Model guns made in Japan (2)

The Colt.45 1911 model gun made by MGC

Colt’s MK IV Series’70s Government Model .45 Automatic Caliber

Major Frederick Myatt M.C.  in his book entitled ‘Modern Small Arms’ published in 1978 in UK introduces Colt.45 1911 says that by the end of the 19^th Century the great firm of Colt, like many other manufacturers, had decided that the time had come to produce a self-loading pistol. After practical troop trials, Colt were asked by the US authorities to product the 1911 Model. It was extensively used by the US Army in WWI. This model remained in production for a long time with minor modification and remained in service with the US Army throughout WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The assembled model gun, a regular version

The marking showing the name of  the gun model

Colt.45 is one of the most popular model guns that the Japanese manufactures have chosen to make. Models have been respectively produced by Marushin, MGC (Modelguns Corporation), and some other companies. Even within the MGC, Colt.45 in different version have been manufactured. Some are of ordinary quality and some are higher, depending on the company’s marketing strategy. The model now introduced is a 1:1 scale model made by this company using plastic and metal alloy. It is the ‘Colt’s MK IV Series’70s Government Model .45 Automatic Caliber’. About this Series’70s model, it is a fully assembled model. MGC first manufactured a regular version of this pistol in the 1980s and later made the Heavy Weight (HW) version. 

The Heavy Weight (HW) version

The cartridge

In general I think this MGC model  is better than those made by other manufacturers such as Marushin. The reason is that the firing system of this MGC model is particularly smooth. Also, it is rich in details and many features are true to the original gun, for example the way to disassemble the gun. When examining a model Colt .45 pistol, I usually look into its craftsmanship in several aspects.

The magazine locking system is perfectly done

To unscrew a cartridge to put in a firing cap

The first one is the magazine locking system. This one has a locking mechanism that is working like the real one. For some cheaper version, this system is much simplified by the manufactures. The second part is the hand grip, whether it is made by wood or plastic. The third part is that whether this model could be dis-assembled as the real gun (field stripping). The fourth part is the safety system of the gun. The fifth part is on the gun’s plug-fire system, to see whether the cartridge could be ejected and reloaded smoothly.

For all .45 Colt pistols, when the last round is fired, the gun slide will be at a locked-up position.  When the locking lever is pressed down, the gun slide will return to the original position.

To press down the circular button to dis-assemble the gun

The safety grip must be depressed when firing

The gun is locked up when the last round is fired

When this model gun was sold the 1980s, coming together with it was an operation manual that taught the buyer on the steps to operate the gun: 1. put a plug-fire cap into a cartridge 2. loaded the cartridge into the magazine 3. Unlock the gun's safety lock 4. to clean up the used cartridge by water after using. 

Another information sheet taught the owner on how to dis-assemble the gun and then restore it.  To dis-assemble the gun, just press down the circular button at the gun’s nose. One special safety feature of Colt.45 is that it could not be fired if the gun is not properly held in the hand. Thanks to a safety grip at gun’s handle, if the safety grip is not depressed, the gun could not be fired.

Model gun's operating manual