The Firearm Blog

[ I have done my best to ensure there are no spoilers in this blog post, but read forth at your own risk and DON'T read the comments that are below the blog post. All pictures are from the trailers and promotional material, not the movie itself. ]

Two readers emailed me saying that many of the weapons I mentioned in my 5 Weapons that should’ve been in Transformers 2 post were used in new hit sci-fi movie District 9. I was considering seeing the movie, but after hearing this I decided I had to go. It was fantastic! Despite being a low budget production, they must have hired a very competent weapons consultant. The weapons used were appropriate for the task at hand and were used correctly, something few action, or even historical, movies do right.

Where can I buy this target?

There are three main human factions in the movie. The Multi-National United is organization styled after the UN. The Mercenaries (I can’t remember what they are called in the movie) are private military contractors styled after the likes of Blackwater (Xe). The Gangsters live among the aliens and are involved in the arms trade.

The movie is set in South Africa so it is no surprise that many of the weapons used in the movie are weapons produced by the South African defense industry.

Multi-National United (MNU)

Vektor CR-21 – This is the “white” gun used by the MNU. The 5.56 mm CR-21 is a bullpup version of the Vektor R4. The R4 is the South African licensed-built version of the Israeli Galil (an AK-47 derivative).

CR-21

R1 (FN FAL) – The R1 was the South African licensed-built FN FAL. In the movie it is used by airborne snipers.

R1 / FN FAL

Unknown Pump Action Shotgun – A pump action shotgun is used by a minor character. I could not identify it.

Mercenaries

Vektor R5 – This is the carbine version of the Vektor R4 rifle. The R5 has a 13.1″ barrel.

Vektor R5.

Colt M4 with M203 – Some troops appear to be using the M4 Carbine and M203 grenade launcher.

Colt M4/M203

FN Minimi – Better known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

FN Minimi

PMP Neopup PAW – I am pretty sure this awesome semi-automatic grenade launcher was used briefly.

Denel NTW-20 – This South African made 20mm rifle was used too good effect.

Unknown Machine Pistol – A machine pistol or submachine gun was used in one scene, but I could not identify it. UPDATE: Commenters point out that it was the BXP.

Unknown Pistol – I could not identify the pistols carried by the mercs. UPDATE: IMFDB says it was a Beretta 92FS.

Gangsters

AK-47 – Not introduction needed.

RPG-7 – Again, no introduction need. Used realistically in the film.

RPG-7

Milkor MGL – I was surprised to see the gangsters packing this. I only saw it in one scene.

M1911 pistol – I am pretty sure a 1911 clone is used by one of the gangsters.

Aliens

Unknown weaponry

Alien Assault Rifle

While watching the movie I tried to keep track of what guns they were using. I probably missed many and I had trouble identifying some. Please post a comment below if noticed any mistakes or omissions I have made or identify any of the unknown weapons listed.

Thanks to Cory and Raymond for their emails regarding the movie weapons.

UPDATE: More info at IMFDB (Spoiler alert).

The Times reports the Mumbai police are now complaining about having to use WWI rifles (probably not quite true) and WWII helmets. Can you believe the audacity of these cowards!

The contrast between them was vividly illustrated yesterday by CCTV footage of two militants attacking Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, Mumbai’s main railway station, last Wednesday.

It shows the gunmen spraying automatic fire while two constables cower behind pillars, one armed with a .303 rifle similar to the Lee-Enfield weapons used by British troops in the First World War.

Lee-Enfield Rifle No 4 Mk I

In other words: locally produced .303 Lee-Enfield Rifle No 4 Mk I. rifles (Used by the Allies in WWII) or Ishapore .308 Lee-Enfields. Now you may think its an unfair fight with the terrorist rate of fire far higher than the police but consider this:

Terrorists: 16
Mumbai police force: 16,308 (based on India’s ratio of 126 officers per 100,000 population)
Approx. ratio of terrorists to officers: 1:1000

AK Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minutes (effective rate of fire of fire when taking into account reloading is much less)
Lee Enfield rate of fire: 20+ aimed rounds per minute (a well trained operator).

Terrorist rate of fire: 9600 rounds per minute.
Police rate of fire: 327,600 rounds per minute.

The majority of the force would not be front line officers nor would they have 16,000 rifles, but you see the point I am trying to make.

“The helmets used last week were World War Two-era, not designed for combat,” he said.

I need not comment on this ridiculous statement.

Y. P. Singh, who retired after 20 years in the Maharashtra police in 2005, said that he knew of two batches of body armour that had failed tests in 2001 and 2004. “They couldn’t take rounds from AK47 or AK56,” he said. “The bullets pierced the jackets.”

(No doubt they are referring to the Chinese Type 56 AK clone. There is no AK-56)

Most police forces around the world likely use Type II armor. I don’t think anyone expected the cops to charge the terrorist with fixed bayonets.

Most of the police involved were carrying .303s or self-loading rifles like those adopted by the British Army in the 1950s.

Some officers said that they were not given enough weapons training because of a shortage of ammunition and shooting ranges. In theory, all officers shoot 50 rounds a year in training. In practice, senior officers get their full quota with small arms.

They then admit that their arsenal also includes the [likely semi-] automatic 7.62mm NATO FN FAL. From their performance I would have guessed they never trained with arms.

Type 56 (Top)

I would be criticizing any police force, from any country or city, if they performed this badly.

mattling posted this comment on the poor police response on the previous post where I discussed the attacks:

Numerous reasons:

1. Everyone’s gotten used to bomb blasts in Mumbai and Delhi.
2. Police forces still carry equipment from WWII (not that old but the factories all make replicas)
3. Even after years of dealing with the mob and terrorism, police hierarchy is simply not equipped to deal with these kinds of threats.
4. Private citizens can’t import modern guns, make do with homemade and unreliable pistols.
5. No intelligence on the ground and lack of inter-agency coordination.
6. Corruption plays a part as well.
Pretty much the same reasons that led to 9/11 and that lead to general police incompetence in any american city, except here the police vans don’t have kevlar lining in their doors and ambulances are cramped 10 year old suvs converted for private use. All these factors (and more) led to a domino effect which resulted in a days long siege where it would’ve ended in a matter of an evening in America.
You know there’s something wrong when police are setting up cordons with bungee cords. How do you expect them to contain these attackers on the move? Senior officers were killed within the early hours leading to even more chaos on the ground. The joker couldn’t have schemed it better. (And he’s the ultimate schemer of them all, despite all appearances and catchphrases).
Horrible analogy, but this was Heat turned into “The Kingdom”.

In unrelated new: I am kicking myself for recently turning down a Lee Enfield mk. 5 Jungle Carbine (a real one) for a very good price.

[ Photos from Wikipedia ]

An interesting comparison between a suppressed .308 FAL vs. an Unsuppressed FAL.

The unsuppressed shot comes right at the end of the video.

They were using a AAC Cyclone 7.62MM Suppressor:

The CYCLONE is a thread-mounting silencer for 7.62mm bolt action and semi-automatic rifles. Constructed entirely from welded 300 series stainless steel, the 8.38″ Lg x 1.50″ diameter CYCLONE is the most compact and durable 7.62mm rifle silencer on the market. The computer optimized baffle stack of the CYCLONE delivers a substantial frequency shift, and the resulting muzzle report is indistinguishable from the ballistic crack of the projectile in flight. The weapon’s flash signature is completely eliminated, and recoil is reduced to the extent the shooter can actually see bullet impact through the scope. The slight added weight of the CYCLONE will assist in reducing barrel harmonics which can equate to a significant increase in accuracy with many host-weapons.

More on the suppressor here

Advice on setting FAL gas flow by the Director of Training for DSA (makers of FAL clones).

Not knowing that one can control gas-flow on this weapon has led to countless customer-service calls to DSA, complaining that the rifle ‘doesn’t work.’ The following is laid out in great detail in the Owners’s Manual, of course, but we are happy to explain to each owner how the gas-regulator works and then walk them through correct gas-regulator adjustment. Invariably, when we’re finished, like a miracle, the rifle suddenly runs fine! ….

More here.

From JWR @ Survival Blog:

In answer to your questions, yes, FALs are still being made, but they are no longer being made in Belgium by FN.

The FN-built FAL rifles are considered the benchmark of quality, and bring a premium price. Most of the FALs on the market in the US these days are “parts kits” gun, assembled with used military parts and newly-manufactured semi-auto receivers. (These receivers have an ejector block that cannot accept the full automatic sear.)

The quality of these rifles varies widely. A few are assembled by people that shouldn’t be trusted mounting car tires, much less headspacing a rifle. Therefore, I recommend that you buy a FAL only from a reputable, well-known manufacturer, or that you acquire your own receiver and parts set, and have it custom built by a gunsmith such as CGW (one of our advertisers) or Arizona Response Systems. The U.S. “factory” maker that I recommend is DSA. They make umpteen FAL variants.

More here.

Very cool! But it weights 6.5 Lbs / 2.95 kg when loaded!

Of course if it is not reliable then it is just dead weight!

More here.

Who doesn’t like looking at guns While I would not call this beautiful I would call it sexy!

Click the images to increase their size.

Hat Tip: kcub @ The Gun Network Forum

(This gun is for sale. I have absolutely no connection to the seller)