“Tag: Wiley Clapp”

Creating and/or maintaining movie guns is a complex business, and some prop houses are virtual wizards of weaponry.

This month, I am going to take up a subject about which I really know relatively little. Military aviation is a huge field—which never caught my particular interest, but always held my personal respect. I was content to be an infantry Marine, but held a deep respect for my brothers who were willing to strap themselves into a winged tube and sally forth to do battle in the questionable belief that this airfoil thing was real.

There’s an interesting term in the gun-guy’s lexicon. It’s “safe queen,” meaning a firearm of such great value that it remains in the safe, unused, unhandled and absolutely unfired.

There are gun collectors who admire the craftsmanship and ingenuity of arms from other countries.

Sometimes life-changing events and a gun’s shortcomings bring about firearm evolution.

Iconic both in appearance and reputation, the AK-pattern rifle has fought on battlefields all over the world for three quarters of a century.

Moviegoers of 1950 enjoyed a motion picture with a unique plot twist. Rather than a tale of the trials and tribulations of a hero, we were treated to the travels and transfers of a gun. A big-budget Western starring Jimmy Stewart leading a large cast of well-known actors, “Winchester ’73” treated the gun as though it were a character. Its behavior (accuracy) established in the opening scene, succeeding scenes showed the gun used and misused, bought and sold, as it moved from owner to owner. An interesting story and well told, the film was fictional—the gun was not. 

Going on 40 years ago, I blundered my way into my first job in the gunwriting business. It was a function of pure, dumb luck on my part and for that, I am eternally thankful. Among the many blessings of this luck were the great people I met and the range of new experiences. Such new people included the late Chuck Karwan, my fellow Vietnam vet and as good a friend as I could possibly want.

The infantry Soldier’s lot is seldom a happy one. But, it is often full of quiet satisfaction at a hard job well done. Those who command the foot Soldier understand there must be a sensible organization and reliable tools with which to work.