vmicraig
Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2018
- Location
- London, England
Cool. I know they lose value due to their prop markings, but I like the stories behind them. When I bought the cadet knowing it was linked to John Wayne, there were about a dozen other I had to pass on. One was used in the Red Badge of Courage; one was carried by Fess Parker in Daniel Boone; a couple more were from War Wagon and another movie I can't recall. I wish I had more info on the one I own as to which movies it was in, but alas, the records were destroyed in a prop barn fire at Fox studios. I can only surmise who carried it in the movies over the years before the studios started moving to fake guns.Great story in that link.
I've owned perhaps a dozen ex-studio prop guns - the best was an 1862 dated Enfield with a SCH in oval (a rarely seen confederate viewer mark) stamped on the metal. It is pictured in "The English Connection" on page 112 (the SHC mark) and also the proofmarks are shown at page 103 of that book - for some reason, the book does not mention the mean of the mark just above the proofmark, a clearly stamped "W.C.CO" which of course stands for Western Costume Company. It was sold in the big MGM prop sale about 1980, and I have the page of the catalog listing it.
The one that got away was a nice crisp Fayetteville rifle that was used at a prop which was hanging on the wall in a scene or two of some movie.