One would think a real gun would feel different and be heavier than a prop gun. One would also think he would check it to make sure.
Now, which crew person wanted the guy dead?
Pretty much the only time true prop guns (ie not real guns) are used is if they’re staying in a visible holster through the entire shot, nobody in the industry likes those fake guns for anything where they’re visible, they don’t look right, they don’t have moving parts. The rest of the time it’s a gun, which is a prop in that everything an actor touches is a prop (anything they don’t touch is decoration).