Calling forum gun experts. How does a dummy firearm kill?

[cougie uk]

There is also a suggestion now that the company that supplied the bullets may have put the wrong bullets in the wrong boxes.
The whole thing just gets murkier and murkier until no one is held to blame

And there's something about having to shake bullets to identify if they're real or not ??

Given the lack of fatalities in the industry for decades - this cannot be best practice surely ?

 

[T4tomo]

best practice to test for blanks or live is to point the gun at your shoe and fire isnt it?

 

[matticus]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59499237

"Alec Baldwin says he "didn't pull the trigger" of the gun that fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film, Rust."

The interview being played on radio news today has him saying he pulled the hammer back, then the (accidental) release of it fired the gun.
i.e. no trigger was pulled.
(I don't know how guns work, I'm just attempting to convey what he's saying !!! )

 

[Lozz360]

The interview being played on radio news today has him saying he pulled the hammer back, then the (accidental) release of it fired the gun.
i.e. no trigger was pulled.
(I don't know how guns work, I'm just attempting to convey what he's saying !!! )

So it sounds like the hammer didn’t cock and he let it go which caused the live round to fire.

 

[Badger_Boom]

best practice to test for blanks or live is to point the gun at your shoe and fire isnt it?

I couldn't bring myself to give that a like (or a laugh) because that's pretty much what happenned.

 

[Badger_Boom]

And there's something about having to shake bullets to identify if they're real or not ??

Given the lack of fatalities in the industry for decades - this cannot be best practice surely ?

It can't be. Best practice is being taught to spot the difference between the different types of rounds you might encounter, and to ask questions if they aren't what you were expecting to see.

I don't understand why the gun wasn't physically shown to be clear to the actor before being handed over.

 

[Lozz360]

It can't be. Best practice is being taught to spot the difference between the different types of rounds you might encounter, and to ask questions if they aren't what you were expecting to see.

I don't understand why the gun wasn't physically shown to be clear to the actor before being handed over.

The difference between a blank round and a live round is easy to see. Even then, it is not wise to point a gun loaded with blank rounds and fire at someone. Although it does happen if it is deemed necessary for the movie, but pointing the gun at the production crew should not have happened.

However, the difference between a live round and a dummy round would be very difficult to tell. This is the point of dummy rounds. They are used for close up filming of the ammo but will not fire when loaded into a gun and the trigger pulled. I suspect this is what went wrong. A live round got mixed up with dummy rounds. The armourer believed that the gun contained a dummy round. The assistant producer shouted “cold gun” when handing the weapon to Alec Baldwin. Unfortunately and tragically, the gun was loaded with a live round.

 

[Badger_Boom]

The difference between a blank round and a live round is easy to see. Even then, it is not wise to point a gun loaded with blank rounds and fire at someone. Although it does happen if it is deemed necessary for the movie, but pointing the gun at the production crew should not have happened.

However, the difference between a live round and a dummy round would be very difficult to tell. This is the point of dummy rounds. They are used for close up filming of the ammo but will not fire when loaded into a gun and the trigger pulled. I suspect this is what went wrong. A live round got mixed up with dummy rounds. The armourer believed that the gun contained a dummy round. The assistant producer shouted “cold gun” when handing the weapon to Alec Baldwin. Unfortunately and tragically, the gun was loaded with a live round.

I agree it would be difficult to tell, but why aren't the caps (or some other inconspicuous part) of dummy rounds distinctively coloured to make it obvious? If the movie business can afford millions on CGI to add/remoce actors from scenes then I'm sure they can spare a few dollars to make sure such tiny things aren't obvious to obsessive continuity spotters.

 

[Lozz360]

I agree it would be difficult to tell, but why aren't the caps (or some other inconspicuous part) of dummy rounds distinctively coloured to make it obvious? If the movie business can afford millions on CGI to add/remoce actors from scenes then I'm sure they can spare a few dollars to make sure such tiny things aren't obvious to obsessive continuity spotters.

You actually make a good point. The movie industry will say that dummy rounds have to look exactly the same as live rounds when there is a close up of the ammo. On the other hand, CGI can create an entire intergalactic battle fleet that only exists on film.