You mean like the fact that the Henry rifle in Dances With Wolves was empty in every scene?
It did not look empty to me when Costner was riding horseback and firing during the buffalo hunt scene.
I took a couple of screen shots of that scene.
Notice the position of the brass follower tab in front of Costner's left hand. The Henry rifle was unique in that there was a slot running the length of the underside of the magazine, and a tab on the bottom of the follower stuck down through the slot. That was how the rifle was reloaded, the tab was pulled all the way forward then the false muzzle was rotated, exposing the end of the magazine so cartridges could be loaded. Anyway, the position of the follower tab in this screen shot tells me the magazine in Costner's Henry was about 1/2 full of cartridges at this point.
You can actually see the bright brass follower tab in this photo, with a four or five cartridges lined up behind it.
But if you look very carefully in this screen shot, which takes place moments after Costner shot the buffalo, the bright brass follower tab is further forward, indicating there are now more rounds in the magazine.
So clearly, between takes, Costner's Henry had been loaded with more cartridges for this take.
No, it was not an original Henry rifle, they cost many thousands of dollars on today's collector market, it was an Uberti replica, and yes, he was most likely shooting blanks.
I enjoy watching Westerns, old ones and new ones, and when I get together with my CAS pals we enjoy talking about some of the inconsistencies we have noticed in moves. It just adds to my enjoyment of the genre. It's called suspension of disbelief.
Part of the suspension of disbelief is that one round of 44 Henry Rimfire would put down a buffalo.
I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about the Henry rifle, since I own and shoot an Uberti replica of it.
Here are two shots from one of my favorite Westerns, Lonesome Dove. Gus has been trapped by renegades and is defending himself with his Henry. Yes, it is an Uberti replica of the Henry. Notice the position of the follower tab, indicating the magazine is about half full.
A moment later, one of the renegades heckles him, so Gus raised the long distance sight on his Henry and shoots the renegade in the belly. I don't know how many takes it took to shoot this scene, but the follower tab on Gus's Henry is closer to his hand now, indicating there are less rounds in the magazine.
One of the tricks the movie propmen used to use was to remove the forestock from a Winchester Model 1892, so it resembled a Henry rifle.
Here is a photo of Burt Lancaster shooting what we call a Hollywood Henry in The Scalphunters.
I know I have talked about suspension of disbelief, but it always bothers me when twice in Winchester '73, an actor talks about the Henry rifle, but clearly it is a Winchester Model 1873 in his hands.
I would have to look up exactly when Uberti began making their replicas of the Henry rifle.
My suspicion is Jeff Corey is holding a real, antique Henry rifle in the original version of True Grit, which came out in 1969.
The Man From Laramie came out in 1955. That is a real, antique Henry that Aline MacMahon is brandishing. We don't see her actually shoot it, the shot is heard off camera, then the camera pans to her pointing the rifle. Most likely in 1955 original Henry rifles were not as pricey as they are today, but that is a real, antique Henry.
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