic” Rick and CecilThese 1 to 1, all metal replicas operate like the real firearms and have a fit and finish that would impress just about any critic. I spent most of my time handling their new M1891 which really got my attention. I love a really smooth, old fashioned, vintage bolt action rifle. Cycling the bolt of the sawed off Mosin Nagant M1891 rifle was about as real as it has ever been short of an actual firearm. I expect to be reviewing this rifle very soon.
the Mosin Nagant M1981 BB RifleThe rest of the Russian Legends series, includes pistols like the Tokarev, Stechkin, and the Grach. These are all Russian pieces with historical significance or iconic modern usage. What I found significant was the way the felt in the hand and how smooth and consistent the action appeared to be from just manually working them. If only every booth at SHOT had their own dedicated firing range! Unfortunately I’ll have to wait a while to get my hands on some of these guns for testing, but if they shoot as good as they feel, I’m going to be a very happy airgunner.
Gletcher Tokarev TT Pistol Gletcher Stechkin APS Pistol Gletcher Granch PistolPerhaps the most unique piece was the Nagant NGT 7 shot revolver. Ol’ Dirty Harry’s line would have been very different had he been using one of these. (How many old timers got that reference?) This pistol uses single “bullet” cartridges like we’ve seen on other revolver replicas. The realism that is achieved in the weight and feel is pretty amazing. Sure, there’s nothing that will replace shooting the real thing, but as far as replicas go, and if you’re into vintage firearms that are actually safe to shoot, then this is a really nice example of how to do it right.
Gletcher Nagant RevolverSome available now, others available very soon.
Some of Gletcher’s offering are available now, others will be available very soon. I’m very excited to be getting in the M1891 here in a few days. I may have not known anything about Gletcher before the SHOT show, but the name is firmly etched in my brain now. If the rest of their products match the feel, and the fit and finish of what I sampled at SHOT, I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of their airguns.
Keep your eyes on the blog and on our YouTube page. There are a lot more articles and videos to come as we continue our coverage from SHOT Show 2015!
