Granted, “This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors” suggests there could be omissions, I don’t recall any. Possibly, he used a custom rifle in an episode or the ’66 movie? I seem to recall seeing a still of such a scene, but it may have been PR only.
The Catcher in the Rye would likely turn out very differently if Mr. Caulfield had a gun to express his teen angst.
Having a gun certainly would have helped Loana (Raquel Welch) avoid the clutches of the pterodactyl and other prehistoric perils in One Million Years B.C. (1966). It hardly would have been any more anachronistic than the rest of the film.
“True or False Face/Holy Rat Race” has Robin get glued down to train tracks with quick-setting plastic cement for the cliffhanger; we’re told that a bull elephant couldn’t break these bonds, which probably explains why, AFAICT, Batman simply draws a raygun and fires it at the stuff. Later in the same episode, the villain’s minions are standing near some conveniently-placed netting; Batman, AFAICT, simply produces the same raygun and fires it to cut the ropes just so as to have the netting drop down and snare ‘em.
This actually brought to mind a sub-category of the OP - “For want of a bullet, the story was extended!”
Particularly in various Post-Apocalyptic stories / movies (think Max Max), the story goes on and on because one or both sides lacks ammunition to finish the conflict. The bullets are worth more than lives! Just reverse the following trope for this thread, keeping in mind the first couple of lines -
Firearms are the best personal weapons humanity has developed to date. Their cost-efficiency, lethality, range, and passable ease of use is unmatched.
Most horror movies would proceed without any change. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, etc. would just laugh (the first two metaphorically) and proceed to dispatch the hapless person with the gun.
Okay, according to the IMFDB here’s the rundown on the castaway’s guns:
The Skipper had a Colt Police .38 (which Gilligan stupidly shot off the last two rounds of).
The Howells had a .25 Automatic Colt Pistol
Ginger had a Colt Detective .38 (loaded with stage blanks).
In addition, the castaways recovered:
A WW2-vintage Thompson submachine gun (which Mr. Howell stupidly shot away all it’s ammo).
An Arisaka 99 rifle confiscated from the Japanese soldier
Also, a Bren machine gun, also confiscated from the Japanese soldier.
Where not otherwise stated, it is presumed that the guns have no ammunition. Gilligan flatly tells one visitor that they have guns but no bullets; the castaways are shown crafting improvised weapons, and otherwise appear helpless before hostile visitors to the island.
Man, if they’ve got bamboo and seaweed and coconuts and tree sap and powdered clamshells and the Professor, then having a cache of bullets would save them, what, twenty whole minutes?
