Where does Hollywood get their guns?

Maybe this was asked and answered before but I was thinking about this the other day. I know Hollywood has stockpiles of certain things and that they often get rid of certain things after the movie is over.

Where do they get their guns, specifically the older ones, surplus, that aren't in production anymore. Do they have a massive stockpile or do they rent from someone who does.

A "Last of the Samarai" rifle was in my local gun shop for a time. They had paperwork on it. So they aren't keeping all of them.

With my interest growing, I'm planning to dig out my copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin to see if the rifles are correct, especially for the Italians. I know they try to make the German, British and US rifles correct.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Maybe this was asked and answered before but I was thinking about this the other day. I know Hollywood has stockpiles of certain things and that they often get rid of certain things after the movie is over.

Where do they get their guns, specifically the older ones, surplus, that aren't in production anymore. Do they have a massive stockpile or do they rent from someone who does.

A "Last of the Samarai" rifle was in my local gun shop for a time. They had paperwork on it. So they aren't keeping all of them.

With my interest growing, I'm planning to dig out my copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin to see if the rifles are correct, especially for the Italians. I know they try to make the German, British and US rifles correct.

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I know IMA has provided for some prop houses in the past.

I have seen mentioned that there are companys that specialize in renting blank firing originals as well as the resin molded replicas.There was a pilot on the History channel a while back where two fellows in California had a buisness flipping militaria which I remember had some mention of this type of outfit. Sarco had/has some 1903 Springfields with paperwork from the movie "The Pacific".

We used to have an organization here in BC that supplied blank firing firearms of all sorts to movie prop houses. They supplied the guns for Rambo(the original) and while they were filming in Hope(where the first part was filmed) a deuce and a half full of these blank firing full autos were stolen, truck and all. The company used to import full autos and convert them for blanks only and did a "Booming" business. The owner died some twenty years ago and it flickered to a halt. Too bad, his gunshop was excellent.

Here in California there is a company that rents full auto blank firing guns for WWII reenactments. :D



Sent From The Telegraph Office

Many firearms made famous by various Hollywood actors over the past 60 years or more were supplied by Stembridge Gun Rentals in Glendale Ca. Many of the Stembridge guns were also used for sound effects in various movies. They had undoubtedly the most extensive collection of civil, military, specialty, and one of a kind firearms available to the entertainment industry.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Maybe this was asked and answered before but I was thinking about this the other day. I know Hollywood has stockpiles of certain things and that they often get rid of certain things after the movie is over.

Where do they get their guns, specifically the older ones, surplus, that aren't in production anymore. Do they have a massive stockpile or do they rent from someone who does.

A "Last of the Samarai" rifle was in my local gun shop for a time. They had paperwork on it. So they aren't keeping all of them.

With my interest growing, I'm planning to dig out my copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin to see if the rifles are correct, especially for the Italians. I know they try to make the German, British and US rifles correct.

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Almost none of the weapons used in movies are sold off after the movie is done.
There are a variety of sources around the US that rent weapons & accessories for the entertainment industry. Stembridge was by far the largest before they went out of business.
I have occasionaly rented weapons to the movie/TV industry for 25 yrs. I'm one of the smaller sources for this and primarily only work in Mo, Kan, Colo, Wyo, New Mex & Utah. Since there are not a lot of movies filmed in those states I don't do a lot.
I also rent weapons to the WW 2 & Viet Nam reenactors.
Sarge

My Ross Mk.II*** rifle was apparently purchased from Stembridge Gun Rentals, by the previous owner, in the late 1990s.

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Originally Posted by RudyN

Here in California there is a company that rents full auto blank firing guns for WWII reenactments. :D



Sent From The Telegraph Office

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Back when I re-enacted in the 80s we rented from Gary Harper who used to bring his stuff out for rental. It was neat to see those Fire arms in action back then.

I hope this is not too far afield. In watching the original Tora Tora Tora from 1970 I noticed the extreme realism of the attack sequinces particularly the ground leval air field shots. Please tell me they did not destroy real PBYs and P-40s.
Answered my own question.
Turns out Wiki has a good article and explination of the special effects. Pretty spectacular cenimatography for the day. Pre CGI.

I believe that footage is actual war time footage if no Pearl Harbor footage. John Ford is ultimately responsible for much of the footage of the attack.

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Originally Posted by HOOKED ON HISTORY

I hope this is not too far afield. In watching the original Tora Tora Tora from 1970 I noticed the extreme realism of the attack sequinces particularly the ground leval air field shots. Please tell me they did not destroy real PBYs and P-40s.
Answered my own question.
Turns out Wiki has a good article and explination of the special effects. Pretty spectacular cenimatography for the day. Pre CGI.

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I remember watching Tora at the movies as a kid. They had some of the "Zeros", "Kate" Torpedo Bombers and "Val" Dive Bombers at Long Beach Airport. My Pop used to take me flying and we would always fly over the place where they were kept. They were lined up if I remember correctly along the 405 Fwy. As a kid I was an Aviation Buff first before getting into the ground war. I would always have my Pop buy me "Air Classics " which was a magazine that had Warbird articles. I remember when they did a big write up about the movie. The P-40 were made up of Fiber Glass as were the PBY's and the King Fisher. These were full scale mock ups they blew the crap out of. Some of the P-40s had actual Power Plants ( Allison Engines ) and were remote controlled. They were intended to taxi but some actually started to fly so the blew them up before they did. The Special Edition "Award Series" had a documentary explaining the special effects. The "Zeros" were converted AT-6 Texans, and the "Kates" were AT-6 and a BT-13 fuselage to stretch it out. I forgot how the did the Val though. This was one of my all time Favorite Movies along with "Battle of Britain" and the "War Lover" with Steve Mc Queen. Some of those Tora planes still fly at the Chino Airshow down here.

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Originally Posted by kosmolinekid

I remember watching Tora at the movies as a kid.

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You must be about my age. I still remember the Tora Tora Tora air show promo tour coming to my town. Growing up next to an airport I have always been interested in aviation and enjoyed the few oppertunities I have had to fly. In discussing the movie with a friend last night he mentioned the documentary. I will see if I can find it.

I remember when I first saw this as a kid I was impressed at how the actors in some scenes did look to be running for thier lives and how some flying parts would look to have barely been dodged and/or missed.
Now I find out it looked real because it was. Some of those special effects did not go as planed.
Chris

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Originally Posted by HOOKED ON HISTORY

You must be about my age. I still remember the Tora Tora Tora air show promo tour coming to my town. Growing up next to an airport I have always been interested in aviation and enjoyed the few oppertunities I have had to fly. In discussing the movie with a friend last night he mentioned the documentary. I will see if I can find it.

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Yep 55 years old bummer at least i get a discount at Denny's ! I too took flying lessons for a while after getting out of Sky Diving. Jumping was fun as I got to jump out of DC-3s / C47s. It was also terrifying ! We were some of the last student Sky Divers at Perris Valley that used "Junk Gear" The old Main and Reserve chute. Now everybody uses the "Piggy Back" Rig. Tora was where I fell in love with the P-40 before I found out what a chunk it was. I still rewind that Hickam Field scene where the stuntmen almost got killed. They got close to eating it a couple of time. What hairs me out are those Props spinning loose ! Back in the late 60s early 70s Aviation in movies was the "sierra" ! There were quite a few Air Museums here back then sadly they are all gone. John Wayne Airport ( I got to see his personal AC a couple times with the call letters JW instead of the pre-fix N ) had Frank Tallmans Air museum. He did all the Flying stunts back then. He had planes from the movies like Catch 22 ( B-25s ) and It's a Mad Mad World. He even had a Sopwith Triplane which was developed before the Fokker Triplane was used. I would cruise that museum for hours while my dad took flying lessons. It was a magical time back then I sure miss it.

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Originally Posted by kosmolinekid

Yep 55 years old bummer at least i get a discount at Denny's !

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Not at least taking some flying lessons is one of my few regrets.Beech Barron flights is as close as I have come to "real aviation". Had an oppertunity to jump from a perfectly sound aircraft which not doing is something I do not regret. One benifit of our modern age is being able to watch Bob Hoover airshow demos over and over on youtube. Lots of great aviation videos there.