Noeland
Master Member
Hey there. In the wake of the Guy debacle I am finding a need for humor. In that vien, I present to you all THE FIRST PROP GUN I EVER MADE. Here she goes.
Hmmm. Beauty, ain't she? She's one of those old "Imperial" cap gun that took rolls of caps in the top of a magazine. You could even rack the slide back on these things.
This was done when I was about 14. I had just started playing paintball, and had joined up with a group of friends who decided we would play "gotcha" across the streets of our very small northern michigan town. Cheboygan.
The problem was, the paintball guns were HUGE. So, we started playing it with realistic cap gun. Then we got organized and started doing it with character names, and profiles, and making it a much more imginative game.
We would gather "Hit Squads" and ambush one another coming out of work. I worked at K-mart at the time, as a stock boy, and got hit in that parking lot many times. Inside work, or ambushing while on the clock was forbidden ofcoarse (had to have some rules.)
This all cuminated in a huge "shootout" in a parking lot of a local pizza place one cold wintery friday night (when they were PACKED with people.
Now, some of the cap guns were actually pretty loud, and my buddy Eric used one of those Uzi Co2 guns (no BB's) which was pretty loud too.
It took about 4 days after this "shootout" and the police started to track us all down. Being that were were all 14, this was NOT hard to do, but it did take some time.
In the midst of this (we did not know the police were on our tails.) the following weekend, we formed a hit squad to attack a friend's house. We al got our best together, including a few paintballs gun, camo, masks, cold weather gear. And then we moved on the house were we knew a couple of russian spys were partying.
We parked behind a empty building, and crossed a field pretty deep with snow.
We got to Shawns' house, covered all the exits, then burst in, and "killed" EVERYONE inside. In about 20 seconds. It was pure "gotcha" precision.
Satisfied we were the best of the best, my hit squad and I left the house, and started back to our vehicles, back across the field about hip deep with snow. We were all very "up" now, and talking loudly and making jokes.
Then, headlights crossed the field.
We all ducked down, and went back into "Tactical" mode prety quickly. Then, a SPOT LIGHT dragged across the field from the car and we all knew it was a police officer. Now the thing to remember about Cheboygan is, everyone knew everyone else. This was a "city boy" policemen, and it turned out to be someone we all knew.
Mind you, he did not recognize us. SO, he popped out of his car SCREAMING with his Sig Sauer 226 at the ready, and pointing right at me head. The rules already stated in this instance, throw down all the "guns" put your hands up, and submit to the officer. Which in about 5 seconds was a done deal. We were all our knees in the headlights of the car, hands behind our backs. This possibility had been discussed often among the members, and no one would ever of tried to run from the police, and no one wanted to get shot. Even as kids we had the foresight to know those would be bad. We were trying to have fun, not REALLY get shot, after all
In retrospect, being kids, we just never figured out how stupid the whole game was, and what a bad idea in general it was. I suggest after this that what we should have done is let the police know of the game right from the start, and give them alist of everyone involved right from the start. That never would have worked either, obviously, but damn, I was a kid. Cut me a little slack.
In the end, no one was arrested or hurt, but that same night there were kids from a nieghboring city who had attended the movies, and shot at the screen with Crosman 357 Co2 pistols, and they were sure we were all part of the same group. So we all got a loing lecture before leaving, and they took all our guns away from us. I hade a couple of nice electric water guns take from me that night, that I had filled with red koolaid (which stained the walls and clothing of my victims that evening.. hahaha)
The moral of the story is, hell, no moral, we had some good clean fun. None of us were drug users, and we didn't get drunk and throw dynamite into the lake either. (mind you, had we ACCESS to Dynamite, could have been a different story)
Anyway, just having moved to Atlanta, I happened across this old modified cap gun in a box I was unpacking that has been living the last 10 years in the back of a closet. I found this and all those old memories came flooding back. I found some old artwork, and art supplies as well.
I used cardboard for the back of the slide, fixed the slide with a screw, and used a thin, red sharpie to mark the gun as a soviet treasure my "character" had gotten in his travels along the way. DON'T ask me what my logic was in turning a beretta into a silver soviet gun. There was none.
I just wanted to share my very crude first prop gun with you guys for a laugh. And the story of MY misspent youth. Now, does anyone really wonder why I went into films? Not a tough connection to make, is it? hahahaha :lol
Njc--------------------------------
Hmmm. Beauty, ain't she? She's one of those old "Imperial" cap gun that took rolls of caps in the top of a magazine. You could even rack the slide back on these things.
This was done when I was about 14. I had just started playing paintball, and had joined up with a group of friends who decided we would play "gotcha" across the streets of our very small northern michigan town. Cheboygan.
The problem was, the paintball guns were HUGE. So, we started playing it with realistic cap gun. Then we got organized and started doing it with character names, and profiles, and making it a much more imginative game.
We would gather "Hit Squads" and ambush one another coming out of work. I worked at K-mart at the time, as a stock boy, and got hit in that parking lot many times. Inside work, or ambushing while on the clock was forbidden ofcoarse (had to have some rules.)
This all cuminated in a huge "shootout" in a parking lot of a local pizza place one cold wintery friday night (when they were PACKED with people.
Now, some of the cap guns were actually pretty loud, and my buddy Eric used one of those Uzi Co2 guns (no BB's) which was pretty loud too.
It took about 4 days after this "shootout" and the police started to track us all down. Being that were were all 14, this was NOT hard to do, but it did take some time.
In the midst of this (we did not know the police were on our tails.) the following weekend, we formed a hit squad to attack a friend's house. We al got our best together, including a few paintballs gun, camo, masks, cold weather gear. And then we moved on the house were we knew a couple of russian spys were partying.
We parked behind a empty building, and crossed a field pretty deep with snow.
We got to Shawns' house, covered all the exits, then burst in, and "killed" EVERYONE inside. In about 20 seconds. It was pure "gotcha" precision.
Satisfied we were the best of the best, my hit squad and I left the house, and started back to our vehicles, back across the field about hip deep with snow. We were all very "up" now, and talking loudly and making jokes.
Then, headlights crossed the field.
We all ducked down, and went back into "Tactical" mode prety quickly. Then, a SPOT LIGHT dragged across the field from the car and we all knew it was a police officer. Now the thing to remember about Cheboygan is, everyone knew everyone else. This was a "city boy" policemen, and it turned out to be someone we all knew.
Mind you, he did not recognize us. SO, he popped out of his car SCREAMING with his Sig Sauer 226 at the ready, and pointing right at me head. The rules already stated in this instance, throw down all the "guns" put your hands up, and submit to the officer. Which in about 5 seconds was a done deal. We were all our knees in the headlights of the car, hands behind our backs. This possibility had been discussed often among the members, and no one would ever of tried to run from the police, and no one wanted to get shot. Even as kids we had the foresight to know those would be bad. We were trying to have fun, not REALLY get shot, after all
In retrospect, being kids, we just never figured out how stupid the whole game was, and what a bad idea in general it was. I suggest after this that what we should have done is let the police know of the game right from the start, and give them alist of everyone involved right from the start. That never would have worked either, obviously, but damn, I was a kid. Cut me a little slack.
In the end, no one was arrested or hurt, but that same night there were kids from a nieghboring city who had attended the movies, and shot at the screen with Crosman 357 Co2 pistols, and they were sure we were all part of the same group. So we all got a loing lecture before leaving, and they took all our guns away from us. I hade a couple of nice electric water guns take from me that night, that I had filled with red koolaid (which stained the walls and clothing of my victims that evening.. hahaha)
The moral of the story is, hell, no moral, we had some good clean fun. None of us were drug users, and we didn't get drunk and throw dynamite into the lake either. (mind you, had we ACCESS to Dynamite, could have been a different story)
Anyway, just having moved to Atlanta, I happened across this old modified cap gun in a box I was unpacking that has been living the last 10 years in the back of a closet. I found this and all those old memories came flooding back. I found some old artwork, and art supplies as well.
I used cardboard for the back of the slide, fixed the slide with a screw, and used a thin, red sharpie to mark the gun as a soviet treasure my "character" had gotten in his travels along the way. DON'T ask me what my logic was in turning a beretta into a silver soviet gun. There was none.
I just wanted to share my very crude first prop gun with you guys for a laugh. And the story of MY misspent youth. Now, does anyone really wonder why I went into films? Not a tough connection to make, is it? hahahaha :lol
Njc--------------------------------
