TANAKA WORKS (often referred to as Tanaka) is an airsoft brand best known for their gas-powered revolvers.
Because Tanaka makes their products in batches (like many small plastic model companies), their guns may be hard to find after the first few months after they have been released, until a new batch is made.
Tanaka owns the patents for the PEGASEUS (and PEGASEUS-II) System (a gas system for airsoft revolvers). The Pegaseus System consists of a stationary gas reservoir within the rotating cylinder, with a single firing valve that is always lined up with the barrel. The bb's are loaded into the front of the rotating cylinder, and a cutout in the back of one of the fake shells imprinted into the back allows access to the fill valve for gas.
Because their system puts the entire firing and storage system into the cylinder, Tanaka's revolvers are very similar in parts and function to the real guns. In general, Tanaka revolvers consist of a milled aluminum frame (including cylinder, frame, and grip), an ABS plastic outer barrel with a bronze inner, and plastic or rubber grips. Since the internals are fairly similar to the revolvers they are mimicking, many models can be fitted with grips and other parts made for the real gun.
However, because of their niche appeal, low ammo storage, and difficulty in reloading, their revolvers are generally more appealing as replica firearms or (for their cowboy-era models, like the SAA) as period reenactment weapons.
To appeal to more modern tastes, Tanaka produces several GBB models, for which they have licensed Western Arm's SCW system.
Tanaka also builds several bolt action rifles, including replicas of the M24 SWS, Remington Model 700, and the Mauser Kar98k. Although older models were known for suffering inconsistency in power between shots, newer models are generally stable in gas flow. Because of the 1-joule law in Japan, models built after 2006 no longer have manual adjustment for power, although there are several aftermarket solutions, along with replacing the bolt with an older gun's one.