Blade Runner Blaster Functionality?

Sorry, should have made that clearer, I was referring to the shooting script, in which Leon actually disarms Deckard twice: once of his blaster, which is out of ammo, and then again when he goes for his ankle gun.
 
Before getting in to this hobby I never really thought about the delivery system and back in the day the gun got me through its design, amber grips and the fact that it had to me, two kinds of bullets. Standard and explosive.

I like to think that what some people refer to as the battery pack is actually the storage area for the explosive rounds, its the perfect shape and size to be a fit for the manual ejection port above. Slight squeezing of the front trigger loads the explosive round and a tighter squeeze or a two tap releases it. Loading the explosive round locks that back trigger preventing disaster. To eject the explosive casing it has to be done manually using the lever. You have to know what your doing if your going to carry one of these bad boys. Would have looked good on camera.

How the explosive round travels through the barrel from storage to ejection is the movie magic bit.:lol
 
Last edited:
Here's a something to fuel the speculation :p

In the shooting script, after Deckard retires Pris, he reloads with a plug-in 'cassette' . Also of note is that the script actually refers to the gun as a blaster, a term I'd assumed had only been applied to it in the wake of prop replicas. It's not in the the early Fancher draft, so I guess Peoples was a Star Wars fan.

Deckard also has a backup blaster strapped to his leg, which is the gun Rachel uses to air Leon.

In Science Fiction literature, the term Blaster dates back to at least the 1920s, although it didn't become popular until the late 30s, or early 40s. In the first recognized use of the term, it was "blastor".

David.
 
CutRod.jpgRealOpenBolt.jpg
I don't think that was an attempt to reload in the scene after his fingers were dislocated but trying to pop his knuckles back in if not just assessing the damage done. Reloading the blaster as the live fire prop was made is actually relatively difficult as key elements of the revolver are removed. You can't push the cylinder out from the right because it's blocked so you have to pry it open all from the left. The ejector rod is cut so short to the point it can't actually be used so you need to poke spent cartridges out with a stick when the case has expanded or there's a little soot preventing the cases from falling out on their own.

Edit: K was in possession of the gun from picking it up so had no access to reloads except ones for his own blaster, assuming that even takes bullets.

I own two shooters, using real Bulldogs under the blaster pieces. As a licensed firearms dealer I was given photos of the original prop to help the auction house determine if it needed federal or state firearms transfer documentation. I used those photos as reference, plus many others and input from knowledgeable folks to build my first shooter (there is a tutorial I did on the build here).

The design allows pushing of the Bulldog cylinder from the right. You lift the Steyr bolt which reveals the cylinder, then simply push it through. On the photo of my shooter, you can see how you have access to push on the cylinder once you lift the bolt handle.

On the ejection rod, it is cut short but not so short as to render it inoperable. You can still use it to have the ejection "star" start to push the casings out. This photo is of the original prop.
 
Last edited:
That makes things more convenient as a prop I guess, but still far from something desirable to be used defensively if that were how things work canonically.
 
I never factored it having an explosive round. That first shot he takes at Roy misses and hits some equipment in Sebastian's lab, which then explodes. Given that J.F. is making 'toys' in his place, who knows what kinds of explosive or volatile components he had lying around. Although one could argue that there is an explosive round option, given what a Blade Runner is hunting, but LAPD restrictions might limit the use of such rounds to situations where there is little to no chance of injuring civilians, which would explain Deckard using standard rounds when he retires Zhora, but attempts to get a quick kill on Roy as there are no civilians present in the area. Though this doesn't explain why he doesn't use the explosive round on Pris after she works him over. Unless the explosive round count is limited to one or two rounds at most. Kind of a last ditch effort ammo.
 
I never factored it having an explosive round. That first shot he takes at Roy misses and hits some equipment in Sebastian's lab, which then explodes. Given that J.F. is making 'toys' in his place, who knows what kinds of explosive or volatile components he had lying around. Although one could argue that there is an explosive round option, given what a Blade Runner is hunting, but LAPD restrictions might limit the use of such rounds to situations where there is little to no chance of injuring civilians, which would explain Deckard using standard rounds when he retires Zhora, but attempts to get a quick kill on Roy as there are no civilians present in the area. Though this doesn't explain why he doesn't use the explosive round on Pris after she works him over. Unless the explosive round count is limited to one or two rounds at most. Kind of a last ditch effort ammo.

I think he didnt use it on Pris because it was all such close quarters fighting, wouldnt want to be within 20 feet of one of those things going off. The whole design of the gun lends itself to that theory, thats what I thought anyway when I first saw it all those years ago. Especially the two triggers.
 
@Mr Webber
You know, I didn't take into account the splash damage from such a round during his fight with Pris.

There is other ammunition tech in the movie though. In the Final Cut if you pause it at the right spot you can clearly see a thin black line come out from Leon`s gun under and though the table when he retires Holden (Im assuming all BR`s are replicants now lol). Posted a screen grab at propsummit years ago but cant find it. Could be rail tech or the like but I didnt know about that back in the day.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There is other ammunition tech in the movie though. In the Final Cut if you pause it at the right spot you can clearly see a thin black line come out from Leon`s gun under and though the table when he retires Holden (Im assuming all BR`s are replicants now lol). Posted a screen grab at propsummit years ago but cant find it. Could be rail tech or the like but I didnt know about that back in the day.

From what I remember reading the black line coming out of Leon's pistol is an FX hold over from when they were toying with the idea of Leon's gun being a 'black hole gun' that fired some kind of miniaturized singularity.
 
That rings a bell with me too.

Do we know anything about K or Luvs gun mechanics?
When I first saw K`s over under gun in the press picture, thought that whole front section swung around 180 degrees after firing in a recharge style. Where How is it reloaded?
 
K and Luv's guns were non-firing. The trigger merely actuates a solenoid working some kind of hammer/striker device on top for aesthetics and visual cue for post prod sfx.
 
K and Luv's guns were non-firing. The trigger merely actuates a solenoid working some kind of hammer/striker device on top for aesthetics and visual cue for post prod sfx.

Absolutely, I referring to the in universe mechanics though, why two barrels etc. Do they even factor in such things when they design a weapon for movies?
There must have been a lengthy discussion about that on the original Blade Runner.
 
Not that I know of. As far as the original blaster was concerned Ridley Scott allegedly walked into the prop house, pointed at the Steyr and said it looked cool so on it went. The only explanations I've come across with the new blasters is they're stylized after the original in that they had the grip style of a revolver vs a semi-automatic but couldn't actually get a real gun in due to the diminutive sizes.
 
There is other ammunition tech in the movie though. In the Final Cut if you pause it at the right spot you can clearly see a thin black line come out from Leon`s gun under and though the table when he retires Holden (Im assuming all BR`s are replicants now lol). Posted a screen grab at propsummit years ago but cant find it. Could be rail tech or the like but I didnt know about that back in the day.

In the Blade Runner PC game, you were also able to obtain military grade ammunition for your pistol from Bullet Bob Gorsky, assuming you don't kill him if he fails the Voight Kampff test, so I guess there is a difference between police and military grade ammunition. I think Bob even mentions the ammo is black market on earth.
 
If it were originally a singularity coming out the barrel, then perhaps this is how the charges would be packaged:
 
Last edited:
I know I'm only saying what's already been said but the prop is a revolver so the blaster has something that just looks like and maybe revolves like a revolver, but isn't a revolver.

Its a blaster.

Its like the lazer tube from the book but looks real as it's made from real components, to give muzzle flash pre cgi.
Thats it. Anything else you want to add is just that, added non canon stuff :)

Also this should be in entertainment and movie talk unless there is def going to be a build or paint up happening (I think).
 
I've always thought the top receiver was a PPG type weapon using a compressed hydrogen cartridge loaded through the side port similar in function to the Babylon 5 one.
PPG technology is not too far away and has the advantage of being harmful to living tissue but not too harmful to surrounding structures. That why they use them on B5. little chance of penetrating the hull of a ship or station.
Being as the pistol is designed to be used off world as well as on it make sense that it should have something that wouldn't blow out the hull on a shuttle or orbital station. (similar to the low power pistols used by Air Marshals).
I've often though of modifying the bolt on mine so I could drop a small turned Aluminium cylinder in the port with some kind of printing on saying PPG round, caution pressurised hydrogen.

That my two penneth worth anyway.
 
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top