Sniper II, Tom Baringer's "German Mauser?"

[The Real Hawkeye]

Just watched Sniper II. Beringer's character, the Marine sniper Master Gunnery Sergeant, sees an old rifle, identifies it as a "German Mauser," scopes it, and uses it as his replacement sniper rifle for remainder of movie. Funny thing, though, I could swear it was a Mosin Nagant, and not a German Mauser. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

 

[Gordon]

Why did they force Tom, who knows guns better than that , to indeed name the Russian Moisin sniper as a "German Mauser"?

 

[davera]

Sniper II Mosin

I channel lapped across this the other night and seeing the old school rifle I though surely he's using an 03... but it sure looks like a Mosin. A friend has a nice copy of a Finnish sniper Mosin ... same looking scope, same scope mount, same safety mechanism. When I finally caught a profile of the bolt and safety - Yep Mosin.
Beringer's rifle did have a different bolt handle though.

 

[Ash]

Yeah, that was a Mosin sniper, not a Mauser. They got it wrong. If you notice in Kelly's Heroes, the German sniper in that movie is also using a Mosin. Now, that could technically be correct (though not correct given the location of the sniper and the town), yet in no case is a Mosin a Mauser.

Ash

 

[mustanger98]

I commented on this "burning issue" in another thread... my opinion... I blame the prop department. Some of those prop guys don't know anything about guns and figure if they don't know, neither do we. As far as Tom Beringer doing the scene, I don't know why they didn't change the lines to fit the rifle, except for time being money and they may not have wanted to take the time to change their script. I'd like to know more on that, but I doubt many people think it even matters.

As far as myself ID'ing the weapon, I watched close any time I could thinking it was either a Mosin Nagant 91/30 or a German 1888 Commission Rifle (aka Gew '88). For me, the bolt and safety, as well as the front sight, gave it away as a MN 91/30. IIRC, though, the bolt handle as it was changed for the sniper configuration was either right or close to it, but I haven't looked at more than a couple of MN's in sniper configuration.

 

[White Horseradish]

The script was written in US. The film was shot in, IIRC, Hungary. The prop guys were told to give him a sniper rifle, they gave him what they had handy. As to why Tom Berenger did not see it for himself and say the right thing, I don't know.

 

[Cosmoline]

It's not as bad as "The Blue Max," in which the entire WWI German Army is armed with SMLE's

 

[_N4Z_]

More movie trivia*

The WW2 classic, Kelly's Heroes (Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Carrol O'Conner, etc)... The guy who is snipin' in the church tower towards the end of the movie, if I'm not mistaken, is using a Mosin 91/30.

 

[DMK]

Kelly's heros, while a great, funny movie, was horrible as far as any kind of accuracy. One of the guys has an M14 instead of a Garand. That stuff just ruins it for me. I mean, if you're going to spend that kind of time, trouble and money on something that's as big a production as a movie, at least get the equipment right. I hate it when people have the "good enough" syndrome on projects.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Kelly's heros, while a great, funny movie, was horrible as far as any kind of accuracy. One of the guys has an M14 instead of a Garand. That stuff just ruins it for me. I mean, if you're going to spend that kind of time, trouble and money on something that's as big a production as a movie, at least get the equipment right. I hate it when people have the "good enough" syndrome on projects.

Agreed. When I heard Beringer call the Mosin Nagant a German Mauser, it was a real distraction for me. They should figure that a lot of the people drawn to movies like that are gun savvy, and will not take such inaccuracy well from a favorite character.

 

[Chucksredvette]

"See honey? Its NOT just me!" Chuck informs his wife as he shows her this thread.

 

[farmallmta]

Other movie Mauser goof? Enemy at the Gates....

Final scene, Major Koenig has shot the Russian commissar Danilov, and the scene cuts to Koenig in the hideyhole watching out for movement. He then completely cycles the Mauser bolt: open, back, forward, closed, but no brass seems to eject and there is no foley noise of brass hitting the concrete as elsewhere in the movie. So how did Koenig kill Danilov: with a never before known Mauser muzzle load? .

I replayed it numerous times and never saw or heard the brass eject when he worked the bolt after the Danilov shot. You guys check it and see if it happened. I'm pretty sure it didn't!

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I would, but my copy of Enemy at the Gates somehow sprouted legs and walked out of my house on its own. Haven't seen it in about a year.

 

[cuervo]

I just watched Ronin again last night and noticed the scene where the teflon bullet penetrates DeNiro's vest, after it ricochets off a wall.

Has this joined the "once it's out there, it will never go away" crowd? They could just have easily said it hit his side in the space where the vest velcros the front and back together.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Kelly's heros, while a great, funny movie, was horrible as far as any kind of accuracy. One of the guys has an M14 instead of a Garand. That stuff just ruins it for me. I mean, if you're going to spend that kind of time, trouble and money on something that's as big a production as a movie, at least get the equipment right. I hate it when people have the "good enough" syndrome on projects.

I did not notice that, I'll look for that next time. Although it would have to be in one of the early scenes, the actual squad all have Thompsons IIRC.

 

[Deer Hunter]

"See honey? Its NOT just me!" Chuck informs his wife as he shows her this thread.

Thank you! That made me laugh.

I point out these kind of things all the time, but my friends all shut me up and tell me just to "enjoy the movie".

A particular time this happened was when my class was watching A Time To Kill at the end of the year. In the scene where Samuel L. Jackson kills the two guys that raped his daughter, he is using a fully automatic M16.

He is a poor laborer with barely enough money to keep clothes on the backs of his family members. Yet, somehow, he's got a mint-condition M16, fully automatic assault weapon laying around the house? That doesn't sit well with me. He was a peaceful man with no need for anything like that.

I believe the movie was set in the 1960s.

 

[kentucky_smith]

A Time to Kill was set in the 1980's. He got his cousin to get him a rifle to use.

 

[alamo]

Maybe they'll show The Longest Day this weekend or on June 6th.


Watch for the scene where the single paratrooper is using his clicker in the darkness and mistakes the sound of a Mauser bolt being cycled for an clicker and is shot by the German.

The are 2 shots in very rapid succession, bang-bang. WAY too fast for a bolt to be cycled. Must have been one of those semi-auto 98Ks.

 

[_N4Z_]

M14 in Kellys Heroes? ? ?

Ya, I think your mistaken about M14s in Kelly's Heroes. I've got the dvd and will double check, but having seen in many times over I cannot remember the M14 your speaking of.

You sure your not confusing the BAR with M14? There was a BAR along with Thompsons, etc. Matter of fact most everybody was carrying Thompsons, cept the Hustler who got pinched to carry the cannon (.30cal machinegun).

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I've seen Kelly's Heroes many times, and I would have noticed if there was an M14. I am a stickler for such things. Like the poster above said, you probably caught a glimpse of a BAR.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

That stuff just ruins it for me.

Since you brought it up, watch Patton, sometime. I was into the movie when the first scene where you see our tanks (which should have been Shermans), they used M-60s.

And, in a battle scene, not only did our guys use M-60s, but the Germans were using the same M-60s.

That kinda spoiled it for me.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

in Kelly's Heroes, the German sniper

I missed that part. Where was there a German sniper in Kelly's Heroes?

 

[el44vaquero]

It is a bad soundtrack. He's saying, "best rifle the germans never built" not "best rifle the germans ever built".

 

[Zen21Tao]

The movie faux pas that irritates me the most isn't even gun related. In The Recruit Al Pacino's caracter refers to his home town (in the movie) of Ocala FL as "oak-a-la" when it is actually pernounced "Oh-cal-ah." It may just be that living 40 miles south of Ocala biases my opinion but I find it very insulting to the people of a town when that location is quoted in a movie and out of all the people on the set no one can manage to verify the pronounciation of the town.

 

[45Guy]

I have to agree Zen the name thing is annoying. I'm from WI and every time it is said in a movie or on TV the say it with a gap between Wis and sconsin. IT'S NOT 2 WORDS . But to keep this on topic, I saw Saving Private Ryan again last night, and I realize that it's to get the blanks to cycle, but that 6" extension on the BAR got distracting.