# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/61 "2026-09-29T21:30:20Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > They aren’t a bunch of loosely connected metal parts. I’ve heard the Chinese-Made AK-47’s described close to this. 😉 ---
**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, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/62 "2026-09-29T22:03:42Z")
Ha, I guess some of those AKs have fairly loose tolerances. So, maybe there are guns out there that rattle like that. But most do not. I’ve even shot an early Hi-Point firearm and it didn’t rattle around like that. That’s about the best thing I could say about that handgun. ---
**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, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/63 "2026-09-29T22:54:44Z")
Of course the real reason badguy gunfire lands at the goodguys’ feet is that’s a very convenient place to install and conceal the special effects pyros. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/64 "2026-09-29T23:13:31Z")
In technicolor yakuza classic Tokyo Drifter, the hero is surrounded by bad guys who have the draw on him… he tosses his gun into the air on a high arc. The bad guys all follow the trajectory of the gun instead of just shooting him…meanwhile he has run to the position to catch the gun on its way down and shoots the baddies. One of my favorite bits from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/65 "2026-09-29T23:25:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You should rack it at least once, though: If he fired it like that, he’d break his jaw and maybe teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/66 "2026-09-29T23:29:11Z")
Dewey Crowe - the little guy with the shotgun - was the dumbest henchman in a series full of intentionally dumb henchmen. He put the “lack” in “lackey”. ---
**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 30, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/67 "2026-09-30T00:41:19Z")
Or we say around here: “That boy puts the Duh in Floriduh.” 😁 Really. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/68 "2026-09-30T01:06:06Z")
I have a gub? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/69 "2026-09-30T02:20:54Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Ha, I guess some of those AKs have fairly loose tolerances. So, maybe there are guns out there that rattle like that. But most do not. I’ve even shot an early Hi-Point firearm and it didn’t rattle around like that. That’s about the best thing I could say about that handgun. The first M16 I had in Basic Training rattled. The upper and lower receivers were very loose. I never held a gun before so I didn’t know any better. That gun was probably a Vietnam vet and went through who knows how many Basic Training cycles. It was very tired. ---
**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 30, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/70 "2026-09-30T10:30:28Z")
That was a great clip. So much macho cliché. But speaking of stupid gun tricks, that Marshal sure has thick plot armor. How did the Marshal know the shotgun wasn’t chambered and cocked? They look the same either way. And even if he’d been carefully watching the badguy from the house all the way to the car and back, he’d have no way to know the badguy didn’t store the gun in his trunk ready to fire. Badguys are not noted for religious application of gun safety rules. Not IRL and not in movies. Sure, you could say “Hey dumbass, you forgot to chamber a round.” in hopes of distracting / rattling your opponent. “Hey, wait a minute. Did I or didn’t I leave this thing ready to fire? Hmm.” But if I was the dumbass and had kept the gun ready to fire, my response to that taunt would be real quick, real loud, and real messy. I rewatched the clip. As the Marshal advances to grab the shotgun we see the badguy pulling the trigger repeatedly. We see it not firing. Then once he’s disarmed, we see the Marshal rack the gun, and it spits out a shell the first time. So it _was_ kept with a round chambered. How’s that work? Good bet there’s not a decocking lever on that thing. Nor an exposed hammer. So _if_ a round is chambered, it _will_ fire once the trigger is pulled. Then he racks it again, it spits out another shell, then the Marshal hands the gun back to the bad guy. Pro tip there Marshal: It ain’t empty until you’ve racked it once and nothing comes out. It may well be chambered and cocked as you give it back to the bad guy. So much gun stupidity crammed into a mere 90 seconds from when badguy opens his trunk to the end of the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/71 "2026-09-30T12:27:39Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Not really a trick, but if you can tolerate **Plan Nine From Outer Space** one more time, pay attention to the policeman handling the case and his misuse of his pistol. If you can catch the Rifftrax version, they’ll tell you, hilariously, when it happens Actor Duke Moore was a WWII vet and knew better. He was curious about what it would take for Ed Wood (a former Marine) to yell “Cut!” and reshoot a scene. Even after making seven films with Wood, he never got his answer. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/72 "2026-09-30T13:32:35Z")
Check out the way Hit Girl changes magazines. Impossible in real life [Warning: Red Band trailer. NSFW] [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lNot7GI7ScE/maxresdefault.jpg "Kick-Ass (2010) - 'Hit Girl' Official Red Band Trailer #1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNot7GI7ScE) ---
**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 30, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459/73 "2026-09-30T13:43:25Z")
I like it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-tricks-in-the-movies-and-on-television/1033459.md?page=3)