Talk:Public Enemies

Firearms in "Public Enemies" Trailer

The "unidentified rifle" is actually the Remington Model 8 autoloader. Another semiauto rifle appears in the very last screenshot under the Thompson SMG section. While the bank robber in the foreground has a Thompson, the guy in the background is armed with what appears to be a Winchester Model 1907. Look closely at how the guy is holding the weapon at the trigger guard, it's obvious there's no pistol grip there and it's actually a stocked rifle. This particular rifle is modified with a vertical foregrip so at first glance it does appear to be a Thompson. These rifles were used by the Dillinger gang and can be seen in this photo of confiscated weapons: http://www.auto-ordnance.com/AO-3F3.html In the photo, a Winchester modified with a muzzle brake is right next to the Thompson. I also think I saw a Remington Model 11 autoloading shotgun in the trailer. It was in the hands of the FBI agent who bursts into Dillinger's room and knocks him down.--Phillb36 22:57, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Phillb36 - you are absolutely correct that the rifle in the backround is a Winchester 1907 - you can clearly see the distinctive 10-round magazine - good call! This should be a heck of a good movie.

Can't Wait To See This

I'm glad Michael Mann is back to making gun heavy movies (and ones that don't suck like Miami Vice...) and hope this has the same aspects as Heat. Prohibition is a great time for films to cover. - Gunmaster45

Yeah, I'm really excited about this one myself. The trailer alone was really cool. -MT2008

I read the script a few months ago and it looks pretty good. Although not 100% accurate, it does a really good job telling the true story of Dillinger and I think it'd be a great return to form for Mann, I'm really pumped for it. -Speakeasy804

Nyles here, didn't bother logging in. Man At Arms For The Gun Collector has an interesting article in the current issue that claims Dillinger carried a Super 38, not a .45 Government Model, and that the infamous machine pistols were also .38 Supers.

Dillinger carried .38 Supers, but we won't simply claim that on the page as one anonymous user kept doing (with poor grammer/spelling) because we don't actually know that they didn't just use .45s. Since Steve took photos of some of the guns used in this movie (note the M1911A1 from the film in the picture is in .45 ACP), he'd likely know if any of the guns were in .38 Super. Just assuming isn't good gun identification. Also, I think Purvis favored the .38 Super as well, but I may be wrong on that. As for the revolvers used in the movie, wait till the DVD comes out before we ID those, we can't play that as well by memory. - Gunmaster45

What was the shoulder rig Depp used??

Colt Terminology

There's some incorrect terminology used in this (and, technically, many other) articles in the site, but on this one it's really noticable. M1911 and M1911A1 only refers to pistols made for the US military - pistols made for the civilian market, with or without the A1 modifications, were called the 1911 Government Model. Now, that's a nitpicky point, since they're commonly refered to as 1911s today, and you usually have to see the markings to know the difference (though by the same token that's like calling every Beretta 92 an M9).

But what makes it glaring here is calling a .38 Super an M1911A1. It's not the same gun - not only was it not a military-issue pistol (the US military, since it's introduction in 1932, has acquired a grand total of 2 .38 Supers, depending on if you count a few hundred for the OSS), Colt didn't even consider it the same as a Government Model. It was sold as the Super 38, and that IS the commonly accepted term for it. Seems to me if we know it's a .38 Super, then we should be calling it a Super 38.

Visit the M1911 pistol series page for an explaination on why we call them M1911A1s, regardless. - Gunmaster45

I agree that it's pointless to try and differentiate M1911s from commerical 1911s (though I'd rather see them just called 1911s instead of M1911s), but a Super 38 isn't an M1911A1 OR a Government Model, it's a Super 38. I'm not saying it needs it's own page but it ought to have it's own heading on the 1911 page. Although it's kinda of a moot point, looking at the prop I see it's a 1960s era gun that they slapped some (incorrect) double diamond grips on, and by then production of .38 Supers actually had merged with the .45s.

Nyles: What you are say is correct in a way. The sales staff at Colt still called it a 1911 Government Model even though the pistol had the 1911A1 modifications to it. So to everyone out there that sees it it's a 1911A1 even the Colt Model 1927 pistols so to Brazil. The .38 Super like the .22 Ace is still based on the 1911A1 Government Model frame as only the top end is different. There is no point to make a sepparate page for the .38 Super variation. I know it's good to point this out but I agree was Gunmaster45 that it should stay the same. -Phoenixent 23:59, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm nor saying that we should make a seperate page, I say that quite clearly up there. Just that you shouldn't call a Super 38 an M1911. We differentiate between a 1911A1 and a Series 70, when the only difference is the barrel, a gun marketed under a different name, in a different caliber, using a different system for headspacing, should also be differentiated.

Also, the Model 1927 wasn't made for Brazil, it was for and in Argentina. Brazil used the S&W M1937, which was an updated M1917 revolver.

I wouldn't be totally opposed to making a separate entry on the 1911 page for the 38 Super. Only question is, do we know of any other movies besides Public Enemies that have used one? If not, then it seems just a tad pointless. -MT2008

The only .38 Super used in the movie was the machine pistol and it was changed to 9mm so what is the problem. You are shoveling .... on this the 1911 is the original configuration, the 1911A1 is a 1911 with governmernt changes, the series 70 has changes and the series 80 has changes. Each weapon had the designation changed either offically or unoffically to acknowledge the changes so what is the problem on this. Is the 38 super a completely different weapon the the 1911A1? The answer is no as you are talking about 7 parts in the top end and the frames and lower parts are all the same. I agree with MT2008 that it would be pointless to make a separate entry for it just not the differance. This is a listing of 1911 style handguns used in film not a Colt Automatic Pistol website with all change and part variations. The handguns used in the film are 1911A1 pre-war commercial pistols in .45 used to represent Dillingers .38 Super pistols. The machine pistol shoild have a separate entry as it might show up in another movie.-Phoenixent 09:47, 12 July 2009 (UTC)