Stage Weapons

[egorleski]

My question really refers specificaly to stage guns, but i figured why not give it a broad title. We currently have generic long barrel guns that are made of conduit for the barrel, a carved block of wood for the handle part, and some sort of cheep metal to fake a trigger. This has been okay in our auditorium since the audiance is far away and they can't really see how crummy it is. Were wanna use them in a closer proximity space... but obviously these guns will not work. I wonder if anyone here has made some guns that look more realistic? If not, anyone know a good place to buy them? while these are not going to have to be "stage functional" (they dont have to appear to fire), has anyone ever used any that do appear to fire? I have used some that were stage functional for movies, but with the increasing fear of pyro on stage.... i posted in the fake explosian thread the idea of making a gun that expels some rye flour powered by CO2 thoughts?

[jwl868]

If your school has a rifle squad, maybe they can spare a few. (A vendor of rifle squad rifles may be a good place to start, too.)

(Considering school weapon policies these days, often coupled with zero tolerance [zero common sense] enforcement, you might want to look closely at the use of these props - stupider things have happened...)


Joe

[tenor_singer]

Pistols: My properties crew purchased some dollar store plastic pistols and painted them to look like real guns. They did a very good job.

Rifles: I did the conduit thing too. I had our shop class cut the stocks out of a good hard wood and then I added details (like the curved pump for a 12-gauge) using either cut dowel or old trim that I had laying around my house. They looked very good (from a distance).

Some costume shops sell rubber guns that look fairly realistic too.

[DarSax]

You'd be amazed at how realistic toy guns are these days.



No, really, I'm serious. It's actually pretty scary. Look in toy stores; however, I've seen many a realistic one in costume stores as well.

[saxman0317]

look at old garage sales and such...sometimes you can pick up real ones real cheap. Ive gotten a few rifles and such like this, spent about 20$ for 3 of them, then just removed the firing pin so it is impossible to fire and provable to anyone that its nonfunctional. Works great if you need something close that looks great. You can also go one more step and remove the trigger itself and leave the trigger guard only if you need more "fakeness".

[falcon]

The toy gun option will probably be the best. A couple years ago, a kid around here was taken down by the police because the cap gun he was playing with in his yard looked exactly like the real thing.

[Foxinabox10]

Another option is air-soft guns. They shoot little pellets that are made for them. We have used those in the past and threw away the pellets as soon as they arrived.

[Van]

We recently finished a very succesful run of Sondheims "Assassins" and with 20 some odd pistols and rifles let me tell you Weapons on stage are not a simple thing. I happen to work with a Certified Fight choreographer a lot, He does over hire work in the shop for me, I build swords and axes and other implements of destruction for him. I grew up around a lot of rifles and guns < my father was a certified NRA instructor, not a certified whacko compound owner, just to clear things up,> Anyway I've always had a very healthy respect for weapons but even I was not quite ready for the level of caution the one must practice when using weapons such as guns on stage. My freind informed me of a lot of things I had simply never thought of. Removal of the firing pin does not render a weapon "non-firing" in the eyes of the ATF. Most weapons must have a 4 -5 " peice of steel rod driven into their barrels and welded there to render them "safe". Starter pistols can and have killed people. Blanks can and have killed people, but by far one of the most dangerous and deadly items is complacency. When weapons are on or near a stage, you must be vigilant at all times. When weap[ons are used it is not sufficient to simply let a P.A. or ASM be in charge of weapons too, you must have a "weapons Wrangler" someone whos whole and only job is tracking the loading , unloading, transfer, use, cleaning, maintenance etc of every single weapons used on stage. That's just my two cents worth. As for Information on available weapons Might I suggest "weapons of Choice" I beleive they are located in Klamath Falls Oregon. they have an extensive collection of swords, knives, handguns, rifles, guns, etc, etc for rental and purchase.

[ship]

Originally Posted by Van

We recently finished a very succesful run of Sondheims "Assassins" and with 20 some odd pistols and rifles let me tell you Weapons on stage are not a simple thing. I happen to work with a Certified Fight choreographer a lot, He does over hire work in the shop for me, I build swords and axes and other implements of destruction for him. I grew up around a lot of rifles and guns < my father was a certified NRA instructor, not a certified whacko compound owner, just to clear things up,> Anyway I've always had a very healthy respect for weapons but even I was not quite ready for the level of caution the one must practice when using weapons such as guns on stage. My freind informed me of a lot of things I had simply never thought of. Removal of the firing pin does not render a weapon "non-firing" in the eyes of the ATF. Most weapons must have a 4 -5 " peice of steel rod driven into their barrels and welded there to render them "safe". Starter pistols can and have killed people. Blanks can and have killed people, but by far one of the most dangerous and deadly items is complacency. When weapons are on or near a stage, you must be vigilant at all times. When weap[ons are used it is not sufficient to simply let a P.A. or ASM be in charge of weapons too, you must have a "weapons Wrangler" someone whos whole and only job is tracking the loading , unloading, transfer, use, cleaning, maintenance etc of every single weapons used on stage. That's just my two cents worth. As for Information on available weapons Might I suggest "weapons of Choice" I beleive they are located in Klamath Falls Oregon. they have an extensive collection of swords, knives, handguns, rifles, guns, etc, etc for rental and purchase.

Yep, spent some time in the armor cage for military weapons and even I would not consider myself sufficient to be up on all the rules. Given this however where needed I might attempt - this given futher study into what was necessory. Weapons on stage - depends upon the show. Once had my old high school teacher shoot a Thompsan 1928A1 directly at me during a USITT forum. Her intent was more than just fun. How did my old TD or me in the military at the time know that the sub-machine gun she was firing a 50 round drum at, know and or trust that I would not be injured, much less killed?

I have armorered on a few shows in the past - this was my ownly responsibility and given military training in doing so. A Pyro/Armorer person possibly is a unique position for shows. This not just the stage manager or other.

[danl]

catalogues i've used:

http://www.theatrehouse.com
(click: "weapons", then "firearms")

http://www.thecostumer.com
(click: "accessories and props", then "guns and ammo")

there are some really inexpensive options that read very well on and off stage (though they only shoot off caps and not blanks)

(sound effects work well with these, as well)