Although the "hero's" gun was just a brass framed 51 Navy, the calling it a G&G I thought was a nice touch, yes they were low production but so was the Walker and no one has a problem with Gus's Walker. Every hero has to have his Excaliber and a plain ol Colt would just be a plain ol Colt. Yes it would have been nice to unscrew the barrel and turn it round, but it didn't happen.
Hey Del,
Good to see we are almost back on topic.
Since we are discussing the firearms on this thread I think you might have misspoken. The revolvers they have Cullen carrying and the prop guys showing are not brass frame '51s, they are brass framed '60s with Navy length brass grips.
If they had used a brass framed '51 that actually would have been closer to the Griswold and Gunnison.
Pietta Brass Frame "1851"Pietta Griswold and GunnisonNotice I didn't say "brass frame G&G," the Pietta Griswold & Gunnison is actually a rather faithful reproduction. It has the right barrel, it's the right caliber, it has the correct cylinder (sans engraving). In all it is a rather faithful copy.
Here's a couple of real ones:
Except for that "Pietta Flare" they put on all of their Navy size grips I think Pietta NAILED IT. There are some minor differences such as the grip bottom angle, but all in all a very nice reproduction.
They are CHEAP too, something any prop department would appreciate.
$179.99 at Cabelas!http://www.cabelas.com/pistols-pietta-griswold-gunnison-36-caliber-revolver.shtmlInstead they went with a Pietta Fantasy Kludge brass frame 8 inch barrel .44 caliber pistol like this
If good Griswold and Gunnison reproductions were hard to come by then we would just say they are doing the best with what they have available at a reasonable cost. The reality is that they (armorer and prop masters) don't know the difference . We can tell they don't from the comments they made during the interviews.
It all comes down to having a "guiding document," a good production commissions those guiding documents for all aspects of the period, clothing, hardware, saddles, tack, camp gear, etc. When it comes to things like a full scale train we might not expect them to have an 1865 vintage steam engine, but when you can buy props like firearms at the prices you can get Piettas then there really isn't a good excuse. I'd be willing to bet hard money the prop guys didn't have a case of brass frame '60s sitting around, they went out and bought them. Too bad.
By all accounts in the trade magazines they aren't an underfunded project. While they don't have the higher profile actors or the budget of
Deadwood they have a much smaller permanent set and camp to deal with. I just hope the premise of the revenge seeking vet doesn't become the overriding week to week theme of the show and instead becomes the intertwined thread that appears from time to time as the season(s) progress.
So far I like the series and I'm looking forward to tonight's episode to see what new characters and firearms show up.
Until then,
Mako