Thomas Magnum's Gun - Some Documentation

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#16 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 4:46 pm

MaximRecoil wrote:Higgins: I heard gunfire and thought it only prudent to investigate.
Magnum: Gunfire? Shots?! Well, maybe there were just a couple...
Higgins: I counted twelve to be exact. A forty-five automatic from the sound of it, fired in the international Mozambique pattern if I'm not mistaken. And since that's hardly a technique prominent in divorce court, the person firing those shots could only have been...

What exactly is the "international Mozambique pattern"?

N1095A · #17 Post by **N1095A** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:00 pm

James J. Walters wrote:
MaximRecoil wrote:Higgins: I heard gunfire and thought it only prudent to investigate.
Magnum: Gunfire? Shots?! Well, maybe there were just a couple...
Higgins: I counted twelve to be exact. A forty-five automatic from the sound of it, fired in the international Mozambique pattern if I'm not mistaken. And since that's hardly a technique prominent in divorce court, the person firing those shots could only have been...
What exactly is the "international Mozambique pattern"?

I think it's something they made up.

MaximRecoil · #18 Post by **MaximRecoil** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:36 pm

James J. Walters wrote:What exactly is the "international Mozambique pattern"?

Judging by where the bullet holes were located on the man-silhouette target he drew on the wall, and the pattern of the shots (1 shot; slight pause; 2 rapid shots; 3 shots total per "pattern"), I'd say it was a reference to the "one in the head, two in the chest" method; though I'm guessing that the term "International Mozambique Pattern" was fabricated for the show.

In fact, if you watch this clip, you can see that the "one in the head, two in the chest" thing is exactly what he's doing, though his chest hits are a bit off center.

Edited to add: Apparently the essence of the term was not made up:

Mozambique Drill

The Mozambique Drill, also called the Failure Drill, is a close-quarter shooting technique in which the shooter fires twice into the torso of a target – known as a "double tap" to the center of mass – momentarily assesses the hits, then follows them up with a carefully aimed shot to the head of the target.

The third shot should be aimed to destroy the brain, killing the target and preventing the target from retaliating. The drill was added to the modern technique of gunfighting by Jeff Cooper based on the experience of one of his students, Mike Rousseau, while on duty in Mozambique. Rousseau was later killed in action in the Rhodesian War.

It looks like Mad Buck Gibson was doing it backwards though, by shooting the head first.

#19 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:10 am

Wow, how about that. Thanks MR!

We should know better. Higgins never makes things up.

Found another episode where Magnum's gun is addressed as a .45 - Magnum on Ice.

MaximRecoil · #20 Post by **MaximRecoil** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:19 am

James J. Walters wrote:Found another episode where Magnum's gun is addressed as a .45 - Magnum on Ice.

I came across another reference too (I edited it into one of my previous posts on this thread):

From Ghost Writer (season 2):

Magnum: With my forty-five nuzzling his ear I expected the guy to take us to his employer...

Now for some more Magnum's gun craziness. I was watching season one's China Doll today on DVD and Magnum's gun looked "off", so I put the DVD into my PC's DVD drive to get a better look.

Now, I thought previously that this didn't happen on Magnum, P.I. (though it has happened plenty in other movies and TV shows; "The Wild Bunch" from 1969 being one of the best examples), but it did happen. The infamous Star Model B (good grief) managed to infiltrate Magnum, P.I.

Note the external extractor. That is one of the obvious differences between a Star Model B and a 1911. The 1911 has an internal extractor that is not visible from the outside of the gun, as you can confirm by looking at any picture of one from the right-hand side of the gun (ejection port side).

But it gets even stranger. When they show the gun lying on the ground, it is not a Star Model B, but rather, a Star Model BM (compact version of the Star Model B):

You can tell it is a Model BM rather than a Model B because it has a shorter barrel and it has slanted slide serrations (the Model B has vertical slide serrations like traditional 1911-pattern guns do). Additionally it has the other Star calling cards, such as the external extractor; funky thumb safety and equally funky safety notch in the slide; funky slide release lever; curved out area at the bottom of the front strap, etc. It is also in like-new condition while the Star Model B prop that Selleck is using has a fairly worn finish.

The following picture illustrates the difference between vertical and slanted slide serrations:

So there were two guns that scene (Star Models B and BM), neither of which were the usual Colt Government Model prop. That poor Star Model BM lying on the ground is funny when you think about it:

It is a Star Model BM 9mm playing the role of a Star Model B 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model .45 ACP.

only looking · #21 Post by **only looking** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:42 am

....LOL The world of Magnum PI.

#22 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:35 am

MaximRecoil wrote:It is a Star Model BM 9mm playing the role of a Star Model B 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model .45 ACP.

Wild!

Maybe Magnum just has a bunch of different handguns? He normally carries the Colt .45, but maybe he sometimes likes to break out the Star Model? And the Pocket 9? And the Walther PPK?

MaximRecoil · #23 Post by **MaximRecoil** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:32 am

James J. Walters wrote:
MaximRecoil wrote:It is a Star Model BM 9mm playing the role of a Star Model B 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model 9mm which is playing the role of a Colt Government Model .45 ACP.
Wild!

Maybe Magnum just has a bunch of different handguns? He normally carries the Colt .45, but maybe he sometimes likes to break out the Star Model? And the Pocket 9? And the Walther PPK?

LOL

Magnum must be a propmaster on the side, because they are pretty much the only people in the U.S. that have/had Star Model Bs. One even made its way into Pulp Fiction, even though by that time, there was no need for them anymore (not even a need for 9mm versions of 1911s). In fact, Travolta's character carried an actual 1911-pattern .45 ACP (Auto-Ordnance brand), but Jackson's character carried a Star Model B 9mm.

My theory is that it had been sitting in inventory since before the 1970s, and had already been done up long ago with the chrome or nickel finish and pearl grips. Rather than finding another Star Model B (which aren't common in the U.S., and were probably even scarce among Hollywood gun rental firms by the mid-'90s, considering no one had really needed them since 1971), they just did up an el cheapo Auto-Ordnance 1911A1-pattern .45 with the same chrome or nickel finish and pearl grips, so that they could have the "matching" pair that they needed for the movie.

They used a real Colt Government Model (9mm version) in the pilot movie for both Magnum's gun and Philippe's Vietnam flashback gun (Philippe's gun at the end in the bathroom scene appeared to be a Walther PPK from what little was shown of it).

Were the episodes filmed in the same order that they aired in? If so then China Doll was the first regular show of the series (not counting the pilot movie). Maybe someone got a deal on the Stars and figured they would be "close enough" for use on the regular episodes. Fortunately, I don't think the Stars ever showed up again (though I'll be keeping an eye out). Maybe someone complained; possibly even Selleck (he is a gun enthusiast after all).

Ironically, China Doll is one of the episodes where Magnum's gun is directly referred to as a "forty-five".

#24 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:49 am

National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier discusses Magnum's gun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt7yu1Y6_lE

paperwar · #25 Post by **paperwar** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:49 am

Thanks for the link!

pw

linkinzy · #26 Post by **linkinzy** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:53 am

only looking wrote:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7PbGEP1owXc/R ... istols.jpg

Here's yet another photo.

Wow they are amazing, for me as a gun lover I can say they are cool.

Sean Thornton · #27 Post by **Sean Thornton** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:57 am

I have been a big Magnum fan since the beginning. I have always loved the 1911 .45/9mm pistol he carried. Since I now also do WWII reenacting I thought I would blank adapt a 1911 in 9mm and see how it works. I had previously done a .45 but was not pleased with the way it worked. My 9mm blank adapted works fantastic, not 100% but then none of them do. Blanks are cheap since I make them from .223 cases. So for about 10 cents a round it is a blast to shoot.

MaximRecoil · #28 Post by **MaximRecoil** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:48 pm

J.J. Walters wrote:National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier discusses Magnum's gun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt7yu1Y6_lE

I never saw this post, and now that video has been removed. Do you know if it is available anywhere else?

By the way, the National Firearms Museum has a couple of nice high resolution pictures of Magnum's pistol on their site now:

The high resolution images (much higher than the one above) can be found here (click on the download image button there).

I may have mentioned it before, but I don't believe those grips were ever used on the show. Those are USGI brown plastic M1911A1 grips. I've only seen walnut grips on the show.

#29 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:01 am

I can't seem to find it anymore, anywhere! Sorry.

Sam · #30 Post by **Sam** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 1:15 am

Thomas Magnum's Gun - Some Documentation

My blank adapted 9mm 1911

Re: Thomas Magnum's Gun - Some Documentation