As some of you may know, at SDCC 2014, a group of us recreated the Rescue Team from the original Predator (sadly, our Mac backed out at the last minute).
In going the research for that group, we learned a tremendous about the weaponry used in the film. Everyone remembers Blain’s mini-gun, but I found Poncho’s 40mm Multi-Shot Grenade Launcher to be just as interesting and unique. The core of his MGL is a AN-M5 Pyrotechnic Discharger a WWII era flare launcher used on large aircraft like the B17 Bomber. The rest of Poncho's gun consists of parts from an HK94 and other odds and ends.
Shortly after SDCC an AN-M5 Discharger came up on eBay and while it seemed like it would be a fun project to work on, the price was just more than I wanted to spend.
A year passed… and I have watched the seller list and relist the piece with no bites. Finally I wrote him and made him an offer, low to be sure, but since this was only one piece for the project, I didn’t want to invest too much. It was only after he accepted my offer that I really started taking a hard look at the piece and what it was going to take to modify it to Poncho’s MGL… and that is when I realized that this wasn’t just a stock AN-M5.
An AN-M5, out of the plane looks like this:
The AN-M5 I bought looked like this:
The barrel was completely custom (I had assumed that was how they came out of the plane) and matched relatively closely to Poncho’s gun. Closer inspection showed that the bracket on the top of the barrel to match the one seen on James Braddock’s (Chuck Norris) custom HKG3 in 1998’s Braddock: Missing in Action III.
This in and of itself was pretty exciting as it made the piece a screen used item… but from a movie no one knows or cares about. However, further inspection of the custom barrel shows the unquestionable weld marks from Poncho’s MGL foregrip.
This isn’t the found part that could be used to make a Poncho MGL replica. This IS Poncho’s MGL from one of my favorite films!!! Sadly, I can't screen match it positively as it has been repainted more than once and has a considerable amount of wear and tear, but the uniqueness of the AN-M5, coupled with the custom barrel and the foregrip weld marks makes me feel confident in what it is.
So... now I am looking into what it would take to restore it to its former glory, as seen in the film!
In going the research for that group, we learned a tremendous about the weaponry used in the film. Everyone remembers Blain’s mini-gun, but I found Poncho’s 40mm Multi-Shot Grenade Launcher to be just as interesting and unique. The core of his MGL is a AN-M5 Pyrotechnic Discharger a WWII era flare launcher used on large aircraft like the B17 Bomber. The rest of Poncho's gun consists of parts from an HK94 and other odds and ends.
Shortly after SDCC an AN-M5 Discharger came up on eBay and while it seemed like it would be a fun project to work on, the price was just more than I wanted to spend.
A year passed… and I have watched the seller list and relist the piece with no bites. Finally I wrote him and made him an offer, low to be sure, but since this was only one piece for the project, I didn’t want to invest too much. It was only after he accepted my offer that I really started taking a hard look at the piece and what it was going to take to modify it to Poncho’s MGL… and that is when I realized that this wasn’t just a stock AN-M5.
An AN-M5, out of the plane looks like this:
The AN-M5 I bought looked like this:
The barrel was completely custom (I had assumed that was how they came out of the plane) and matched relatively closely to Poncho’s gun. Closer inspection showed that the bracket on the top of the barrel to match the one seen on James Braddock’s (Chuck Norris) custom HKG3 in 1998’s Braddock: Missing in Action III.
This in and of itself was pretty exciting as it made the piece a screen used item… but from a movie no one knows or cares about. However, further inspection of the custom barrel shows the unquestionable weld marks from Poncho’s MGL foregrip.
This isn’t the found part that could be used to make a Poncho MGL replica. This IS Poncho’s MGL from one of my favorite films!!! Sadly, I can't screen match it positively as it has been repainted more than once and has a considerable amount of wear and tear, but the uniqueness of the AN-M5, coupled with the custom barrel and the foregrip weld marks makes me feel confident in what it is.
So... now I am looking into what it would take to restore it to its former glory, as seen in the film!
