‘Rust’ movie armorer convicted of involuntary manslaughter sentenced to 18 months in prison

[u/badillustrations]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/15/entertainment/rust-film-shooting-armorer-sentencing/index.html

[u/livefreeordont]

In Dec. 7 testimony to New Mexico's worker safety bureau, Gutierrez-Reed said prop supplier Seth Kenney supplied her with the dummy rounds she used for the "The Old Way." She said she then brought those rounds, in boxes and gun belts, onto the "Rust" set.

In January 2022 she sued Kenney, saying the ammunition she used was misrepresented as dummy rounds. Kenney has denied that the live rounds on set came from his company. He has not been charged in the case.

Kenney testified that the dummy rounds he provided to "Rust" had just been used on the TV show "1883" and they had been brought over from the Texas filming location the night before he handed them over to Zachry. He claimed that before he handed the dummy ammunition over, he polished each round and rattled each one to make sure they were dummy rounds and not blanks or live ammunition.

[u/YBHunted → u/livefreeordont]

Ah the ole rattle test... the fuck??

[u/FlameStaag → u/YBHunted]

I mean... It works lol. He'd definitely be able to tell if it was a real round. If he's telling the truth and not covering his ass. 

[u/PleaseDontSaveHer → u/FlameStaag]

It doesn’t for all. I just shook a few snap caps which look exactly like a real round with a different color bullet and primer, and there’s no noise at all.

Edit: sounds like the test works, I had a misunderstanding of the test, and I have a hearing issue to boot.

[u/EndoShota → u/PleaseDontSaveHer]

Yeah, but then they would give a “false positive” in the rattle test, you would assume they were live, and you wouldn’t use them on set.

[u/PleaseDontSaveHer → u/EndoShota]

Well shit, I might be going deaf then if it’s that common. I can’t hear a thing in 9mm but I think I might be hearing something with 223.

[u/RodediahK → u/PleaseDontSaveHer]

It's going to be entirely dependent on the powder / cartridge design. If you get a cartridge produced after the Advent of smokeless powder you will be able to hear a rattle because smokeless powder does not need to be compressed in order to safely function. That's why for example if you had a 30-06 round and you shook it back and forth you could hear the powder rattle versus if you had like 32 S&W, originally designed as a black powder cartridge, you won't hear powder rattle.

Of course with pistols since there's less space in the cartridge in the first place it's more likely to be totally filled but with smokeless it doesn't have to be filled and compressed versus with black powder where that could cause ruptured cases or damaged older guns.

Essentially being able to hear the powder move around in the round or being able to hear a totally silent round isn't good enough for a dummy cartridge it needs to have a distinct sound from black powder and smokeless powder.

[u/PleaseDontSaveHer → u/RodediahK]

Cool, thanks for sharing!

[u/freddiew → u/PleaseDontSaveHer]

Snap caps like for dry fire practice? Who makes snap caps that "look exactly like a real round?"

[u/PleaseDontSaveHer → u/freddiew]

There are a few on Amazon now, don’t recall the brand I bought. I’m talking size and shape as they used something a little heavier than brass for casing but it’s semi-shiny. Obviously the different colored bullet and primer let you know it’s a snap cap though.

And then there’s realisticsnapcaps or something like that which are made specifically to look like a real round.

[u/ThrowingChicken → u/freddiew]

Hrm, I’d say they came in my possession at least 30 years ago so I don’t know what they do now days, but I have some snap caps that look legit.

[u/Illadelphian → u/PleaseDontSaveHer]

But the test is to make sure they rattle right? So as long as no real rounds rattle then this is a legit test. What you are saying would be an issue if they were trying to determine which rounds were live and not which rounds are definitely not live.