Gun errors in books and movies

[Inusuit]

In a Brit cop series set in Montreal, one of the officers fires his handgun. Rather than report it, his partner gives him an "official" round so the count won't be short. When he hands it off, there's a bullet in the case, but the primer has been fired.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Everything in The Expendables 1 through 4.

 

[RGVshooter]

Magnum Force is still one of my favorite Dirty harry movies but even this scene where one of the dirty cops slaps on a clip on silencer over a Colt Python was just.....wrong

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

And I won't even discuss ammunition which is accounted for To. The. Round. ( and people go to jail when they're caught with it)

I don't doubt the accuracy of your reporting of YOUR experience, but I can assure you that that was NOT the case in all services at all times, even in peacetime.

 

[Jeff423]

One of the things that I am amazed at are movie snipers. I Have seen a number of scenes where a sniper pulls a disassembled, skeletonized rifle out of a backpack, snaps it together - including the scope, and makes a 1000 yd. shot. Usually within an inch.
I guess those bench rest guys are really going down the wrong path with front rests, sand bags, wind flags, etc.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

I guess those bench rest guys are really going down the wrong path with front rests, sand bags, wind flags, etc.

I don't think flags and most of the rest of "etc" are normally available in combat. However, I agree, that marksmanship among movie snipers is often ridiculous. Two of the best war movies in the last twenty years had pretty good depictions of snipers, though.

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

I liked the multi shot LAW rockets in Chuck Norris' Invasion USA

Lots of goofy 1911 stuff in Longmire (I.e. thumbing the hammer back as he makes entry through a door)

 

[MOONDAWG]

Besides slide locked semi autos still firing...

My two favorite are bad guys threatening people with 1911's or Browning Hi-Powers with the hammer down.

People being shot with shotguns and blown 12 feet backwards.

RIGHT!

 

[steveno]

all you have to is watch "Death Wish 3" and "Death Wish 4" to see how much movies and reality can be

 

[Old Corp]

My brother and I used to loan and trade novels to read all the time. He got me started on the Lee Child books where daring-do character Jack Reacher rights criminal wrongs he always seems to repeatedly encounter.

In one story he'd secured a ".12 gauge shotgun loaded with 12 steel ball bearing buckshot for devastating effect".

I was thinking - oh, that poor shotgun barrel.....

 

[walkinghorse]

Various rifle scope reticles, and scope magnifications as shown by the camera. You know the screen black except for the circle for one example.

 

[Smoke]

This is just a representative example of "snipers" in movies but in "Uncommon Valor" Gene Hackman is "sniping" (complete with a spotter) at a Vietnamese soldier 200 whole meters away and missing by FEET

Or we get Bones "The Bullet In The Brain" in which an unknown "sniper" shoots his victim with a solid copper .338 Laupa from a the 14th story of a building over a mile away and the bullet has enough velocity to completely destroy her entire head.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

I liked the sniping scene in Jarhead, where at the last second the spotter team interrupts them to call in an air strike on their target. Great movie.

 

[rkittine]

That is why what you are reading is called "Fiction".

 

[Cardboard_killer]

That is why what you are reading is called "Fiction".

But when it gets really far out, should it be called "Science Fiction"?

 

[Sistema1927]

One of my friends introduced me to Tony Hillerman some years ago. I told him that I had really enjoyed his books, but noticed that he had a weak spot when it came to firearms and radio communications since I had discovered some errors in both areas. His response? "Well, it certainly hasn't stopped me from selling books."

Yep, can't argue with that.

 

[BlackAgnes]

A couple of thoughts:

First, there is a gunsmith in Central New York who has been installing safeties on Glocks for many years. It would be likely that several hundred are floating around...(not that writers would know that!)

Second, we all seem to believe that revolvers cannot be silenced--had this ever been tested? Maybe some sound attenuation might be possible, but I don't know.

Tim

 

[tlawler]

How about a WWII movie with modern ships and armament? In the movie Pearl Harbor(yep...the one with Ben Aflak), there are several Knox Class Fast Frigates and Spruance Class Destroyers in Pearl Harbor during the attack. Mostly, the hull numbers have been either painted over or removed with CGI magic, but in a couple of scenes, the hull number of the USS Whipple (FF-1062) is clearly visible as is her Mark 42 5"/54 caliber gun mount and ASROC launcher.

Here's a screen grab of it:

 

[tlawler]

Second, we all seem to believe that revolvers cannot be silenced--had this ever been tested? Maybe some sound attenuation might be possible, but I don't know.

Tim

The only one I've even heard of people trying to silence is the 1895 Russian Nagant. The mechanics of the revolver pushes the cylinder face against the forcing cone during the shot, somewhat sealing the cylinder gap.

 

[Rudi]

In Full Metal Jacket, Craz fires off a full mag at a couple VCs, drops them. Then he's shown with no mag in his M16, then he has an empty mag, drops it, and puts in a fresh one.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

In Full Metal Jacket, Craz fires off a full mag at a couple VCs, drops them. Then he's shown with no mag in his M16, then he has an empty mag, drops it, and puts in a fresh one.

I would call those continuity errors, not gun errors. Continuity errors are very common in all movie activities.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Second, we all seem to believe that revolvers cannot be silenced--had this ever been tested? Maybe some sound attenuation might be possible, but I don't know.

Tim

Slabside guns can't be silenced, either. However, the noise can be attenuated somewhat on both. For the obvious reason, the attempt is a bit more successful without the gap.

 

[Golddollar]

I would call those continuity errors, not gun errors. Continuity errors are very common in all movie activities.

Like the time I saw Daisy Duke wearing 2 different tops while driving in the same car chase.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Like the time I saw Daisy Duke wearing 2 different tops while driving in the same car chase.

Yes, the errors in 3-d are easier to spot.

 

[Warren Sear]

Actually, suppressed handguns were in limited use by US forces in Vietnam.

.38 revolvers were relatively popular for use when clearing tunnels and bunker complexes. Most common were S&W Model 10 and Model 12 revolvers (standard issue in Army aviation units at the time), and some were equipped with suppressors that locked onto the barrel by a half-turn engaging the front sight in a recessed cut. Not terribly effective, but the reduction in noise and muzzle blast was noticeable, especially inside an enclosed space. My understanding is that these suppressors were made in US Army maintenance machine shops in Vietnam. S&W manufactured a specialized version of the Model 29 .44 magnum as a "tunnel gun" with very short barrel and cylinder modified to accept a special round loaded with multiple projectiles (these have been discussed on the forum before, and although not suppressed they are an example of specialized equipment for certain situations)...

OK, uh, that is why I showed the picture of the guy with the suppressed revolver....