why so many 9mm guns in movies/tv
 

ive noticed the beretta 92 is overly common in movies but have noticed another standin, the sig p228

the sig is used to replace the 229 a lot, even different calibers

noticed in

24, in the line of fire, the sentinel, eagle eye, xmen, transformers, all secret service have 9mm sig 228s even though its a 357 229 in real life

never seen a 357 or a 40 in a movie /tv

wondering, are 9mm guns easier to convert to blanks or something? why so much usage, besides people liike john woo who wont put reloading in movies

My guess is that 9mm ammo is fairly cheap and Glocks, 92s, and SIGs are just popular guns that most directors and writers are familiar with. Same with AKs and M16s/M4s. To most writers and directors, a gun is a gun.

John Woo and his movies are more of an art form than just a standard shoot'em up movie, with the famous double wielding shooters. John Woo's shooting scenes are his own style. Not realistic, but it's just cool.

9mm guns were easier to convert to blanks at the time for the old gunsmiths in the industry. We did not get in to other calibers until younger fresher minds prevailed. Now we have various calibers in handguns but 9mm is still popular and some handguns like the Beretta 92F and the Glock's have a reputation of never failing when filming. Although I have had both go down while filming they are very reliable. Also I have used a .40 Glock on a TV pilot called Fearless.

This is just nitpicking, but...

(1.) When "In The Line Of Fire" was made (1992-93), the P228 had just been adopted by the Secret Service, so it would have been the correct weapon for the time. They didn't adopt the P229 in .357 SIG until around the late-90s.
(2.) In "Transformers", the Secret Service Agents used the P226. In fact, there seem to be a lot of 90s action movies where Secret Service Agents use the P226 instead of the P228, which is completely wrong (think "Air Force One", "Murder At 1600", etc.)

Pheonixent pretty much summarized the reasons why 9mm guns are so common.

Is it hard to get property masters to take a chance on newer handgun designs? One thing that always strikes me is how so few newer-model firearms appear in movies and TV shows. I feel like the handguns I see in movies are almost always Beretta 92Fs, Glocks, SIG P226s/P228s, S&W autos, and an occasional H&K USP. I pretty much never see newer pistols like the Springfield XD, for instance, even though those are very popular with American shooters nowadays, or the SIG Pro series. I don't even see many FN Five-Sevens, which continues to surprise me because I would have figured that Hollywood would have jumped at the chance to show its action heroes wielding the new, state-of-the-art "matapolicia" the way they got all hyped about the Beretta 92F back in the 80s.

What I liked about Crank was that it had a lot of those guns in it. Perhaps they added these guns for the reasons mentioned. Mix it up a bit.

Well this is only MY opinion based on my own situation:

Well, (a) I always groan when some manufacturer announces yet another new caliber. I'm speaking as someone who has to keep a standing INVENTORY of blanks, the more calibers, the more $$ I have to tie up in large enough stocks of blanks to make it worthwhile. But that's only specific to anyone who stocks blanks.
(b) though it may NOT be cool and hip to always use the older 9mm guns, I like it when 99% of my pistol orders are for 9mm guns, I always worry since I don't keep a large stock of the other calibers and if someone (especially NOW) asked for thousands of rounds of something like .357 SIG, I would be in trouble.
(c) Guns are getting more and more and more expensive. Gun rental rates have to go up, at the time when productions are trying to low ball everyone. Spending thousands of $$ on more capital guns to put in inventory is not economically wise in a time when 'shoot em ups' are increasingly being shot outside of the U.S. and using foreign armorers. I have tons of weapons in inventory that have not yet paid for themselves in rentals (an issue everyone in the biz is painfully aware of).
(d) Directors pick the guns. Many of them know nothing about guns. So they pick what they've seen in other action movies. End of story.....

I'm sure there are more industry specific issues, but these will do for now ;)

The FN Five-Sevens there is a weapon that is giving everyone fits in the industry including me. The two stage blowback with a bottleneck cartridge just creates a whole list of problems. Another armory converted them and at the end of the show they were just junk. I am trying to figure a different way to covert them right now but it's not a high priority item so I can take my time. We have some new handguns in the pipe line right now so you should see then on shows in the near future.

Hmmm, well, I guess I should have figured. I remember an interview with Andrew Fletcher where he mentioned how difficult it was to convert the P90 to blanks when they were working on "The World Is Not Enough". I guess it makes sense that the Five-Seven would be a whole lot worse...

What you're saying makes sense. One other thing, though...do actors prefer 9mm to the larger calibers due to lesser recoil?

Blank firing pistols have very slight recoil. I can't remember if I can tell the difference between a 9mm and a .45 ACP just on recoil alone, but Blanks have a fraction of the recoil of a real live round. Recoil, especially when talking about BLANKS, is not an issue at all.