Hammerli Trailside in the Lost and Found
by Donny Lairson on Friday 14 May 2004
There they were articles everywhere about the Hammerli Trailside expounding on the quality of a gun that match after match wins competitions and goes for the Gold in every Olympic shoot. You called all around and found nothing and no one knew what was going on. Well here's the rest of the story.
The Hammerli Corp of Switzerland is currently owned and imported by SigArms and with all of their expansion one of the top 5 target pistols to every hit the market (arguable the best) has been falling through the cracks unnoticed. SigArms did a massive ad campaign on the Hammerli, which drove interest in it through the roof only for consumers to find that they couldn't get one. That was 4 years ago when an Importation problem had the Hammerli held up for so long that all the money that SigArms used to promote it just went to waste.
The March of 2000 Shooting Times article on the gun had 1000's waiting in line for a gun that just would never show its face that year. All of that has changed we have contacted Sigarms for a status update on the hard to find Hammerli and they are now "plentiful" was what we were told. Dealers like to have at least one Hammerli in stock because it’s a gun that not only draws interest but the feel and balance of them often generates multiple sales. So why are we telling you all of this.
As I am hunting around I am not finding any target pistol that is as accessorized as the Trailside is and for us at GunMuse.com that is important. We are even finding left-handed grips in stock at dealers, which is rare for even the most common of firearms these days. I have always been impressed with the presentation of the Hammerli to the customers their box and layout should be a standard for all manufactures in the coming years, making the job of selling as easy as possible on the dealers who pay for premium dealer programs.
For those who have never seen a trailside before don't let the name fool you into thinking its not practical. Hammerli Trailsides have set the benchmark for accuracy for decades. I am going over the article I found in the Shooting times and how impressed they are that the factory rejects any gun with a group greater than .25 inches. Frankly if my Ruger competition grouped greater than that I would of sent it back. So that doesn't impress me in the least. The impressive features of the Trailside are in the design of the gun. Balance, rigidity of the frame and flawless cycling these are the marks that have always endeared me to a Hammerli. The fine machining that takes place is truly a rare find. Due to the fine mesh of parts you can expect that if you Shoot 50,000 + rounds a year to have to replace parts to keep your Hammerli at the top of its game. This true with most firearms but parts availability can be a monstrous undertaking. So while researching this article went out and found at least 5 sites that specialized in customizing and rebuilding the Hammerli since they have been in competition for so long.
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Hammerli took some initiative in creating a 5 1/2" full size model that would fit into normal daily carry and hunting holsters. Being one who likes to chase squirrels and rabbits with my pistols this is a wonderful model. The straight blow back design allows for rapid fire while maintaining site picture, which is great for chasing rabbits on the run, and impressing your hunting buddies with quick kill shots on multiple rabbits. Frankly for us it’s just not fair to chase rabbits with a rifle anymore. Jackrabbits in this area will stop if you whistle at them and perk their heads up. Moving to the challenges of hunting with a pistol puts enjoyment back into hunting that many have missed in the past few years.
At the time we wrote this article all of the supply problems for the Hammerli Trailside had been addressed and it should be fairly easy for you to get your Hammerli this season. Hammerli is even offering a Cash Back offer, which expires on January 31st 2004 (Sorry guys stumbled across this while trying to solve other problems). The only item that was a crusher to us was the high price of magazines ($38.00 on average) and even then we have not been able to verify the stock status on those. The largest online dealer of Hammerli Galler of Guns did not have any magazines even listed, which is not a concern for most but a few of us like to buy 5 magazines for each handgun we own. I will address this issue to SigArms and talk to The Gun Clip Depot about stocking them for us.
So as your striving for excellence this year we would recommend a good look at the Hammerli Trailside from SigArms. This pistol definitely fits our category of Kinky "yeah baby" and always turns heads whether pulling them out of a range bag or a display case.
Author: GunMuse Date: Thursday Sep 23 2004 10:48:46 am
