Wa Shan 1911

Post by Spencerman

Now I know that you have all probably read my other Wa Shan reviews and figured out just how highly I feel about these guns. This one has to be in my opinion the pinnicle of their models. It is not the very best 1911 that I have seen, but it is very good, and it fires virtually flawlessly. Add to this the fact that it is metal and many of the other points that I shal continue to make and you will see what I mean and why everyone who can get one should have at leat one.

Box wise, it comes in fairly plain packaging as per the Glock and the M9, but unfortunately I couldnt find my box to take a picture of it. Inside the box it slightly differs from what you get with the others that I mentioned, in as much as that you get the gun, the reloading tool, 1 magazine, and 7 reuseable rounds. You do not get any disposeable rounds with this one which I imagine is probably down to the calibre. The rounds I believe are not 100% full size .45, but are of similar dimension to the older MGC .45 cartridges with the silver base and the big gold tip.





The engraving on the slide is nice and clear, although I have heard mention of this being faint or crooked etc. but as you can see on all of my models, there are no problems here. There is also no clear marking on this gun that shouldnt be on there. There is no manufacturers stamp or SMG mark that I have found as of yet. I also find that it is much lighter than the Glock or M9, and somehow does feel different, but it is still full metal construction, except the barrel on my version is plastic. It took me ages before I realised this, and I do believe that they did make a metal barrel version also. As you can see the barrel also has the stampings on it.



The finish of the gun is good, although I personally prefer a nice deep blue finish as opposed to the more parkerised style matt black finish here, but that would be nit picking.



Internally everything is exactly as you would expect from a 1911. The parts all come apart as they should. I have not had the chance to completely strip this gun down to the bare bones, but something tells me that it will be pretty close to the real thing. The parts can even be interchanged with a little modification. Real grips will fit with no problem at all. I have put on real compensators with only a very little filing required on the locating lug on the bushing in order for it to fit. Real recoil guide rods will fit, but the springs are a problem.



I do not have a real magazine to try in it so I dont know whether they will fit or not, but again I am sure that they would pretty easily.

As for its function, it is so smooth and flawless at its function that I was very surprised. Unfortunately I only ever got one of these, but believe me when I say that every time I consider buying another model, I consider buying another one of these. If I had my way, I would have about four or five of them!



As with the other Wa Shan models that I have reviewed, there is no clear barrel blockage. I had to struggle with the lighting on that shot in order to show it. It is a bar, just like the ones that we are used to, but it stops about as far away from the chamber as the mgc ones stop from the end of the muzzle. It really is set right down there in that barrel.

The attention to detail is much better than any picture I can take, but the foresight has all the little tiny grooves along the back of it that it should have, and also all of the safety catches function as they should. I like the fact that that the finish has a slight two tone to it, as the slide is a little lighter than the frame. Some of the metal on this model, as with the Glock and M9, is a goldish colour, and this tends to show up quite badly in some of my pictures, although in reality it is not that easy to spot, and is probably largely down to my lighting.


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Post by Mark

Again, a nice review Spencerman!

I like the makings on this gun; they look good compared to the other poor efforts that WaShan has had on their other models. You mention that the .45's weight is off compared to the other modelguns that WaShan has. Is this due to a lighter alloy used in its construction i wonder? It almost sounds like it is an aluminum alloy or similar. That and the plastic barrel very probably cut down on the pistols weight as well. Its interesting that WaShan copied the MGC cartridges so closely. So, later you can obtain MGC cartridges to use in it instead of looking for rare cartridges for it. It would have been nice if WaShan had made other variations of the slide markings as well.. Seeing these WaShan reviews is making me want to buy one or two of these WaShan modelguns to add to my collection. I wonder if WaShan made this: http://www.dentrinityshop.com/pr_list.jsp?cid=COL_ML&bid=OTH

It appears to be some variant of an MGC from what i can tell.

I haven't seen any other WaShan products other than their pistol line as of yet. It's a shame that WaShan had been targeted by the Taiwanese government. Otherwise, they would have done more versions of various modelguns beyond their offerings that we are familiar with. The disposable cartridges would be awesome to have in bulk with a reliable supplier as well. I could just see the amount of orders that they would receive for them if they where offered to us! I personally would buy as many as i could get.. No loading/cleaning the cartridges. Just clean/maintain the gun. You should get some new grips on that pistol as well Spencerman as the WaShan's are ugly! I would think that a set of the Colt "gold" medallion checkered stocks would look great on that gun. That, and a good re-blue job on it as well. Again, i am not at all sure what alloy that WaShan has used in their modelguns but, i am sure that it could be blued with some effort. I do note that the magazine does somewhat protrude from the frame when it's seated. I wonder if that is due to the fact that WaShan makes their magazines out of cast zinc. The use of a real magazine might have issues as well due to the strength of the real magazines spring. Also, since the WaShan's magazine is cast zinc it's dimensions are "off" compared to the real thing. Also, since WaShan has obviously copied MGC made modelguns, they might have also made them somewhat smaller so a real magazine might not fit/work.

Keep up the good work Spencerman!
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Wanted to buy: MGC Sten MK3....trades?(still)

MGC MP40 Marushin MP40 Nakata MP40 TRC MP40

Modelgun manufacturers, past and present:CMC,CAW,Hudson,HWS,LS,MGC(R.I.P. 1960's~2007) Marushin,Marui,Kokusai,Shoei,Tanaka and Western Arms

Post by 2sharp

Excellent review

[hint]I'm quite curious on how the rest of the pistol will disassemble.. [/hint]
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I need more model guns...

The holy quest for modelgun information and knowledge will never-ever end!!

Post by Spencerman

I do have other grips for it (that was the first thing that I had to do!) but I just retrofitted the basic ugly ones so that I could show the gun as it was from the box. having said that, the grips arent too bad when compared to some of the others that I have seen. As for further stripping, we shall see if I get the time over the upcoming bank holiday weekend, although no promises.
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Post by Mark

Say, i forgot to ask, what is the recoil like on this gun? Is it close or the same as the HW MGC Government/Commander?
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Wanted to buy: MGC Sten MK3....trades?(still)

MGC MP40 Marushin MP40 Nakata MP40 TRC MP40

Modelgun manufacturers, past and present:CMC,CAW,Hudson,HWS,LS,MGC(R.I.P. 1960's~2007) Marushin,Marui,Kokusai,Shoei,Tanaka and Western Arms

Post by Spencerman

I really couldnt say as I have not fired that particular model, but it does have a slight jolt to it, probably due to it being metal. The action is very smooth, so it is not a violent or rough recoil like you would get from a real gun, but a nice smooth one. I would say that it is perhaps a little less than what you might expect to get from your average semi auto blank firer, which is not much, but just enough that you know that you have fired it.
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Post by 8ace


Excellent review,

I also loved my Wa Shan Colt .45 (which felt better than my Marushin H/W one).

It is a shame that it doesn’t take full size .45 rounds but with a little modification to the round an MGC (old, smaller, 2 colour) will fit.


8ace