Modelguns General Questions & Tanio Koba GM-7

Hey there, I'm from the US and new to this forum. I'm a film director and you can see an example of my work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3wz18TcRKw.

I've previously used blank firing guns but I'm disappointed in the lack of realism. I found modelguns somehow and it seems like they are perfect in proportion to their real-life counterparts, including logos and other engravings.

How realistically do these fire? Are they durable? I see that they are loaded with "caps" but could blanks be utilized with some modification? I'm looking for a tactically styled 1911 (like the MEU) and I found the Tanio Koba GM-7. Does anyone know about this gun? Is it made out of plastic or metal?

Thank you in advance to anyone out there who took the time to read this and help me!

TristanYoshi wrote:

Hey there, I'm from the US and new to this forum. I'm a film director

Welcome to the forum :-)

Quite a few members have experience using modelguns in movies, they will surely chime in.

Modelguns are quite realistic in some aspects: their slides and frames are often marked similar to real guns,
blowback action is there, with some smoke/flash effects, a bit of bang, and ejection.
Unrealistic aspect would be perhaps that the whole cartridge is ejected, looking a bit different than just the empty shell. It is however the same colour as shell, so not very visible under normal circumstances.

Modelguns are explicitely made in such a way that using blanks is not an option. They are made of plastic or weak metal (zinc-aluminium), with weak springs, and as a result firing a blank will result in model destruction with parts flying around and large risk to person attempting shooting it. In fact some models have durability issues even with prolonged use of normal caps, due to stress buildup in more fragile materials - especially HW ABS (plastic mixed with metal particles) or old metal models manufactured in 1970s.
There were only a few models made in early 1970s from thin steel, when it was still allowed by Japanese law. Those models could be converted to fire blanks (including strenghtening). They include for example MGC MP40 and Sten.

As for durability - models (except some of the metal ones) are not going to survive being handled a lot, dropped, hit or abused. Most of those cap-firing are made of ABS (plastic) or HW ABS (heavyweight = plastic mixed with metal particles). Slide/frame can crack after being hit, it may also crack after longer use.
Blowback/feeding is not always a breeze, some models tend to require a lot of babysitting to fire reliably, while others are quite mistake-proof.

Tanio Koba is in my opinion the best firing and reliable 1911 model. For a review and my opinion take a look there:
https://mp40modelguns.forumotion.net/t2960-tanio-koba-gm7-colt-1911-hw

I would say that this is the best choice as a modelgun. It looks realistic, and it's made of HW ABS material. It is more fragile than ABS, but as those models are just recently made, it's a different story than older models. Cartridges are made of plastic though and do not look like shiny brass shells when ejected. The rest depends on what you expect from the modelgun.

I will let guys with more knowledge comment in more details on practical aspects, hope that all above helps to start gathering the information.

Thank you for the welcome and for the reply! The GM-7 defiantly seems like the way to go for a 1911. This is the only modelgun that appears to eject casings only right?

I've been looking to purchase from a shop that sells internationally, is this one good? www.mg-props.co.uk

Otherwise if anyone on this forum has that exact replica I would purchase from them.

Hi and welcome!

The link you posted is not to a particular gun, just the site.  Koba made/makes a number of different GM-7's (mainly different by markings on the slide), but they are all GM-7's.  Finding a particular slide marking that is not currently in production can be very difficult because I believe all runs are limited production runs.

As far as recommending that site you posted, I have dealt with Jay there and can highly recommend them! However, the UK mail service is a real pain in the behind when trying to ship to the US!!!     

There is also plugfirecapgunsuk.  I can also highly recommend John there!  They are also in the UK, as well, however, so you have the same shipping issues.

There are other retailers and individuals, as well, who can try to help you source a model you are looking for.  Some retailers have mixed reviews, so do your research there.  As far as individuals, you can look on the forum here and I personally have dealt with a number of members with exceptional results. There is a feedback section for you to check.

As far as new models, Shazhib is in Japan and may be able to help.  Francky is now located in the US, but he is also a good model gun friend!

Best of luck with your search and film production.  The Koba GM-7 will make a great first model gun for you.

Thanks to you all! I've emailed the guy at plugfirecapguns.uk and I'm waiting to place an order!

It seems they can't send it out here/they don't have stock. Please someone let me know if they are willing to sell and ship theirs!

It's worth checking, although from my experience modelgun stocks at Dentrinity are not really updated.
There were quite a few items that I tried to order a few years ago, only got out-of-stock information after putting the order in system (it is confirmed with you by a person before actual order). They still display as available.