Quote:
Originally Posted by javadog
Perhaps they could manufacture prop guns that used a new, bespoke type of ammunition that is not compatible with any actual guns. Then, if they only made blanks for those prop guns, we wouldn’t have this problem.
|
Exactly. What earthly reason is there for a multi-billion dollar per year industry to have not done precisely this?
These prop guns would not even have to be fully manufactured from the ground up as such. Existing firearms could have just a few components swapped for slightly altered parts that would render them non-functional.
For example, no more than the barrel would need to be substituted in most pistols, rifles, and carbines. The "movie" barrel would have a chamber just slightly too short, so it could not accept the "real" version of whatever caliber it mimics. The bore would be far too small to allow a bullet of the caliber represented to pass through it, being rebated at the muzzle to look real from the front. Revolvers would require barrel and cylinder replacement.
Ammunition could even be manufactured for the most part on existing equipment. It's easy enough to produce dies for existing equipment that produces shorter ammunition. "Bullets" could be any of a myriad of materials, all meant to just powder upon detonation of the powder charge, yet look very "real" on camera.
None of this would be difficult. None of this would be "expensive" in movie industry terms. Yet I bet none of this ever happens, nor anything at all like it. And I bet that, someday, this happens again.