# Stupid gun tricks in the movies and on television **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 28, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459 "2026-09-28T20:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/21 "2026-09-29T01:22:16Z")
If by “television” you include advertising, and if by “stupid” you mean “awesome”, I give you this spot from the 2016 political season. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9_S5s16Y1OA/maxresdefault.jpg "Best Political Ad this Year? Background Checks | Jason Kander TV Ad") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_S5s16Y1OA) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/22 "2026-09-29T01:57:10Z")
Yep, that’s the movie I Wanted. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/23 "2026-09-29T02:04:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Silencers that make a feeble pop sound. > > The physics won’t work like that. If we are going with gun noises, how about every drawn gun in movies that makes all kinds of clicks, snicks, etc when moving them? They don’t work like that. They aren’t a bunch of loosely connected metal parts. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/24 "2026-09-29T02:16:59Z")
While we’re on the subject, going into a tense situation, making a statement, then cocking a hammer or racking a slide to emphasize it. Either they went in with an empty chamber, rendering a firearm useless for at least a couple seconds when you might need it, or they wasted a perfectly good cartridge. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/25 "2026-09-29T02:24:07Z")
Sometimes they rack the slide or pump the shotgun action multiple times! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/26 "2026-09-29T03:30:01Z")
Again, not really a trick, but: I love the original **Robocop** , but it drives me up the wall when he busts down the door to the drug warehouse and everyone starts shooting at him and _2/3 of the bullets are impacting the floor at his feet!_ like they all are shooting at his tootsies and missing. You’d think the majority of the bullets would impact the wall behind him. This actually happens in a boatload of TV shows/movies. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/27 "2026-09-29T13:53:03Z")
Jaws is my favorite movie (obviously), but shooting a scuba tank with an M1 Garand or any other rifle doesn’t cause an explosion. Mythbusters did test it and the best you can hope for is a small hole in the tank and the tank flying around due to the rocket effect of the air escaping. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/28 "2026-09-29T14:02:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@glee](#): > > > > I don’t know if it’s a trick, but I get fed up when one man has a rifle and the other a handgun at a considerable range … and the gunman manages to shoot the rifleman. > > I read once that one man opened fire with his handgun vs another dude with a Winchester at end of street range- the cowboy jury called it suicide. 🙀 You would think so…but [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vflPCVJHO6Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Who Wins When A .45 Pistol Faces A Rifle? The Most Iconic Duel From A Fistful of Dollars") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vflPCVJHO6Y) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/29 "2026-09-29T14:02:59Z")
Mythbusters also busted the beginning of _Saving Private Ryan_ where the bullets where seen lethally ripping through the water for many feet. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/30 "2026-09-29T14:26:20Z")
I assume they start to tumble and veer and lose a lot of kinetic energy. So, how deep do I have to be before the “swimming” bullets just tickle me? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/31 "2026-09-29T14:31:18Z")
When **Jaws** was first in theaters, someone asked Jacque Cousteau his opinion of the ending and he kind of snorted and said _if_ you could score a hit on the tank, the shark would stand on its tail and dance backward across the water! Would you pay good money to see that? You sure the hell would! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/32 "2026-09-29T14:54:43Z")
Depends of course on what sort of gun and ammo. But I recall long ago reading from a reasonable source that bullets from a typical hunting rifle (e.g. .30-06) fired straight down into the water would be stopped within 10 feet. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/33 "2026-09-29T15:21:54Z")
That is why underwater guns fire flechettes or other specially-designed bullets. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/34 "2026-09-29T16:56:30Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I love the original **Robocop** , but it drives me up the wall when he busts down the door to the drug warehouse and everyone starts shooting at him and _2/3 of the bullets are impacting the floor at his feet!_ like they all are shooting at his tootsies and missing. You’d think the majority of the bullets would impact the wall behind him. Exactly. One of my main complaints about long distance shooting also. The bullets are impacting the ground around our hero which means the shooter miscalculated the yardage by about 300 yards. The bullets (if they miss the target) would be hitting far down range. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/35 "2026-09-29T17:00:07Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So, how deep do I have to be before the “swimming” bullets just tickle me? Mythbusters also tested this. They fired into a clear plastic tank about 10 feet deep. I forget the exact distances the various bullets went but the 12 gauge slug blew the bottom out of the tank and destroyed it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/36 "2026-09-29T17:08:18Z")
Movies feature monsters like Godzilla 2014 that easily survive bomb attacks. Yet, later in the film soldiers with rifles line up with M16’s. It’s pointless to even carry guns when fighting Godzilla or the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). I guess directors like the visual of using infantry with M16’s. Their effectiveness doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/37 "2026-09-29T17:16:40Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So, how deep do I have to be before the “swimming” bullets just tickle me? As already mentioned, Mythbusters tested this. High speed rifle rounds tended to disintegrate within 3 feet or so. Slower moving and less energetic rounds from pistols went further, up to about 8 feet or so into their 10 foot pool. As mentioned, the shotgun slug made it all the way through the pool. I’m not sure how far the rounds from Saving Private Ryan would have penetrated into the water. Had the weapons been fired close to the water, the rounds would have disintegrated quickly and not penetrated very far (a few feet, tops), but the Germans weren’t firing from the edge of the water. They were back some distance, allowing the rifle and machine gun rounds to lose some energy before hitting the water. > [@wguy123](#): > > Sometimes they rack the slide or pump the shotgun action multiple times! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/t6OBk9YBLQU/maxresdefault.jpg "how they use shotguns in movies") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6OBk9YBLQU) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/38 "2026-09-29T17:21:36Z")
For movie/TV Mythbusters-type gun tricks, [Hollywood Weapons](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6743488/) does just about any one you can think of. The setups are often very cheesy but Terry Schaffert does have a legit military background and Larry Zanoff is one of the best studio armorers in the the business. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/39 "2026-09-29T17:27:07Z")
Here’s a stupid gun trick, the Jet Li pulling the slide off of an enemy’s weapon in Lethal Weapon 4, analyzed by Forgotten Weapons on Youtube. While you aren’t going to be able to pull this off in real life, it’s surprisingly close to being possible. And with a particular model of pistol (as Ian shows in the video) it is basically possible. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lzEctvL0vrg/hqdefault.jpg "The Jet Li Maneuver: Beretta Disassembly at Gunpoint") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzEctvL0vrg) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/40 "2026-09-29T17:27:25Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Mythbusters also busted the beginning of _Saving Private Ryan_ where the bullets where seen lethally ripping through the water for many feet. That is a failure on 2 counts, as the actual landing zone was several hundred yards away from the German bunkers, not the 100 or so that is seen/implied in the film, making the angle shallow enough that they would just richochet off the surface of the water and never penetrate at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459.md?page=3)