"prop" gun misshap

[MedGrl]

Not sure if this is where I should post this but couldn't figure out a different place.

So, my sister is an actress. She manages to pay the bills quite successfully as a working actress and is currently in a new show. I have been teaching her about guns, how to shoot, safety, etc. and the show she is currently in requires her to use a derringer that is loaded with blanks. Unfortunately she is working with several morons.

She had to explain to the fellow actor that she sprained his wrist disarming him because he pointed a gun (he wasn't even supposed to be touching) at her. His response that "it is just blanks" was responded to with her lecturing him on the 4 rules and that blanks are still dangerous. He didn't believer her until one of the male actors verified that she was 100% correct. :banghead:

Then, again with the same gun she was using it for her scene and unknown to her the mechanism that locked the hammer back had broken since the last time it was "fired" and when she went to cock it the hammer fell immediately and she received a small powder burn on her palm. The director told her she fired too soon and when she explained that the gun broke he also said "good thing it's only blanks" :banghead: :banghead:

She told me these two stories and asked me if she was overreacting to be upset with these people for their ignorance. I told her no. It isn't just ignorance of "gun stuff" but basic theatre craft and safety.

 

[Brian Dale]

Actor Jon-Erik Hexum (link) killed himself by fooling around with a prop gun, loaded with blanks, on the set of a TV show.

Your sister didn't overreact at all.

 

[ChaoSS]

Well, it is indeed a good thing that it was only blanks.

I wouldn't tolerate too easy going an attitude though, especially if it's the type of gun that is capable of firing regular ammunition. All it takes is one idiot with a bad sense of humor who doesn't really realize that he could kill someone....

 

[RS14]

Brandon Lee also died because of negligence with prop guns.

 

[EddieNFL]

She had to explain to the fellow actor that she sprained his wrist disarming him because he pointed a gun (he wasn't even supposed to be touching) at her.

LOL. Hope she followed with a palm-heel to the nose. That would really give him something to talk about at the spa.

 

[XavierBreath]

Here is another story about a prop gun that shot somebody.

My daughter and wife act in the community theater. In general I have found that theater folks are horribly gun ignorant, and think they are above the Four Rules. They often refuse to even have a volunteer who is familiar with firearms to manage these props for them. As a result, my wife or daughter refuse to be in plays that involve prop guns.

 

[wishin]

I would think that sort of thing happens a lot in the entertainment industry. You may want to reiterate to her that once the gun is loaded, even with blanks, she shouldn't point it where it can do harm, and that includes her own hand.

 

[Slamfire]

Actor Jon-Erik Hexum (link) killed himself by fooling around with a prop gun, loaded with blanks, on the set of a TV show.

I am aware of a 60's Western TV Star who put a Colt SAA prop gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.

No bullet, but just as dead.

 

[Jim K]

She might tell those ignorant folks that the KGB routinely carried out executions indoors by shooting the victim in the back of the head with a blank. That way there was no overpenetration and no ricochet but the victim was very dead.

Jim

 

[Leanwolf]

SLAMFIRE 1 - "I am aware of a 60's Western TV Star who put a Colt SAA prop gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.

No bullet, but just as dead. "

I never heard of that one. Who was the actor?????

L.W.

 

[desidog]

This is why i think that gun safety should be mandatory in grade school - if you don't like guns, fine...never touch one again. But at least everyone would know the reality of firearms and safety...it would save some lives, limbs, and anti- people's irrational fear of guns.

 

[Jim K]

One reason the movies today rarely use real guns and blanks. The actors wave dummy guns around and the flash and sound are added by "the boys in the back room."

I have often been asked about using real guns or blank guns in stage productions. For non-professionals (high school, college, community theater), I always recommend against it, suggesting using a dummy gun and a clapper or a drum beat to make the noise backstage. In a comedy, the old red flag that says "BANG" is a good choice.

Even for professionals, the insurance rates will skyrocket if the insurer finds out that real guns are being used, even with blanks, and blank guns can still burn an actor.

Remember the Globe Theater fire, folks. Will tried to be realistic and look where it got him.

Jim

 

[Quiet]

Airsoft guns are now being used in a lot of tv and movies.
Muzzle flashes & shells ejecting are added in during the editing process.

 

[beardownwildcat]

a coupe years ago a preacher shot himself in the temple with a blank when he was preaching something. something about life like a loaded gun or something. boom, wad went into his head. i don't think he died though.

 

[McCall911]

I am aware of a 60's Western TV Star who put a Colt SAA prop gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.

That reminds me somewhat of TV/movie actor Albert Salmi, one of my favorite "heavy" actors. He did a lot of TV westerns. But I think his death involved an accidental shooting of his wife followed by his own suicide.
Very, very tragic story.

 

[kimberdad]

I remember when Jon-Erik Hexum killed himself with a prop gun. I believe it was a 44 mag. loaded with blanks. He put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Guess he figured the blanks would cause him no harm. Unfortunately he figured wrong. Some people have no idea.

 

[JellyJar]

MedGrl

Have your actress friend take an apple and a tomato to the stage. Then shoot both with the gun loaded with blanks at close range in front of the rest of the cast and crew. Then they will understand how dangerous even blanks can be.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I've been collecting TV and movie prop guns for around 30 years. Most have no moving parts. A few make electronic sound cues that are covered up in post-production.

The only one that could hurt anyone (outside of being used as a blunt object) was the earliest one that I picked up. It looked like a small Beretta, but it used 8mm blanks. The barrel was solid and the gases exhausted through the bottom of the frame and between the barrel and the slide.

I can see someone getting burned by it, especially if it went off while their hand was still on the slide.

 

[kanook]

some people use blanks in their bang sticks (power heads) when diving.

I use blanks to shoot mice indoors at close range.

 

[Kimber45acp]

My daughter and wife act in the community theater. In general I have found that theater folks are horribly gun ignorant, and think they are above the Four Rules. They often refuse to even have a volunteer who is familiar with firearms to manage these props for them. As a result, my wife or daughter refuse to be in plays that involve prop guns.

Most people in theatre don't "get" guns (or the real world in general) at all. Why should this be a surprise, their favorite activity revolves around the land of MAKE BELIEVE and puting people in a type of trance for a couple of hours.

That being said, a good show IS fun to watch

 

[NMGonzo]

Dear actors: Get some damned firearms training.

It is going to make the whole thing more realistic and safe.

 

[Kimber45acp]

Dear actors: Get some damned firearms training.

It is going to make the whole thing more realistic and safe.

I couldn't agree more Gonzo, but you just told them to join the real world and they don't WANT that. They think they can pick up a gun and figure everything out by looking at it. The thought of handling a gun when they're NOT on stage repulses them. They'll look at you like you just told them to ditch all of their friends.

 

[Jim K]

Hi, theotherwaldo,

Movies have always used some dummy prop guns, but I can assure you that up until fairly recently, the guns that were being fired were real, using blanks. The most common blank was the old 5-in-1, so called because it could be used in .45 Colt revolvers, and .44-40 and .38-40 revolvers and rifles (Colt SAA's and Winchester 92's).

They are designed to emit smoke to dramatize the effect when the guys in the white hats were chasing the guys in the black hats over Universal's back lot. Blanks were also made for other common calibers, including .45 ACP, .38 Special, and .32 ACP (remember Casablanca?). Auto and semi-auto weapons were altered to function with blanks. There may have been accidents but if so they were covered up or just considered part of making a movie.

But with a few highly publicized incidents of death or injury with blanks, the studios and the insurance companies cracked down, and real, functional, guns have almost disappeared from movie and stage sets. There is no need to take risks any more, since ILM and other companies will provide anything from a muzzle blast to a light saber by editing the digital master.

Jim

 

[svaz]

One of the first things the reenactors at Tombstone (AZ, yeah, it's a real town) do is show the audience how much damage a blank can do by shooting a Coke can at point-blank range. It always tickles me a little bit to hear someone who is not gun-savvy say, "Wow! I wonder what real bullets do?!"

 

[Dokkalfar]

Personally, I like desidog's suggestion. Basic firearm safety at the very least should be a part of, if not elementary school, then definitely high school level. Maybe a part of home-ec or whatever its called.

But yes, blanks are just as dangerous as live rounds, maybe even more so because alot of people (even those who halfwhat know firearms) just assume they aren't. That raises the liklihood of an accident quite a bit. Case in point, the above Hexum link.