Watched the last NCIS episode - Gibbs, with a 1911, approaching a bad situation with his finger off the trigger. So far, so good, except the hammer was down. In real life, in a pucker situation, if he had to press the trigger, exactly nothing would happen.

Gibbs is portrayed as an ex-marine sniper. You would think his character would know better. Whoever is the firearms advisor on this show is not earning his pay.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

It has literally been probably 6-7 years since I've seen that show. As I remember it... basically everyone on the team carried DA/SA Sig pistols.
Obviously, I didn't see the episode you are referencing, so I'll take your word for it that it was a 1911.

What used to grind my gears when watching? Everyone (EVERYONE!) sits around the office and chuckles at each other until some serious issue arises and they must leave the office... at this point, each character opens a desk drawer and pulls out their holstered sidearm, always a pancake holster, a whole rig they can place inside the waistband, because now "all of a sudden" they must be armed.

Who, in any level or style of LE, military included, drops their sidearm in the desk all day long and only retrieves it when they need to leave the building?! IMO, that's ludicrous. I've never been in LE but first... you are unarmed much of the days and secondly... you've got a loaded handgun that is yours -- and completely out of your control.

I have enjoyed the show in past bit haven't watched. In long while.

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Spin The Wheel

I saw that. Typically I don't pay much attention to gun handling skills in movies or TV shows. If you pay attention half the time they hold the gun half way down the grip.

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I haven't watch in two years but thought they carried Sigs as well. Gibb's buddy Mike Franks carried a 1911 but he got killed. Maybe that's why; he had the hammer down on a 1911.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

They all carry Sigs but last year or the year before Gibbs switched to a 1911. Mike got killed by a serial killer. Stabbed I believe.

Also don't forget that they often do several takes so this may be the one that made the cut

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Arik is correct. I believe that it was not too long after Gibbs was shot in the leg and chest by a child "follower", Gibbs seems to have retired the 9mm Sig and returned to the 1911. I don't remember the episode name.

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Judge control not gun control!

I was a cop for 30 years and although mostly desk bound for my last couple of years as a command official, my weapon was loaded, holstered & on my hip. I was watching a show, forgot which one, where the character was running toward something. His coat flew open revealing a revolver on one hip and a double mag carrier on the other side. Makes me wonder who is handling their technical advise on set.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

And these are the guys that want to take OUR weapons away !

Considering half the stuff they do on that show would be illegal in real life, I'm not too worried about a 1911 with the hammer down.

FYI, could it have been a Para-Ordinance LDA?



*I haven't seen this episode, and it's been a while since I've watched the series. Haven't seen any of the spin-offs, either.

That was his backup ;D

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LDAs had bobbed hammer. There once was an STI that you cock the hammer and then push it forward. The hammer is cocked internally but the physical hammer is forward. When you pull the trigger the hammer falls back and fires. Think Daewoo DP51. However it's probably just a regular 1911 if not even a rubber prop gun

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Also amused to see them carrying in small-of-the-back holsters.

TV shows and accuracy are mutually exclusive.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Yep. I saw it, too, and wondered the same thing.

You're right. Gibbs is an ex-Marine sniper, but obviously, Mark Harmon isn't.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Poor gun handling in a fictional TV show? I'm shocked!

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Common sense isn't so common.

I saw that also. I guess the people that screen (supposedly) the program before it hits TV figure the viewing public is not savvy enough to notice the hammer down on the 1911. Not a good condition in any case.
Ooops

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James
On the Llano Estacado

I call it the Abby show. Who cares what Gibbs does? Haven't seen it in a couple of years though.

I didn't see the show, so I'll only add this as far as a1911 goes..

Colt Double Eagle in both sizes, single stack, is based on a 1911 and is a double action first shot. So hammer could be down. Think S & W models 39 and 59. Also remember a German P-38

WuzzFuzz

In one of the tv shows I watch a guy got shot in the neck. The examiner said it's not a 9mm, it was a 380. Then I changed the channel looking for something else.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Of course, "everyone knows" .380 is tiny, and 9mm must be... I dunno... something like .90 caliber - that's why they call it a nine - and makes holes you can put a fist in.

It just slays me when some TV hero "expertly" glances at an entry wound and pronounces it as a "9mm" or whatever among a choice of commonly used .38, 9mm, .380, 357.

I'll tell you who, the FBI, that's who. Mostly you only hear about such things if you are in law enforcement.

About 40 years ago three FBI Agents in the Salt Lake City office walked across the street to the bank and walked into an armed robbery in progress! Where were their guns? All of them were across the street in their desks in the FBI office in the Federal Building!!! Now that's ludicrous, but true.

FBI regulations required them to be armed at all times. Unfortunately all "Professionals" do not always conduct themselves in a "professional manner".

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I've given up on expecting accurate movie depictions of firearm use...

Wildly exaggerated muzzle flashes...total lack of recoil...endless ammo supply...full-auto weapons...sloppy or unsafe gun handling...and on and on...it's the norm, not the exception.

There are some bright spots. The film "The Great Raid" (about the successful rescue of 500 POWs in the Philippines in WW2) had Dale Dye in it, and featured spot-on weapons handling, right down to the open bolts on the actors' Thompson submachine guns. But that was one in a million...

GF and I were sittin' there watching the show. Saw the 1911 with the hammer down and immediately turned to her and said "Now that's gonna start some discussions on the gun boards!"

Oh well...

My innocence was lost as a young teen watching some old wartime production combat movie and wondering why the Japanese soldiers had Krag-Jorgensens.

And I had always wondered about Sgt. Schultz with his Krag, but didn't let it get in the way of enjoying the show....
Sergeant Schultz.JPG

At least one episode of, Sea Patrol had a Royal Australian Navy officer approach a bunker where they thought the bad guy was and the hammer of her Browning was down. And they often subbed CZ 9mm's for the Brownings.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/07/29/4b/0...492c0ea761.jpg

The hammer is cocked here, but note the CZ in lieu of a Brownng Hi-Power.

According to the show, Gibbs went from his issue SIG .40 S&W to his Daddies 1911. But if his Daddy was a P-51 pilot his issue gun would have been a S&W Victory or Colt Commando, BUT it could have been a private purchase by an Officer and Gentleman.
Major changes for NCIS, Abby is leaving, Ducky is on leave, and the cute girl has been dropped. And McGee grew a beard. New characters to come.
Geoff
Who noted the hammer down in several episodes.

My wife watches this show for hours on end. I don't watch it, I just retire to the music/reloading room and watch you tube.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Read an article about this a little while ago. The way the article explained it is that it depends on the situation. Obviously even the movie industry has to follow the law so some of the special effects are added when the gun used is fake. It will either be a solid one piece look a like or one with movable parts but not capable of firing. Slide and hammer can move.

The 2ndr reason for this is some actors have felony convictions and by law cannot have/hold/use a real firearm.

And the 3rd reason is budget! Even popular shows can only afford so much. If you saw the movie Deadpool there is a scene where the character packs a duffle bag full of guns for the last big showdown but forgets it in the taxi! The reason for that was ... BUDGET! They couldn't afford to rent those guns for too long. If they can't afford guns or realistic looking replicas you get 1980s special effects!

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And "Criminal Minds"--the chubby Abby show.

I don't watch NCIS, or most fantasy cop shows.

We usually pick a sitcom, and watch it back to back, even if we have already watched it. Good TV is good TV, mediocre TV is just that. Lately we have been watching Home Improvement, almost to the last season.

Looks like Ducky / David McCallum is leaving the show this season as of the last episode and Paulie Perrette / Abby is not returning for next season.
Seems like they're all starting to jump ship?
I can understand McCallum leaving and finally wanting to retire?
I have enjoyed watching this and believe as with the Law and Order series has run its course!

It's a television show. It isn't real. The average viewer doesn't know one gun from another, and probably cares even less about authenticity or whether or not the gun's being used properly.

As an aside current real NCIS director Andrew Traver was in Denver speaking at Metropolitan State University on Thursday. He was formerly in Denver when he was the ATF SAC.

He talked a little about the show and how it's raised the agency's profile but mostly how much different it is working for NCIS compared to ATF.

And yes, Gibbs should know better with a 1911!!

during the few years I was a Defective, when settling in for a long series of interviews, or worse, a long period of report writing, I would drop my 228 in a desk drawer, because the chair arms didn't really permit me ,my weapon, a double mag pouch, all between them.

A P-51 pilot WOULD have been issued a .45! The Mustamg was an Army AF plane! You're thinking of Navy and USMC pilots and planes. And they could have probably gotten a .45 if they really preferred one. Until after the battle of Midway in 1942, they wouldn't likely have had the .38 option. It took a few months to make the guns and get them to ships.

When I was about 12, I looked through a lot of old Natl. Geographics and the Navy airmen at that time (mid--1942) were shown wearing .45's. By late 1942, that had probably changed.

When was Kennedy's PT-109 sunk? He had a .38 Victory Model,so the guns had certainly arrived in theater by then. I think production began in April, 1942?

I'm thinking of a picture of my Dad's boyhood friend Lenny Solomon next to his P-51 ETO, with a revolver in his shoulder holster.
Geoff
Who was young, but not that young, I'd been subscribed to Guns & Hunting for two years.

That's what I did. I had to be different. I carried my S&W 696, and I kept it in my desk drawer when I was at work. A 696 is a little awkward when sitting in a chair. Also, I just never thought I would need it on the third floor of the building. I also kept it in a locked drawer in my office when I went to court. If there was an incident in the court house, then let the Bailiffs handle it.

During my entire career, there were only two times I came close to drawing my gun, and neither time was on the third floor of the building.

Were you being sarcastic, or waylaid by spell-check not alerting because it is a word, just not the right one?

I think he was being humorous. The pun is widely used, even among US cops.

BTW, David Lindsey rode with and hung out with Houston detectives to get background material for his books. He said they sometimes kept their guns in drawers, taking them as they left the office.

And an FBI agent who spoke at my high school on Career Day had his .38 Bodyguard out in his car. Famed behavioral analyst John Douglas sometimes kept his pistol in a briefcase.

No, I don't approve of cops walking around unarmed or where their guns can't be easily reached. I was stunned to see RCMP constables sometimes walking around downtown in Stephenville, Newfoundland without their guns. I think they only wore them if expecting possible trouble. But that was back in the 1960's. I doubt they still do that. The world has changed.

The only time I’m unarmed at work is when I’m inside a prison or using the bathroom . Even at court,we’re allowed to be armed. Heck, it irks me to be unarmed off duty, which is why I’m always armed off duty too.

Just saw an NCIS episode where the team was "doing annual qualifications".
They were stationary, standing at a covered Bullseye counter, shooting at silhouettes at a single fixed distance. Zero recoil from the pistols.

Have to wonder is there even an advisor on the show?

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

When my Dad was a Capt. late 60s - mid-70s..... and pushed a desk more than a car.... his gun (2" colt detective special or 4" pre-10 M&P) went into his desk drawer......it was as someone else mentioned a chair thing....... that and he was behind at least one (maybe 2) electronically locked doors ...... one had to be buzzed into the Dept. by the desk officer.

When I carried to and from work... mine went into a lock box in my desk........ course I was a lawyer working in a ________________ ( 30 man armed (model 10s) Security Dept reported to me)

Rule of thumb is; never assume!...... but it's just a TV show; and the NCIS crew has to ride an elevator to get out of the building....... so I assume there's a check point/magnetometer w/ armed security at the building's entrance like most federal buildings. Besides for TV grabbing your gun (what about extra magazine(s) and backpack (lunch?? ) makes good TV visuals......

WWII standard sidearm for USAAC/AAF WAS a 1911a1!

USN & USMC used BOTH Colt and S&W .38 Spl & 1911's.

My cousin flew the P-47 Thunderbolt in Europe and I have a picture of him carrying it. Also my instructor flew P-51’s in the Pacific inWWII and when recalled for Korea and wore a 45 in several photos.

We all know how Hollywood is. Not much truth comes from them anyway.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

My wife hates it when I watch shows with firearms. I have a tendency to point out discrepancies, sometimes a little enthusiastically! Best thing lately is the number of 3rd gen Smith & Wesson autos I've seen. Even Hollywood can recognize quality.....occasionally!

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Even older, even crankier....