Hellboy's Gun

[ogukuo72]

I know this topic is really history, but it deals with historical firearms!

Watched the movie Hellboy last night. Really great movie! Quite a lot of firepower on display too. But I've got a question that I hope someone could answer:

Hellboy's revolver is obviously made up from some Webley type break-open revolver. Question is, which one is it? Can anyone tell?

Another question, at one scene in the museum, the agents opened a trunk to reveal a number of speedloaders holding ammunition for Hellboy's revolver. It has a black body with a brass ring sticking out vertically on top.

Any idea of this speedloader is made up or is an actual product?

[kutter]

Looking at pics of Hellboy's revolver it looks like it's an entirely custom piece. Break action revolvers like the Webley may have been an inspiration but looking at the sheer size of it I don't think theres any revolver big enough to convert.
http://www.mamegyorai.co.jp/images/full/21432-3.jpg

[DeltaWhisky58]

I don't know about this film weapon, but pre-WW1, Webley produced a "self cocking" or "automatic" revolver called the Webley Fosbery which was quite popular with British officers in WW1. This was a massive .455 calibre break-top rveolver which was usually supplied cased together with a number of speedloaders.

http://www.cruffler.com/WebleyFosbery1.jpg

The Webley Fosbery was larger than the standard .455 Webleys and Enfields - could this be a possibility? The easy identification factor with the Webley Fosbery isa zig-zag pattern of grooves on the cyliner which engaged a stud on the frame and rotated the cyliner as the barrel/cylinder recoilled back and forth on the frame thus re-cocking the hammer.

[ogukuo72]

The "stirrup" type of lock catch looks like one of the earliest Webley type known as Webley-Green.

I'm quite intrigued by the type of speed-loaders shown in the movie because I've never seen them before. I've seen pictures of the Prideaux type and the Watson type, but didn't realise a third type might exist for Webley revolvers.

[GeraldDuval]

If you want to see the selfcocking webly in a movie, look up zardoz. Its a speedo wearing, hippie killing sean connery's main weapon that he gets from a giant flying stone head that spits out guns and says "Guns are good, penis is bad!" rofl

[ogukuo72]

It's just too bad that the cannon fodders ... I mean the BPRD agents ... were only issued with USP Compacts. I would have thought that they would bring along some more serious firepower to a bug hunt. Maybe 0.50 AE Desert Eagles?

An interesting note: one of Webley & Scott's earliest break-open revolver is an example that fires 0.577in rounds! Food for thought!

[DeltaWhisky58]

The "stirrup" type of lock catch looks like one of the earliest Webley type known as Webley-Green.

I'm quite intrigued by the type of speed-loaders shown in the movie because I've never seen them before. I've seen pictures of the Prideaux type and the Watson type, but didn't realise a third type might exist for Webley revolvers.

AFAIK the Prideaux type of speed loader was originally designed for the Webley .455 revolvers, and in particular the Webley-Fosbery.

[_yarrick]

or maybe the speed-loaders were made by props like the gun :)

[ogukuo72]

The wonders of slow-mo. I scan through the scene frame by frame. (I know! This borders on obsessive compulsive behaviour!) ;)

Looks to me like it's a kind of sliding speedloader like the Maxfire, i.e. the rounds are held by metal clips in staggered steps, and they slide out one side of the speedloader. You insert the rounds into the revolver, grasp the brass ring (which is off-set to one side), and slide the speedloader away from the cyclinder to dump all the rounds in.

If it's a made-up prop instead of being a version of a real speedloader, then I must say that it's great attention to detail on the prop master's part!