Posted on 12/02/2021 1:49:33 PM PST by marcusmaximus
A sheriff and gun expert are expressing doubt about Alec Baldwin's claim that he did not pull the trigger on the set of the film Rust, despite an attorney for the film's assistant director backing up the actor's claim.
'The trigger wasn't pulled, I didn't pull the trigger,' the actor told George Stephanopoulos in an interview set to air Thursday night, often having to pause to collect himself as he discussed the death of Halyna Hutchins.
-snip-
Bryan W. Carpenter, a weapons armorer who works for Dark Thirty Film Services, said that this is highly unlikely.
'In order to make it fire, you have to put your thumb up onto the hammer, cock the hammer all the way back, and then as the hammer is completely cocked back, then you pull the trigger and then the gun fires,' Carpenter told Fox News. 'So that's very important because that gun had to have two step process to fire. It had to be cocked and the trigger pulled to fire.'
Carpenter continued: 'Once you cock the hammer back on one of those old west guns, it doesn't take a lot to set that trigger off.'
His comments come after Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza told the outlet that 'guns don't just go off. So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, [Baldwin] did that and it was in his hands.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
😂🤣😂🤣
Pietta makes several types of revolvers. The old style with the half cock position and another version with a transfer bar.
If it was the earlier model the half cock was supposed to stop the fall of the hammer unless it was sheared off.
If the revolver used was one with the transfer bar then you HAVE to pull the trigger to make it go “Bang”.
Here is a schematic of the Pietta version like the original Colt, and a new version with the transfer bar.
Still no excuse for pulling, cocking and pointing a firearm at someone.
https://www.vtigunparts.com/store/images/1873%20Pietta%20SA.png
It happened to him? He made it happen.
Arrogant scumbag killed this women and should be sent away for life
Even when doing a scene someone shoots toward the camera for effect, they never do it with someone directly behind them camera.
Or so I’ve read
He was likely playing Quickdraw McGraw with it
What sucks, it doesn’t sound like there’s much in NM law that allows for much criminal penalty. Especially since the DA is a flaming lib
Hopefully, since the bar for civil liability is much lower, he gets it in the wallet, good and hard
I don’t know NM law. However I’m pretty sure that if some random crew member or camper or any nobody did what Arec did he would have been charged by now.
That’s what I thought it was, too. People don’t realize how easily that type of gun can “go off.”
So something I have not heard anything on. He shot and killed a cinamatographer, and (I guess) the single bullet hit her and then hit the director. Doesn’t she have her murder on film? Certsinly would show who really pulled the triger. But seeing how this is a magic bullet, I don’t discount a 2nd gunman on the grassy knowl.
They don’t just go off, but they absolutely can fire from a variety of stimuli besides pulling the trigger. Banging the stock or pistol grip of certain rifles and pistols are well known causes.
Maybe it was a really, really hot day and the round cooked off.
/s
the lawyers are doing a good job of confusing the issue.
It is my understanding that firearms capable of firing real/live ammunition are never to be on set when filming.
If it is to be used during filming, the firearm must be incapable of loading, containing, or firing live ammunition.
So, why was Mr. Baldwin holding a real and loaded firearm during filming?
There is a half-cock notch in the sear that will catch the hammer and stop it before it hits the firing pin if your thumb slips off the hammer spur before you fully cock the pistol.
That's the first *click* you hear when pulling back the hammer, then the second *click* is the full cock sear.
I agree.
There' crisis management going on!
This is important work!
You know how awful arec barwin looks in a $5,000 Italian suit?
Now, imagine him in an orange prison jumpsuit or even, Gaia forbid, a black and white one.
Horizontal stripes are not flattering to the chubby!.
This man cannot go to prison!
Fashion and Hollyweird won't allow it!
Obviously, malfunctions can happen due to worn, damaged, or out-of-spec parts. It would probably be pretty tough to heat up a single action revolver cylinder enough to cook off a round (although in theory, the proper combination of worn/damaged parts can cause one to go "full auto" ;>)...
I could heat one to that point in a short time with a propane torch, but I won’t. As for a revolver going “full auto”, no. Think about how a revolver works.
If it was me, the first words out of my mouth would have been “I did not pull the trigger” Waiting this long pretty much means it is calculated excuse.
I didn't believe it either, until I read the explanation, on a firearms forum somewhere. Picture a traditional single action revolver, with the firing pin attached to the hammer. Now, picture the tip of the firing pin being damaged (due to fracture, flaking, or 'Bubba with a file'), in such a way that it becomes much sharper than designed and originally manufactured. Finally, picture the firing pin having too much clearance or space around it, where it passes through the frame behind the cylinder (this could happen due to a missing bushing, corrosion, wear, etc.).
So what could happen if someone put five rounds in the cylinder, cocked the revolver, and pulled the trigger? The hammer drops, fires the cartridge, and because of damage to the tip of the firing pin, the primer is pierced. If it's a large caliber revolver (.357, .44, .45), significant amounts of high pressure propellant gas escapes through the pierced primer. Because of the clearance around the firing pin, enough gas shoots past the firing pin to drive the hammer to the rear, rotating the cylinder as it does. The hammer goes all the way back, and (because the shooter has not released the trigger) immediately starts forward again, hitting and piercing the primer on the unfired cartridge that has just rotated into position. The sequence repeats, until the shooter releases the trigger, or the hammer falls on an empty chamber or fired cartridge case.
The situation described above reportedly happened somewhere in the US (resulting in a fatality), but since I can't verify it or even cite a source, I thought it best to describe it as a theoretical possibility. And I think (theoretically ;>) it is possible...
I don’t think the volume and pressure of gas escaping from a pierced primer would be sufficient to drive the hammer back fully against a full-strength spring (which would be necessary to pierce the next primer) and rotate the cylinder as well. Also, the primer itself would probably be pushed out of the pocket and jam the cylinder rotation. It sounds like a pretty far-fetched what-if to me, and I doubt that anyone could even deliberately rig a revolver to do that.
I guess the main thing to consider is, we all find it easy to picture properly functioning firearms, because that's generally what we own and shoot. But malfunctions do occur - including (on very rare occasions) guns firing with nothing touching the trigger (ask me how I know ;>)...
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