We have another IMFDB exclusive! (the gold AK from "Lord of War")

[MT2008]

I've got some more exclusive information for us on a movie gun several of you will recognize.

A couple weeks ago, user "Martin Edge" uploaded this picture to IMFDB, which I found while browsing through our "Unused images" section:



I e-mailed him to ask for more information about this gun, which I recognized immediately as the gold AK used by Andre Baptiste, Jr. in "Lord of War".

Here is his response:

The weapon started out as a Saiga hunting rifle with synthetic stock and furniture. Attached is a pic as the weapon started out (saiga.jpg). This pic is not ours and was downloaded from the web. But it looks identical to how the gold AK looked at the beginning.

Ok here are the rest of the details:

* The folding stock is, as you mentioned from East Germany, this was purchased in East Germany at an arms fair and fitted to the weapon
* The top cover is held on by means of a S.M.L.E. rear top cover spring clip
* A pistol grip was installed and the trigger moved forward, the trigger guard is from a vector R4
* The barrel and gas tube were shortened and the front sight is fitted to the barrel by means a flat on the barrel and a key on the front sight, the hand guard is held in postition by the flash hider
* The Muzzle brake/flash hider was turned down from a piece of bar

The weapon was originally supplied to the production with the black synthetic furniture, but was rejected in favour of the wooden furniture. The weapon was actually built by Bruce Wenztel, the owner of Hire Arms, which is Johannesburg based movie weapons props house in South Africa. I was not one of the armourers on the movie as I was not working for the company that the time of the production. The armourer was Lance Peters who handled the weapons on set on the companies behalf. Hire Amrs imported some weapons and supplied the others. I spend most of my time buiding specialised weapons for future productions and spend very little time on set. The company has 400 feature movies under its belt and seems to be going from strength to strength. I am attaching various other pictures, please feel free to upload as you like.

You also mention the magazine in your copy, and it is an early type and was chosen because of its surface area for ease of plating. Brass plating was suggested as an alternative to gold but was rejected by the production in favour of 18crt gold plating, which cost a small fortune.

I recently finished working on a movie which uses a CR21 as a start point. If you are ever in the this neck of the woods please feel free to drop in and see some strange weapons.

Regards
Martin

He sent me more pictures, too:







Neat, huh? And this is ours. All ours.

[Gunmaster45]

That's awesome. The pics aren't MPM quality but it is always great to get the exact info you need. Seem like a lot of work went into the gun even though it had a relatively small screen time.

I sent an Email to the holster maker for 3:10 to Yuma so I hope I can get some neat info from him. If anyone knows how I can contact Thell Reed, it would be much appreciated.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Gunmaster45

I sent an Email to the holster maker for 3:10 to Yuma so I hope I can get some neat info from him. If anyone knows how I can contact Thell Reed, it would be much appreciated.

Did you check here:

http://www.thellreed.com/

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Gunmaster45

Seem like a lot of work went into the gun even though it had a relatively small screen time.

This is Hollywood we're talking about. Millions of dollars gets flushed down the toilet all the time. Think how many TV pilots get filmed that never air, or how much money is spent on scenes for movies that get cut during editing.

Not to mention - remember "The Matrix" with those custom auto shotguns (the ones that the armorer actually invented just for the movie) which appeared on screen for only a few seconds? I would say the "Lord of War" gold AK got a starring role in comparison.

Crazy, huh?

[Gunmaster45]

I have to admit I didn't look at all for a site because why go through the trouble when someone else can help you? I'm sending him an E-mail so I can see if he responds. His insight would make the page great. He's the type of guy I'd like to meet in person (or work with) because I love all the quick draw shooting and spinning. I'm self trained on such but I'm actually pretty good. I've impressed more than a few people with a spinning display and some quick drawing. But anyway, I think the dude is awesome.

Poor John Bowring, those guns looked complex.

[Gunmaster45]

I got a response from the guy who runs the site, he said he'll show Thell. Hope he keeps his word.