There’s trouble brewing in the firearms world and it’s not exactly unexpected. Mark has dropped in word from the US with some details about some goings on at the recent ShotShow:
There seems to be trouble on the rise for air gun replicas of the UMP and XM-8. Apparently, representatives of Heckler and Koch USA have made rounds to the G&G booth in the Shot Show 2005 event in Las Vegas (and also to a paintball booth that sells XM-8 paintball guns) and told them to cease making replica guns of the HK UMP and the prototype XM-8. No one knows why, but it suggests that HK is one of the few gun manufacturers that does not want to be associated with a well-known airsoft company.
Details are still sketchy, so I’ll try to find updates when possible.
Mark (aka RPG_Commando)
This is not wholly unexpected if it’s true as H&K do not license their replicas to anyone in the Airsoft business (the same goes for Glock). This is why Classic Army and others that export to the western world are careful in their naming and use of logos; who remembers the fiasco over the Classic Army M4 and Colt? No doubt a lot goes under the radar as Airsoft isn’t that big and really not of huge interest to the real firearms fraternity (after all they can have the real thing). Unfortunately showing off their new products at the ShotShow at the beginning of this year in the presence of the firearms manufacturers, combined with the increased popularity of Airsoft in general may well have changed the balance of things. It looks like the G&G products might be slightly delayed if the reports are true.
