Beretta 92 Hollywood Love

[Rmiked]

Over the Holidays I watched a “Lethal Weapon” movie with Mel Gibson and a “Die Hard” movie with Bruce Willis. Of course the Beretta 92 was right there as a main character. I’m sure the 30 year military history earned the pistol the spot. I never considered the Hollywood aspect in evaluating and choosing the 92 platform. But even my wife thought it was very cool that it showed up in 2 movies she was kind enough to watch with me. I told her that the Die Hard movies fall into the “Christmas Movie” series which she thought was hilarious.

[Hambo]

I’m sure the 30 year military history earned the pistol the spot.

The 92/M9 military history was only a few years when those movies were made. Not that stores had a lot of them at the time (they ran about $600 IIRC), but they were hard to find after one/both movies.

[Caballoflaco]

One of the biggest reasons they were so popular is that they’re a lot easier to get to run with blanks than a browning style locking system.

[Rmiked]

The 92/M9 military history was only a few years when those movies were made. Not that stores had a lot of them at the time (they ran about $600 IIRC), but they were hard to find after one/both movies.

Great point! I was not thinking. So why choose the 92? Was it because they shot blanks reliably? I was not aware some other pistols may not operate well with blanks. Seems like you would need to put in very light recoil spring to make it run. I’ve never thought about that.

[jetfire]

Great point! I was not thinking. So why choose the 92? Was it because they shot blanks reliably? I was not aware some other pistols may not operate well with blanks. Seems like you would need to put in very light recoil spring to make it run. I’ve never thought about that.

Fun fact: the same prop gun was used in both movies. For LW, the armorers wanted something that an LAPD detective would realistically be carrying. LAPD authorized the 92 for individual officer purchase in '86, so it stood to reason that someone like Riggs' character would opt for the most gun he could carry.

The anecdotal story about how the same gun ended up in Die Hard was they needed a "cop gun" for McClane, and the Beretta 92 from LW just happened to be the first one on the rack.

[Caballoflaco]

The first part of this video talks bout the process of converting guns to fire blanks and talks specifically about Berettas vs other guns.


https://youtu.be/GnOUrRTf6jg

[Rmiked]

Looks like they cut the wings off the locking lugs. And also thread the inside of the barrel to allow insertion of various plugs which is essentially a flow orifice that creates back-pressure to allow the action to blow back and control the powder burn rate. I had no idea the guns required this level of modification. I have seen blank ammo for sale? I assume they will fire in an unmodified pistol? Maybe the movie set requires specific powder burn (higher) for personnel safety reasons? Maybe the unmodified pistols would just not look realistic?

[Caballoflaco]

Looks like they cut the wings off the locking lugs. And also thread the inside of the barrel to allow insertion of various plugs which is essentially a flow orifice that creates back-pressure to allow the action to blow back and control the powder burn rate. I had no idea the guns required this level of modification. I have seen blank ammo for sale? I assume they will fire in an unmodified pistol? Maybe the movie set requires specific powder burn (higher) for personnel safety reasons? Maybe the unmodified pistols would just not look realistic?

Blanks will go boom, but they won’t cycle the action.

[Jim Watson]

I'd really like to have asked the man in the business about a couple of specific guns.

I have read
1. "Gary Cooper depicts Alvin York with a Luger because it is easier to make it shoot blanks than a Colt."
but
2. "It is almost impossible to get a Luger to function on blanks and still look normal."

Related item
3. "American soldiers are shown armed with Star pistols because it is easier to make them shoot blanks than a Colt."


Powder: The usual .30-06 blank with heavy crimp holding a red card wad used to be loaded with EC Blankfire powder. There have been some number of guns blown up because people thought they could use blank powder to shoot a bullet.

[Duelist]

Great point! I was not thinking. So why choose the 92? Was it because they shot blanks reliably? I was not aware some other pistols may not operate well with blanks. Seems like you would need to put in very light recoil spring to make it run. I’ve never thought about that.

It was the new, sexy thing.

[jetfire]

Related item
3. "American soldiers are shown armed with Star pistols because it is easier to make them shoot blanks than a Colt."



This one I can speak to from working with a few productions - 45 ACP blanks are notoriously crappy, and getting 1911s in 45 ACP to work right with them is a huge pain in the ass. The old Star pistols in 9mm were a lot easier to get to run right with blanks, so they have stood in for many a "Colt 45" in movies.

[Hambo]

This one I can speak to from working with a few productions - 45 ACP blanks are notoriously crappy, and getting 1911s in 45 ACP to work right with them is a huge pain in the ass. The old Star pistols in 9mm were a lot easier to get to run right with blanks, so they have stood in for many a "Colt 45" in movies.

Speaking of movie stand-ins, some actors couldn't work a Colt SAA fast, so various DA Colts were used for firing scenes. Some have an ejector rod housing added, some don't.

[APS-PF]

Yeah if you look closely many of Magnum's scenes have the Star in them.

[Joe in PNG]

Yeah if you look closely many of Magnum's scenes have the Star in them.

Likewise "Mr. 9mm Here" from Pulp Fiction.

[jetfire]

Likewise "Mr. 9mm Here" from Pulp Fiction.

Which I actually appreciate, because it was in fact a 9mm, thus technically correct, and that is the best kind of correct.

[Jim Watson]

Speaking of movie stand-ins, some actors couldn't work a Colt SAA fast, so various DA Colts were used for firing scenes. Some have an ejector rod housing added, some don't.

I had an old Gun Digest article on movie guns, mostly for Westerns.
DA revolvers with dummy ejector rods were common. A deluxe job was a New Service with the grip frame altered to SAA "plow handle" so it would look right in the holster.

One strange example was 'Seminole.' Set in 1835, it armed Rock Hudson with a ca 1870 Colt Army cartridge conversion.

[Isaac]

Kuffs, w Christian slater had a cool scene with them.

[LHS]

Which I actually appreciate, because it was in fact a 9mm, thus technically correct, and that is the best kind of correct.

Right?

15-year-old me: THAT'S NOT A 9MM THAT'S A 1911!

40-year-old me: Ahh, a Star... I see you too are a man of taste.

[Cory]

I have spent far to much time on imFdb (http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Main_Page) in my life. But have learned a lot of cool stuff. Some of the info is from savvy movie goers, other info on the site is from the companies who provide the firearms.

[Jared]

Fun fact: the same prop gun was used in both movies. For LW, the armorers wanted something that an LAPD detective would realistically be carrying. LAPD authorized the 92 for individual officer purchase in '86, so it stood to reason that someone like Riggs' character would opt for the most gun he could carry.

The anecdotal story about how the same gun ended up in Die Hard was they needed a "cop gun" for McClane, and the Beretta 92 from LW just happened to be the first one on the rack.

I had never heard this before. Very interesting

[MattyD380]

I actually remember reading that on IMFDB (I think?). Because I am a massive nerd.