Why I'm usually against 'flintlock' entries for movies.....

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Usually when a movie (like Pirates of the Caribbean) or other period pieces have firearms, eventually some member will create the page and then the weapons used in the film are simply listed as 'Flintlock musket' or "flintlock pistol". Well Whoopty F***king Doo! Any idiot can see that. IMFDB becomes the place for 'stating the obvious' and in my opinion, loses some of its' credibility as being a unique and scholarly firearms resource, when it's pages are lame like that.

Rather than stating the obvious, a movie-page maker should seriously research the screencaps of the film and try to determine the style or make of the weapons. Even educated guesses as to the country of origin, or even researching who provided the weapons would be preferable to a lame gun entry.

That would be akin to a member listing every film with a bolt action rifle, and simply listing them as 'bolt action rifle' without bothering to find out WHAT rifle it was.

Sure, the matchlock and flintlock weapons (even into the percussion cap guns) had a lot a customized runs. Only into the 1800s did we see any sort of real mass production, despite official European armories creating thousands of guns by hand for the previous centuries. But taking the time to research and observe, especially in the screencaps, makes the page much more worthwhile than declaring something that any casual viewer could have figured out on their own.

I tend to DELETE movie pages that just like 'generic weapon archetypes' since they offer no new insight other than what the general public already knows.

So help IMFDB out here. Try doing some research and tell the public something that they don't already know.

Fair warning. Lame pages are on the chopping block on IMFDB. That doesn't mean we don't want them, but only if someone bothers to do the research and hard work to make the page worthy of being looked at.

[ManiacallyChallenged]

Sounds good, I'd have no idea how to ID black powder stuff anyway.

[Markost]

Look, in some countries, the muskets and black powder guns are not considered firearms... so, let´s start editing.

[Excalibur]

I wonder what stupid countries think flint lock, muzzle loaders don't count as firearms? It's like saying a bow is not a cross bow, what's the point?

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I wonder what stupid countries think flint lock, muzzle loaders don't count as firearms? It's like saying a bow is not a cross bow, what's the point?

Well in U.S. Law many states don't consider black powder guns to be firearms, and thus can be shipped to a private party via the U.S. Mail. Usually really old guns or kits, but it's more of a LEGAL interpretation that drives the definition versus the scientific one. They ARE technically firearms, but (happily for those of us who like to buy them) many of the old matchlock, flintlock or percussion cap guns are not legally firearms for the purposes of restrictions or paperwork.

[Markost]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I wonder what stupid countries think flint lock, muzzle loaders don't count as firearms? It's like saying a bow is not a cross bow, what's the point?

My country . They don´t count as firearms because, acording to our laws, a firearm is a breech-loading weapon. There´s no papers for them or restrictions in caliber, because they are considered "obsolete".

[ManiacallyChallenged]

I honestly can't imagine somebody going on a crime spree with a muzzle loading flint/wheel lock pistol.
Still, would make for a great episode of CSI.

"Got the bullet back from the lab?"
"Yeah, but there must be some mistake."
"No Alex, no mistake.
*Glasses on*
Somebody is killing in the past."
YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Excalibur]

No no, it's more like *puts shades on* Blast from the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPWALM2riQ

[MT2008]

If we ever get any users who are knowledegable about flintlocks, then we should allow pages featuring those guns. But so far, we haven't had any such users, at least none that I've seen. Though my Dad is big into flintlocks and black powder weapons, so if only he wasn't such a Luddite, I could get him into IMFDB.

Also, I have pictures of a Trapdoor Springfield flintlock pistol that was used in "Pirates of the Caribbean", which came from my contact at ISS. Unfortunately, I can't post it because the page for that movie keeps getting deleted.

[Spartan198]

Yeah, I don't know crap about flintlocks, etc..