It occurred to a few days ago to wonder what caused them (assuming they’re real of course). Then it occurred to me that it might be due to rifled gun barrels, i.e. the rifles chanelling the blast from the propellant out to specific points around the barrel. Can feel all warm and fuzzy for figuring that out or am I way off?
I think its from flash suppressors. At the end of the barrell is a cylinder with holes that channel the flash away from the firer.
I’m not 100% about that but that is my understanding
Oystaman is correct.
I second Bear Nenno
Tripler
Most of those are digital. It is cheaper to add gunshots and even richochets during the editing process. Even bullet holes, like when a person is standing against a wall and bullet holes suddenly appear next to their head…cumputers.
I have a disk with thousands of different effects; like sparks from a bullet hitting an automobile or dust clouds when a bullet hits dirt. Explosions too.
I hope to someday make a home movie and add in all the explosions and gunshots.
A flash suppressor is a device designed to conceal a weapon’s flash. Similar in design to a silencer, they invariably have a compartmentalized jacket covering the holes: simply redirecting the flash would not serve the purpose.
The three previous posters are correct in that the source are holes drilled in the barrel. They are usually muzzle brakes, to control recoil, or other devices designed to use the excess gas to control muzzle climb.
Yeah but a flash suppressor is there to hide the flash from the firer so you can keep your eyes on the target.
Negatory. Those bullet holes are squibs embedded in the wall, the squibs are rigged to explode on cue so it looks like the gun fired it. The ricochets are small nonlethal explosive charges fired from an air gun. It is much cheaper to hire a pyro man to rig a set than to fix things in post.
I’m with Chas E. on this one. Yes indeed, some very recent movies have both gunshots and bullet strikes computer-generated, but guns have been being used in movies since long before computers ever existed.
Think of the “spang” of dust kicking up off a nearby rock as John Wayne peeks over it at the Bad Guys.
Tiny explosive charges called “squibs” are embedded in a wall/door/car panel and covered over with paint or plaster. When detonated, the squib blows out the thin cover of the paint and reveals the prepared “bullet hole” beneath. Or just kicks up a bit of dust, fractures a pane of glass or puffs out a couple of feathers from a pillow.
The same squib can be attached to a “blood pack” to simulate a bullet hitting a body.
The bullet “strikes”, or sparking ricochets, can be made two common ways- with the same squibs (formulated to add visible sparks) or with specialized balls fired from what is literally a modified paintball gun. These balls contain a compound that “snaps” and sparks on impact, much like those little paper toy fireworks you throw on the sidewalk.
And concerning the OP, the “star” shaped muzzle flash is caused by a muzzle brake, a device designed to redirect the hot, high-pressure gasses in order to reduce both felt recoil and muzzle climb.
The ‘legs’ of the ‘star’ come from the gasses being vented through ports or slots in either the barrel or the muzzle brake. Common examples of a 'brake are the little “birdcage” things on the end of an M-16. Less common are similar devices, somewhat more specialized, called “compensators”- they help compensate for recoil effects- which redirect the gas exclusively upward. The doohickeys on the end of Lara Croft’s HK USP pistols are some noteworthy recent examples.
Don Johnson shoots a similarly-equipped .38 Super on “Nash Bridges”.
A “flash supressor” is a similar device which is designed to reduce the bright glow of the muzzle flash, typically for military “hiding” purposes.
A “flash hider” is more of a simple cone device that merely hides the flash- without really attenuating it- from the rifleman firing the weapon, for purposes of reducing glare and flash-blinding when firing at night.
Thanks guys. One less minor mystery in my life now. 
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- I have owned and fired a few guns and I have seen the movies, and I always figured there was something they put in the propellant to make the flash brighter than normal, which it usually is. I’ve seen some illegally-short-barreled rifles that would do it, but normal-length ones won’t. All that you normally see is the smoke.
-Some normal rifles will flash at night. - MC
- I have owned and fired a few guns and I have seen the movies, and I always figured there was something they put in the propellant to make the flash brighter than normal, which it usually is. I’ve seen some illegally-short-barreled rifles that would do it, but normal-length ones won’t. All that you normally see is the smoke.
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(this is a bit tough to relate…)
- You can find photos in gun magazines of guns being fired and producing huge flashes in broad daylight, but when you’re there actually firing that gun, for the most part you can’t see the huge flash that the photograph shows; that is, what you can see with your eyes and what you can catch on camera film are two different things.
Got that? Good.
Yes MC, it is a common practice to use special blank ammo with enhanced flash. This sort of thing goes back to the early days of silent films, when they’d put a little drop of oil in a pistol to make more smoke. You’d be surprised at what is NOT captured on film without a little help.
The flash supressor is designed to hide the flash from the shooter, so it doesn’t blind him at night. The flash supressor on the early-model M16 (IIRC) had one of the holes pointing straight down. This had the unintended and quite unsettling effect of kicking up a cloud of dust when firing from the prone position, giving away the shooter’s location.Muzzle brakes have the holes pointing up (or to the sides and angled back, as on the Barrett “light” .50–the muzzle blast pulls the gun foward to counter the recoil)
The suppressor on the M16 originally didn’t have holes at all… it was pronged. The inside edges of the prongs were angled to redirect the flash in all directions creating a star like flash. Later, cause I guess the pronged suppressor kept sticking in shit or getting caught in things, they put a ring at the end of it. Other than the ring, the suppressor was the same shape. The resulting “holes” were more like slits… this is how many suppressors still look today. I personally like the bare prongs 
The sole purpose of a “muzzel brake” is to make post-ban (what I like to call ‘Post-Clinton’) rifles look like their assault weapon counterparts. The muzzel brake improves the aesthetics of the rifle but otherwise it is completely useless.
For those of you who dont understand… post-clinton rifles made after Sept. 1994, are not aloud to have flash suppressors or bayonet lugs (can fire 800 yards but you can’t put a knife on it???) can’t have a collapsable stock, etc. Well people like to do whatever they can to make these rifles look more like “assault rifles” – hence the muzzel brake. IMHO, it does look a lot better than a plain barrel but the ones attached with allan screws always fall off. You gotta get a permanantly attached one.