A conversation about attraction
The collector’s eye
By Dennis Adler

The other day a friend asked what got me into collecting replica air pistols? I thought the answer was obvious from my recent Retrospect articles on the Umarex Walther CP99, but as it turns out that really isn’t the case. At the time, 2001, when the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns was published, I wasn’t an airgun collector, I had a few but I was a gun collector; air pistols were not something I had developed an interest in acquiring; remember, this is almost 20 years ago.
The First Edition Blue Book of Airguns was simply an editorial project for me as Special Projects Editor for Blue Book Publications. The book was, in fact, a collaborative effort between me, publisher Steve Fjestad, and the inspiration for the book in the first place, Dr. Robert D. Beeman. So to honestly answer the question, “What got me into collecting replica air pistols? I would have to look back at the actual centerfire guns I was collecting 20 years ago.
I already had a Walther P99 (and had been collecting Walther models for many years), so when I undertook the Blue Book of Airguns I immediately gravitated to the latest air pistol that was based on an existing handgun, the CP99. I ended up with three of them, but I hardly considered that a collection, or myself an airgun collector. I just like the CP99. I also liked the older Umarex Walther CP 88 which I had been attracted to a couple of years after it was introduced in 1996. I regarded it as a well made, German CO2 pellet pistol that raised the bar for this type of airgun. It had come to my attention prior to the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns, when I was working with Blue Book to put the airgun section together in the annual Blue Book of Gun Values. Airguns consumed a portion of each book every year, but by 1999 the airgun section had begun consuming too many pages, which is what led to the Blue Book of Airguns being conceived a year later. Obviously, the airgun market was growing exponentially by the early 2000s, enough so, that it demanded a Blue Book of its own. That’s one version of how I got into collecting replica air pistols but not what really got me to become a collector.

My interest in collecting airguns (CO2 air pistols to be specific), really didn’t begin until 2015, at which point I began writing up the newer replica airguns for a series of articles I had started in Combat Handguns magazine on training with air pistols. This began following my trip to the Umarex factory in Germany and a review and video on the new Umarex Colt Commander Model 1911. But I still wasn’t a collector, not until Umarex introduced the Broomhandle Mauser Model 712, which hit at the core of my gun collecting interests. I had been collecting Broomhandle Mausers since the late 1970s and regarded them as one of the most interesting handguns ever designed. The CO2 model so impressed me that I purchased it and began to look at all the other, then current, CO2 replicas of modern and early 20th century handguns.

This led me to my next purchase, the first version of the Webley MK VI, which caught my attention with its superb authenticity and detail. It was also another CO2 version of a centerfire gun I collected.


Within months of that, Umarex introduced the first Colt Peacemaker model, quickly followed by some unique limited editions like the U.S Marshal Museum Commemorative.


It is safe to say, I was hooked from that point on, having already reviewed the CO2 Peacemakers in Guns of the Old West, and the new Sig Sauer P226 for Combat Handguns. Later in 2016 I began writing the Airgun Experience columns for Pyramyd Air and the rest, as they say, is history recreated in CO2.



Obviously my interest as an airgun collector has its roots in replicas of late 19th and early 20th century handguns and, after some thought, to answer the question, it would be the Broomhandle Mauser Model 712.

What drew you in?
Now that I have given a summary of what got me into collecting replica air pistols, I would like to hear from readers, as I am sure you all have stories to tell about what brought you into collecting airguns and reading Airgun Experience. This article is a two-way street. And with city streets as empty as they are right now, this might give you a chance for a drive down Memory Lane! Let me hear from you.
Two particular CO2 powered pellet pistols kept showing up in advertising materials I received in the mail. One of those, the Umarex Beretta PX4 was a genuine firearm replica. The other was not a genuine replica, but a generic revolver in the style of a Colt revolver, the Crosman 357-6.
At the time I purchased these, I had very limited experience with guns that shot anything other than water. I thought (and later discovered) that shooting airguns might be fun. At the same time, I was considering a purchase of a firearm home defense pistol and decided to use the genuine replica pistols to familiarize myself with various makes and models to see which one I might prefer to try in the firearm.
Over the last several years, I have very enthusiastically collected mostly the genuine replicas and limited edition replicas of Colt, Beretta, Walther, HK,, Dan Wesson, Smith & Wesson, CZ, and Tanfoglio semi-auto pistols and revolvers. I have also eagerly added the early 20TH Century war period replicas like the Mauser, Luger, Webley, MP40, Thompson M1A1, and others.
It has been a fun hobby. When I started, I never thought I would become a collector of so many fine replicas. You may ask, ” why buy so many?” I bought so many for the variety. The limited edition replicas are truly collectibles. I don’t plan to shoot those again. I keep them stored in their original boxes to keep them in pristine condition.
As I have been told many times, “collecting” is a verb. When I started collecting guns over 40 years ago, I had different interests. When my interests changed, I assumed I would sell guns that I was no longer interested in, but I never lost interest, my interests just expanded. It has been the same with airguns, the more interesting they become the more you end up with. I have managed to shoot all of the various airguns I have, some not for years like your Walther lever action,(the Retrospect articles helped with that!) but even when you pull out an older model, it rekindles the interest that drew you to it in the first place, or at least that has been my experience. I do like to display the limited editions on a shelf rather than keep them in the boxes. I check then from time to time, dust them, etc., but seeing them is as much a joy as collecting them. Enjoy!
Dennis
Some limited editions should only be stored as collectibles, but not this one
That is ridiculous good shooting! Can’t get better than all in the bullseye.
I have a few mentioned above. The Webley and both John Wayne “Shootist” models. I haven’t fired the Webley(yet) but I can’t bring myself to shoot the engraved Shootist, just too pretty. The plain Shootist recieved a defarb makeover and is a nice stand in til I can get the Cimarron Rooster Shooter in .45 Colt. My brother has the Mauser with an attached shoulder stock, but I can’t hit a thing with that gun. A 1911A1 sights are match grade compared to that darn Broomhandle!
Nice defarbing job. What did you use on the grips?