Hollywood is not known for accuracy, and its use of firearms is no exception.
A good example is how often have you seen a silencer on a revolver? They don’t work. The idea behind a silencer is to entrap and delay the escaping gases, the gap between the cylinder and barrel on a revolver allow a lot of noise to escape from there.
Also, a silencer is much bigger and a lot lounder than you usually see in the movies.
Besides, how often do you see people drop on one shot in the movies? If they are the hero or the villain, almost never, but anyone one else drops dead in their tracks.
Just because Hollywood does it, don’t mean its real or smart.
Regarding your question about the effectiveness of fanning a six gun;
There’s a guy named Bob Munden who uses a variation on that technique to achieve incredible rates of fire from a single action revolver. Instead of using his palm to knock the hammer back, he uses his fingers (and maybe his thumb). Therefore each pass of his hand results in 4 or 5 very rapid shots.
By combining this technique with quick draw and rapid reload using multiple guns, he throws out a lot of lead in a short amount of time. He’s also very accurate firing from the hip.
None of this has any practical value except to Munden himself, since he makes money doing exhibitions around the country.
The recoil differences of the two models. An semi-automatic pistol will have a straight back recoil. (Lock your wrists and keep your elbows loose while shooting) A Revolver will tend to have a upward recoil. (lock elbows not wrists) The upward motion would not fit well with a sideways gun.
When you want to look cool and hip in hollywood, you use an automatic.
OK here’s a short response till I get home and get the full scoop.
The flat position was developed by the Israeli Army in response to their policy of carrying their Browning HIPowers in a “condition3” state meaning it was cocked and the safety was on. In order to fire it was necessary to pull the slide back- easier and more stable if the gun is horizontal. The gun was fired vertically however.
I could be wrong about the details (I’ll check and respond later) but the basic Israeli connection is valid
(How’s that for a first message?)
Cheers, Mike
I’ve seen (and used) that gesture Pete is talking about. (Hand held high pointing down at an individual, stabbing the air). It’s an adaptation of a baton gesture frequently used by public speakers to forcefully project their words at another person or group of people. In this case, the elevation of the hand (to me) means, “I’m gonna kick yer freaking ass cause I’m bigger than you are and you’re going to think god came down from heaven to help me.” Or something equally cool.
I think Pete hit it right on the head with that explanation, but I like “That’s the way it came out of the box” too.