Just wondering if there is any information on the muzzle-loader old Jed used to strike oil with? Any ideas on who built the gun, caliber, etc. and where did it end up?

After learning about flinters, I've noticed that Hollywood does seem to have alot of period correct guns in a lot of films...bet they have lots of old longrifles...

The car/truck the Clampetts used in the TV show is in the school-of the-Ozarks museum near Branson Mo.I don't know what happened to Jed's gun but it could be there as they have a fine gun collection.Q

Just wondering if there is any information on the muzzle-loader old Jed used to strike oil with? Any ideas on who built the gun, caliber, etc. and where did it end up?

"Mr. C, you fixin' to go into the oil business?"
http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/Hammerspur/jed.jpg
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Just wondering if there is any information on the muzzle-loader old Jed used to strike oil with? Any ideas on who built the gun, caliber, etc. and where did it end up?


Caliber? It would have been a "prop" gun, modified to take blanks so it would look like it was being fired. Back in the time when THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES was being filmed, the studios and production companies usually rented firearms from an old, very large firearms rental company in Hollywood named "Stembridge."

Actors do not fire real bullets, and no real, or live ammunition is allowed on the set. It's all faked and done with camera angles, special props, special effects, editing in the cutting room, etc.

Quite often, unless a gun is to be "fired" in a scene, the actors carry lightweight, fake guns. If it is to be fired, a "prop" gun is used to fire blank cartridges. The sound of the gun "going off" is added in the sound editing department. ;)

That's Hollywood.

L.W.

Actors do not fire real bullets, and no real, or live ammunition is allowed on the set. It's all faked and done with camera angles, special props, special effects, editing in the cutting room, etc.

I'll bet the dead kung fu guy would beg to differ with that statement.

Fess Parker's guns were made by Hacker Martin, and they were real. I'm betting Jed's gun was made by Hacker Martin too.

I'll bet the dead kung fu guy would beg to differ with that statement.


Bruce Lee?? He was killed because the primer had enough power to push the lead bullet (strictly against the production regulations) fast enough to penetrate his stomach. That cartridge was never supposed to be on the set, and because the low budget production company had hired some low budget firearms rental company to supply the firearms and blank ammo, etc., no one was making sure the guns and blanks were safe.

A similar situation occurred when the idiot actor, Jon Eric Hexum, put a loaded-with-squibs .44 Mag. to his head and pulled the trigger. No one was watching the firearms during a break and when the moron pulled the trigger, the tiny amount of powder in the squib load was enough to push the wad into his non-brain.

That's what happened in those two incidents.It was not Stembridge Firearms Rentals working those two low budget flicks.

FWIW.

L.W.

Fess Parker's guns were made by Hacker Martin, and they were real. I'm betting Jed's gun was made by Hacker Martin too.

Whether or not Hacker Martin made the rifles used by Parker, or Buddy Ebsen, the rifles fired would have been modified to fire the five-in-one blanks, or a variation thereof.

L.W.

Leanwolf,

I hope you didn't take my post the wrong way, it was mean toung in cheek since we're talking about hollywierd. Bruce Lee is the one I was thinking of, couldn't recall his name.

Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks and a few others do strive for "somewhat" historical accuracy in their movies. In "The Patriot" the guns (except for one) used by the lead charactors were all custom built specifically for that movie and are actual un-modified working models. Most of those carried by the fill-in's were prop guns however, if you watch closely, not all were modified for "blank cartridges", several showed flash in the pan w/o main charge ignition and some were clearly blank shooters that showed no flash but the main charge went off.

I worked on a movie set once, I built camera mounts and some other props for scenes that were shot in & around a manufacturing plant that had closed down several years earlier but still contained the bulk of the machinery. In that movie, the lead actress carried a Makarov that was her own personal gun because she was most comfortable with it. The movie company had a second barrel custom made for it so it would function with the crimped blanks, they also had all the blanks custom loaded too. Simple swap of the barrel and she had a fully functional gun again. The blank barrel was made a bottleneck chamber as as a live round could not be chambered. I also know the pistol was checked at least twice before being allowed on the set.

It all depends on who's making the movie as to what guns are used. I can't recall the name of the movie but it was about the early days of the civil war but not so much the war itself, no attention was given to historical accuracy and in at least one scene fill-in could be seen firing lever action Winchester rifles and the lead charactors were carrying CVA flintlocks that were poorly built even by CVA standards and were never shown being fired.

Here's a pic from The Patriot. Take note to both the haversacks and pokes being completely empty as well as being clean and having no signs of normal wear. All that hunting and yet not a speck of dirt on either one of the actors and I don't recall seeing either one of them with a knife or hawk.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/markkw/Patriotmovie.jpg

Here's a pic from The Patriot. All that hunting and yet not a speck of dirt on either one of the actors

Nor blood...

"EEEYOOO!! That would be totally gross!" http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/Smileys/default/tongue.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);)

I don't recall seeing either one of them with a knife or hawk.

Too violent?:rolleyes:

Four of my friends were extras in the movie "The Patriot". They were paid very well since they provided their own period correct clothes, equipment and firearms. These four guys are so period correct that if you ran into them in the woods you would think you had gone back in time.

MARKKW - "The movie company had a second barrel custom made for it so it would function with the crimped blanks, they also had all the blanks custom loaded too. Simple swap of the barrel and she had a fully functional gun again. The blank barrel was made a bottleneck chamber as as a live round could not be chambered. I also know the pistol was checked at least twice before being allowed on the set."



Markkw, that is an extremely unusual occurance. (Wondering who was the actress and what was the flick??) But....

... the key is in the modified barrel, AND, the pistol being checked by the firearms props people before being allowed on the set. No live ammo is allowed on movie/teevee sets.

As for real guns, as opposed to fakes, of course, some real firearms are used on a set with five-in-one or variants thereof blanks ... but NO live ammo is allowed. Too easy for accidents to happen, and some happened in the "old days."

I am very aware of how things are done on movie and teevee sets when filming. I've written quite a few cops-'n-robbers scripts for network primetime dramatic shows, plus being a story editor at MGM on another "western" cops-'n-robbers show. Can't even count how many sets I've visited when the shows were being filmed, and watched the "gun handling."

Yes, there can be exceptions to the firearms handling and strict safety rules, but woe to the person who violates them.

By cutting the film in the editing room, it can APPEAR that the characters is loading, shouldering and firing, but in fact, the firearm would have been loaded by the props person before the camera rolled on the actual shooting by the actor.

In most productions, when the actor finishes the scene, the firearms used by him/her or any other actor are immediately handed to the prop person for security. When another setup is ready and the director is ready to roll camera, the prop man hands the gun back to the actor.

In low budget films, if the producer and director have any knowledge of the danger of real firearms on a set, they'll hire a good firearms prop manager to handle them and surpervise the actors ... most of whom haven't the faintest knowledge of firearms, handling, or safety.

That's the way it works in the film racket. As I said, there are a few exceptions, but they're rare.

FWIW.

L.W.

"the rifles fired would have been modified to fire the five-in-one blanks, or a variation thereof."

That's not what Fess Parker said in his interview. He said that a prop man did all the loading, and that is was an original rifle that Hacker Martin had repaired.

"the rifles fired would have been modified to fire the five-in-one blanks, or a variation thereof."

That's not what Fess Parker said in his interview. He said that a prop man did all the loading, and that is was an original rifle that Hacker Martin had repaired.

If Parker said it was not modified, okay. It's been so many years since I saw a show with him in it -- wasn't it DAVY CROCKETT, also with Buddy Ebsen? -- that I don't recall any scene in which he -- or anyone else, fired a gun. As he said, however, a prop man put the tiny charge of black powder in the rifle, with a wad. No bullet would have been used.

Too bad Buddy Ebsen isn't still alive. I could have called him and asked. I got to know him fairly well as I wrote a number of scripts for him when he was BARNABY JONES. Oh well....

Just a suggestion, boys and girls. Don't believe anything you see on the tube or screen. It's all make believe. ;)

L.W.

Leanwolf,

I didn't talk much with the bulk of the people, mostly I worked with one of the camera guys. The guy paying the bills and the director were both arrogant a**es, in the few minutes we talked before they asked my fee, I really didn't want to work for them so I gave them a per-hour price that I figured would get me out of it...didn't work....

I don't recall the name of the movie, I'm not even sure they told me the name of it either but I think it was like one of those "Lifetime for women" TV type movies but I don't know for sure - I'm a History channel guy, give me a good documentary any day! LOL The cam guy was cool, he didn't like the two guys calling the shots either. The actress's name was Leah, no clue what the last name was, she was pleasant but didn't say much to anyone. The only time I got to talk to her was for about five minutes while they were waiting for the set people to finish up, that's when she told me about the Makarov. They were only at the plant two days then they moved a couple miles down the street and shot some video about a 1hr photo they had a local contractor built in the Lowe's parking lot.

MARKKW - "The guy paying the bills and the director were both arrogant a**es,...



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Man, do I ever know what you mean!! 35 years in Hollywood was long enough for me!

Thanks for the other info. "Leah"?? Can't come up with an actress who might fit the bill.

L.W.