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theatrical weapons: rental and sales Weapons of Mass Instruction Rent sword pistol halberd knife spear rifle gun crossbow broadsword saber foil whip dueling rapier shield revolver holster bow mace hook courtsword shotgun stiletto claymore axe falchion stage W
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just click onto most thumbnails to see a larger picture
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AssassinsI am using the caliber descriptions on the guns only for identification purposes, but the fact that we happen to know what the caliber was for a specific weapon shouldn’t dissuade you from using a similar looking gun with a different number. (Remember that the difference between a .22 and a .45 is less than a quarter of an inch in the internal diameter of the gun barrel. I don't think that the audience will notice.) Below I have described in regular type the historical piece and then in italics what we have that might work for you. Other styles might have to serve depending on your performance space and what we have in stock. These are suggestions only. The greatest difficulty here is in getting guns that can fire reliably, softly, and still look decent. It is getting harder and harder to provide a firing gun that is accurate for each character in this show, especially for those in the last half of the 20th century. [You may need to rent real guns from a company such as Centre Firearms in New York (212 / 244-4040), J&M Special Effects in Brooklyn, or Independent Studio Services (818 / 951-5600) in California.] The problem in a nutshell is that, although we can build guns that look like older style handguns, we just can't get good looking reliable replicas for most modern (post-1920) guns. There are some blank-fire semiautomatics out there, but they are so loud and unreliable that we stopped carrying them. Even worse are the new 22 caliber modern revolvers - you may get one shot out of three attempts. Then there are the 9mm replicas. Very reliable, very realistic, but even the half-loads are louder than the full-load .22's. In short, what we have is what we have. If we had better options for you, we'd be telling you. The rental prices shown below are for our items, covering the first 30 days, and the cost per shot is also provided. Whenever possible, we list a .22 caliber version, since not only are those blanks cheaper, but the sound is much more manageable. But for your show, remember that not all guns need to fire, even in the final tableau. If your theatre is small, for instance, you do NOT want nine guns going off at the same time. Most of the guns below are also available in non-firing versions at a substantial savings. And of course those non-firing models can usually match the look of the show better than the firing ones shown here. For other possibilities and substitutes, take a look at our modern pistols page. What follows is not a "package"; it is just a starting point for discussion. [Some of the information below has been extracted from our book - "The Textbook of Theatrical Combat". All rights reserved] * * * John Wilkes Booth 1865 What he used: A Philadelphia single-shot Derringer and a Colt 1851 six-shooter. The Derringer was actually used to shoot Lincoln, so in the final tableau, and in the opening scene, this should be the gun he holds. He also used a Bowie knife to slash at Major Henry Rathbone before leaping from the box. [Many people forget that Booth dropped the Derringer in the theatre when he jumped onto the stage, and he used the Colt for the shoot-out and suicide in barn. Even less known is that Booth actually had two revolvers with him, but used the Colt]
* * * Guiteau 1881 What he used: British Bulldog .44 cal, "silver handled" (according to the script). Big problem with trying to find what the script has described, for there really is no such thing as a silver handle for a pistol, and the script describes it even more interestingly as “silver mounted”, an interesting phrase that defies easy explanation, for the term is used for sword hilts but not gun grips. Many theatres try to go with a nickel-plated gun, but that's really not the same thing. Be that as it may, the script has it wrong on several counts. During his period in custody after the murder, Guiteau told reporters that his original intention had been that the gun should have had an ivory grip, feeling that such a gun would look better when it would be seen and admired by millions in a museum someday, but he actually ended up purchasing a plain black version of the gun with a rough wooden grip. [The gun itself no longer exists, but a clear photograph of it is in the Smithsonian archives.]
* * * Czolgosz 1901 What he used: Iver-Johnson .32 cal, 5-shot revolver, owls on the side, black grip. The owl was the logo of Iver-Johnson Firearms Company, and is set into the pattern of the grip mold. Even when holding the gun in your hand, it is awfully difficult to see the logo. Certainly the audience can never see it. Don’t sweat over this minutiae which is completely insignificant. [I hate details like this that are thrown into scripts but provide no benefit to the production.]
* * * Zangara 1933 What he used: cheap 5-shot .32 cal revolver, does not fire until final scene. The gun was very similar to the Iver-Johnson, but with an exposed hammer, made by U.S. Revolver Co., nickel-plated with black rubber grips.
* * * Ozwald 1963 What he used: Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action rifle with scope and .38 cal large-frame revolver. Just as with Booth, one gun, the rifle, was used for the assassination and another, the revolver, was with him when arrested/cornered
G34 - PATROL - [$26.25] this is a 9mm revolver - so a lot of sound $1.00 to $1.60 per shot * * * Sarah Jane Moore 1975 What she used: nickel-plate .38 cal Smith & Wesson revolver, full grip; 4” barrel length. * * * Lynette Squeaky Fromme 1975 What she used: Colt semiautomatic .45 cal pistol. She did not use an ankle holster. She wore this on the inside of her left leg at the calf, just below the knee. It was a regular full-sized holster, and she used several yards of leather torturously wound around her thigh and lower leg to keep the thing secured, as FBI photos at her arrest clearly show.
or:
* * * Byck 1974 What he used: .22 cal revolver (this is based on the very sketchy newspaper accounts at the time. Later "identifications" of the gun he used were all based on suppositions). what we have: G23 - DETECTIVE SNUB-NOSE - [$16.00] this is a 9mm revolver - 72 ˘ to $1.60 per shot * * * Hinckley
1981 What he used: 22 caliber
short-barreled revolver, specifically a Rohm RG-14 * * * The recommendations are just that, not hard and fast rules. For other possibilities, take a look at our modern pistols page. So after all is said and done, how much is this going to cost?
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707-226-2845
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The Textbook
of Theatrical Combat
F50 - COLT PEACEMAKER - re-painted here
to look a little bit like the Colt Navy 1851, for a blank-firing version of the
earlier Civil War pistol, but don’t want to deal with blackpowder and percussion
caps.] 22 cal blank-fire – [$36.25] 29 to
47 cents per shot
what we have:
K23 - ENFIELD No 4 Mark 1 - work/prop non-fire only, and, yes, we
put a scope on it. – [$ 77.00]
G49 - SPECIAL OPS PISTOL - This is the nearest thing we have for a
blank-fire gun with the profile of a semi-auto. 22 cal
blank-fire – [$54.38] 29 to 47 cents per shot
