Jeremiah Johnson Movie question

[Jumpshot]

The 'making of' feature says that a lot of the scenes were filmed on Redford's privately-owned land in Utah.

 

[John Tice]

Does anyone know if the rubber guns shoot rubber bullets ? :hmm: Good for riotous hippies I'd imagine.

 

[Vaino]

Like a lot of the land depicted in western movies, what on earth can be raised or grown on such arid but beautiful land? In "The Searchers" starring John Wayne {one of his best} there's another setting {Monument Valley} where sagebrush and cactus grow but little else. These are lands that have to be overlooked in respect to the "settler's" lousy judgements as to where to live and to survive. As hard as I try when viewing movies w/ these types of landscapes, the thought keeps popping up..."these settlers were idiots to endanger themselves and their families by living on such arid, desolate land and even subjecting same to hostiles". Nowadays, this type of country is desirable and big money is spent by some to enjoy the wondrous views and seclusion and all the while utilizing all the modern conveniences. If Redford {a true conservationist} wants to enjoy and preserve his patch of this kind of land, more power to him......Fred

 

[spudnut]

[
Did you see the $5,000.00 elk? It was the one he shot when he was hunting with Bear Claw. It was shot without a tag and the State of Wyoming nailed them.
[/quote]

Ya mean a hollywood treehugger type was involved in the actual illegal killing of an animal?

 

[Splais]

JJ was on TCM last night. Very early in the movie when they showed JJ firing that 30 cal Hawkin they showed a clear shot of the barrel end. :rotf: That was no 30 cal Hawkin even if such a thing existed. :hmm:

 

[Golfswithwolves]

It was answered earlier in the thread- common usage of the language in those days past was to refer to a rifle as (for example) 30 caliber when what was meant was that it took 30 balls to the pound. Same as 30 gauge, but they would often say "caliber". Unfortunately this led to a bad interpretation by the movie's screenwriters and therefore they messed up with this idea that Johnson tried to carry a rifle that was hardly even large enough to shoot squirrels with. In reality he always had a proper rifle from the start, but the error by the writers DID give us a memorable scene with the dead trapper as they tried to explain away Johnson's supposed small caliber rifle. Hollywood writers should learn some things about shooting before they try to get too fancy with reading and interpreting the historical records. :nono:

 

[omarick1948]

[
Did you see the $5,000.00 elk? It was the one he shot when he was hunting with Bear Claw. It was shot without a tag and the State of Wyoming nailed them.

Ya mean a hollywood treehugger type was involved in the actual illegal killing of an animal?[/quote]

Someone stated several years ago in a magazine article,that this was one of those"URBAN LEGEND" things,that a Denver movie critic started. There were no found records of a fine through public information of game violations records, which are public records. The rubber gun reason is for insurance liability reasons. I worked on a mini-series years ago and most of the guns (AK-47's etc.) were rubber. Close-up and action scene's were with the real guns. Even the 50 MG's were rubber on the Tanks and Jeeps!

 

[jethro224]

I don't know what calibers or gauges the real life Liver Eatin' Johnson ever carried.

The narrator in the Jeremiah Johnson movie says "He was lookin' for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30 but, damn, it was a genuine Hawken. You couldn't get any better."

The bore does look a bit large for a .30 caliber. Maybe he had it coned. :wink:

 

[omarick1948]

A narrative about the caliber, was just that!...Movie narrative!

I think the statement was made to set the story line!....99% of the movie go'er's wouldn't of noticed or care for that flubbed fact! Only people like ourselves who are interested in the statement and know about such facts seem to point these things out everytime a movie geared towards our interest comes along. Let's be happy that there are AT LEAST A FEW MOVIES made for our interest's.....period!

I know that movie triggered a lot of interest in black powder muzzleloading and Mountainmen era history...We should at least give in credit for that!

 

A narrative about the caliber, was just that!...Movie narrative!

I think the statement was made to set the story line!....99% of the movie go'er's wouldn't of noticed or care for that flubbed fact! Only people like ourselves who are interested in the statement and know about such facts seem to point these things out everytime a movie geared towards our interest comes along. Let's be happy that there are AT LEAST A FEW MOVIES made for our interest's.....period!

I know that movie triggered a lot of interest in black powder muzzleloading and Mountainmen era history...We should at least give in credit for that!

Exactly. Somebody gets it!

The "caliber" of his first gun is so irrelevant, I can't believe all you guys keep harping on it. It's a movie and his caliber was one of the least important aspects of the story line.

It's as if you're all trying to seem like such experts because of a single inline in a movie. :shake:

I'll be willing to bet that most of our critics here, if they reenact at all, have mixed time periods in their gear, but one little line in a movie is a big deal to them.

 

[jethro224]

The original poster asked about ignition type on JJ's guns. They were percussion.

He also mentioned caliber. That's what got the discussion started.

The discussion is about The Movie.

 

[tnguy]

armisport made some halfstocks that closely resembled hatchet jacks rifle. a buddy of mine has a pair in 36 and 50 he got on gun broker. he took the 50 and added the inlays to it just like the one in the movie. near the end of the movie the rifle that gets hit with a bullet is hatchet jacks. you can see the patch box details good in that scene.im not sure if these model guns were the style used in the movie, but they both look very close.

 

[Jumpshot]

The "caliber" of his first gun is so irrelevant...

Not when that's the topic of the discussion.

 

[Golfswithwolves]

I don't know what calibers or gauges the real life Liver Eatin' Johnson ever carried.

The narrator in the Jeremiah Johnson movie says "He was lookin' for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30 but, damn, it was a genuine Hawken. You couldn't get any better."
Mr. Jethro- Sorry I guess I did not say it clear enough. The narrator spoke nonsense, in mis-interpretation of the historical record which said that Johnson had a 30 caliber rifle. What he would have had is a 30 gauge (same in old talk as 30 caliber), which is bigger than .50 inches in diameter. Bigger than a modern .50 caliber. Not the same as a modern .30 caliber. Big. :surrender:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Still, it would be nice if they got it right. There's that scene where J.J. touches off Hatchet Jack's Hawken and he flops around like a fish out of water supposedly because of the fierce recoil. This of course is nonsense, but I've had a few people who have seen the film and have never fired a muzzleloader refuse to fire my Hawken because "those old guns kick too hard." Now, anyone who has done a bit of research knows that there isn't much that is factual in the film, including the main character's name. But from the novice's point of view, it's completely different. Perhaps films such as this one should start with a disclaimer: Based on a true story, but containing a lot of Hollywood B.S. Disbelief is strongly recommended. :v

 

[jethro224]

I don't know what calibers or gauges the real life Liver Eatin' Johnson ever carried.

The narrator in the Jeremiah Johnson movie says "He was lookin' for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30 but, damn, it was a genuine Hawken. You couldn't get any better."

Mr. Jethro- Sorry I guess I did not say it clear enough. The narrator spoke nonsense, in mis-interpretation of the historical record which said that Johnson had a 30 caliber rifle. What he would have had is a 30 gauge (same in old talk as 30 caliber), which is bigger than .50 inches in diameter. Bigger than a modern .50 caliber. Not the same as a modern .30 caliber. Big. :surrender:

You are correct. A 30 gauge would be a tight .54 caliber. Would have been a good choice for the real life mountain man. :thumbsup:

My point, however, was that it was a fictional movie we were discussing. Not any interpretation of a historical record, just entertainment. In the movie, Jeremiah Johnson started out with a .30 caliber. :v

 

[Jim Buchholz]

Well perhaps it is .30 caliber,thats why JJ's rifle sounds like a 300 Win mag. Its not like any bp rifle I've ever heard.

 

[Grey Hawk]

This has been great information. My original questions were, cap or flint..and caliber. The rest of the info is like gravy to the potatoes. I had asked the cap or flint question, because I rarely saw smoke and I never saw any use of a capper or a the priming of a pan. In my VERY limited experience. I own both a GPR .50 Flint and Percussion. I seem to be able to load and fire the flint faster. Plus the cap inventory is a limited amount. I have a significant stash of caps, but a Good Flint spark is just a quick knap away. As for caliber, I just saw a big hole in the end of the barrel and saw him shoot both rifles about the same at first, then shoot them basically one handed when fighting the war party.
SOOO in a fight or flight situation, which would any of you rather have.

Thank to all
and Merry Christmas

Grey Hawk

 

[jimmytheshank]

This has been great information. My original questions were, cap or flint..and caliber. The rest of the info is like gravy to the potatoes. I had asked the cap or flint question, because I rarely saw smoke and I never saw any use of a capper or a the priming of a pan. In my VERY limited experience. I own both a GPR .50 Flint and Percussion. I seem to be able to load and fire the flint faster. Plus the cap inventory is a limited amount. I have a significant stash of caps, but a Good Flint spark is just a quick knap away. As for caliber, I just saw a big hole in the end of the barrel and saw him shoot both rifles about the same at first, then shoot them basically one handed when fighting the war party.
SOOO in a fight or flight situation, which would any of you rather have.

Thank to all
and Merry Christmas

Grey Hawk

Personally, I'd like a .50 cal Hawken, flint or cap, although I prefer flinters. With an Elgin cutlass pistol, or even better, a Walker Colt, plus, my tommyhawk, and a BIG friggin' bowie knife as sidearms.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Well, in a fight or flight situation I'd rather have anything other than a rock in my hand! :grin: