The thread on “Lethal Weapon” kinda got me thinking: a few (maybe a lot) folks went out and bought a particular firearm because they saw it featured prominently in a movie or TV show. “Lethal Weapon” probably helped boost Beretta 92 sales to some extent.
Personally, I went out and bought a SPAS-12 shotgun after “The Terminator” hit theatres in 1984 (I was 24 then, what the heck). A big, heavy, and not so practical shotgun that was actually fun to shoot, very well built, and (in the semi-auto mode) the softest recoiling shotgun I’ve ever fired.
In the 1970’s - for those of you old enough to remember - everyone went out and bought an AR-15 after the TV show “S.W.A.T.” premiered in 1975. Of course, all the bad guys in that show seemed to be armed with M1 carbines, but I don’t know if that influenced sales at all.
I read somewhere that the SIG P-226 made it’s big screen debut in “Rambo: First Blood Part II”, but I don’t recall what scene it was in.
OK, who else will admit to being swayed by the movies in regard to a firearms purchase? Admittedly, it’s probably not advisable to let Hollywood pick your weaponry.
It’s not a movie, but I became rather interested in the FG-42 after playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Before that, I’d never heard of the gun at all. Now it’s my holy grail, if I ever win the lottery.
For a long time growing up, the MP5 was the epitome of “cool gun” for me, largely thanks to our buddy John McClane and his Teutonic terrorist associates.
Then there’s one of Arnie’s greatest hits, and a personal favorite of mine from the 1980’s. Some guys turn this movie into a drinking game (take a drink every time Arnold kills someone):
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