Umarex USA will be auctioning off a unique movie prop replica of the famous DL-44 Blaster carried by Han Solo in the Star Wars film series, with the proceeds benefitting the Student Air Rifle Program.
With May 4th coming up, an annual call for online celebration of all things Star Wars (If you don’t know…May the Fourth be With You…get it?). Umarex teamed up with Guiness World Record Holder Chris Turek of UpNorth AirGunner to build the prop replica that is “very similar to the DL-44 blaster carried by a pilot of a rebellious alliance in a series of galactic based movies,” according to Umarex.
“This highly crafted, fully functional, replica airgun will be auctioned off via GunBroker.com with the proceeds going entirely to the Student Air Rifle Program,” the company said in a release.
The movie blaster was based on the Mauser C96 “Broomhandle” pistol, and Chris used Umarex’s M712 Broomhandle replica as a base for a DL-44 prop he built last year, so he’s used to the process.
“The feedback I got when I posted the video of the Umarex M712 conversion to the blaster replica was awesome. When Umarex approached me to build another blaster in support of this fundraiser for the SAR program, I was 100 percent on board.” Turek said.
From Umarex:
“While the unique DL-44 blaster replica is likely to generate a respectable price at auction, Umarex USA wants to maximize the money raised by providing alternative methods for people to contribute to the SAR Program. Umarex USA donates a portion of each sale of an Umarex Embark air rifle, the air rifle exclusively used in the Student Air Rifle program. Additionally, each social posting will have a link to the donation page at StudentAirRifleProgram.org.”
The auction will be hosted on GunBroker.com beginning on May 4 and ending on May 10.
Some people don’t know this, but all the blasters in the original Star Wars (Episode IV: The New Hope, for all you folks who grew up with the prequels) were real WWI and WWII era guns that were heavily modified and still fired blanks on set with the red laser bolts laid over as a post effect. For all the info you could ever want on the guns behind the blasters in the Star Wars movies, check out our thorough Guns of Star Wars section here.