# Maddening weapons use in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337 "2014-07-29T17:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/21 "2014-07-29T20:05:12Z")
A lot of the early Western TV shows and movies were notorious for having magical six-shooters that would shoot 8 or 9 bullets without reloading. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/22 "2014-07-29T20:13:12Z")
Jurassic Park The two kids and the two Paleontologists are in the computer room and the little girl has just gotten the park (semi) back online. Sam Neil is holding a shotgun in his hand. While on the phone to Richard Attenborough he fire four times. (from a shotgun) Cut to the thing he shot at and there are four distinct bullet holes. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/23 "2014-07-29T20:18:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > That also happened in my example film: earlier on, someone gets killed with a 12 ga, and not only flies backwards, but is elevated. The worst is when someone hit by an arrow does that flying-backwards thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/24 "2014-07-29T20:40:03Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Jurassic Park > > The two kids and the two Paleontologists are in the computer room and the little girl has just gotten the park (semi) back online. Sam Neil is holding a shotgun in his hand. While on the phone to Richard Attenborough he fire four times. (from a shotgun) Cut to the thing he shot at and there are four distinct bullet holes. Maybe he was shooting [slugs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_slug)? (I don’t remember the scene in question) Regardless, I’d rather be using slugs than buckshot on a critter of unknown toughness and thick composition, like a grizzly bear. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/25 "2014-07-29T20:40:07Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I think it would be easier to list movies that got gun usage correct. Terminator 2 wasn’t bad IIRC. Except for the automatic whose hammer goes up and down in between shots. (During the parking lot scene where John realizes he has total control of the Terminator, and the two beefy guys try to intervene.) Not a usage issue, but pretty stupid nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/26 "2014-07-29T20:42:08Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The worst is when someone hit by an arrow does that flying-backwards thing. Maybe it was a Magnum arrow. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dravin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dravin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dravin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/27 "2014-07-29T20:44:22Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Jurassic Park > > The two kids and the two Paleontologists are in the computer room and the little girl has just gotten the park (semi) back online. Sam Neil is holding a shotgun in his hand. While on the phone to Richard Attenborough he fire four times. (from a shotgun) Cut to the thing he shot at and there are four distinct bullet holes. I don’t recall the scene well enough to recall the size of the impacts (or if it was previously established he was loaded with buckshot), but if he was firing slugs you’d only expect one impact per time he fired. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/28 "2014-07-29T20:45:50Z")
Little shop of Horrors (Rick Moranis version) Seymour’s SIX SHOT snubnose revolver holds _at least_ 19 rounds, and no, there is no loose ammo lying around or speedloaders… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/29 "2014-07-29T21:09:40Z")
Numerous revolvers with silencers. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/30 "2014-07-29T21:24:23Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > . . . Also, if you want to see scary gun handling, watch the detective in _Plan 9 From Outer Space_. Cringe inducing. I’ve read that the actor did that on purpose, as a kind of subtle sneer at the director. There’s a Clint Eastwood western – not a bad movie, to be sure – where every single damn gunshot uses exactly the same sound effect, right down to the whistling ricochet sound. Over and over and over. Agonizing to listen to. The Foley guy should be…spanked. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/31 "2014-07-29T21:32:39Z")
Well, it’s fudging it a bit, as it’s (typically) not a _personal_ weapon, but…nukes. Almost always detonating at ground level—even when air-delivered, and an airburst would actually greatly aid the bomb’s destructive power—and, of course, producing a mushroom cloud. Not _forming_ a mushroom cloud, from the effects of the blast and local atmospheric conditions, mind you. The cloud often simply appears, fully formed, as if it were merely _summoned_. Possibly by the Atomic Genie\*. \*(No, not [that one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIR-2_Genie).) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/32 "2014-07-29T21:36:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’ve read that the actor did that on purpose, as a kind of subtle sneer at the director. > > There’s a Clint Eastwood western – not a bad movie, to be sure – where every single damn gunshot uses exactly the same sound effect, right down to the whistling ricochet sound. Over and over and over. Agonizing to listen to. The Foley guy should be…spanked. Which sounds exactly like “wack!” each time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/33 "2014-07-29T21:37:35Z")
> [@Dravin](#): > > I don’t recall the scene well enough to recall the size of the impacts (or if it was previously established he was loaded with buckshot), but if he was firing slugs you’d only expect one impact per time he fired. No talk of slugs. The holes are too small for shotgun slugs. (they look like holes a .22 or maybe a .38 would make) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/34 "2014-07-29T21:38:51Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Numerous revolvers with silencers. They were all Nagants. 😉 https://www.youtube.com/embed/vvF4yurWSc0?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Dravin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dravin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dravin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/35 "2014-07-29T21:44:29Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > No talk of slugs. The holes are too small for shotgun slugs. (they look like holes a .22 or maybe a .38 would make) Yeah, slugs was, in all honesty, a bit of reach. I don’t recall any movies where shotguns aren’t firing buckshot. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/36 "2014-07-29T21:54:53Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > They were all Nagants. 😉 > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvF4yurWSc0&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvF4yurWSc0&feature=related) Hey, I’ve got one of those. But my suppressors are too small for that bullet to pass. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/37 "2014-07-29T21:57:27Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Which means that he almost certainly is jerking the trigger, not squeezing it like you are supposed to. While he may have flinched, how he uses the trigger is not the main problem or cause. That wouldn’t make him an [Instant Marksman](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InstantMarksmanJustSqueezeTrigger). I hate all these “one trick” types of tropes. Such as “trouble hitting the target? Just breathe _out_ as you _squeeze_. Now you can hit anything!” Zombieland is the first one that comes to mind, but there are others. I could expect a lowered hammer to be an offscreen decock. But I know better than that to assume! Honorable mention: Ash’s (Evil Dead) double barrel shotgun always has at least 3 rounds. Doesn’t count as that’s intentional. Also anything where excessive cocking is done for effect. like one Simpsons episode. Terrible trigger control makes me uncomfortable. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > In fact, one of the things you do when learning to fire a gun is to have someone load a fake bullet into the magazine in a random spot and then watch you fire each round. [Snap caps](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_cap). You can make do with a dummy bullet or other things, but this is safer for rimfire. > [@Dravin](#): > > Yeah, slugs was, in all honesty, a bit of reach. I don’t recall any movies where shotguns aren’t firing buckshot. Kill Bill (the second one?), rock salt shells. Which by the way, doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/38 "2014-07-29T22:23:30Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > No talk of slugs. The holes are too small for shotgun slugs. (they look like holes a .22 or maybe a .38 would make) His shells had four BBs in them, and he is such a good shot each one went to the same place? And of course he loaded them all exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/39 "2014-07-29T22:26:57Z")
Semi and full auto firearms need to be modified to fire blanks. If they aren’t, often you’re going to have to manually work the bolt/slide after each shot. To fire 21 gun salutes, the Honor Guard had to attach Blank Firing Adaptors (BFAs) to M-1 Garands, M-14s, and M-16s. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337/40 "2014-07-29T22:37:09Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > There’s a Clint Eastwood western – not a bad movie, to be sure – where every single damn gunshot uses exactly the same sound effect, right down to the whistling ricochet sound. Over and over and over. Agonizing to listen to. The Foley guy should be…spanked. Even if you’re not talking about **For A Few Dollars More** , you’ll still really enjoy [this](http://youtu.be/sqZF8XD9Pk4) scene. Especially the end of the clip - admittedly I don’t know much about guns, but I’m having trouble figuring out why shooting a hat in mid-air would make that exact same noise every time, like it ricocheted off…something metallic…in the middle of the sky. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maddening-weapons-use-in-film/694337.md?page=3)