Last week, Hrachya posted a sneak peak of the Umarex HDR50. I happen to attend IWA 2018 while I was in Germany last week and got a chance to take a closer look at it along with some of Umarex’s other offerings.

First I shall premise this post with a little background and explantion of IWA. I have never been to IWA before. I have heard things about IWA and that is is similar to SHOT Show for Europe. and thanks to my friend Richard, from Scottland, he warned me that there will be a lot of airsoft and air guns at IWA. More so than SHOT Show.

A Closer Look At The HDR50

The HDR50 is a polymer air gun. Mostly polymer. It has a metal barrel liner and internal components are made of metal but when you pick it up and hold it, everything you touch is plastic.

There is no exposed hammer.

 

The magazine is a six-shot cylinder that you load the projectiles in. See the bolt action style lever in front of the cylinder? You pull that back and up to unlock the magazine. Although aren’t these called clips for airguns? Anyway, the magazine is also plastic with a metal insert for the locking rod.

The HDR50 is a CO2 powered air revolver. The CO2 cartridge is installed into the grip. As the name implies it shoots .50 cal projectiles. As Hrachya pointed out in his article, the HDR50 produces only 11 joules of energy. To give you some context, Airsoft 6mm bbs typically stay under 3 joules. For a .40gr .22LR, they produce about 141 joules. Actually, if you look at paintball, they typically have energy levels around 11J so you can expect paintball levels of discomfort when hit by this. Of course, it is all dependent on the projectiles used.

HDR50, Huh, Yeah,  What Is It Good For?

So what good is the HDR50? It is marketed as a defensive weapon. I guess defense in Europe is different than what we consider defense here in the States.

This placard has some interesting information.

Apparently, there will be two versions of the HDR50, a 7.5J and 11J version. It lists the types of ammo used for the HDR50. Rubberballs, chalkballs markingballs, and pepperballs. One projectile not listed are these rubber tipped polymer pellets. They are somewhat like a Minié ball. They appear to be self-rifled and potentially self-stabilized for better accuracy.

According to the Umarex employee I spoke to, the HDR50 will be released in about two months. Since this is for Germany, he does not know if Umarex USA will be bringing these in. He did not have an actual price for the HDR50 but it is estimated to cost between €100 – €180.

Umarex Is Huge

At least that appears to be the case given the size of their booth at IWA. It was clearly one of the largest booths there. When I walked into the Nuremberg Messe convention center, after getting my badge I walked into the first hall that was firearm related. Umarex was positioned right at the entrance that I walked into. Immediately to my left, I saw this.

Yep, Umarex was giving away tattoos. The permanent kind.

Here are the designs you could choose for your free tattoo.

This guy opted for the knife with the Umarex banner.

I did not realize how big Umarex was as a brand until I realized that people love them so much that they would want a Umarex tattoo to show off their love for the brand. Every time I walked by this area, the seat was always occupied. That is some serious appreciation for an airgun company.

What Else Do They Have?

Last January, Hrachya also reported that Umarex was able to acquire the licensing from Glock to make airsoft replica Glocks. In Hrachya’s article, it mentioned Umarex will be making the Glock 42, 19, and 17. Well at IWA they have some new models.

A Glock 34 Gen4.

The G34 is powered by a CO2 canister stored inside the magazine.

Here is their Glock 17 Gen 4.

Glock 17 magazine on the left, Glock 34 magazine on the right. The Glock 17 is also CO2 powered. Not sure why the magazines are so different.

This tan Glock 22 is an all plastic springer airsoft gun. You need to rack the slide to cock the spring powered piston for every shot.  

The location for a Glock serial number has been used for a low profile safety.

Umarex is also making a spring powered Glock 18C. However, it is only an aesthetic difference between this and the Glock 22 above. The selector switch is molded to the slide. It does not do anything. The G18C does come with an extended magazine.

Licensing

The majority of products at IWA are licensed products and most of it is airsoft. Umarex has been making licensed HK416 airsoft guns. Actually, it is VFC in Taiwan that has been making them for Umarex. Now they are making AEG versions of the HK 416 A5.

This “tan” 416 looks almost like gold in the light. I do not understand why they cannot get RAL8000 correct. It should not be that hard to color match the real guns.

Here is a licensed HK MP7 gas blow back rifle.

This is their gas-powered HK416 rifle.

While not exactly similar, it does looks a lot like a full auto lower for the real gun.

I was truly surprised at Umarex. Their size and fandom are not what I was expecting. Besides H&K they have licenses for IWI and are making airsoft Tavors. I hope Umarex USA brings the HDR50 to the states even if it is just a fun toy to shoot paintballs out of.