Why didn't the 4006 (and family) ever get the Hollywood Treatment?

Echo40 · Aug 16, 2020

Lately my mind has been on Action Movies. Dirty Harry, the Bond films, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, the list goes on...

Those Action Films have a tendency to feature firearms so prominently thst they're practically the Co-Stars of the films, and Television Shows were often the same.
Another thing that movies and TV shows had a tendency of doing was featuring new or otherwise trendy firearms.

That got me to thinking... I've never seen the 4006 or any of the other .40cal 3rd Gens featured prominently in any movies or TV shows. So I went over to the Internet Movie Firearms Database to see what (if any) movies/shows the 4006 and its family might have been featured in. To my surprise, it was a rather short list, and none of them were really a big deal.

I expected what was the first .40cal pistol to have at least one co-starring role in something, complete with overblown comments regarding its tremendous "slopping power" and scenes demonstrating it by blasting badguys several feet backwards through solid objects, but apparently it was completely overlooked. The question is; why?
I know that the Glock 22 beat it to the market, but back in the day, flashier guns like the 4006 would have beaten the G22 in films, and you'd think that something or other would have placed the 4006 in the hands of some loose cannon cop. Yet it never happened.

DanRod_LA · Aug 16, 2020

Hollywood has typically used weapons and especially handguns used by the police department they reside in, LAPD. A lot of police officers work directly with the movie industry. Actors have even trained at our academy. Hence why you’ll typically see handguns like the Beretta 92, or my favorite, the 4506

There’s also the prop masters for the films. Often they like super exotic and expensive guns. The villain always has to have the evil Luger. The secret agent gets the cool and pricy HK. When Glocks began being issued to LAPD they also began being seen on screen more. Also for this reason you don’t see many .40 caliber handguns. With the exception of a few years in the early 2000’s, we are issued 9mm handguns. Those that choose to go up in caliber almost always go to a .45. Rarely does someone switch to a .40. It’s the least liked cartridge on the department. If you’re going to upgrade, might as well go to the biggest cartridge you can carry. I can totally see why the movie industry would mimic this as prop masters and department advisors have a lot of influence on film. Hope this helps shed a little light on the subject!

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Echo40 · Aug 16, 2020

Makes sense, I suppose. However, the California Highway Patrol adopted the 4006 right out the gate and held onto it until just last year. Now they're issuing the M&P40.

DanRod_LA · Aug 16, 2020

Forte Smitten Wesson said:
Makes sense, I suppose. However, the California Highway Patrol adopted the 4006 right out the gate and held onto it until just last year. Now they're issuing the M&P40.

You hardly see CHP. They’re spread way too thin throughout the state, even here in Los Angeles. That’s gotten worse as they’re now tasked with handling cities that have lost their own departments. They will handle areas not serviced by municipal police or county sheriffs. Their influence on Hollywood is minimal at best. The CHP academy is a 7 hour drive away. Our academy and ranges are, obviously, in the city limits.

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stansdds · Aug 17, 2020

It may also be a simple case of economics. Hollywood has long used semi-automatic pistols chambered in 9mm and 45 ACP and they blank cartridges for these calibers. I'm not sure about the availability of 40 S&W blanks. Also, most 40 S&W pistols are based on 9mm pistols. With them looking so similar, why add another caliber when you already have 9mm pistols? On the TV show "Miami Vice", Sonny Crockett used Bren X for the first two seasons. There were no 10mm Auto blank cartridges, so Sonny's 10mm pistol was actually chambered in 45 ACP.

ContinentalOp · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
Hence why you’ll typically see handguns like the Beretta 92

Another reason for the popularity of the Beretta 92 is that it is consistently reliable with 9mm blanks. Some guns have difficulty cycling blank ammo. When filming of a scene has to stop because the gun jammed on a blank, it has to be re-shot, and that costs money.

Echo40 · Aug 17, 2020

Considering that S&W 3rd Gens are known to feed just about anything including empty brass, I doubt that lack of blank reliability had anything to do with it.
Furthermore, a lot of movies/shows had a habit of using firearms in 9mm as stand-in for .45s like how so many films used the Star Model B as a stand-in for the 1911 in many films. So they could have always used a 5906 with blanks as a stand-in for the 4006.

murphydog · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
You hardly see CHP. They’re spread way too thin throughout the state, even here in Los Angeles. That’s gotten worse as they’re now tasked with handling cities that have lost their own departments. They will handle areas not serviced by municipal police or county sheriffs. Their influence on Hollywood is minimal at best. The CHP academy is a 7 hour drive away. Our academy and ranges are, obviously, in the city limits.

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Dan;

Good to see you posting again. Stay safe out there!

adrianolsen · Aug 17, 2020

The 4006 should have been in planet of the apes, but they decided to give CHP glocks.

Jeppo · Aug 17, 2020

There was a series, Hollywood Weapons Fact or Fiction, on the Outdoor Channel. It can be found on one of the streaming outlets.

The costar was Larry Zanoff, one of Hollywood’s go-to armorer/weapons prop masters. I got a kick out of the inventory of toys they displayed. I imagine these folks not only influenced the weapons selected but that the choices were also influenced by what was available at the moment.

ContinentalOp · Aug 17, 2020

Forte Smitten Wesson said:
Considering that S&W 3rd Gens are known to feed just about anything including empty brass, I doubt that lack of blank reliability had anything to do with it.

I never said it did. I merely added to DanRod_LA's post that reliability was another reason for the 92's popularity in movies.

DanRod_LA · Aug 17, 2020

Jeppo said:
There was a series, Hollywood Weapons Fact or Fiction, on the Outdoor Channel. It can be found on one of the streaming outlets.

The costar was Larry Zanoff, one of Hollywood’s go-to armorer/weapons prop masters. I got a kick out of the inventory of toys they displayed. I imagine these folks not only influenced the weapons selected but that the choices were also influenced by what was available at the moment.

Larry Vickers has a YouTube series on movie guns. Lots of great and weird guns on there.

Here’s the link to the first video, there’s about 4 videos in the series.

ISS Movie Guns: Part 1 - YouTube

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ContinentalOp · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
Larry Vickers has a YouTube series on movie guns. Lots of great and weird guns on there.

Here’s the link to the first video, there’s about 4 videos in the series.

ISS Movie Guns: Part 1 - YouTube

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I think I've seen some of the videos from that series. Vickers also did a series where he analyzes gunfight scenes in movies, including one video where he re-enacts the briefcase scene from Collateral.

DanRod_LA · Aug 17, 2020

ContinentalOp said:
I think I've seen some of the videos from that series. Vickers also did a series where he analyzes gunfight scenes in movies, including one video where he re-enacts the briefcase scene from Collateral.

Yes, great break down too. He also did Heat, Sicario, and John Wick.

It is interesting why you hear about .40’s movies but many guns are just 9mm stand ins. Like the main character in Justified is supposed to carry a .45 Glock but it’s clearly a Glock 17. If Hollywood can get all those crazy guns, they surely could use a 4006 on screen. But at the same time, most people wouldn’t be able to pick a 4006 from a 5906 at first glance.

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bigggbbruce · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
But at the same time, most people wouldn’t be able to pick a 4006 from a 5906 at first glance.

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In a few good men. The suicide gun was a Nickel Beretta 9mm..

But Tom said it was a 45acp Doh..!!

DanRod_LA · Aug 17, 2020

Speaking of third gen .40’s, just saw these at my LGS while waiting to pick up my new M&P9 5 inch.

They specialize is law enforcement sales.

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ContinentalOp · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
But at the same time, most people wouldn’t be able to pick a 4006 from ~~a 5906~~ an AK47 at first glance.

Fixed it for you.

ISCS Yoda · Aug 17, 2020

Now that fix right up there is hilarious!!!!

As an aside, I just watched a spaghetti western or an indie, I forget which I watch so many, set in 1870 Nevada. The hero starts off with a matched set of 1873 Colts. Nickel plated no less. In a later gunfight he has a matched set of what I think were 1853 Remingtons and then later on he's sporting those nickel SAAs again. Made me laugh. Fun flick, though, and I can be forgiving of Hollyweird except when its gun toting heroes blurt out anti-gun rhetoric while they blast away. That's unforgivable.

Echo40 · Aug 17, 2020

DanRod_LA said:
Speaking of third gen .40’s, just saw these at my LGS while waiting to pick up my new M&P9 5 inch.

They specialize is law enforcement sales.

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These have been popping up lately. They seem to be Training Pistols used by the California Highway Patrol. $499 seems a bit steep considering that just a few months ago I bought a CHP 4006TSW for $399, although those are in a bit nicer condition than the example I received.

That being said, I would buy one in an instant if I had the money and some showed up at my LGS.

18DAI · Aug 17, 2020

Well, a 4506-1 on the big screen is a hard act to follow. Especially one with adjustable sights. Great looking pistol.

And being big and stainless, is really easy to see. From any distance. After seeing someone weild it in a T.V. show or movie, its all down hill from there.

Regards 18DAI

EDITED TO ADD: The 4506-1 that Vic Mackey used in the FX series The Shield, was one of the same 4506-1s that Denzel used in the movie Training Day

Why didn't the 4006 (and family) ever get the Hollywood Treatment?

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