In Miami Vice (the new recent 2006 one with collin farell and jamie foxx) at 1 hour, 46 minutes at the end and I think in one of the newer danial craig 007 movies (probably the one with exploding fuel cells) the cop or james bond takes a handgun (semi-auto) and grabs the slide with their whole hand and pulls the slide back and without letting go they keep racking for a few seconds, fast. they must be checking for a malfunction right? or maybe they're seating the slide to make sure it won't malfunction? what is that procedure called? is it smart to do this just before a fight? in the movies they do it just before they have to get into a gun fight
Miami Vice and 007
- Thread starter eksine
- Start date
Jim Watson
New member
You are kidding, right?
Do not learn to shoot from a movie made by people who really hate you and your guns and just brandish blank shooters for pay.
I HAVE cycled a gun like that... to distribute oil along the barrel and rails. Obviously if you repeatedly pumped the action of a loaded gun that way, all your ammo would be on the floor.
Do not learn to shoot from a movie made by people who really hate you and your guns and just brandish blank shooters for pay.
I HAVE cycled a gun like that... to distribute oil along the barrel and rails. Obviously if you repeatedly pumped the action of a loaded gun that way, all your ammo would be on the floor.
carguychris
New member
While I agree with you in general, Michael Mann (Miami Vice) is well known as one of the most pro-gun directors. Cases in point: the climactic shootout in Heat and the scene in Collateral where Tom Cruise's character defends himself against a mugging.Jim Watson said:
That said, Mann is certainly not immune to Hollywood embellishments.
I've seen several shooters use this technique to clear a pistol, i.e. show that it's unloaded.Jim Watson said:
This is BAD TECHNIQUE and is NOT SAFE.
It's bad technique because—as Jim correctly points out—if there's a loaded magazine in the gun and the extractor is working correctly, it'll puke cartridges all over the floor.
It's not safe because the extractor might NOT be working correctly, in which case it will NOT pull a loaded round from the chamber, and the pistol COULD STILL BE LOADED even if the magazine is out.
The magazine should be removed, the slide locked back, and the chamber checked VISUALLY to ensure that it's clear. This can't be done with any assurance while the slide is being rapidly slung to and fro.
(EDIT TO ADD: The next step is to visually verify that the magazine has in fact been removed.)DON'T EVER clear a gun by rapidly yanking the slide back and forth. IGNORE the fact that they do it in Hollywood.
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In the movies, they do all kinds of stuff that has nothing whatever to do with reality. In the movies, you can do anything just like you can in a cartoon. In the movies, they never have to reload either. In the movies, the laws of physics don't apply either. That's what any shot sends the shootee flying backwards. Oh and 'that procedure' is called 'stage business'.
"...people who really hate you..." They don't really, but they do think you should do everything the way they tell you. And that means no firearm ownership. None of what they tell you applies to them, of course.
Most movie firearms are not and do not shoot anything, including blanks. They're just props.
"...people who really hate you..." They don't really, but they do think you should do everything the way they tell you. And that means no firearm ownership. None of what they tell you applies to them, of course.
Most movie firearms are not and do not shoot anything, including blanks. They're just props.
I'd never seen the Miami Vice movie, so I found it on youtube and watched from 1:45 to the end, and didn't see any gunhandling at all?
Generally, racking the slide multiple times is done to clear the gun; drop the magazine, rack the slide two or four times, then visually check the chamber for empty.
Racking the slide is also part of malfunction-clearance drills, which often look a whole lot like clearing the gun, but after the chamber/ejection port area has been determined to be clear, the gun is reloaded.
A lot of movie gunhandling is done for entertainment, rather than based on sound technique, so I agree that you shouldn't look to movies for useful skills.
Generally, racking the slide multiple times is done to clear the gun; drop the magazine, rack the slide two or four times, then visually check the chamber for empty.
Racking the slide is also part of malfunction-clearance drills, which often look a whole lot like clearing the gun, but after the chamber/ejection port area has been determined to be clear, the gun is reloaded.
A lot of movie gunhandling is done for entertainment, rather than based on sound technique, so I agree that you shouldn't look to movies for useful skills.
carguychris
New member
There's a hilarious scene in Black Dynamite in which fast edits and sound effects suggest that the titular character has fired about 14 rounds from his 6-shot S&W revolver without any possible time to reload. The entire movie is a spoof full of wink-wink references for 70s exploitation fans, so I'm certain this "error" was intentional.T. O'Heir said:
I always do a facepalm when:rickyrick said:
- A character who's supposedly a cop with years of experience draws an automatic pistol and racks the slide to load it before going into action. What real cop Israeli carries?
- A character draws a Glock and we hear the "click-click" of an S&W revolver being cocked.
- A charactor goes into a shootout with a M1911 or similar, and it obviously isn't cocked.
Another side effect on this trick is an increasing number of productions where they forget to add images of flying empty cases and the tinkling sound effect of cases hitting the floor (more common in TV where the producers are typically working under a tighter schedule).To answer the original question the high-speed low-drag operators are making sure the slide is SECURELY attached to the frame so the bad guys can't snatch the slide clean off their gun with one swift movement like the Chinese guy did to Mel Gibson in one of the Lethal Weapon movies.
(But it won't actually help because the guys that can do this are UBER high-speed low-drag operators.)
(The Lethal Weapon thing has been discussed here many times in the past.)
Ha! Found the relevant clip (can I say 'clip'???) on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adnXzutxWcQ
(But it won't actually help because the guys that can do this are UBER high-speed low-drag operators.)
(The Lethal Weapon thing has been discussed here many times in the past.)
Ha! Found the relevant clip (can I say 'clip'???) on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adnXzutxWcQ
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With the Beretta 92 trick, I see no tangible reason why it wouldn't be at least mechanically possible. Human ability to execute it with precision and dexterity is obviously another matter, but the point I am making is that a typical semiauto pistol needs a slide stop removed to pull the slide forward off the frame but the Beretta needs a button pushed and a lever rotated 90 degrees, it seems mechanically possible.
The feed lips of the magazine would impede the slide travel but I would expect Jet Li to have the strength and leverage to overcome feed lips.
The feed lips of the magazine would impede the slide travel but I would expect Jet Li to have the strength and leverage to overcome feed lips.
carguychris
New member
^^^ But what if Donnie Yen were the one holding the pistol?
Super-fast kung fu thumb war?
Super-fast kung fu thumb war?
1:46 on miami vice is on crackle.com, where did you find the movie on youtube because I only see the paid $2.99 movie. here is a direct link to the movie, look at 1:46 , I've seen it on the 007 bond movie, I think this is a real thing. I don't think it has anything about "making sure the slide is securely on the frame", if it wasn't your slide would fly off on the first shot, nobody is stupid enough to put their slide on wrong. anyways if someone can look at this and tell me what it is I'd appreciate it http://www.crackle.com/miami-vice/2492874
I watched the part just now in Miami vice,
I have absolutely no clue as to what the eff he's doing.
Maybe distributing lube?
Weird because he had the slide all the way back and was really working it against the stop, little bitty fast strokes, not even far enough to load anything.
Ps: edit to add:
I think excess movements with firearms in movies is to portray some level of expertise that a super movie cop would have over regular folks.
I have absolutely no clue as to what the eff he's doing.
Maybe distributing lube?
Weird because he had the slide all the way back and was really working it against the stop, little bitty fast strokes, not even far enough to load anything.
Ps: edit to add:
I think excess movements with firearms in movies is to portray some level of expertise that a super movie cop would have over regular folks.
I watched it on the Miami Vice movie. I can conceive of nothing that it would accomplish.
If you mean you think it is something you think you should do, be my guest. I have been shooting for 50 years and have never done that, though. Malfunctions are rare, and what you see on screen doesn't relieve them or, to the best of my knowledge, prevent any. Just Hollywood nonsense.
If you mean you think it is something you think you should do, be my guest. I have been shooting for 50 years and have never done that, though. Malfunctions are rare, and what you see on screen doesn't relieve them or, to the best of my knowledge, prevent any. Just Hollywood nonsense.
carguychris
New member
Perhaps another example of this "supa dupa expert" trope is characters field-stripping firearms and/or reassembling them for no apparent reason. I can understand showing soldiers doing it as a drill, but not Joe or Jill Police-Procedural Cop doing it because... why? There are no cleaning supplies in sight...?rickyrick said:
I take semi-autos apart to clean them. I don't take them apart just for kicks.
Of course, some of this is probably due to a basic directorial mantra that a scene is more interesting and seems more natural when characters are doing something while speaking rather than just standing (or sitting) there talking.
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