Any lever guns in VietNam, or a Movie Mistake?

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Lovesbeer99

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I caught the movie Full Metal Jacket the other night and I'm not sure of it's authenticity, but there were 2 scenes showing a lever gun looking like a Winchester 94. In the scene where Joker meets up with Cowbow a grunt calls the photographer over to take a picture of the guest of honor, the birthday boy (the dead enemy soilder). On the ground next to the grunt is a lever gun. I thought it was a shot gun at first but later there was a scene where a movie crew was moving along a line while the grunts were shelling a small village and all the grunts were making comments, "Is that you John Wayne?". The same grunt was holding the lever gun again. Is this accurate of just a movie mistake?

Lovesbeer99
 
It could have happened. Sometimes GIs get 'care packages' from home. Coulda got it off the black market too. It could have ended up over there with some civilian who lost it or sold it. I've read lotsa stories of grunts carrying non-issue arms if their officers and NCOs looked the other way.


I'd wonder where he got 30-30 ammo for it.
 
I wouldn't put too much faith in that movie, esp. once R. Lee's character left the screen. That said, I DO remember some account of a Marlin .444 levergun getting brought over there by somebody in special forces, right when the round first came out. I have no idea if that's accurate or not.

Edit--google comes through:

During a short leave stateside in 1968, fellow Green Beret Larry White hung out with Shriver, whose only real interest was finding a lever action .444 Marlin rifle. Purchasing one of the powerful Marlins, Shriver shipped it back to SOG so he could carry it into Cambodia, "to bust bunkers," probably the only levergun used in the war.
Click to expand...

http://www.ultimatesniper.com/View_...bar=THE UNTOLD TRUE STORY OF MAD DOG SHRIVER:
 
One of the SOG guys did get a Marlin 444 levergun and he tried it.

But a regular soldier would very likely not have one. Either they had an issue weapon or their CO might have let them use a captured enemy weapon, but that was rare.
 
I beleive its one of Kubrick's things. He added the "is that you John Wayne? Is this me?" to show an identity crisis.

The entire movie is about the flaws in a flawless system, also seen in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

I'll read a very good article about it, I'll try to find it.

Here it is:http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/21/full_metal.html


Dunno about if the used leverguns in Vietnam, but movies have stuff that isn't "kosher" in them.
 
Any lever guns in VietNam, or a Movie Mistake?
Click to expand...
This movie was a work of fiction, it was not a representation of the war as it was in Vietnam.

Interesting question as to whether or not there were lever guns in use there, but regardless of that it would not be a movie mistake since it was a work of fiction.
 
Can't say as if the movie followed any course of reality, but I carried a Model 70 bolt in .30-06 and my pard had a Winchester 95 LEVER chambered for .30-06. So I DO know there was at least ONE lever gun over there.
 
My dad worked for a slingshot company back in the late 60's, and perhaps early 70's. He has oft repeated that they used to receive orders from "over there" for slingshots to be used by them as the ROE were ridiculous.


Of course who knows if that's true. It wouldn't surprise me if it was, likewise I wouldn't be shocked to hear it was all made up by some of the employees due to rising sentiments about the war.

[EDIT] Ah ha: here they are....

I met Mr. Ellenburg once when we were out in Colorado, about 25 years ago. Nice old man, he was still working at a machine press, stamping out pocket knives.

Now I really would like to find out if anybody was using slingshots (and lever guns) in Veitnam...

Okay, I promise, no more thread drift tonight.
 
I don't know about Vietnam, but the Mexican Police in Tijuana recently started to pack slingshots after they got their guns taken away...

This is a pretty interesting thread!
 
Fiction or not, the film is based on "The Short Timers" bu Gustav Haasford, a guy who was there.

The Red Ryder is along the same lines as finding the pink stuffed animal, you see wierd things out there.
 
My Dad, (retired Army) served with MACV in 66-67, he, having to be different (and Infantry his entire Army career, don't know if that explains it) carried a Walther P-38 of all things in Vietnam. He still has the reciept also, ordered it from the Spiegel catalog via mail in the early 60's.

His P-38 and photos are some of my Brothers and mine most treasured heirlooms from Dad.:)
 
Vietnam had been a country at war for a long long time. There were all manner of firearms brought into the country from all over and no telling what might have turned up here or there.

I heard the 'Mad Dog' Shriver story from John Plaster, who was an NCO in SOG at the time. So there was at least one Marlin .444 over there...

lpl/nc
 
Guy I used to work with was a grunt in VN, spent 2 tours. Brought several pics in of his best friends (4 of them) and himself and although he didn't have a lever gun, he certainly carried plenty of non-issue weapons. He told me on many occasions that he carried 8 to 10 different weapons on him at any time. He said his fav was a sawed of 12 ga double gun he used (about 14 to 16 inches long). In the pics you could see All of them with a variety of weapons.
 
Ian Sean I heard of people who were MACV what does this term mean. I ve heard it alot in books but never heard what it stands for, so if somebody could please educate me on it I would really appreciate it. Thank you, sorry for the thread jack.
 
It was a bb gun in "FMJ"

Before reading this thread, I had no idea about whether or not there were any lever action guns, issue or privately owned, used in the Vietnam War. There have been some replies about one being shown in the (FICTIONAL!) movie "Full Metal Jacket."

In IMDB (Internet Movie Database,) that movie is very well documented and commented upon. In the Trivia section, here, the 28th item down reads:
In several of the Vietnam scenes a Red Ryder B.B. gun can be seen in the squad leaders pack, and in the scene where "Vietnam: The Movie" is being filmed he is holding it in his hand as the camera crew goes by.
Click to expand...
Of course, with so many arty individuals involved in this production, we can't know if this is just some wild hair joke sneaked in by some of those involved in the production. On the other hand, perhaps there was some back story about the BB gun which was cut out in editing. One thing's sure - - if the latter, the Daisy BB gun was NOT an error. With all the western movies ever filmed, there were probably more REAL prop Winchesters available than any other type long gun. ;)

Best,
Johnny
 
A friend of mine was a squad leader in Vietnam. He told me he let his guys carry anything they wanted, except AKs and M1 carbines because they sounded too much like AKs. Lever guns were certainly possible.
 
I know some vets that got family or friends to send them extra weapons in the mail and who brought back disassembled stuff. No reason lever guns couldnt have shown up in vietnam. Nearly everything else was there. After all, WWII stuff is still showing up all over the middle east. They will probably still be finding grease guns in 1000 years.

I thought rules forbade it, but I have seen soldiers shopping in gun stores for sidearms.
 
My father was Coast Guard and did some patrol time in Vietnam. He told me they had a shortage of either arms or ammo (I think it was actual arms) onboard ship and when they unexpectedly had to dock for some repairs. He walked a few of rounds of shore watch with a .30-06 levergun as opposed to more standard military weapons.

(A bit of history in case anyone is interested).
 
Hey Risasi, I ordered one of those Wrist Rockets in 1969 while I was over there. It looked just like the one called the Classic in your link! When ever we would go into port I'd go out on the fantail and shoot at seagulls with it. (Only the commie seagulls, of course!)

I don't recall what happened to it...I think my ex got it in the divorce, along with everything else!
 
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