He stated and show 2 types of revolvers used in filming movies, 1 was a "real" gun and 1 was a "prop" gun. He stated the guns were identical in build, and showed the difference. The real gun could fire "blanks" or "live" ammo, the prop gun had a permanent insert in the cylinder that was smaller that "live" ammo....and only special "blank" ammo could be inserted and shot out of it. Live ammo wouldn't even fit in the gun, only a crimped/wad blank.
Maybe you could expand on these statements. ?
Nobody I knew dealt with "prop guns" much.
All the guns I dealt with were the real McCoy with a couple of exceptions.
I did use a Beretta 92 clone prop gun that fired only 8mm blanks. It would look and fire as a real gun, but had a solid barrel, and no real ammo could be loaded in it. The actor, Charles Napier who I got that gun for was a raging alcoholic, and could not be trusted with a real gun at all. He was dangerous enough without one.
All semiautomatics and full auto guns had a blocked barrel to increase gas pressure to cycle the firearm. An open, normal barrel will not cycle the action while shooting blanks. If live ammo were loaded in one of those it would cause a major Boom!
All western movie guns I worked with were fully functional firearms, from revolvers to rifles and shotguns. Shotguns were the most dangerous in my opinion, as they had a large blast and emitted lots of dangerous particles.
Had to give a director a lesson in that when he was shooting scene with a double 12ga. He kept wanting me to load full power black powder loads and I kept refusing. He was getting pissed, but I was friends with him, and told him to humor me... And sent to wardrobe for a white bedsheet. We stretched the bedsheet like a screen and I loaded the rounds he wanted in the shotgun and let both barrels go. The rounds tattooed and put several holes in the sheet....
He didn't ask again.
Interesting, the guy last night was showing a S&W stainless revolver, and the prop gun did appear to be open barrel. He said the primer ignited the powder, and the "blank" was a crimped case with a paper or plastic wad that would exit the barrel.
Which is what I think happened to the actor in 1984(heal 44 mag with blanks to his head screwing around, and fractured his skull and died)....along with the Jason Lee incident with a blank shot at his stomach, but shards of blank plastic entered his stomach as a projectile...6 hours of surgery later he died at 28 years old.
