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Thread: What do we know about Rohm pistols!

  1. #1
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    What do we know about Rohm pistols ?

    When I returned to air pistol shooting just a few years ago, I was surprised to see so many Rohm pistols in use, they had become very popular since my days with the FWB Models 65 and 80 etc
    They looked to be really good for the money and capable of producing some impressive groupings and so many were used until funds allowed the purchase of more expensive and better made types to replace them, but they did a good job in providing a “first target pistol” at an affordable price.

    Suddenly they were “no more” and ceased to be available amid various rumours as to why Rohm stopped production.

    As far as I know, they were "bought-up" and became part of the Umarex group and so funding was not likely to be the cause, but rumours persisted that sales were being lost to Rohm from a sister budget range. This budget range was Hammerli (previously a very prestigious brand until destroyed by fire whose name is now owned and used by Umerex for what are basically budget Walthers).

    Unlike the “stand alone” designs of Rohm, some production could be shared between the budget Hammerli brand and the premier Walther brand products and so cost less to produce and develop.

    It is thought by some that the Rohm production was stopped as a rival to Hammerli - even though the Rohm pistols were clearly a lot less expensive and were bought by many that would not have been able to afford to buy a Hammerli - and by those who liked the unique products Rohm had to offer that even now are not available in the Hammerli range - so maybe this is a myth?

    Any further insight that may help to identify exactly why this brand either failed or was stopped would be of some interest.
    Last edited by zooma; 04-07-2019 at 04:28 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Interesting question .. I’d love to know why too !

  3. #3
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    RobinC is offline Awesome Shooting Coach and Author.
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    Rohm history

    I do remember when Rohm was absorbed into the Walther group of companies, and have recollections of asking why when we were at Walther at that time, but can't remember the answer, so it would not have been anything earth shattering, but I doubt it was to supress competition either to Umarex or Hammerli, the group was, and still is family owned solely by two partners, and both had a very sympathetic and patriotic attitude towards German companies in the gun trade, it was how they came to take over Walther.

    I do not know for sure but I suspect Rohm was similar, and that it was taken into the group to save it, I doubt its products would have competed with any of the ranges from established group members, either the Umarex replica BB's, or the budget Hammerli's, but in 2011 it certainly was in the group.

    So what did they do with it in the group?

    My recollection of why they bought it, had laser guns in the back of my mind. Walther was dabbling with laser guns at that time and better to do that with a sub brand than risk your own name!

    I have just trawled through my Walther brochures and price lists from that era, and voile! I have found in the 2011 products and price lists,, this is a universal list with everything they made or were agents for from the full Walther range, accessories, and products including Colt and UZI firearms, and I found Rohm products listed over two pages, and? They are all LTS (laser training Systems), it includes Rohm rifles and pistols, and target systems.

    So there you have it, Walther used the Rohm name to market laser shooting systems. That was 2011 and I've been unable to find them in anything more modern, but I'll have a sweep of the internet after I get off of this.

    I think the only laser system Walther now make is a hybrid Rifle based on the Hammerli AR20, you can have an air cylinder or a dummy cylinder that is a laser sender.

    PS just searched on the Walther site, the LTS range are now marketed as Walther and Hammerli!

    Have Fun
    Robin
    Last edited by RobinC; 02-07-2019 at 03:51 PM.
    Walther KK500 Alutec expert special - Barnard .223 "wilde" in a Walther KK500 Alutec stock, mmm...tasty!! - Keppeler 6 mmBR with Walther grip and wood! I may be a Walther-phile?

  4. #4
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    Thanks for your research and answers Robin.

    Would it be possible to share the list of the Rohm air pistols (and rifles?) that were available in 2011 from Umarex by any chance?

    I am only aware of a few of the Rohm air pistols, and a full product list would help me to fill the gaps in my limited knowledge of this excellent "value for money" range of target airguns.

    We still don't know WHEN the production of the Rohm range of air pistols was stopped (except that it must have been after 2011), and we don't know WHY this excellent budget range suddenly disappeared when they would appear to have some good business and sales in this "budget price" segment of the target air pistol market.
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  5. #5
    RobinC's Avatar
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    Rohm

    Hi Bob

    The pages I have in the Walther 2011 product list is only the Rohm LTS Laser Training System, no air guns, but I will scan and email to you, (I'm not clever enough to post pictures on here!).

    We visited Ulm in 2010, and I've just checked our photo's, including the room where they have examples of all products, and it does not look like any Rohms there, but Ulm is only Walther match target, air and firearms, as well as Walther defence firearms, only those, all the other stuff, even the sporting Walther marked stuff was made at the Umarex plant at Arnsberg, so they may have still been making them there, not in my interest zone, so I'd not have asked, but I do have a recollection of being told the fact they had taken over Rohm, so almost certainly it would have been then as our previous visit was some time before, although we have been since so it may have even been later, so sorry that's not much help!

    I suspect they disappeared due to it being a small market, and even some of the big players have fallen on hard times.

    I note on a search on the internet that Rohm still make and supply blank firing pistols, and defence style laser pistols, it sort of fits, and may be the same company, and they may still be part of the Walther group, as Walther do differentiate and separate out their products to different markets.

    Have Fun
    Robin
    Last edited by RobinC; 03-07-2019 at 09:27 AM.
    Walther KK500 Alutec expert special - Barnard .223 "wilde" in a Walther KK500 Alutec stock, mmm...tasty!! - Keppeler 6 mmBR with Walther grip and wood! I may be a Walther-phile?

  6. #6
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    As I continue to try to piece together any fragments of information regarding "why and when" Rohm production ceased, I stumbled across an unlikely source when I was on the Best Fittings online site today and noticed that they had one sort of charging adaptor for pre 2012 Rohm air pistols and another for post 2012 pistol that were fitted with WALTHER air cylinders!!

    Could it be that Umerex took over the Rohm business in 2011 and continued the manufacture for some time (later using Walther air cylinders) until stopping all production of air weapons at a later date (yet to be determined) ?

    Why Umerex then stopped the air pistol production is of great interest as Rohm air pistols were beginning to make an impact with good sales evident here in the UK as the low prices made them an ideal entry level target pistol .
    Last edited by zooma; 03-07-2019 at 06:55 PM.
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  7. #7
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    Really interesting thread.

    Maybe the U.K. sales volumes (although good) were not sufficient to justify continuing manufacturing.

    FYI I came across this company http://www.magic9designltd.com/rohm-tuning that does repairs.

    Umarex reminds me of Volkswagen, I.e. a range of brands from high end to mass market, integrated manufacturing and commonality of some parts and platforms to optimise production costs.

  8. #8
    RobinC's Avatar
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    Rohm

    Disco

    There are many wings to the group, and they are very different to the VW group common platform, engines, etc, principle, and often very independent.
    The overall group is the PW group, Umarex is part of it, people here only see the Umarex replica's but its a very wide based company with many products, that includes both manufacture, and licencing agreements, including Colt, S&W, and UZI, and many more, most of the Umarex manufacturing is done at the Arnsberg plant including Hammerli. Walther is solely at Ulm and is quite independent. They also have a plant in the US where products including some of the Walther firearms are made under licence for the US market. I'm not aware of a lot of cross commonality from one to the other, except of course the Umarex replica's which are mostly similar, except in look.

    Its not a public company, and is very much a family business, its basically two families, and the heads of those were the partners until quite recently, but I believe the son's have now taken over. Their take over of Walther, I think in '93 was to maintain that as a family business, and they have maintained Walther as much the same, I'm aware that there is a Walther family member still on their current board.

    My interest is in Walther, having been a customer and had shooting contact for 40 years, with both my wife and I, and it is an impressive company. Our first contact with Walther, was a visit to the old factory in Ulm City centre, in the early 80's after an International match, my wife when asked why she did not shoot a Walther gave the gentleman a list of things she did not like about them! We later found out he was Carl Walther, many months later she was sent a pre production prototype, an LGR Junior, (which she still has) she shot it, and also a Walther small bore to the end of her International career, and she and we have been "Walther" ever since, with both air and small bore, and have friends there to this day

    A search through the Umarex and Walther websites are quite interesting to see the range of products.

    Have Fun
    Robin
    Last edited by RobinC; 10-07-2019 at 10:32 AM.
    Walther KK500 Alutec expert special - Barnard .223 "wilde" in a Walther KK500 Alutec stock, mmm...tasty!! - Keppeler 6 mmBR with Walther grip and wood! I may be a Walther-phile?

  9. #9
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    Rohm Twinmaster for sale!

    I managed to find a nice (almost mint) condition Rohm Twinmaster 8 shot multi-shot pistol (for us to test) that came complete with three 8 shot magazines and a single shot adaptor !

    The pistol has the original fitted case and is a PCP version and has two really tidy silver air cylinders with an attractive laminated wooden anatomical grip (with adjustable palm shelf) that is unmodified and in "as new" condition and the original plastic hammer cover is also still with the pistol too. (I bet most of these were lost pretty quickly!).

    The grip is a "medium" size and fitted those of us that tested it at the club last week "very nicely". The pistol also has a weight bar fitted that has two sliding weights that allows the pistol to be balanced to suite the individual - or quickly unscrewed and removed if a lighter pistol is preferred - a really nice feature !

    The eight shot magazines fed the pellets correctly with no miss-shots and the single shot adaptor worked and can be helpful if you only want to shoot single shots or go to a club that does not cater for multi-shot shooting (like RMTC used to be!).

    We had to wait to find a genuine charging adaptor before we could test it, but when we did, both cylinders held air OK but one of the manometers registers a slightly low pressure reading (not unusual - one of my Morini cylinders reads a little low too!) but once recognised makes no difference to the performance at all.

    The pistol makes an ideal "standard pistol" trainer (perhaps what it was originally intended to be?) as it can be shot "double action" or "single action" - and we enjoyed shooting it both ways!

    In short - the Rohm Multi-shot PCP air pistol works well and makes an interesting addition to any collection as well as making a fun multi-shot air pistol that with practice can be very accurate too!

    Our testing is now completed, and our memories have been brought back to life!

    This really nice example of the Rohm pistol is now available to buy (including a charging adaptor!) so if anyone is interested and would like to see some pictures of it please contact me by PM or email (preferred).

    Realistically priced at £265 complete and ready to shoot makes this a really good value multi-shot PCP target pistol.
    Last edited by zooma; 19-07-2019 at 04:56 PM.
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