Dear Sir,

We are staging a show that needs the use of 1880 c.a. guns and a realistic sound of their firing.  I am not fond of using 'blank' guns and would like to avoid them.   Do you have any suggestions?

I find that blank guns/starter pistols give the best results, it's just to hard to try to syncronize a sound effect with what's happening on stage. We use a .22 caliber starter pistol which is fairly safe if used properly and treated with respect. The muzzel is plugged so you don't get very little discharge out the front which is one of the big dangers with blank guns.

Another option is toy cap guns, these are safer, but then to not be very reliable.

A third option is to use the starter pistol/blank gun off stage. The person on stage will have a fake gun, and person off stage will fire the blank gun to make the sound effect.

Dan

We just completed a production of Annie Get Your Gun using blank rifles and pistols we rented from a company in New York Jauchem and Meeh, Inc.  If you are going to take this step, And I am not sure we would do it again, here are a few things to remember.

Most high level effects houses are not using starter pistols, but real guns that have been modified for stage use.  The blank pistols we used were 22 cal with a 32 cal blank cylinder and a 32 cal barrel.  We only used these for the trick Annie does at the fair.  (They worked, sounded and looked great!)  The problem with these pistols is the federal government still considers the "firing weapons" so they must be sent to a local, federally liscenced gun dealer or a police department.  

When we received the approval from the police, we then had to get approval from the school baord (we perform in a high school).  All in all, the approvals took two full weeks to get.  And, handguns must be shipped by air only, no ground of any kind, so your cost can go up some too.

We had told the vendor how many performances we were doing of the show, and though they would send us enough blanks for the run (it was a show package).  When we received the shipment, we only had 50 rounds for the rifles ... total.  Since Annie and Frank fire 48 rounds per show, and since the blanks were $1.00 each, we ended up using sound effects for the rifles and blanks for the hand guns. 

There are a number of other concerns and procedures that go with using these type of guns (we had an ex Army ranger in charge of all the guns, all locked in a case).  The main thing we learned was plan way ahead if you want to use high quality professional blank guns on stage.  We waited way to long to decide to use them, so some of our problems were self imposed.  Even blocking  can be affected (distance between the gun and other cast members, "trick" shots with costumes in the way, etc.) so plan ahead.

Just as an aside, Jauchem and Meeh have a number of great special effects, many from Broadway.  Check out their web site if you get a chance.

John

I am in a community production of Oliver and I get to kill Bill with a gun.  Our director does not like blanks or starter pistols so I came up with a solution.  I am going to make a gun out of wood and pipe and place two pull string firecrackers in the barrel.  I will secure one end of the strings to the discharge end of the pipe and the other end will be tied to fishing line that trails out the back of the gun.  When I go to shoot him I will hold the gun in my right hand and support my right arm with my left hand.  I will then pull the fishing line with the left hand by jerking my left hand down the length of my forearm.  My test worked well with a bang, little spark and some smoke.  The director liked it.  I ordered the pull string firecrackers from http://www.zymetrical.com/ - www.zymetrical.com .

Well here?s hopping.

This past Christmas, I directed "Christmas Corral" (a Wild West version of Dickens' "Carol") and, naturally, the Scrooge character had to have a six-gun fetish, requiring live shots onstage.  Tried to find cap pistols without luck, all definitely were toys and the plastic ones with "live-action sound" were equally pathetic.  Having used track and field "starter pistols" primarily for sound effects in prior shows, I knew they wouldn't work with an audience at arm's length.

Found this site: http://www.westernstageprops.com/ - http://www.westernstageprops.com/

and ordered one of their blank pistols with ammo (didn't need but about 5-6 shots per show).  It was pricey, but it did the job and I won't have to go out looking for such in future shows. 

The blank pistol is incapable of firing a live round, but the ammo has to be shipped by ground.