After the release of “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter,” movie studios were trying to release their own big fantasy hits. Many of these failed to excite the audiences on that level, including “Eragon” and this month’s film, “The Golden Compass.” It is based on the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, a book series that is known for its anti-Catholic and anti-religious perspectives. Needless to say it was controversial, but there were other problems that helped the film fail at the box office.

One of the characters in the movie is Lee Scoresby, played by Sam Elliott. One of his weapons of choice is a pair of Colt Single Action Army Pistols. Also known as the Colt 45, it is the gun of the cowboy and is one of the greatest handguns of all time. It was tough, easy to use and load and dependable. It shoots the .45 Cartridge, though there are a few other calibers available, like the .38 Colt and the .357 Magnum. To load, simply open the loading gate and pull the hammer back two clicks. For safety reasons, some cowboys would only load five rounds rather than six, because the hammer was always resting on the firing pin.

In 1872, the United States Army held a competition for a new handgun for its soldiers. In the end, it was the Colt that emerged the victor, and a legend was born. It saw action in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War and was used by range hands, sheriffs, marshals, outlaws and Native American warriors during the golden age of the American West. It was not the only gun in the west, but it became the most iconic, with men like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Bat Matterson and Buffalo Bill Cody being among the men who used it. Both sides supposedly used it at the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and it was used by the troopers who rode with Custer at the Little Big Horn.

This gun is popular in movies, especially Westerns. Some of the most memorable films include “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” “Tombstone,” “A Fist Full of Dollars,” “Open Range” and “Shanghai Noon.” It is seen in countless John Wayne movies, like “Rio Bravo,” “Rio Grande,” “The Sons of Katie Elder,” “The War Wagon,” “True Grit” (1969), “Rio Lobo,” “The Shootist,” “Fort Apache,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and “Big Jake.” They were even in more modern themed films like “The Expendables,” “The Expendables 2,” “The Mummy” (1999) and “Red Dawn” (1984). These are all good movies, and I recommend all of them.

“The Golden Compass” is a mixed bag. The effects are well done; however, there are twists that are weird, and the ending battle is actually laughable. The anti-religious themes in the books were not really present in the movie, taken out in order not to offend people. Many critics argue that this hurt the film, but there are other problems with the film that play an equal part in its downfall. Some of the acting is not that good, and there are points of the film that came across as poorly done, especially the ending. If you are interested, check it out, but it just wasn’t for me.

SAR would like to thank the movie wizards at Bapty, Ltd in London, UK, for their help in this article.

In 1990, a book was released that would help create one of the greatest franchises of all time. Its name was “Jurassic Park.” It is the story of a greedy businessman using his fortune to clone dinosaurs on an island off the coast of Costa Rica. He plans to build a zoo for millions to come and see the beautiful creatures. As an aside, there are also investors hanging over him. Things go horribly wrong and the dinosaurs escape, killing many innocent people in the process. The book was a huge success. However, the before the book was released, there were already movie companies eyeing it for production.

The lucky winners were Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures. The result was the 1993 film “Jurassic Park,” one of the greatest movies ever made. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Samuel Jackson, and Wayne Knight. There are a few differences between the book and film. John Hammond, the billionaire behind the park, is a much more likeable person in the movie than in the book, where he is a cruel and unlikeable man. Many characters who died in the book survive in the movie and vice versa. The movie was a huge hit and naturally got a sequel, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.” The sequel was not as well received as the first, but it did lead to a sequel in 2001’s, “Jurassic Park III.” That movie was poorly received, almost ending the franchise.

Then, in 2015, “Jurassic World” hit the theaters. A massive hit at the box office, it was considered the best of the sequels. The story is about the company from the first film successfully setting up the park. Excited with their success, they decide to create a new genetically engineered dinosaur to draw in more crowds. Unfortunately, the dinosaur, Indominus Rex, breaks out and causes damage all over the park.

The main characters are Owen Grady and Claire Dearing. Claire’s nephews are visiting the park and are caught in the middle of it when the Indominus Rex breaks out. The film proceeds to follow the two as they search for her nephews and find a way to take down Indominus Rex.

In the movie, Owen Grady, played by Chris Pratt, uses a Marlin Model 1895SBL. This gun is a redesign of the original rifle made in 1895. That was actually a remodel of the 1893 rifle, only made to handle larger rounds. The Model 1895 remained in production until 1917 but was rereleased in 1972. In the early 2000s, Remington bought Marlin and took over the production. Later, it was bought by Sturm, Ruger & Co.

The weight of the gun is about seven and a half pounds with a total length just over 37 inches. Most of the metal is stainless steel, while the stock and the forend grip are made of gray laminate. The ammunition used by the Model 1895 SBL is 45-70 Government soft point rounds. This round was first produced in 1873 and is still in production today. The rifle can carry six of these rounds in the magazine tube and one in the chamber.

The scope used on the gun in the movie is Leupold FX-11 Scout 2.5X28. In the photo, one can see the sling from the movie, with fake extra rounds inserted into special slots. On the left side of the gun is the serial for the gun, along with what looks like a QR code imprinted to the right of it. To the right of these on the barrel are the words 1895SBL with the name of the company, the place it was manufactured, the model, and the caliber of the gun. There is no writing on the other side of the gun that the author could see but “Lever Rail” is written on the top-mounted scope rail, along with “Patent D577.094” next to it.

Other guns used in the movie include M16A2s, HK417s, and M4A1 carbines. After the Indominus Rex escapes, a team is sent after it but is ordered to use non-lethal equipment. (It does not end well.) One of the team members is seen using a UTAS UTS-15 shotgun, which was not that effective against a giant dinosaur. One of the highlights of the film is when the CEO of the park takes his own helicopter out to hunt down the Indominus, using an M134 Minigun to shoot at it. (Again, it does not end well.) In another scene, there is a special video presentation where a comedian shoots unbreakable glass with a Smith & Wesson Model 29.

“Jurassic World” is a good movie. In my opinion it is not as good as the first “Jurassic Park” movie but could be a contender for second place in the franchise. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are good in their parts, as are most of the other actors and actresses. The CGI on the dinosaurs is good, but it is not the greatest. The main dinosaur villain is intimidating, and I was scared at points. There are parts of the plot that are a bit laughable, like where the head of security has the incredibly stupid idea of using dinosaurs in the military. If you want a movie about dinosaurs and a warning about messing with things beyond our control, this is a great movie for you to enjoy.

Serial Number: MR379021

We’d like to thank Ben Rothwell & Tony Watts of Bapty, Ltd, for access to many of their fine movie use firearms, to help record the history.

In the 1980s, a wave of great action television shows hit the small screen. “The A-Team,” “Airwolf,” “Knight Rider,” and “MacGyver” have become iconic to audiences of all ages and have cult followings even today. But the most iconic, remembered, and well-loved is without a doubt is “Magnum P.I.” starring Tom Selleck. The show was a big hit on television and even won a number of awards. It also has a modern remake starring Jay Hernandez, though it is not as good as the original.

The show follows Thomas Magnum, a private investigator who works as a security expert at a private beach villa owned by a wealthy writer. He shares the property with a World War 2 British veteran named Jonathan Quayle Higgins the 3^rd. The two rarely get along, with Higgins’s two security dogs constantly chasing Magnum and Magnum constantly borrowing and destroying things under Higgins’s protection, as well as getting dragged into a number of cases. Magnum’s two best friends are Theodore “T.C.” Calvin, the owner of a helicopter tour company, and Orville “Rick” Wright, the manager of the King Kamehameha Club. Magnum often recruits T.C. and Rick in his cases, with T.C. flying him to spy on people and Rick using his underground contacts to get important information.

In the show, Magnum’s gun of choice is an M1911A1. The one he used throughout the series is in the NRA Museum in Fairfax, Virginia. The gun that is photographed is the second, and was also used by other actors in the show (There are always duplicate hero guns to keep from slowing the show if there’s any problem). It has the serial number just above the trigger on the right side and has the name of the factory to the upper left just above it. Above it on the slide is where the words Colt’s Government Model are engraved. On the other side, the words are Colt’s MK IV / Series ’70 Government Model 9mm Luger Caliber. (Movie 1911s are frequently 9mm, easier to blank).

The M1911A1 first entered service in 1926 and has become of the America’s favorite firearms. It was in service until the 1990’s, where it was replaced by the Beretta M9. Some elements of the armed forces still use it, including some elements of the Marine Corps. The M1911A1 and other variants have also been adopted by other nations around the world, including large numbers of Latin American countries, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, and a few others. Today, it is popular with civilians and veterans, though it can be a bit expensive.

The M1911A1 is actually an improved version of the M1911 pistol. The original gun is good, but there were some issues on the battlefield and a number of improvements were needed. The front sight was widened and the trigger was shortened. The hammer is enlarged slightly and the spur above the grip is made longer. These improvements were small but helped the gun quite a bit. Both pistols shoot .45 ACP from a 7-round magazine. They both weigh just over three pounds.

There were other guns used in the series to include a number of pistols like the Walther PPK, Colt Detective Special, and Smith & Wesson Model 15. In one episode, Rick takes out a hitman with a Mac-10 Submachine gun. In one episode, a Mac-10 is made to look like an Uzi submachine. Why they did this the author has no idea, as in a later episode an Uzi is seen. In flashbacks to Vietnam, M-16A1 Rifles are seen being carried by US soldiers. In some flashbacks, Vietnamese soldiers are seen carrying Valmet Rifles, instead of the AK-47s, since Hollywood did not have ready access to those guns in that timeframe.

“Magnum P.I.” is one of the greatest television shows of all time. Tom Selleck is great as Thomas Magnum and will probably be remembered best for this role. John Hillerman plays Higgins and is great in the role, especially since he is not British. Roger E. Mosley and Larry Manetti are also good in their parts, as well as the guest stars like Kwan Hi Lim, Gillian Dobb, Kathleen Lloyd, and Jeff MacKay. Special praise is reserved for Eugene Roche, who does a great job playing St Louis private detective Luther H. Gillis. The action in the show is great and some of the mysteries are well done, though some stories can be a bit predictable. If you want a great show to binge watch though, “Magnum PI” is one of the best and it will have you wanting to go to Hawaii and drive a Ferrari at top speeds around those beautiful islands.

SAR would like to thank the Weapons Department of Independent Studio Services in Sundale, CA for allowing us to photograph and record the history of these Movie Guns.

The Colt 1911A1 used by Mel Gibson as Lt. Col. Hal Moore.

The Colt 1911 used by Sam Elliot’s character, Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley.

The Vietnam War is one of America’s most misunderstood conflicts. Unlike in World War II and Korea, where the enemy was often on the other side of a battlefield, the battle lines were almost invisible in the jungles and highlands of Vietnam. The Viet Cong (VC) blended in with the population and waged a brutal insurgency in the country, launching hit-and-run campaigns, bombings and ambushes against both the South Vietnamese and the American Armies. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) would also cross the border and launch attacks on military bases. The “American War” lasted over 16 years and saw over 58,000 American fatal casualties and cost millions of Vietnamese lives. In the end, with lack of support for the war, the United States withdrew its forces from Vietnam and the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell in April 1975.

Since the war ended, Hollywood has not been kind to the American Armed Forces. While there were some incidents where a few American soldiers did do some horrible things, nothing in comparison to the VC and NVA atrocities, Hollywood usually paints the American military with a broad negative brush in Vietnam-related movies. Compared to how American soldiers are portrayed in World War II movies or any film about an earlier conflict, soldiers in Vietnam movies are often portrayed as monsters. This anti-military attitude can still be seen in the film industry today, though it is not as common as it used to be.

In 2002, a movie broke away from this attitude. “We Were Soldiers” is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once … And Young. It tells the story of the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley, where American soldiers, led by then Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore, first clashed with soldiers from the NVA. The battle lasted 5 days and resulted in almost 500 American casualties (237 KIA) and thousands of North Vietnamese Army casualties (559 KIA). The initial fight was 450 Americans versus almost 4,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers. The book was written by Harold G. Moore and journalist Joseph L. Galloway, who was on the ground in the fight at Ia Drang.

In the movie Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore was played by Mel Gibson. His second in command is Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley, played by Sam Elliott. Hal Moore graduated from West Point and served until 1977, serving in both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars, eventually becoming a Lieutenant General. Sadly, he passed away in 2017. Basil Plumley first joined the Army in 1942 during World War II and saw combat in Operation Overlord (D-Day) and Operation Market Garden. He next saw combat during Vietnam, where he joined the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry under Hal Moore. He served until 1974, but continued to work for the Army as a civilian. He passed away in 2012.

In the movie, Lieutenant Colonel Moore uses a Colt M1911A1, and Sergeant Major Plumley uses a Colt M1911 pistol. The M1911 was one of the greatest pistols in the history of the United States military, seeing service in World War I, World War II, Korea and of course Vietnam. It also saw service in the militaries of New Zealand, China and many others. It is still in service in a number of countries and some local police agencies in the U.S. It is popular with collectors and gun owners in the U.S. in general. The M1911A1 was “typed” in 1926 and was an upgraded version, with small changes having been made to make it more reliable and easier to shoot—a result of lessons learned from World War I.

 The M1911 shoots .45 ACP ammunition, generally with 230-grain ball projectiles. The ammunition is loaded in a seven-round magazine in the grip of the gun, though soldiers usually had an eighth round in the barrel or “one in the pipe,” as they called it. The gun uses two safety systems, a grip safety and a manual safety. The grip safety requires squeezing the lever on the back of the grip to shoot. The manual safety is next to the hammer on the left side of the pistol. The pistol weighs less than 3 pounds, including ammo.

Other guns used in “We Were Soldiers” include AK-47s used by the NVA, though they are seen using other guns like the SKS and even an MG34 machine gun. The Americans used the M16 rifle (XM16E1 configuration), M60 machine guns and M79 grenade launchers. At one point, helicopters in the film use GE M134 Miniguns. Early in the film, there is a sequence showing French soldiers fighting Viet Minh in 1954 in the same general area as the 1965 battle, called “French Mobile Force 100.” In this sequence, the French carry the MAS-36 rifle, Browning Hi-Power pistols, MAT-49 submachine guns and use Browning M1919A4 machine guns mounted on jeeps. The Viet Minh are seen using SKSs, ZB26s and PPSh-41s as well as PPS-43s.

“We Were Soldiers” is a great movie. It was well-received by critics and audiences alike and is considered one of the better Vietnam War films. The actors do a great job, especially Mel Gibson and Sam Elliott. Madeleine Stowe does an outstanding job as Hal Moore’s wife, Julia Moore. Barry Peppers is good as Joe Galloway, as is Greg Kinnear as Lt. Col. Bruce P. Crandall and Ryan Hurst as Sgt. Ernie Savage. The battle scenes in the movie are compellingly done and can be a bit brutal at times, so perhaps it is not a film to show children. In any case “We Were Soldiers” is a must-see for everyone who loves war movies.

Dan Shea’s Time On Set

I knew that my father (and father of Small Arms Review), Dan Shea, had something to do with this movie and asked him about it.

“I was invited out as Small Arms Review to cover the movie set at Fort Hunter Liggett in California,” he said, “which had terrain and basic vegetation very similar to the II Corps highland area of Vietnam in the Ia (river) Drang valley on the Cambodian border side near Pleiku. My good friend Mike Papac was lead armorer, and I had supplied him with some intel pamphlets from my library—1956 British Viet Minh reports with uniforms, tactics and equipment. Very helpful in the French Mobile Force 100 scene. We also spent a bit of time going over making all the M16s appear to be XM16E1s, which Mike was an absolute stickler for. Anyway, I was out messing around with Mike Dillon and Miniguns—he heard I was headed to the set—and he had four M134 Miniguns to ship to Mike Papac and decided to fly his vintage U.S. Army-painted Huey from Phoenix to Hunter Liggett, via LA. He and his son Chris flew with me as baggage, we stopped in LA and picked up Syd Stembridge and flew the coast of California at 50 feet over the surf, up over the redwoods; it took about 11 hours from Phoenix. Before we got to the Valley of Wind I was sidesaddle at the door and monkey-strapped on the side, and Mike said, “Close the door, no one rides like that.” I said, “Huh, imagine that” and came in. I guess slick jockeys don’t look back at “cargo grunts.” Coming in on the set just after the napalm scenes, with Mike scooting the Huey done up as U.S. ‘Nam-era paint, was something spooky! Anyway, we delivered, spent a couple of days, and here’s the most important thing: wherever I went, I found guys in the right age group, and they were all ‘Nam vets … undercover. They didn’t want anyone to know they were ‘Nam vets and all said, “I’m here to make sure they do this right for a change.” They damn sure did, great movie. Mike Papac’s attention to detail was exemplary, and everyone else doing costume and equipment was on the same page. I was blown away; been on more than a few “‘Nam movie” sets with all the baloney. What amazing detail all of them did on this one!”

Special Note: The movie does not cover the battle at L.Z. Albany that happened after the film’s ending. Here the American soldiers were almost wiped out in an ambush by the NVA. Over 130 soldiers died and 124 were wounded. Because of this, both Americans and Vietnamese claimed to have won the battle.

Knob Creeker Note: For those who knew the late “Big Dan” Robinson, Dan was in Delta company at LZ X-ray.

Special thanks to Mike Papac of Cinema Weaponry!

Denny Colt was a young detective who wanted to uphold the law and keep the peace in the fictional “Central City.” Sadly, he was supposedly killed during a case. However, thanks to the actions of a supervillain called the Cobra, he turned out to still be alive and decided to use his new life to fight crime as the masked hero, The Spirit. With his domino mask and iconic red necktie, Spirit saved many lives and made many enemies, including The Octopus. A master of disguise, Octopus is never actually seen in the comics and could only be identified by a pair of purple gloves.

In 2008, “The Spirit” came out in theaters. It starred Gabriel Macht as the main character and Samuel L. Jackson as Octopus. In the movie, Octopus is an over-the-top lunatic who wants to live forever. He creates the “syndrome” that brings Spirit back to life and uses it on his own body, as well. The plot of the movie is Octopus trying to get his hands on the blood of Heracles, which will grant his wish for immortality and make him a god.

In the film, Octopus uses a number of guns. One of these is a pair of Smith & Wesson Model 500s. First produced in 2003, this revolver was designed to shoot 500 S&W Magnum, one of the most powerful handgun cartridges in the world. It’s a traditional revolver with a cylinder and large hammer. The cylinder holds up to five rounds of ammo. It’s a heavy gun, weighing over four pounds. The barrel cannot be removed from the gun, so it comes in two different sizes, one with a long barrel and one with a short one.

The Model 500s in “The Spirit” are specially customized for the movie. The barrel has been messed with to look cooler, with twelve holes made to look like a flash hider. The cylinder is smoother, but has tiny notches and five rings engraved vertically around it.

On the right side of the pistol there are some words engraved just in front of the screw, beneath the cylinder, and just above the trigger guard. The first set of words are “Made in USA.” The second set is “Marcas Registradas,” though the way it is engraved makes it look a little jumbled. This is Latin, put on to emphasize the trademark of Smith & Wesson to protect against counterfeit guns. The third set says “Smith & Wesson,” and the fourth set says “Springfield, Mass.” On the pistol grip, the logo of Smith and Wesson can be seen near the top. A final thing to note is the lack of rear sight on the gun.

Most of the other guns in this movie are customized and look very over-the-top. In the final confrontation of the film, Octopus pulls out a couple of bizarre assault rifles so ridiculous it’s hard not to laugh. His henchmen are seen using a number of guns, including AKMSs and Intratec TEC-9s. Eva Mendes uses a Beretta 950 Jetfire and Octopus once uses a pair of Desert Eagles in the middle of a fight.

There are movies that I’m more than happy to review. Then there are movies that make me unhappy and very uncomfortable. And then there is “The Spirit”, which made me crawl into a corner and weep for the money wasted on it. “The Spirit” is an awful movie. The acting ranges from poor to comic, especially from Samuel L. Jackson. Plot points range from bizarre to just plain stupid. The effects do look good at curtain points, but at other times it is some of the worst green screen you’ll ever see. It is no surprise that the movie bombed at the box office and received poor reviews across the board. If you enjoy watching a bad movie and making fun of it, then “The Spirit” is right for you. However, if you want a good movie, it would be better to skip this one.

SAR would like to thank the weapons department of Independent Studio Services in Sundale, CA for allowing us to photograph and record the history of these movie guns.

If you walk around a large bookstore in the USA, chances are you’ll see sections of illustrated books originally from a foreign land, translated into English. These comic books are called manga, and there’s no denying they’re more popular than American comics. The size of the sections alone is amazing, but the sales are the biggest factor. Manga leaves American comics in the dirt. There was even a rumor that a single book of the manga “Demon Slayer” outsold all of American comics by itself.

Many of these manga have been turned into anime, with the same style of artwork, and pretty much the same story. One of the most popular of all these is the anime movie “Ghost in the Shell.” The author hasn’t seen this movie, but he’s seen the 2017 American live-action adaptation of this classic. Starring Scarlett Johansson, the 2017 movie takes place in the future where humans can replace parts of their bodies for advanced robotic parts. Robots are everywhere and holograms 0replace billboards to sell products. In the movie, Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a woman whose body was destroyed with only her brain intact. Her brain is transferred to an advanced robotic body, giving her a new life as an enforcer of the law. (As an aside, our company did the firearms for the 2014 video game Ghost in the Shell).

In the film, Major uses a Glock 19 covered with movie magic. This is meant to blend in with her body, which is made to camouflage with her surroundings. The best scene where she uses this gun is in the beginning when she storms a meeting being attacked by terrorists. She hides on the outside of a window, at first, and takes out a few bad guys before jumping through it and taking out the rest of the bad guy troop. Another scene where the gun is seen is when she catches up with a suspect and beats him up while she’s invisible. The Glock 19 is seen on her left thigh when she becomes visible again.

The Glock 19 was designed as a more compact version of the Glock 17. If you put the two pistols next to each other, it’ll show the obvious difference in size. The Glock 19 was first produced in 1988 and has seen service in many military forces and law enforcement agencies around the world. These include the United States, Austria, Israel, Germany, Taiwan, and France. It’s also a favorite on the civilian market and is widely regarded as one of the best guns for self-defense.

The Glock 19 weighs almost one and a half pounds. It shoots 9mm Parabellum from a 15-round removable magazine. It has the usual safety that most Glock pistols have, which is a small lever on the trigger. When the operator wants to shoot the pistol, he has to pull the lever and the trigger at the same time, which is a natural progression. Some of the differences between this pistol and the Glock 17 are that both the slide and the pistol grip were shortened to allow better concealment.

Other guns in the movie include movie customized Heckler & Koch MP5Ks used by Major’s fellow police officers. Her commander, played by Takeshi Kitano, uses an uncustomized Smith & Wesson Model 29 in his few fights. Major herself uses a movie customized Israel Weapon Industries Tavor X95 against a giant robot and, in an earlier scene, she uses an IWI Jericho 941 PL, which she takes off a random assailant. Her partner Batou uses a Crye Precision SIX12 shotgun and a Glock 17 pistol in a few different scenes. The terrorists in the beginning of the movie are seen using customized UZIs and Thompsons.

2017’s “Ghost in the Shell” is a stunning movie to look at, but the plot is somewhat predictable. The author knew who the real villain was going to be and knew which way the story was going early on. These stories are a dime a dozen and have been done better. Scarlett Johansson is very good in her role, as are most of the actors, and the visuals are amazing. But the villain is not believable and the script is not handled well. There was also a controversy surrounding the casting of Johansson as the main character. The main character in the anime is Japanese and many critics called the casting “white washing.” However, the director of the original anime had no problem with Johansson, as did most people in Japan. The movie is worth a watch for the effects and the imagery, so by all means, rent and enjoy.

SAR would like to thank the weapons department of Independent Studio Services in Sundale, CA for allowing us to photograph and record the history of these movie guns.

A mercenary who serves aboard the spaceship Serenity, Janye Cobb is a man who can be both admired and hated. Played by Adam Baldwin, Jayne is a lover of “good guns and fine women” while not being afraid to use violence to get what he wants. He became a crewman of Serenity after he was offered a better place to sleep and better pay. He also became the “Hero of Canton” after he accidently dropped a ton of stolen cash on a bunch of unsuspecting poor townsfolk. He does have a softer side when it comes to his mother, even wearing an ugly wool hat she sent to him as a present.

Jayne has quite a collection of guns, including his personal favorite, “Vera.” It is an interesting firearm that needs oxygen to fire. The most famous scene with it is when Captain Malcom accidentally ends up married and Jayne wants to exchange Vera for Mel’s wife. He is often seen using it in gun fights, including when the crew of the Serenity has to save Mel from a crime lord. According to Jayne, he got the gun during a fight with six men, one of whom was using Vera.

Vera was previously used in a 2002 movie called “Showtime.” It is actually a Saiga-12 with an insane amount of props on it. This semi-automatic shotgun, named after a type of antelope in Russia, is actually modeled after the AK-47 rifle, though there were are a few differences. The gun is used both by military forces and civilians, as it makes a good hunting shotgun. Some Saiga shotguns have an AK hand grip, while others are more like sportsmen shotgun, with the grip being part of the stock.

The Saiga shotguns come in a number of variants. Depending on the variant, the gun shoots ether 12-gauge, 20-gauge, or .410-gauge shells. The ammo is loaded into the gun through magazines. These magazines vary in sizes, from five rounds to ten rounds. There also drums, that holds from 12 rounds to 30 rounds. The gun weighs about eight pounds and varies in length depending on the gun variant and what type of stock the gun has. The insides are larger than the AK-47 so they can handle the shotgun shells. The safety is like the AK-47, so when the lever is up, it will not fire, and when it is down, it will.

Jayne actually has a large collection of guns. While a group of Alliance soldiers is searching his quarters, they find a Kimel AP-9, a SIG-Sauer P220 Sport, a Claridge LEC9, and a host of others. Other guns used by Jayne include a Colt Single Action Army Revolver, H&K770 sniper rifle, and a SIG-Sauer P229. In one scene in the first episode, Jayne sneaks up on a sniper, beats him and uses his sniper rifle, a Blaser R93 LRS2, to take out some enemies.

There are actually a lot of guns in the show “Firefly.” Some are western guns with a large amount of props on them that don’t do anything but make them look cool and futuristic. Mel’s gun is a Taurus 85 modified to look larger and like a gun from the old west. Most of the guns don’t have props on them, like some H&K MP5SD3s, L85A1s, and MP40s that are used by Alliance soldiers. Zoe, Mel’s second in command, has a cut-down Winchester Model 1892 as her weapon of choice. There are also Browning M2s made to look like DShk machine guns, though the author thinks they could have just tried to make them look more like a futuristic space gun.

The show “Firefly” is a great show. It may only be 14 episodes of one season, but it has a large following. All the characters in the show are great and acted well by good actors. Adam Baldwin was excellent as Jayne Cobb, playing a brutish man that can have a heart of gold. Nathan Fillion shines as Malcolm Reynolds. Summer Glau is outstanding as River Tam. Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, Ron Glass, and Jewel Staite are all very good in their roles and all have their moments. The special effects and computer graphics are well done, especially the ships. It is a good series and definitely worth a watch, especially whenever the “Hero of Canton” is on screen.

SAR would like to thank the Weapons Department of Independent Studio Services in Sundale, CA for allowing us to photograph and record the history of these Movie Guns.

“Vera”

Jayne Cobb’s “Vera” started out as a Saiga-12 shotgun, and was initially made into a fantasy gun for the movie “Showtime” starring Robert DeNiro, Eddie Murphy, Rene Russo and William Shatner among others. The gun is a fable “Supergun” in the movie and the movie pretty much got panned by critics and audiences. Nice to see the “Supergun” turn to a place it can be appreciated, as Jayne Cobb’s favorite “Vera.” 

Alex Murphy was a good cop trying to bring peace to the rough streets of future Detroit while taking care of his wife and son. One day, he and his partner Anne Lewis pursued a violent gang to their hideout. The gang splits them up and violently kills Murphy. Murphy’s body is claimed by a major corporation, and his remains are used to create a new cyborg named RoboCop. At first, Murphy has no memory of what happened to him, but over time, he slowly remembers who he is. 

“RoboCop” came out in 1987 and was a modest hit. The movie starred Peter Weller as RoboCop, Nancy Allen as Officer Anne Lewis, Ronny Cox as corrupt businessman Dick Jones and Kurtwood Smith as gang leader Clarence Boddicker, the man responsible for Murphy’s death. RoboCop became an icon of the late ‘80s, with comic books, video games and television shows, both animated and live-action. 

In 1990, a sequel came out. “RoboCop 2” shows Murphy battling an evil drug lord named Cain. One of Cain’s underlings is a young boy named Hob, who uses a DEB-M21 submachine gun disguised as a radio when fighting the police. The first scene he uses it in is when he tries to kill Officer Anne Lewis. In the second scene, he uses it to battle a police raid, where he escapes and somehow takes control of Cain’s drug empire. 

The DEB-M21, also known as the UC-9, looks nothing like a gun when it is folded up. The carrying handle holds the front and rear sights, with the inside painted yellow to look more like a radio. A removable fake antenna is placed on the dust cover on one end of the gun. To open the gun, just remove the fake antenna, grab the bottom and top at the other end and pull apart. Put the magazine into place, pull the cocking handle back, and you are ready to go. To fold back, just press the switch above where the fake antenna was and fold it back. The magazine should move when pressured by the buttstock. 

The gun shoots 9x19mm from a 32-round, Uzi-type magazine. The DEB-M21 weighs 7.2 pounds with an empty magazine. It is readily storable in most places. With the fake antenna, the folded gun is about a foot long. It is less than 2 inches in width and 6.6 inches tall. When unfolded, the gun is over 20 inches long. The creator of the gun was Utah Conner, who sadly passed away a few years ago. A limited number of the gun was produced by David E. Boatman, hence the name of the gun, DEB-M21.

“RoboCop 2” is not as good as the first movie. Hob’s story alone is hard to buy—a 12-year-old boy taking control of a drug empire filled with more dangerous men around him. The film also feels less subtle, and the main villain is forgettable until he is put into a battle suit. The idea of an evil RoboCop built like a machine does sound like good idea, but it just doesn’t work that well here. The comedy is bland, and the story’s anti-corporation message falls flat when you actually stop and think about it. It is better than “RoboCop 3,” which is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

The first movie is much better. While the violence is a bit intense at times, it is not as bad as many films that come out today. The villains are much more relatable, the humorous scenes were actually funny, and the action scenes are pretty good. Peter Weller does a good job playing RoboCop, and you really feel for him on his journey to find out who he is. Many of the other characters are well acted, and some of the effects are still good in retrospect. There are some effects, like with the ED-209, which have not aged well. That aside, “RoboCop” is a good movie to enjoy. 

One of the most iconic of adventure movie heroes, Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., or “Indiana Jones” for short, has been one of Harrison Ford’s most beloved roles. Jones is right up there with Han Solo. With his trademark brown fedora hat and handy bull-whip, Indiana is the face of adventure in far-away lands, exploring abandoned temples in thick jungles or desolate deserts and solving ancient riddles and puzzles. His rogue’s gallery includes Nazis, Communists, gangsters and Thuggee Cultists, and he is popular with the ladies in a way that only 007 can compare to.

Indiana Jones first appeared in the film “Indi-ana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” where he races to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can get their hands on it. In “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” Dr. Jones battles Thuggee Cultists to retrieve sacred Sankara Stones. Finally, in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Indiana Jones once again battles the Nazis in a quest for the Holy Grail. There is a fourth movie, but it shall not be mentioned here.

“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” came out in 1989 and was a big hit. Sean Connery joined the cast as Henry Jones, Sr., Indiana’s father, a role he excels in. Other actors include Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody, John Rhys-Davies as Sallah and Alison Doody as Dr. Elsa Schneider. Julian Glover and Michael Byrne play the villains and do a great job.

In one scene in the movie, Indiana and his father are on a Zeppelin and are forced to leave on a biplane. They end up fighting a couple of Luftwaffe fighter planes, with Jones Sr. shooting a Villar Perosa M1915 and Jones Jr. shooting a Webley “WG” Army Model revolver. This leads to a hilarious moment where Jones Sr. shoots the back wing of the plane and blames it on the enemy pilots. The Villar Perosa is actually two Beretta Model 38As made to look like that gun. The Webley “WG” Army Model, however, is the real thing.

The Webley “WG” Army Model revolvers were the pistol of choice for the British Army. They were produced by Webley & Scott, a company that also produced automatic pistols, shotguns and air guns. From the late 1800s to 1963, the Webley saw action in both World Wars, the conflicts in Ireland, the Malayan Emergency and many others. The gun was also used by various police departments in the British Empire and even the Commonwealth of Nations until the 1970s.

The Webley revolvers shoot a small number of ammunition types, but the one in the movie shoots .455 caliber from a revolving six-round cylinder. It didn’t have an effective range, about less than 70 feet. It is over 3 pounds and had a rate of fire about 30 rounds per minute. There are a number of other variants of the Webley revolver, including the earlier Mk I, Mk II and Mk III. There were also the Mk V and the Mk VI, the latter seeing service in World War I. There was also a rare one named the Webley-Fosbery Automatic revolver. While an interesting idea, it did poorly in the field, and the production period was short.

“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” is a great movie. It is not quite as good or as memorable as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” but is better than “Temple of Doom” and the fourth movie. Harrison Ford is great as the main character, Sean Connery is excellent as his father, and the other actors and actresses do a good job. The effects are a bit dated but are still impressive. The above-mentioned airplane dogfight and the follow-up chase scene were exciting, and there is a fun scene involving a tank. It is one of my favorite movies, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

“The Fast and the Furious” franchise started in 2001 with the release of “The Fast and the Furious,” starring Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker. It did very well in theaters and was soon followed by its sequel “2 Fast 2 Furious.” It was soon followed by “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and then got a soft reboot with “Fast and Furious.” The first three films were about illegal street racing, but “Fast and Furious” switched to international espionage. In “Fast Five,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joined the franchise. In 2019, a spinoff of the franchise starring Dwayne Johnson was released in theaters in the form of “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.” 

In the movie, Dwayne Johnson plays Luke Hobbs, a D.S.S. agent who is assigned with former SAS operative Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham. The two do not get along and spend most of the movie insulting one another, leading to some pretty funny lines. Their mission is to find a rogue operative played by Vanessa Kirby, before a half-man, half-machine terrorist played by Idris Elba can get to her. 

In one scene in the movie, Elba’s character and his henchmen storm a building holding Kirby’s character. This leads to an incredible chase scene where the villains use climbing cables to climb down the side of the building, with Hobbs falling after them and fighting the henchmen on the cables, as Shaw follows in an elevator and mocks them. The henchmen in this scene are using VHS-K2 assault rifles, made by HS Produkt d.o.o. in Croatia. HS Produkt was founded in 1991 and has been producing weapons for the Republic of Croatia since then, though they also supply to other countries as well. 

The VHS-K2 is a bullpup rifle, meaning that the magazine and loading are done behind the trigger group. This allows the rifle to be shorter and lighter than normal assault weapons while keeping the barrel length. They weigh about 9 pounds and use magazines that hold 20 to 30 5.56x45mm NATO rounds. The VHS-K2 assault rifles have seen combat in Syria and in Iraq, where both the police and the Army used them during the countries’ civil wars. 

Later in the scene, Luke Hobbs uses a Chiappa Rhino Revolver 60DS pistol in a car chase through London. The Chiappa Rhino is a product of Chiappa Firearms, an Italian manufacturer started in 1958. The Rhino pistols are some of their best products and come in a number of variants. They are light, and each shoots one of a number of different cartridges. 

The 60DS weighs about 2 pounds, has a 6-inch barrel and shoots .357 Magnum from a six-round revolving cylinder. It comes in a number of different finishes, including gold PVD and nickel-plated. 

I have only seen a few of the “Fast and Furious” films, but they are entertaining and are worth watching. “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” is an entertaining movie as well, with the back and fourths between Hobbs and Shaw being high points. Idris Elba is great as the villain and is a lot of fun to watch. Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Vanessa Kirby are also good in their roles, as well as most of the other actors. The action scenes are fun to watch, and the locations are great, especially Samoa. The film does feel a little too long at times, but aside from that, it is worth a watch.