Ongoing Error: Members are Wrong about the M2 Carbine

[MoviePropMaster2008]

From what I've learned, there are literally NO real M2 carbines in Movie armories, perhaps a very few and I can't think of a film where they show the M2 Carbine firing full auto. On the contrary there are TONS of M1 Carbines, most of them being the Post war Version.

Also IMFDB members keep on mis-identifying the M1 Carbine with a 30 round magazine as an M2. Just because it has a 30 round magazine doesn't make it an M2.

If you don't see it firing full auto, then it's an M1. There are TONS of those in movie armory inventory. Also unless you SEE the selector switch on the left side, again , it's an M1 Carbine - 99.99% of the time.

I will be fixing the M1 Carbine page, but we need to stop members from making this error.

[MT2008]

There really aren't any M2s at all in the industry? Hmmm, that surprises me a little. But yeah, I do realize that an M1 Carbine with a 30-round mag does not mean an M2 by itself.

Chalk this mistake up with members mis-identifying Glock pistols as 22s or 23s, just because the characters in the movie using them are FBI Agents. You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to fix that one...

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by MT2008

There really aren't any M2s at all in the industry? Hmmm, that surprises me a little. But yeah, I do realize that an M1 Carbine with a 30-round mag does not mean an M2 by itself.

Chalk this mistake up with members mis-identifying Glock pistols as 22s or 23s, just because the characters in the movie using them are FBI Agents. You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to fix that one...

Yeah, a film came up (and I don't have any M2s) and I was specifically LOOKING for M2s in the Full auto armories, the secure areas where they store the full auto guns. Being select fire they are required to be stored separately from the M1 Carbines. There are tons of M1 Carbines floating around, and though I didn't tear apart any building looking for them, a casual search yielded no M2s. Now, given, they could have been tucked away in nooks and crannies, but I was really looking for one. Nada. ISS has a few but I wanted to make sure that people KNEW that the guns identified were M2s, and not just M1s with 30 round magazines. For one, the full auto guns are more expensive to rent and require a licensed handler that has TONS more paperwork than the regular propmaster.

Again, my caveat, is that my comment does NOT apply to films shot overseas. Other countries have tons of stuff that I can only guess at, though I would really like to fly over there and start taking pictures!

[Mandolin1]

I know that The Eagle has Landed has a couple of M2s. They are best scene when the idiot Col. gets killed and teh guy with him rushes Mrs. Gray. I might try to get some screenshots.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Again, my caveat, is that my comment does NOT apply to films shot overseas. Other countries have tons of stuff that I can only guess at, though I would really like to fly over there and start taking pictures!

Well, I would hope that American armories have the monopoly on M2s, being that it's a weapon that was made in this country. That would be kinda weird if the Canadian or European armorers had better access to M2s than our armorers.

Also, I forget...did you go to Canada to photograph any guns? I thought that was how you got the pictures of the Norinco Type 84 Match/Target rifles (since those variants were never sold in this country)?

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by MT2008

Well, I would hope that American armories have the monopoly on M2s, being that it's a weapon that was made in this country. That would be kinda weird if the Canadian or European armorers had better access to M2s than our armorers.

Also, I forget...did you go to Canada to photograph any guns? I thought that was how you got the pictures of the Norinco Type 84 Match/Target rifles (since those variants were never sold in this country)?

I scored those when I was on site to see the very SAD SIGHT of workers tearing down, destroying and selling of the bridge of the BSG. I'm supposed to go back up for a visit for the Stargate Atlantis movie but that's been put on permanent 'MAYBE' status due to the credit crunch. %*&^ banks aren't lending anyone ANY money. They loaned to idiots who couldn't pay between 2006-2008 and now they' so gun shy, they won't lend to ANYONE. The entire film and television industry is based on acquiring large amounts of venture capital and then turn it around within 1-2 years. Spielberg has to go to China to beg investors to bankroll his next movie. My next film was completely financed by Insurance companies from Taipei. The Entire industry's venture capital is crapped out right now. Well enough of my rant now.

BTW: The Eagle has landed page was already made by User:Mauser. That was filmed in England 100% and used British Armorers and yes, those were REAL M2s because in Mauser's screenshots, you can see the selector switch very clearly and they are seen on screen firing full auto (which is unusual since the M2 didn't formally hit the fields until the war was over and the full auto conversion kits shipped out in late 44 for the M1 Carbines were still really rare, but it was 'possible', but unlikely.)

I also have a theory about WW2 era guns. For one thing, it was easy (well at least until 1986) for American citizens with the proper paperwork to buy and collect full auto guns. It was NOT an option for British Firearms armories to sell off their guns to the public like we did in America for many years. A lot of the M2s that are pre-86 transferable are in the hands of private collections. A lot of the police armories got rid of their M2s in the 1970s so these were sold to the public. But in the U.K. they did not have that option, so they hang on to massive warehouses of WW2 and immediate post WW2 stuff forever. Also the DOD gave away a lot of our M2 carbines to other countries (Vietnam, El Salvador, Chile, various African nations, etc.) during the Cold War.

[MT2008]

The reason I ask you, MPM, is because...if you've visited the cast/crew of Battlestar Galactica, do you know the armorers, too? More specifically, do you know the name of the big armory in Vancouver (or elsewhere in BC) that supplies that show? It's a mystery I've been trying to crack for a while.

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

I also have a theory about WW2 era guns. For one thing, it was easy (well at least until 1986) for American citizens with the proper paperwork to buy and collect full auto guns. It was NOT an option for British Firearms armories to sell off their guns to the public like we did in America for many years. A lot of the M2s that are pre-86 transferable are in the hands of private collections. A lot of the police armories got rid of their M2s in the 1970s so these were sold to the public. But in the U.K. they did not have that option, so they hang on to massive warehouses of WW2 and immediate post WW2 stuff forever. Also the DOD gave away a lot of our M2 carbines to other countries (Vietnam, El Salvador, Chile, various African nations, etc.) during the Cold War.

That's an interesting theory. But aren't there still conversion kits for the (enormous) number of M1s that are in armories? Since they're in such abundance in the industry, I'd figure somebody would have built some more M2s by this point, if they wanted to. But I guess it's just that few directors have asked for them.