What manner of franken gun is this? ;)

MoviePropMaster2008 · #1 10-24-2021, 01:28 AM

Helping finish off the CHIPS (2017) page and noticed that the page didn't list Vincent D'Onofrio's weird pistol grip shotgun (with no buttstock) from the end of the movie.

I'm a little confused by it. Looks like a Benelli M1 Super 90 from the front, but the received is modified to take (a fake) magazine and the rear doesn't look like the Benelli Super Shorty style pistol grip.

Any suggestions? Is it a franken gun? Mocked up from an airsoft Benelli?

Rockwolf66 · #2 10-24-2021, 05:18 PM

It might be a Turkish or chinese shotgun of some sort. I'm currently trying to wade through all the different box magazine shotguns out there. it seems that the number of those have exploded over the years.

MT2008 · #3 10-25-2021, 03:54 AM

Hmmm, I'm surprised that the gun isn't on the page. As much as I appreciate all of the work that Ben does for the site, I do wish that he would take more time to do pages right and get all of the guns and the best screencaps (as I do).

With that being said, I'm in the camp that this is indeed just a Benelli M1 Super 90 that has been given a fake extended magazine. You may recall (since you worked on the page) that Alien Nation, which is the first documented movie appearance of the Benelli M1 on IMFDB, also featured a gun which had fake extended magazines attached to it. (I added some detail to the page last year which explains why I believe that the drum magazine used on that gun was likely a non-functioning prop.) The pistol grip, admittedly, doesn't look like the factory Benelli grip, but it might have been taken from a different gun and then modified to fit to the Benelli's receiver, or else a custom job that the armorer provided at the production's request.

MoviePropMaster2008 · #4 10-26-2021, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MT2008

Hmmm, I'm surprised that the gun isn't on the page. As much as I appreciate all of the work that Ben does for the site, I do wish that he would take more time to do pages right and get all of the guns and the best screencaps (as I do).

With that being said, I'm in the camp that this is indeed just a Benelli M1 Super 90 that has been given a fake extended magazine. You may recall (since you worked on the page) that Alien Nation, which is the first documented movie appearance of the Benelli M1 on IMFDB, also featured a gun which had fake extended magazines attached to it. (I added some detail to the page last year which explains why I believe that the drum magazine used on that gun was likely a non-functioning prop.) The pistol grip, admittedly, doesn't look like the factory Benelli grip, but it might have been taken from a different gun and then modified to fit to the Benelli's receiver, or else a custom job that the armorer provided at the production's request.

Well I freeze framed the shots and every time he fires, it's definitely a fake looking CGI Flash added in later, so I'm not convinced it's a real 'firing' firearm.

MT2008 · #5 10-28-2021, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Well I freeze framed the shots and every time he fires, it's definitely a fake looking CGI Flash added in later, so I'm not convinced it's a real 'firing' firearm.

Possibly, and I admit that I haven't seen the movie, but it just seems weird to me that they would use a fake gun for one of the main characters, especially when all of the other guns in the movie (or at least, the ones on the IMFDB page) are clearly real blank-adapted weapons. The M4 Carbine used by Rosa Salazar's character, for example, is clearly a real gun firing blanks, judging by the screenshots which are on our page.

Also, I've been out of the airsoft world for many years now, but based on a quick Google search, I don't think that there's anyone making an airsoft Benelli M1 (only airsoft Benelli M3 and M4 replicas), so I'm not sure where else they would have gotten a replica of that particular weapon type.

You sure that they didn't just insert CGI muzzle flashes because they were trying to use certain footage for certain scenes which looked good (e.g. due to actor's appearance, lighting, etc.), or for safety reasons? Another possibility is that the gun(s) were unreliable with blanks, so they opted to use CGI muzzle flashes rather than find an alternate weapon or re-shoot later. I've seen tons of movies and TV shows where CGI muzzle flashes were inserted for various reasons, even though the gun is clearly real and is seen firing blanks in other scenes.