When you are having a fun time at the movies, you must have wondered about the fancy gun the hero has just wielded. You know it is a prop gun but you could have never have guessed the difference just by looking at the prop gun.
This is because a prop gun, by design, is made to replicate a real gun-in both form and action, without ever firing a real bullet out of it. The design of a prop gun makes it ideal to use and act out those heroic action scenes that have us in awe.
Prop guns are really easy to deploy. This is because a prop gun is purpose built to be used by amateurs and not skilled gunmen. You don't need any prior experience of holding and shooting with a real gun before you can wave a prop gun with masterful elegance.
Another reason a prop gun is so widely used on movie sets and other theatrical productions is because a prop gun is relatively safe. You can't have real firearms on a movie set. Also because of legal reasons you can't just start enacting fake shooting techniques using a real gun.
But how does a prop gun work that makes it so safe and different than a real gun? Let's answer the question by looking at different types of prop guns available in the market right now.
Blank firing Prop Gun
This type of prop gun is basically just a real gun that can fire blank shots. The legality of these prop guns is the same as that of carrying and owning real guns.
This type of prop gun looks exactly like a real gun except it has no capacity to fire actual bullets. It can only fire blank shots. But the resemblance between this prop gun and a real gun is so astonishing that this prop gun is often easily mistaken for a real gun.
Replica Prop Gun
This style of prop gun is the most commonly used type in movies and simulation games. This prop gun basically is just an exact copy of the exterior of a real gun without any serviceable internal parts.
So this prop gun has no capacity to imitate a real shooting gun. Most prop guns of this category are made from plastic or resin. This gives them a lightweight which is helpful to act out massive shoot outs in action flicks. Some high quality replica guns may be made of metal to give them a more authentic look.
Non-gun Prop gun
This type of prop gun is exactly the same as a replica gun but with more utility. This prop gun is assembled with shooting gear that can mimic the shooting action of a real gun.
To try to make this prop gun as realistic as possible, some manufacturers have added mechanisms that give blowback effects of a real gas-powered gun. Some other prop guns in this category can give a blast sound or even a flash to make the shooting look as real as possible.
Back in the days, a blank gun was the most popular form of a prop gun on movie sets, but the demand of increasingly sophisticated audio visual medium has led to a greater use of these gas blowback guns in the shooting scenes. This is because these prop guns look, feel and act exactly like a real gun making it impossible for an audience member to tell the difference between a prop gun and a real gun.
Final thoughts
A prop gun has undoubtedly made life easier for movie production crews and actors. Not only is a prop gun much cheaper than a real gun, it is safer to use. There is less hassle to carry and own a prop gun because of laxed security laws around it.
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