Airsoft vs Blank firing replicas

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Hopefully this explains it a bit. The theory is the same for any GBB pistol mag. Just the location of the feed slider is in different location on some of them.

Sorry for the painted hand. Doing maintenance on some of the props.
 
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Here's some prop porn for y'all :evil: Boom-chicka-wah-wah

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I was doing a little cleaning, so I thought I'd take pics of some of my props. Today was AK and Pistol Box 1 Day.
 
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LOL

That's awesome.

And thanks for the info! Probably will help a lot of other guys here as well (make sure that they ALL give you cred!)

Also, I just purchased a blank firing pistol (Beretta?) from this guy. He was literally throwing it away for $50. Once I have it I'll give it a test run and take some video.

I'm still going to go the airsoft route. But I couldn't pass it up.

Thanks again!
 
No prob Brian. I hope it helps.

Make sure you clean that blank fire really good, just like you would a real weapon. Also take it to a gunsmith to have it checked out. Blanks are serious things, and things can go wrong with them. Make sure you also buy the right blanks for it.
 
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lol ug

And yeah, Doc. Honestly I might never even actually fire the thing. I might just use it for extreme close-up gun worship stuff. ;)
 
bear in mind what happened to brandon lee on the set of the crow.......

if you dont know the facts check out his bio on imdb

even blank firing guns can kill or injure people............
 
It just occurred to me that if you shoot with CMOS or DLSR that muzzle flash might be a bad thing much like camera flash.
 
Like I said, there will be no muzzle flash with the less expensive blank guns. The barrel is completely blocked.
 
ian dart said:
bear in mind what happened to brandon lee on the set of the crow.......

if you dont know the facts check out his bio on imdb

even blank firing guns can kill or injure people............
Click to expand...

All true, but I'd just like to add that the salient fact about Lee's death is that untrained hands are what kill people. A member of the armorer's crew made an error with deadly consequences, which emphasizes the importance of having the right people even over having the right hardware.
 
I myself prefer airsoft guns in our productions, and we use eHobbyAsia. I agree that you do end up spending a lot more time in post, but on lower budget, there really isn't a choice. I've also been on a recent shoot with real weapons, with blanks, and while I thought getting the muzzle flash once in awhile looked cool, it wasn't consistent and I just felt the extra needed safety on this production really didn't add as much as what we gained.

I've also found the recorded gunshot audio to be less than ideal if you were trying to record a scene with dialog as well. It's just too loud. We are filming a Barrett 50 cal shooting soon, I bet even with my gain set the the absolute minimum setting, it's going to peg the microphone itself.
 
sad max said:
all true, but i'd just like to add that the salient fact about lee's death is that untrained hands are what kill people. A member of the armorer's crew made an error with deadly consequences, which emphasizes the importance of having the right people even over having the right hardware.
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amen!
 
Thanks, I am going to book mark that site. The red and blue paint looks too video game for me, but the non-painted ones could be a viable option, especially if I mod them. Give them the ol' Doc tweak.
 
trained or untrained hands..........brandon lee is still dead.......

having your spine destroyed is not the only thing that can happen

there is also a risk of hearing and eye damage

if there are firearms on my set without a licensed armourer i turn off the lights
pack the truck and drive away........
 
ian dart said:
bear in mind what happened to brandon lee on the set of the crow.......

if you dont know the facts check out his bio on imdb

even blank firing guns can kill or injure people............
Click to expand...

This has been covered before, but it's worth covering again.

What happened to Brandon Lee did not involve a gun DESIGNED to shoot blanks -- it involved a REAL gun that was LOADED with blanks. Big difference.

A gun designed to shoot blanks has a solid metal barrel. Nothing can come out of the muzzle of that gun, not even flash and smoke. The blast from the blanks is vented through a hole, usually in the top or side. You might get a slight burn. You might damage your hearing or eyesight. But it would be almost impossible to be killed by a gun designed to shoot blanks, unless someone clubbed you over the head with it.

The danger comes when people use REAL guns loaded with blanks, because they just HAVE to have that flash from the barrel. Real guns are extremely dangerous, and can cause serious injury or death. There's no real good reason to use a real gun in a film. Add the flash and smoke in post. It's not hard or expensive, and it's a whole lot safer!
 
Chapel, I agree wholeheartedly with the intent of what you are saying. But even blank guns with barrels blocked can be dangerous. You are dealing with a controlled explosive, despite the usage or the prop. No matter how it is stated, even they can be dangerous, even fatal if in the wrong hands. I am looking at an 8mm blank right now, knowing if it went off at the wrong time, it wouldn't be a good thing.

Look, I have no axe to grind here, the highest majority of people here are outside my area and wouldn't have the budget to bring me in to assist their production anyway. Totally cool with it, and I feel it's my responsibility to share what I can to assist them and keep people safe. We all have to collaborate to raise the bar for Independent Film and how the viewership looks at it.

Heck, I have been asked to have a complete thread on another *ahem* competing site about this same subject. And being given "mod" status for that thread/sub-forum. But this is is my "home". You guys get the best of what I have to offer. 'Cause there is no love, like DVX love.

Wait, that sounded totally wrong..........
 
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I defer to your experience and expertise, Doc. :)

All I was trying to say was that what happened to Brandon Lee didn't involve a blank gun, but rather a real gun loaded with blanks. What happened in that instance couldn't have happened with a solid-barrel blank gun.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
A gun designed to shoot blanks has a solid metal barrel. Nothing can come out of the muzzle of that gun, not even flash and smoke.
Click to expand...

That is not necessarily true at all. There are front venting blank guns.

chapelgrovefilms said:
There's no real good reason to use a real gun in a film. Add the flash and smoke in post. It's not hard or expensive, and it's a whole lot safer!
Click to expand...

There is one very good reason for using a real gun with blanks designed for larger muzzle blasts...it looks a lot better.

Digital muzzle flashes and smoke work better as a supplement than a replacement. They often look incredibly cheesy, even when well-done. You can shoot around the cheesiness with quick shots, certain angles etc. You can even trick the viewer into thinking there's brass ejection by using certain angles coupled with sound effects and perhaps inserts of casings hitting the floor/rolling around, but again, there's a reason big budget films still use front venting blank guns with special flame rounds: it's the best option if you can afford it.

Me? I'll stick to PFC guns. Pricey but you get the muzzle flash, smoke, and brass. You don't get the sound but you don't need it and the pop you do get is perfect for syncing in something better. Unfortunately, there's a lack of modern PFC guns being made. Almost all of the newest offerings are circa Vietnam or prior. Probably, the market isn't big enough to support new development.

EDIT: forgot to mention propane guns which are sometimes used on bigger models like the mini-gatling gun in Predator and Terminator 2, or more recently (I believe) the automatic shotgun in The Expendables. The gun from Predator sold for around $250k in the last few years so these propane prop guns are probably out of most DVXUSER's price range :)
 
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