Public Enemies

[Bugsy]

The blanks were made for Public Enemies by Joe Swanson Motion Picture blanks. He made them for Band of Brothers, Pacific War and Saving Private Ryan.

I fire his blanks out of a 28 Thompson on a fairly regular basis and they are considerably louder and have more flash than live ammo. Muzzle flash looks good on film.

Semiautomatic and fully automatic guns that have been blank adapted have the barrels plugged and if you fired a live round out of it the barrel is going to split apart. I've seen pictures; but never in person. There was an actor in the 80s on a TV spy show that held a .44 to his head and pulled the trigger the blast killed him. Blanks are very dangerous.

Les

The actor's name was John Eric Hexom (sp) I believe.

 

[John in Covina]

There was an actor in the 80s on a TV spy show that held a .44 to his head and pulled the trigger the blast killed him. Blanks are very dangerous.

I read a devistating story on Japanese soldiers in WWII where they could commit suicide by pulling the bullet out of the cartridge of their bolt action rifles and put the barrel end in the mouth.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I can believe that Joe Swanson blanks would produce those fireballs, because I've seen them up close (a lot of my friends use them)....I personally do not use Joe's blanks in my Thompson, because the loads are way too "hot" (even when using a large-orifice BFA (blank firing adapter))...I have seen many a broken Thompson firing pin and extractor from using his ammo, and the bolt punishes the heck out of the buffer and receiver; I use Atlantic Wall blanks, and have never had as much as a stove-pipe, or even a dud...they don't produce a "hollywood" flash, but are actually closer to a genuine .45 ACP load.
Rob

 

[Les Gillis]

We've got five Class Three Thompsons in our 1930s club, three Westies and two Colts. The Colts have been fed thousands of Swanson blanks since the early 90s without any major problems. (That usually makes the real Thompson purists cringe) Two of the Westies have been used in TV and movie work for years as well as rented out for WW2 events and have had very little trouble if any with Swanson blanks. I'm sure they've had an extractor replaced here and there; but for the owner that's just a cost of doing business. Swanson even reccomends keeping an extra extractor around. That's never a bad idea no matter who's ammo you're using.

Personally the only jam I've ever had with a Swanson blank was due to a bad drum. Replaced the drum and no more problems.

For 1930s I use Swanson blanks because they have the flash and noise for theatrics; but that's also what the club provides. If I go to a WW2 event I use Atlantic Wall. The prices are a little better and they run just as well out of my 28 as Swanson's do. Atlantic Wall has a first rate product. Great customer service.

If you want noise and flash you can beat Swanson and if you want to be able to see and still have hearing after a night battle then use Atlantic Wall. Both have a great product and are awesome to deal with.

Les

 

[Ghostsoldier]

We've got five Class Three Thompsons in our 1930s club, three Westies and two Colts. The Colts have been fed thousands of Swanson blanks since the early 90s without any major problems. (That usually makes the real Thompson purists cringe) Two of the Westies have been used in TV and movie work for years as well as rented out for WW2 events and have had very little trouble if any with Swanson blanks. I'm sure they've had an extractor replaced here and there; but for the owner that's just a cost of doing business. Swanson even reccomends keeping an extra extractor around. That's never a bad idea no matter who's ammo you're using.

Personally the only jam I've ever had with a Swanson blank was due to a bad drum. Replaced the drum and no more problems.

For 1930s I use Swanson blanks because they have the flash and noise for theatrics; but that's also what the club provides. If I go to a WW2 event I use Atlantic Wall. The prices are a little better and they run just as well out of my 28 as Swanson's do. Atlantic Wall has a first rate product. Great customer service.

If you want noise and flash you can beat Swanson and if you want to be able to see and still have hearing after a night battle then use Atlantic Wall. Both have a great product and are awesome to deal with.

Les

Les,
I agree...Robb at Atlantic Wall is a great guy; I used to buy Richard Satterfield's excellent ammo, but he's getting out of the biz, and selling his tooling/equipment to Robb. My M1A1 is a late-model Kahr SBR (talk about purists cringing! ), and of all the problem's I've ever had, have been with Joe's blanks. Now, we have a FA Savage M1A1 in our museum stock, a BAR, a '42 MG42, plus a few others, and they work fine with Swanson blanks (and are all a blast to shoot, I might add! )...and also, my '42 SA M1 Garand operates flawlessly with Joe's blanks, but my Thompson balks with those...go figure!

Maybe it's just my particular Kahr!
Rob

 

[Les Gillis]

Les,
I agree...Robb at Atlantic Wall is a great guy; I used to buy Richard Satterfield's excellent ammo, but he's getting out of the biz, and selling his tooling/equipment to Robb. My M1A1 is a late-model Kahr SBR (talk about purists cringing! ), and of all the problem's I've ever had, have been with Joe's blanks. Now, we have a FA Savage M1A1 in our museum stock, a BAR, a '42 MG42, plus a few others, and they work fine with Swanson blanks (and are all a blast to shoot, I might add! )...and also, my '42 SA M1 Garand operates flawlessly with Joe's blanks, but my Thompson balks with those...go figure!

Maybe it's just my particular Kahr!
Rob

Ghostsoldier.

I'm gonna send you a PM so we don't hijack the Public Enemies thread....

Les

 

[DanielJones]

On another note... Did anybody catch the cameo of Diana Krall doing 'Bye Bye Blackbird'? What a fantastic voice for the classic songs of the era. I loved what she did in DeLovely as well.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Justdog]

Diana

On another note... Did anybody catch the cameo of Diana Krall doing 'Bye Bye Blackbird'? What a fantastic voice for the classic songs of the era. I loved what she did in DeLovely as well.

Cheers!

Dan

Yes that was one of those ah moments for a Canadian fan.

 

[Solid Citizen]

The GUNS of DILLINGER

The August issue of the NRA/American Rifleman magazine has a GREAT little article regarding Dillinger & the FBI's weapons. Check it out! Solid Citizen

 

[Story]

Michael Mann on Dillinger

They happened to have an Edward Hopper exhibit at the Art Institute right when we were here shooting and I spent a lot of time looking at Hopper?s paintings from the 1930s. There are a couple of images in the film that are a direct homage to Hopper, particularly when Dillinger goes and calls Billie on the pay phone after he breaks out of Crown Point jail, that's us trying to imitate Hopper. The grimness and how that impacts on a human being. That?s what I was trying imagine and trying to convey and build into the attitudes of all the characters.

Mann's comments on Melvin Purvis' FBI file are very telling.

http://myprops.org/content/People-John-Dillinger-scholar-of-crime-The-Michael-Mann-transcript/

 

[Andykev]

It was PETE DUEL in 1971

Pete Duel, died in 1971. He was the actor on the TV hit "Alias Smith and Jones". After a night of heavy drinking, he put a revolver to his head, containing .44 BLANKS, and pulled the trigger.

Yes...BLANKS will kill you when held against your body.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Jon-Erik Hexum (November 5, 1957 – October 18, 1984) was an American actor and model who accidentally died shortly after a firearms incident on the set of Cover Up, a television series in which he was a central cast member.

On October 12, 1984, in between filming scenes on the set of Cover Up, Hexum was critically wounded after he placed a .44 Magnum prop gun loaded with blanks to his temple and pulled the trigger. The accident happened during the filming of a scene where Hexum’s character (Mac Harper) was supposed to unload a handgun and replace the bullets with blanks – as the script required. However, the shooting was delayed and Hexum – being overworked and tired due to his tight filming schedule and various TV appearances – fell asleep. Hexum awoke, realizing that the scene still was not ready to be shot, and put the gun to his head. Of all the crewmembers in the studio that day, no one claims to have seen the shooting.

 

[Widebrim]

Movie tickets (in Los Angeles, at least) are expensive. If I'm going to fork my dough over to some cineplex instead of Netflix, the flick had better be REALLY GOOD.

.

Marc, since you live in the Los Feliz district, didn't you go to the Los Feliz Theater? I paid only $5.50 for matinee , because I will not pay regular price for any recently-released movie.

 

[Widebrim]

So did I.

By the way, Don Frye is an MMA star, he was also in Mann's "Miami Vice".

I'm a Mann fan....

And don't forget that Stephen Lang was in Crime Story...

 

[Blackthorn]

On another note... Did anybody catch the cameo of Diana Krall doing 'Bye Bye Blackbird'? What a fantastic voice for the classic songs of the era. I loved what she did in DeLovely as well.

Cheers!

Dan

Hear, hear! Diana Krall lights up the screen whenever she's on it.

 

[Mr. 'H']

And don't forget that Stephen Lang was in Crime Story...

Certainly won't!

 

[Ghostsoldier]

And don't forget that Stephen Lang was in Crime Story...

And one of the highlights of that series, as David Abrams...one of my favorites series, too, I might add...and, he's buff at his age, to boot!

Incidentally, the actor to his left playing agent SA Clarence Hurt (martial artist Don Frye http://www.thepredatordonfrye.com/) in the photo above, looks a lot like Dennis Farina (Torello) from Crime Story...and he's buff, also....
Rob

 

[vwguy]

The August issue of the NRA/American Rifleman magazine has a GREAT little article regarding Dillinger & the FBI's weapons. Check it out! Solid Citizen

Great article indeed!

Brian

 

[thunderw21]

Great article indeed!

Brian

Have it right next to me and agreed, very good.

 

[Lenore]

The August issue of the NRA/American Rifleman magazine has a GREAT little article regarding Dillinger & the FBI's weapons. Check it out! Solid Citizen

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed it. My husband said it was terribly surreal walking into the bedroom to see me curled up in bed with his NRA magazine! Great Article though. Anyone else think the gold Tommy was a leeeeeeetle on the extravagant side? lol