Steve McQueen handgun

[ron 57]

When I first saw the picture I thought it was perhaps a custom piece but the link Sgt911 posted leaves no doubt. Many of you likely knew from the picture alone. From septic tanks to nuclear reactors, the knowledge of the members of this fine forum is amazing.
Steve McQueen was certainly no angel but I think the way he lived his life came through in his movies. Maybe that's just one Hoosier sticking up for another.
I will say that after seeing his last movie "Hunter", I was moved to purchase a MA-1 sage green flight jacket like he wore. He carried a 1911 on screen but I found my model 39 fit that inside pocket just right.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Only thing I saw him was "The Towering Inferno" where he played the no-nonsense 100% professional fire chief.
Few of the Hollywood types associated with westerns, war and cop movies were gun guys.

 

[Steve912]

Hammer back with finger in the trigger. McQueen didn't seem to know much about gun safety.

Maybe he was watching the news on TV.

 

[Alpo]

What difference does that make? I thought we always assume a gun is always loaded. And never put your finger on the trigger until ready to fire. And never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot.

I bet it's real hard to make a western, where you don't point a gun at somebody because you're not willing to kill him, and you never put your finger in the trigger guard until you're willing to shoot somebody.


That's a photograph. It's posed.

 

[StrawHat]

...What difference does that make? I thought we always assume a gun is always loaded. And never put your finger on the trigger until ready to fire. And never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot....

Actually the difference is time. I was taught firearm safety six decades ago. All guns are loaded. Never point a gun at something you don't intend to put a hole in. Those were the two hammered in to my head.

Back then, holsters did not cover a triggerguard. Many were taught to grip the handgun in the holster and put your finger on the trigger while making the draw.

Time changes the rules. Some people aren't smart enough to not shoot themselves in the leg so holsters get garbaged up and the no finger on the trigger rule is born.

My point is, don't judge old practices by new rules.

Kevin

 

[Rustyt1953]

Note to self: don't post pics of myself dry firing.

 

[.357magger]

I bet it's real hard to make a western, where you don't point a gun at somebody because you're not willing to kill him, and you never put your finger in the trigger guard until you're willing to shoot somebody.


That's a photograph. It's posed.

You're allowing facts and logic to intrude.

 

[Muss Muggins]

What difference does that make? I thought we always assume a gun is always loaded. And never put your finger on the trigger until ready to fire. And never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot.

It's a cool picture. I wasn't intending to stir up a hornet's nest. Just pointing out his weapons handling skills apparently sucked. I don't know much about McQueen. Seen a few of his movies. Honestly wasn't all that impressed, but I know he's got a "manly man" reputation. But he clearly didn't know squat about handling a gun. Certainly not enough to teach his wife a few things. And what's with the teacup grip?

You talk to a lot of managers, right?

 

[sipowicz]

Only thing I saw him was "The Towering Inferno" where he played the no-nonsense 100% professional fire chief.
Few of the Hollywood types associated with westerns, war and cop movies were gun guys.

That will always be a special movie for me...Saw it at a drive-in in Glens Falls, NY when I was 15. I still remember her name..you never forget your first. Guess I should really rent the movie again to see what happened. Something about a fire?

 

[kbm6893]

I bet it's real hard to make a western, where you don't point a gun at somebody because you're not willing to kill him, and you never put your finger in the trigger guard until you're willing to shoot somebody.


That's a photograph. It's posed.

Making a movie is different. Prop masters, safety checks, blanks, insurance, all that. Can't make a movie gunfight without pulling the trigger. None of that happened in this picture.

He cocked the hammer and put his finger on the trigger. If this wasn't some movie star, who for some reason is given ultra manhood status, doing it, most here would comment on his poor handling.

Only thing I like about McQueen is the car chase scene in Bullit. Of course, a professional driver drove that car, not McQueen. Still, one of the best I have ever seen.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Also loved the Bullit chase sequence.
Steve was Mr. Cool, probably wore his Sunglasses in the shower.
Probably not a hard core gun guy.

 

[scooter123]

What difference does that make? I thought we always assume a gun is always loaded. And never put your finger on the trigger until ready to fire. And never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot.

It's a cool picture. I wasn't intending to stir up a hornet's nest. Just pointing out his weapons handling skills apparently sucked. I don't know much about McQueen. Seen a few of his movies. Honestly wasn't all that impressed, but I know he's got a "manly man" reputation. But he clearly didn't know squat about handling a gun. Certainly not enough to teach his wife a few things. And what's with the teacup grip?

You need to understand the concept for Gun Safety has changed over time. Back in the 60's Gun Safety was all about making certain the gun was empty. It was even considered bad form to not check that a firearm was empty immediately after someone handed it to you, even if you had just watched that person check before handing it over. Those habitual checks gave people confidence that it was perfectly safe to handle their guns as they would if shooting. Somewhere about 1970 people became aware that some people will cheat from time to time and keeping your bugger hook in a safe location was also necessary. So don't flog Steve for doing what was considered safe at the time that picture was taken.

 

[CQB27]

Actually the difference is time. I was taught firearm safety six decades ago. All guns are loaded. Never point a gun at something you don't intend to put a hole in. Those were the two hammered in to my head.

Back then, holsters did not cover a triggerguard. Many were taught to grip the handgun in the holster and put your finger on the trigger while making the draw.

Time changes the rules. Some people aren't smart enough to not shoot themselves in the leg so holsters get garbaged up and the no finger on the trigger rule is born.

My point is, don't judge old practices by new rules.

Kevin

AMEN! The modern day safety folks need to quit applying today's "gun safety political correctness" to old photos and practices. Not to mention a free man can damn well what he pleases in his own house/property as long as he isn't harming others, like dry fire his pistol, including the king of cool. I mean, this is still a free country isn't it.

 

[kbm6893]

AMEN! The modern day safety folks need to quit applying today's "gun safety political correctness" to old photos and practices. Not to mention a free man can damn well what he pleases in his own house/property as long as he isn't harming others, like dry fire his pistol, including the king of cool. I mean, this is still a free country isn't it.

I'm not calling for his arrest. Sure, he can wave a gun around his house if he wants to. Elvis can shoot a tv if he wants to, also. You ok with that, too? Presilla seemed freaked about it.

Still, a known drunk and drug abuser, with more than likely a God complex, waves a gun around his house, while drinking alcohol. Don't know why anybody would have a problem with that.

And I'm far from politically correct.

 

[Warren Sear]

Hammer back with finger in the trigger. McQueen didn't seem to know much about gun safety.

There is nothing unsafe about what he was doing in the picture.

 

[CQB27]

I'm not calling for his arrest. Sure, he can wave a gun around his house if he wants to. Elvis can shoot a tv if he wants to, also. You ok with that, too? Presilla seemed freaked about it.

Still, a known drunk and drug abuser, with more than likely a God complex, waves a gun around his house, while drinking alcohol. Don't know why anybody would have a problem with that.

And I'm far from politically correct.

Elvis you say? Who else you got in the Pandora's box of safety knowledge to pull out and educate the crowd? LOL!

 

[kbm6893]

Elvis you say? Who else you got in the Pandora's box of safety knowledge to pull out and educate the crowd? LOL!

Just figured another drug and alcohol abusing entitled celebrity would be a good analogy. Should I use a person nobody has ever heard of?

 

[sigp220.45]

Steve McQueen can do no wrong. He defeated the Blob.

 

[Breakaway500]

"I'm still here you bastages.." Love the movie Papillon. In my top 3 list. Steve lived life his way.

It was said the movie studio who "owned" him forbid him to participate in motorcycle and car events so he entered under the alias Harvey Mushman. Steve said it was to avoid publicity.

He fled the poverty he had grown up in, in Missouri and Indiana, at top speed.

At the age of 14 he was still living in a home for delinquent youths; as a 17-year-old, he enlisted in the Marines as a tank driver.
At the age of 22, he successfully auditioned for one of the coveted spots in Lee Strasberg's famed Actors Studio in New York – the drama school par excellence in the 1950s.To make ends meet, McQueen worked as a dishwasher and truck driver, and topped up his budget by running races on his Harley-Davidson. The prize money was usually one hundred dollars – a sizable sum at the time.

McQueen scored his first starring role at the age of 27 in the science-fiction horror film The Blob. His pay: $3,000. It was the comparatively modest beginning of an unprecedented rise.

By the end of the 1950s, his income was sufficient to buy his first new car: a black Porsche 356 A Speedster. Like his fellow actor James Dean, McQueen felt drawn to the young brand out of Stuttgart. The Speedster and its 75 hp engine combined day-to-day usability with the qualities of a club racer.

Steve McQueen died at the young age of 50, from cancer in 1980.


Link to an interesting article about his racing career for anyone interested.. McQ: The Man Who Called Himself Harvey Mushman

 

[6518John]

Love the movie Papillon. In my top 3 list.

So do I—I was 11 when I first saw the film and it made quite an impression. I have also used the line, "if your going to catch leprosy, it's better to catch it from money" throughout this Covid mess by inserting "covid" for leprosy. I thought I was really funny until I caught it myself (Covid, not leprosy). A surprising number of people get the reference.

I also liked the 2017 remake.

 

[Kurusu]

Steve McQueen can do no wrong. He defeated the Blob.

BWAH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH!


Good one man!

 

[6518John]

I went back and looked at all the classic JMB photos and he has his finger on the trigger in almost every one, including several machine guns—indoors too!

 

[Kurusu]

I went back and looked at all the classic JMB photos and he has his finger on the trigger in almost every one, including several machine guns—indoors too!

Now that is the true King of cool. Not some actor.

 

[jeffrefrig]

He (SM) could sing, too! But I think "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was the only song he knew!

 

[Warren Sear]

... Steve lived life his way...]

Each and every one of us lives life in our own way. There is nothing admirable or unusual in that.

 

[sipowicz]

Steve McQueen can do no wrong. He defeated the Blob.

Whenever our Crossman airguns would run out my brother would laugh and yell "CO2 Dave." He was easy to amuse.

 

[rockquarry]

He (SM) could sing, too! But I think "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was the only song he knew!

I haven't seen that in a long time and don't remember much about it other than it was a terrible film, about like another Steve McQueen dud of the same time, "Soldier In The Rain".

Did he actually sing "Baby The Rain Must Fall"? I can't remember, but if he did, it couldn't have been good.

I've always been a Steve McQueen fan; his good movies were certainly among the best ever.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Back in JMB's day shooters didn't wear safety glasses or use hearing protection, hunters didn't wear blaze orange. And how many firearms inventors and designers were known as crack shots, active competitors, etc?
Buddy Hackett was quite the collector but didn't have an image as a macho man.
Let's see, in the two pictures McQueen is aiming away from the camera, that is safe practice, no?

 

[Warren Sear]

He (SM) could sing, too! But I think "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was the only song he knew!

Glenn Yarbrough performed that song.

 

[Eric300]

I'm not calling for his arrest. Sure, he can wave a gun around his house if he wants to. Elvis can shoot a tv if he wants to, also. You ok with that, too? Presilla seemed freaked about it.

Still, a known drunk and drug abuser, with more than likely a God complex, waves a gun around his house, while drinking alcohol. Don't know why anybody would have a problem with that.

And I'm far from politically correct.

Just stop, already. You're embarrassing yourself. You are making conclusions from a simple picture.