RUSSIA: RUSSIAN GUN ENTHUSIAST TURNS HIS HAND TO DESIGNING MINIATURE REPLICA GUNS THAT FIRE BULLETS

Record ID: 825066

  • Title: RUSSIA: RUSSIAN GUN ENTHUSIAST TURNS HIS HAND TO DESIGNING MINIATURE REPLICA GUNS THAT FIRE BULLETS
  • Date: 1st July 2001
  • Summary: TULA, RUSSIA (RECENT) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) RUSSIAN GUN ENTHUSIAST ANDREI BATASHEV TEST FIRING MINI-RIFLE AT HIS HOME SCU: BULLET AND RIFLE ON IN BATASHEV'S HAND VARIOUS OF BATASHEV WORKING ON MINI-PISTOL (5 SHOTS) VARIOUS MINI-PISTOLS IN BOX BATASHEV CHECKING MINI-PISTOL (2 SHOTS) CU'S/SV: BATSHEV ASSEMBLING MINI-PISTOL (3 SHOTS) SCU: EQUIPMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ANDREI BATSHEV SAYING: "My weapons (mini-pistols) are not meant for injuring or killing people...they are a sort of work of art. Just look at what kind of knives or swords exist - they are beautiful. It is just art, and to make use of such knives is nonsense. The same is with my mini-pistols." SWORD DISPLAY ON WALL SV/CU: BATASHEV TEST FIRING PISTOL (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 16th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TULA, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA58QXFRKMML38MBAZWSUM5FPEU
  • Story Text: A Russian gun enthusiast has turned to making miniature pistols - working replicas of real handguns that fire miniature, but very real, bullets.
    Andrei Batashev is a gun enthusiast and now an amateur pistol maker. However, his rifles and pistols are not designed to intimidate or kill. They use real bullets, which Andrei likes to refer to them as "works of art".
    Andrei lives in a town of Tula, 180 kilometres (110 miles) South of Moscow, which has always been famous in Russia for its arms craftsmen.
    For centuries, Tula was Russia's biggest centre for the production of guns, pistols and rifles. In the Cold War times, the town became synonymous with a variety of weapons - from Kalashnikov machine guns, automatic rifles, mortars to gernade launchers.
    But times have changed, and so have the demands. Weapons production lines have been shut down due to lack of state funding.
    Andrei Batashev has decided to keep part of Tula's old tradition of arms craftsmanship alive. He started two years ago and now he makes a living from selling his miniature guns.
    His business generates significant family income - each piece can go as high as 350 US dollars. He sells the weapons to a Russian company who market them for him to interested buyers. His business is his only source of income.
    Batachev claims some of his mini-pistols have been bought on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
    He lives and works in a tiny flat on the outskirts of the town. He uses basic tools and a couple of lenses to carve out the tiny details. The callibre of a bullet for one of his pistols is just 2.5 millimetres.
    Batashev is keen to promote the quality of his craft and the "artistic value" of his trade.
    "My weapons (mini-pistols) are not meant for injuring or killing people...they are a sort of work of art. Just look at what kind of knives or swords exist - they are beautiful. It is just art, and to use such knives is nonsense. The same is with my mini-pistols," says Batashev.
    Each peace of weaponry takes up to three months to make.
    He has produced 25 replicas so far.
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