paulleve
NES Member
One of the aspects of this hobby that I enjoy is stumbling onto something new. I remember reading about Japanese model guns in either Guns Magazine or Guns & Ammo back in the early 80's but haven't run across any until last summer. I figured I'd share some pics of my small collection for those interested in an oddball side quest in the gun world.
The quick version of the story goes like this. In Japan it's impossible to own handguns and nearly impossible to own any long guns either. In the 1960s an industry started up where some Japanese companies made detailed replicas of famous guns, mostly from WWII. These went through changes over the years, and some of them are really impressive!
This is a P38 made by Nakata in about 1970. It weighs in at just under 2 lbs, functions just like the real thing, and even field strips the same way. (This is the nicest one I own.) I'm pretty sure the one is set up to fire caps, but they are much more impressive than the red strip paper caps we used as kids. In this type of pistol the cap makes a pretty decent bang, but the slide has to be manually operated to cycle another round into the action.
Some, like this Luger by MGC were simply made for static display. They function and field strip like the real thing, but lack a firing mechanism. Unfortunately, this one is missing the trigger and take down plate, but the price was right, and all the other important parts are there.
Companies also made revolvers that shoot caps. These two were made by Kokusai in 1980. They are made of metal and weigh in at around 2 lbs. The auction sight I bought them from stated they came from a movie prop company. I can see how they would use these versus the real thing, with the realistic look and lack of live ammo.
Marushin offered a line of build it yourself kits in the early 1980s. These were made of a mix of metal and plastic parts. PFC guns took a strong cap (more like a primer?), and these were strong enough to fire and cycle the action. They are built to replicate the originals, and came in select fire when appropriate. Seeing a Scorpion or PPSh-41 rire full auto is pretty impressive.
Daisy tried introducing model guns to the main stream USA in the mid 80s with their SoftAir line of "detailed replicas". Some are not so great, but these two are sought after. Both cock on closing the slide/toggle. When the trigger is pulled, the first stage fires a 6mm plastic bb out of the shell, and the second stage releases the slide/toggle to open and eject the shell casing. These were only offered from about 1985-1987, so it doesn't seem the line was all that successful.
The quick version of the story goes like this. In Japan it's impossible to own handguns and nearly impossible to own any long guns either. In the 1960s an industry started up where some Japanese companies made detailed replicas of famous guns, mostly from WWII. These went through changes over the years, and some of them are really impressive!
This is a P38 made by Nakata in about 1970. It weighs in at just under 2 lbs, functions just like the real thing, and even field strips the same way. (This is the nicest one I own.) I'm pretty sure the one is set up to fire caps, but they are much more impressive than the red strip paper caps we used as kids. In this type of pistol the cap makes a pretty decent bang, but the slide has to be manually operated to cycle another round into the action.
Some, like this Luger by MGC were simply made for static display. They function and field strip like the real thing, but lack a firing mechanism. Unfortunately, this one is missing the trigger and take down plate, but the price was right, and all the other important parts are there.
Companies also made revolvers that shoot caps. These two were made by Kokusai in 1980. They are made of metal and weigh in at around 2 lbs. The auction sight I bought them from stated they came from a movie prop company. I can see how they would use these versus the real thing, with the realistic look and lack of live ammo.
Marushin offered a line of build it yourself kits in the early 1980s. These were made of a mix of metal and plastic parts. PFC guns took a strong cap (more like a primer?), and these were strong enough to fire and cycle the action. They are built to replicate the originals, and came in select fire when appropriate. Seeing a Scorpion or PPSh-41 rire full auto is pretty impressive.
Daisy tried introducing model guns to the main stream USA in the mid 80s with their SoftAir line of "detailed replicas". Some are not so great, but these two are sought after. Both cock on closing the slide/toggle. When the trigger is pulled, the first stage fires a 6mm plastic bb out of the shell, and the second stage releases the slide/toggle to open and eject the shell casing. These were only offered from about 1985-1987, so it doesn't seem the line was all that successful.
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