Colt Forum banner

More movie guns......

3289 Views 44 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  BobWright
We have here in Memphis a local station that shows a lot of old westerns, and, as has been noted on another thread, some errors showing "Colt" revovlers, and some not so much in error.

Can't remember the name, or didn't see the beginning, but Randolph Scott is shown with a 7 1/2" barreled Colt SAA with a web added under the barrel to pass for a Remington. And in a few older movies, the same thing done to resemble a cap-and-ball revovler in a Civil War setting.

There is a theater poster of William S. Hart brandishing two Colts, one of which is a Flat Top Target. Only trouble is, the photo was reversed and the ejector assemblies are on the wrong side.

Close examination of many old westerns will reveal Colt New Service or Official Police Models, usually with jigged bone grips and fitted with dummy ejector assemblies.

The most glaring error is the use of the Winchester M92 in 1870s settings. Even John Wayne (Gulp) was guilty of that.

Bob Wright
  • Like
Reactions: 3
1 - 20 of 45 Posts
I tend to catch those blatant Hollywood screw ups myself, however they still entertain. :)
I tend to catch those blatant Hollywood screw ups myself, however they still entertain. :)
You betch 'em, Red Ryder!

Bob Wright
Gene Autry lived in a time warp in which there were station wagons and airplanes, but horses were still the primary mode of transportation. One of his better movies had Indians carrying military 03-A3 rifles.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Yeah, in several of his movies someone would fly in to the local airport, in a DC-3, be driven to the ranch in a Ford woodie, then spend the rest of the time traveling by stagecoach.

And remember the one in which Gene and his singers had to fight off the bad guys while finishing the radio broadcast?

Bob Wright
What about Josh Randal? Steve McQueen carried a short-gate Winchester, but a belt of .30-30 ammo.
John Wayne never reloaded. Clint made reloading famous: Dirty Harry "in all the excitement, have I fired 5 or 6 times?" Josey Wells had pre-loaded extra cylinders for speed loading!
But I still love 'em all.
During the time the North and South miniseries was on, one of the networks played "Alvarez Kelly" which was a Civil War movie about rustling cattle. The North and South series had used reenactors for the battle scenes, and the weapons were spot on. In Alvarez Kelly the Union troops were levering away on their 1892 Winchester carbines.
I spot 'wrong kind of gun' often like folks above. I'm sure anyone with specialist info or experience sees similar faux issues in his own field of knowledge. In my time of simulating work for a living in an airline, I'm sensitized to aviation/aircraft errors like one kind of airplane taking off and another type landing, use of airplane type that hadn't been produced for the time of the story, impossible fix & fly again, etc., --- aviation counterpart of 'wrong gun'. No doubt LEOs, lawyers, doctors, computer nerds, etc., would tell their similar stories.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
I spot 'wrong kind of gun' often like folks above. I'm sure anyone with specialist info or experience sees similar faux issues in his own field of knowledge. In my time of simulating work for a living in an airline, I'm sensitized to aviation/aircraft errors like one kind of airplane taking off and another type landing, use of airplane type that hadn't been produced for the time of the story, impossible fix & fly again, etc., --- aviation counterpart of 'wrong gun'. No doubt LEOs, lawyers, doctors, computer nerds, etc., would tell their similar stories.
Yeah, I've noticed aircraft flying that was not the one that took off. Also B-25s shown bombing targets deep in Germany. And the movie "Fighter Squadron" used P-51Bs for German ME-109s.

And during WW II so many movies used T-6s (Actually AT-6s then) as Japanese Zeros that on several ocassions actual T-6s were spotted and reported as Japanese.

And in one movie set in the Korean War, Republic F-84Fs were used as Mig-15s. And in one movie or TV series, depicting the death of one of the Kennedys showed him ready for take-off in a B-25, when he was killed in a B-24.

And I believe it was in "The Sting" a movie set in the 1920s, where a street scene revealed an ATM!

Bob Wright
How about german soliders speaking to each other in english with a german accent?
...or in some of the WWII Hollywood movies where the 'russians' are involved, 'russian' soldiers speak in a British accent.

I think the movie 'Enemy at the Gates' had that.


As a Carpenter and Woodworker, I notice in the seldom seen Movie 'scene' in which Carpentry or Wood Woodworking are being imitated, almost always it is conspicuously just some pantomime or pretend gesture and full of 'holes'.

Another one which used to get me were the use of fake or poorly suited sound effects, when-ever an 'old' Car was pulling in or pulling away or driving passed.

The Car could be a 1933 90 Series Buick Sedan or a '32 Chrysler Imperial or big Marmon or Cadillac even, and, the sound effects used would be for an intentionally out of tune Ford model T with holes in the Muffler-Silencer, which then also often-enough obligingly backfires.


This was mostly in 1950s or early 1960s Movies, and, always cracked me up.
See less See more
I like it when the actor is carrying a Glock and they dub in a sound of the hammer being cocked. Also they rack the slide for every scene and rounds don't get jacked out.Jim
Yes! Or the person is pointing the Hand Gun at someone up close, and, then, as some dialogue progresses, they then cock it or rack the slide, to show they REALLY mean Business! Lol...
One of my friends was involved in the production of a flick called "Kill Me Again"

Kill Me Again (1989) - IMDb

Cool movie, if one likes that sort of thing, but I never fail to bust his balls over
the climactic scene where the bad girl inserts a clip into a 1911, racks the slide,
and they cut to her blazing away out the passenger window at the pursuit with a
revolver...

Hollywood...

At least my friend, while fairly ignorant regarding firearms, isn't a raving anti...
One of my favorite TV western guys is right here. At first as a kid I thought he carried a Remington Model 1875. But noticed it was one of those butchered Colts they used in Civil War movies. Here's a close up, Bob, of one of those guns your talking about.
See less See more
One of my favorite TV western guys is right here. At first as a kid I thought he carried a Remington Model 1875. But noticed it was one of those butchered Colts they used in Civil War movies. Here's a close up, Bob, of one of those guns your talking about.
Matt;The holster over his shoulder was made by Andy Anderson,it's a swivel holster,Andy gave me one back around '68 or '69 to use when I was riding my horse & dirt bike,it's the only holster that I've found u can mount a horse with when it's tied down,I used it for several yrs. until Alfonso came out w/his 1st John Wayne mdl. in '71,I still have Al's holster but sold the Andy when I started using the JW rig,I think I have some photos of Al's rig here someplace in my "evil machine".
Matt;The holster over his shoulder was made by Andy Anderson,it's a swivel holster,Andy gave me one back around '68 or '69 to use when I was riding my horse & dirt bike,it's the only holster that I've found u can mount a horse with when it's tied down,I used it for several yrs. until Alfonso came out w/his 1st John Wayne mdl. in '71,I still have Al's holster but sold the Andy when I started using the JW rig,I think I have some photos of Al's rig here someplace in my "evil machine".
I think I saw this rig at the Gene Autry Museum in 1990. Look at that metal plate in front of it. Tell me an apache wouldn't see reflections off that AND that shiny gun.
In "Major Dundee" they almost got it right. Yes they used the Model 92 Winchester no forearm for Henry's, but the revolvers were Colt cartridge conversions. Not quite right for the Civil War but a bit more authenic than using the SAA.

As for airplanes; How about Dauntless Dive Bombers with rising suns on them bombing umm... Pearl Harbor.
Squealing tires on a graval road. Indians speaking harvard english. Cowboys wearing new spotless cloths in the middle of the desert and hats like you could win at a fair.
Knock out sexy women with cloths from fredericks in the middle of no where. Ever see a horse pooping on tv? Ever see a indian smile except when they are skinning someone?
1 - 20 of 45 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top