Uli Wiegand: Why Military Surplus is so Expensive & What You Should Know about Royal Tiger Imports
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- Who is Uli Wiegand of Royal Tiger Imports (RTI)? How did he get into the Military Surplus business in the United States? Why have milsurp prices skyrocketed in the recent years? We took a trip to Melbourne, Florida to find out more about the CEO of Interordnance and Royal Tiger Imports, one of the leading importers of military surplus rifles and collectibles. We also asked Uli about how he was able to secure the contract for the Ethiopian surplus, which was mostly brought into Ethiopia by late Emperor Haile Selassie. He discusses why it is a tough business being in the military surplus realm and goes over what to expect from Royal Tiger Imports in the future. As a collector himself, he gives some tips for those new collectors out there.
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Chapters
0:00 Intro of what to expect in this interview
0:48 Who is Uli Wiegand?
2:35 When was RTI and Interordnance was first established
3:28 How they got into making AKs
4:55 The Ethiopian surplus cache
5:50 Unseen Expenses of the Surplus Importer and Why Milsurp prices are sky high
8:10 How exciting it was to secure the Ethiopian stash
9:00 What is some rare surplus seen int he Ethiopian stash
10:14 Variety of Rifles and history
11:34 Is RTI the largest surplus importer currently? What can we expect in the future?
12:21 ANy more M1 Carbines left?
13:01 How importers have to abide by certain laws in order to import U.S. Surplus weapons
14:10 Tips for the new Collectors and new ammo for those old guns
15:07 What are some books for the collectors, backbone of the wermacht, carcano books, Enfield rifles
15:43 Finding out more about Royal Tiger Imports
17:08 Outro and Surplus in Eastern Europe
Books to check out
Backbone of the Wermacht a.co/d/e6DqJIx
Mauser Military Rifles of the World a.co/d/9gIVMu0
The Carcano Rifle: The Concise Reference Guide to Owning, Collecting, and Shooting the Most Infamous Weapon in History a.co/d/aVlF4IW
Chassepot to Famas: French Military Rifles 1866-2016 a.co/d/bLKhMUq
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#milsurp #carcano #militaryhistory
🪖 Check us out on Instagram and Facebook for more Epic content!
#RoyalTigerImports #firearms #militarysurplus #vintageguns #modernfirearms #rarepieces #m1garand #gunenthusiast #collectors #warehouse #headquarters
All weapons portrayed in this video were handled in a safe manner. AI rendered Pictures may have been used to better depict historical figures, places and events. Multiple safety precautions were in place before, during and after filming. Seek out weapons familiarization training before handling any weapon. Collectibles and antiques are known as alternative assets in the financial world. We are not financial advisors nor do we give legal financial advice, please talk to your CPA. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Information contained in the content is based from personal experience, opinion, or available on the internet. Gun enthusiasts should read the owners manual and consult a firearms expert to fully understand the weapon. These historical relics and products commonly available in stores all across the United States. Our videos are for entertainment purposes.
I’m not sure anyone was particularly upset about the prices considering overhead costs but comments about misrepresenting the actual condition of the rifles in their marketing is a legitimate complaint. For example, K98’s being sold as good to fair when they should’ve been reasonably sold as gunsmith specials is fair criticism. And removing negative comments hasn’t exactly given consumers great transparency either.
One cannot forget those occurrences
Nope!
I recall the demise of IO AK manufacturing a little differently. They were just garbage. The letter he wrote to Rob Ski was hilarious.
We cannot allow this comment to be buried.
They never had the right schema, they made them without proper testing, but they should have learned from the mistake and make them better, but they just gave up. They could have had a good product if they just tweaked the akm some just like PSA…
@garrett.D-T PSA had a much better start than io. Psa bought out DDI , which, purchased Waffen werks years prior. It's was a good start with tooling and such.
Yeah they were caught selling full auto's by the ATF. They also were using airsoft parts for their AKs
@@sleeper_reaper didn't know about the full auto thing.
I can't keep my eyes off the vz61 upper on the shelf with that long barrel its really neat. Awesome interview! I've ordered from RTI a few times with many more to come. I love the work these guys do and what they are able to offer.
I would be a lot more positive towards RTI if they wouldn’t lie about listed conditions on their website. Their “Good” condition weapons are beat to sh!t and their “Fair” condition listing are usually dangerous to shoot.
Awesome video! Thanks 😮 Uli, I’m very happy with my carcanos and my various other purchases from you guys. Keep it up!
Great to hear! 😁
Thanks for doing this video. Been ordering from RTI for many years and I have never ever had an issue. Good people.
Yea they’re customer service is pretty good, i haven’t had a problem with them either.
Great interview. Cool that Uli sat down with you.
Glad you enjoyed it! 😁🍻
I’ve a couple RTIs. I think Uli is right about those Carcano. Thanks for the interview, great to have background on RTI. I appreciate your questions.
Right on! 😁🍻
Great interview! And great content as usual.
Much appreciated!
@@BattlefieldCurator 14k to 57k in seven months ! That’s really good man I’m happy for you . Keep being awesome and having great content
Hey ULI and Dan thanks for this great interview.
Glad you enjoyed it! 😎🍻
I absolutely love surplus rifles. Now, being on a fixed budget, I am relegated to the low end of the market. But I do find beauty in even the roughest of them. And he is right, it is getting more expensive for everyone.
Get a better job!
Thanks to these guys in part you can continue to reap the rewards of expensive surplus
Uli thanks for the interview !! Dan good one thanks !!
Glad you enjoyed it!😎🍻
I grew up in Germany and my daddy was a ww2 vet 🧐👀👀
What ever criticisms "RTI' receives which is fair enough They are still seeking out and importing items that would otherwise be languishing in some foreign countries warehouse and making these available to the collectors of Military surplus in any condition.
Fantastic interview
Thanks, it was great to finally know more about Uli and Royal Tiger Imports 😁🍻
Great info...thanks for this. I just purchased a b-grade Steyr M95 long rifle from RTI chambered in original 8x50r (pending arrival) and was elated to hear that RTI is looking into providing this otherwise almost inaccessible bullet type (unless you're reloading) I will be looking out for that! 👍
Thanks. Well it has been a while since this video, but I hope they do get into providing retro ammo as well.
I will never buy from RTI after they sent me and 20 other people a chain email asking for IDs proving we where over 18 and it including 7 peoples Drivers License pictures in the email.
Wow 😯 what a breech of privacy
Good interview. Say what you will about RTI & IO, this is still a great find and welcomed injection into the collectors market of today.
Thanks! 😁🍻
yea some of the better examples are but they also injected a ton of trash to the market to. A lot of those rifles aren't even shooter grade
Great interview with Uli. Ive bought alot of firearms from RTI and posted them on my channel. Generally ive found most of them to be fair for the price. Especially the Carcanos and M95 Steyr rifles.
What's your channel
1,300 in his personal collection. A video of his collection would be kool
I’ll keep that in mind
Super excited to hear they are going to be making ammo. I need Carcano food.
I hope it turns out great
I own guns that in today's society, nobody would begin to comprehend or appreciatte. It is an old man's game. I love it though! :) Wish I could take them with me when I am gone! :)
I am pretty certain that a surge of young folks also got into the game… now it seems like many are being priced out the game
I understand the pricing and I do believe most of the prices are not worth it for the Ethiopian guns because they are so rough but I understand all the work behind getting them. But the misrepresentation of the firearms on royal tiger imports is ridiculous. The grading system is terrible. I have purchased 3 firearms and my enfield i got had nothing usable but the bolt, screws, nose cap, and but plate. Everything else was complete scrap. To the burn pile and metal pile it went. Terrible purchase. I also got a Lebel from them and that thing was so smoked. At best it was a c grade or gunsmith special
This was awesome interview hopefully I can pick up some surplus guns in the future!
Thanks! Yea they’ve got a lot of surplus still coming in. Depends how far in advance the “future” is for you
I pulled the trigger on an Ethiopian contract m48. Cleaned up very nice and bore came in excellent condition. Just shot it today and I'm in love. Will definitely use RTI again
they are touch and go sometimes but you can't deny these guys are doing some heavy lifting in the grand scheme of things importing stuff.
Yes indeed
I also worked in surplus (kit not guns) right before and during the ukriane war. It was interesting how eastern european and especially ukrainian surplus seemly dried up and was unavailable for purchase many months before the war kicked off. Someone high up in these countries knew that war was coming long before we did. And as you see in the ukraine war hanging on to old surplus was a good call for them, as much of it is getting pushed back into service.
I guarantee the price of the Carcano platform will rise when better ammo becomes more widely available.
Yea and if it was cheaper
I’m still waiting on that. I’m invested in half a crate of them, my patience is running thin lol
Will RTI ever venture out to sell in Canada?! Big market over here for Milsurps!
No. They don’t sell to communists
So, with Uli's comment about the salt mine in Bakhmut, are we going to see Thompson SMG parts kits and accessories coming in? It looked like there were crates of unissued 1928A1's and M1A1's in there...
Yea RTI has Thompsons are from Ethiopia. The Russians have control over the salt mine surplus and I would guess they could sell them to another country that would in turn sell them to the U.S. but there’s that war going on and so I don’t think it would be likely
Bought a lot of guns & ammo from I-O over the years. Still have one of the 308 Win PSLs tucked away in the safe.
Uli and the crew have always provided great service and information through out the purchase process - many great buys - thank you Uli and Dan for a very informative video
Our pleasure! 😁🍻
No they havnt this guy sold terrible aks and now he is selling smoothbore rifles
Lies
They will get my business on ammo for sure that’s called a monopoly lol
No excuses
I don't care what excuses people have surplus rifles are ain't worth what they are asking, asking 2 to 3 times more than what they are worth,
I'm looking for a field grade M-1Carbean
What's a 1892 Styer 8mm going for these days 2002 they were 300 dollars.
About the same if you mean the 8x50mm
black powder round round nose@@DelGTAGrndrs
I think we should give them more credit, I know they lied bad about conditions, but they have got much better. The customer service is flakey, but I have an amazing vz-52 in almost new condition from them. Now my Enfield from them was shot out and I wish they would be honest about that, prices finally have gone down.
I think they are trying to make the experience better for the customer. For instance, some pistols and rifles listed individually have pictures of the bore now. Honestly, I’ve had more problems with surplus from another company. I’m glad they gave me the opportunity to go there and ask them the hard questions.
@@BattlefieldCurator They are making good changes, and I do like them for that. Uli has 1300 guns, wowza! I hope one day I will have a quarter of that. $200 for a carcano in decent shape is worth every penny, I have 2 now from them and they are just awesome. Going to buy a couple more with my Christmas bonus this year.
@@BattlefieldCuratorDan, I’m willing to hear them out, mainly because I’ve been here since 600 subs and you’ve helped me in several ways understand the hobby better. Thanks for your videos as always
"And that's the way the cookie crumbles"
😂
Bruce Almighty
Just want to re-iterate how absurd it is, that its more difficult to re-import US made guns than it is to import Foreign made guns....
Yea that is nuts
The prigozhin video in the salt mines with all the surplus is wild to me. I suppose ukraine was in more dire straights then russia since although it is apparent that russia is recalling old soviet stores for the war, apparently they havent had a need to bust out the thompsons and M1910s like ukriane has. I hope for the sake of history russia sells them or ignores them. Good on ukraine for not torching the stores while retreating.
We want gewehr 98s!!!
Yea I’d like one as well 😁
I would guess IMA was the other bidder.
I would guess Century Arms, IMA is still sitting on a lot of the Nepalese stuff I think
You hear that guys "under this gov we haven't got the transfer authorization unlike the previous one". Vote Trump 2024
Lol yea a little bit of a political jab at the current administration
Trump also blocked importation, expanded the strength of the patriot act, increased red flag laws, against full autos in our hands, and wanted due process violated. That's just scratching the surface. Trump is anti-rights just like every president since Thomas Jefferson.
Yada, yada, yada…
Allah!
Is another made up less than human middle Eastern mythology character.