Gehmann, the choice
of champions -
why not join them...
The company’s background...
The company’s background...
Back in the 1930s a young man named Walter Gehmann was
soon noticed on the range. He was becoming a pain to
his fellow competitors in small-bore and full-bore rifle,
winning competitions all the way to national level.
Seeking yet further improvements in his scores he explored
the possibility of developing some of the shooting equipment
of the day. As early as 1936 he designed his first precision
rearsight assembly.The following year he developed the
first specialised shooting glasses with a swivelling
lens holder.
In 1939, while minds were elsewhere he
came up with Germany´s first target-shooting jacket,
shooting sling, boots and specialised glove.
1949 saw the birth of a company still bearing Gehmann´s
name. Although the first 40 years were steered by founder
Walter it recently saw son Markus assist father for
10 years - then finally take over of the reins Back
to the story of Walter Gehmann´s career: it went
on to see him achieve a world championship,
followed by the arrival of his first precision rearsight
iris in 1953 - with which he won no less than seven
German championships. Arguably the type of work we all
wish we could do! In 1956 along came his first foresight
iris and two years later his first colour filter unit
for a rearsight. A little known fact about its founder
is his talent for assisting the design and development
of other well known manufacturers in their early days.
He patented the Mauser 66 action, designed the Anschutz
Match 54 action and assisted design and production of
the Feinwerkbau 65, 150, 300 and small-bore rifle. He
also carried out development work for Walther. Interestingly
the company itself has never produced its own rifle
or pistol - something wise men close to our present
manufacturers may say was due to a shrewd business brain!
This road of new ideas, designs leading to successfully
marketed products, engineering with quality, excellent
tools and equipment - just went on and on.
Herr Gehmann snr. now has 100+ patents
to his credit and still exercises his grey matter at
the desk. Some of his best ideas never made it to us
- unfortunately. Two examples being an electronically
controlled iris that automatically adjusts to ambient
light and a twin eyesight combined prism enabling the
rifle shooter to use both eyes for sighting - one assumes
an inquiring mind will forever explore avenues of possibility
though not all will achieve maturity.
More recently Gehmann witnessed the introduction of
what is now the world’s leading pre-charged match
air weapons - ending up appointed as Morini´s
major distributor. The 162.E pistol, a revolution in
its day sent rivals scampering for similar ideas, although
to be fair, no-one has yet manufactured anything equaling
the quality of Morini’s electronic trigger and
dry-fire mechanism.... So, in conclusion, today Gehmann
is recognised world-wide as a major target shooting
equipment manufacturer - supplying products always designed
to give us our best shot at prices we can afford - and
with a service life second to none...
GRAHAM MANLEY (Gehmann UK)
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