The HK VP70 was used as the standard sidearm for the U.S.
Colonial Marines in the epic 1986 James Cameron movie Aliens.
In 1986, visionary filmmaker James Cameron came out with what was, in my opinion at least, his masterwork. Aliens was the ultimate combat science fiction movie. Alongside Terminator 2, it was also one of the two best sequels ever made. Created at the very end of the analog era before digital special effects transformed the film industry, Aliens is simply cinematic perfection.
The original Ridley Scott Alien was a horror movie and a stupendous one at that. The narrative had the small crew of space freighter respond to a distress beacon that ultimately allowed a single most horrific alien monster onboard. The rest of the film was a series of creepy scenes, ample gore and jump scares. It also served to introduce us to Sigourney Weaver’s iconic character, Ellen Ripley.
When James Cameron was pitching the idea of a sequel to the execs at 20th Century Fox, he purportedly took a big whiteboard, wrote the word “ALIEN” in giant letters, and then put a dollar sign behind it. The resulting ALIEN$ pitch green-lit the project.
The narrative has Ripley narrowly escaping the rampaging monster and being lost in space for 57 years. She awakens to find that, in the interim, there has been a colony established on LV-426, the small planet where they first found the alien creature. Coincidentally, contact with the colony has been mysteriously lost. Ripley reluctantly agrees to return to LV-426, this time in the company of a squad of heavily armed U.S. Colonial Marines.
There results 137 minutes of gunslinging mayhem as the Marines discover hundreds of alien monsters, a single child survivor and peril aplenty. I’ll spare you the details. You need to see the movie yourself if you haven’t already. You’ll thank me later.
The M41 Pulse Rifle used in the movie Aliens was a bodged-together
amalgam of several real-world guns. The end result was cinematic gold.
The Weapons of “Aliens”
Arguably the coolest aspect of this homogenously cool movie for the gun nerd committed to his craft was the weapons. Developed under the guidance of Cameron himself by Bapty Limited in London, the same gun-bodging wizards who made the weapons for Star Wars, the weapons of Aliens made the film. Unlike later iterations that might include digital muzzle flashes and artificially enhanced action effects, these guns were the real deal. All the cool-guy stuff had to be created by special effects specialists in the real world.
There were two handguns featured in the movie. The machinegunner Vasquez packs a stock S&W Model 39 with white/ivory grips. The rest of the team uses HK VP70 9mm pistols.
The VP70s used in the film are otherwise unmodified VP70M selective-fire versions of the gun. In the real world, attaching a VP70M to a separate buttstock allows semiauto and 3-round burst functions. The same gun in semi auto only was imported and sold in the U.S. as the VP70Z. The VP70Z has a smooth grip, while that of the VP70M is ridged. One of the VP70M pistols used in the movie and demilled to UK standards sold for $12,700 at auction in 2022.
The M56 Smart Gun was created by mounting a WWII-vintage MG42 belt-fed machinegun onto a gyro-stabilized Cinema Products Model III Steadicam harness. This gave the big gun a most sinister gliding effect when used in the movie. When Vasquez shouted, “Let’s rock!” and opened up with her M56 that first time in the theater it was a near-religious experience for me. One of the two guns used in the movie was demilled and sold for $150,000 at auction in the U.S. in 2022.
I’ll never be able to afford a real screen-used weapon from the movie Alien. However, I remain nevertheless prepared for my next proper bug hunt.
The M41 Pulse Rifles used by the rank-and-file Marines were created from three different real-world weapons. The basic chassis was an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun. The 30mm pump-action grenade launcher was a radically shortened Remington 870 shotgun. The window dressing on the outside came from a Franchi SPAS-12 12-gauge.
The original plan had the M41 built around a 9mm HK MP5, but the muzzle flash was inadequate for Cameron’s needs. The .45ACP version from the Thompson was much more satisfying. Only one of the prop guns built for the movie had a functioning shotgun/grenade launcher. At the same 2022 auction, a demilled but screen-used Pulse Rifle went for $142,787.
Michael Biehn’s character CPL Duane Hicks also carried a curious cut-down Ithaca Model 37 shotgun. This gun had the pistol grip from a German MP40 grafted on. The same gun was used in the TV shows The Professionals and Dempsey and Makepeace. This gun was also demilled and sold for $63,481 at the same 2022 auction.
I’ll never be able to afford an original Aliens weapon, but my kids and I did build a decent facsimile as a homeschool project many years ago. The receiver is a piece of 1-inch square steel tube, the chassis is cut from pine lumber, and the fire control group was harvested from an original M1A1 Thompson parts kit.
The SPAS-12 bits came from a cheap airsoft version of the shotgun. The end result isn’t quite screen-perfect, yet I remain prepared for my next serious bug hunt nonetheless.
Maybe it never got closer to the action than guard duty at an ammo dump. Or perhaps some poor dogface clutched the thing desperately close in the frozen wastes around Bastogne or the fetid jungles of Peleliu. Regardless, a soldier’s individual weapon is his most intimate tool. To heft such an artifact is to physically connect across the decades to an era of unimaginable significance.
Vintage bring-back firearms from World War II drive home the reality of the war better
than anything else. Examples are available at a variety of price points.
Worlds Apart But Shrinking
We have a tough time comprehending the breadth of the Second World War today. During the course of the horrible conflict the world’s governments produced enough bullets to shoot everybody on the planet 40 times. We laid one landmine for every three humans. We built enough rifles to arm one-seventh of the world’s population. While the majority of those who actually served have passed on, many of their weapons remain to this day.
The Internet has revolutionized everything about our world. Previously folks with quirky hobbies might have thought themselves alone. Nowadays, however, a few mouse clicks can connect you with somebody on the other side of the world who shares your particular curious interests.
Fake animal noise competitions, conjuring art from magnetic VCR tape, extreme ironing wherein the participant irons clothes in exotic settings, and Hikaru Dorodango (compulsive dirt polishing) are all real things more than a couple of folks apparently do. As it relates to collectible firearms, sites like gunbroker.com and gunsamerica.com are like nationwide gun shows running 24/7. The treasures they offer are like little history batteries.
A beater Arisaka Type 99 rifle can still be had for a couple hundred bucks. Such an artifact will lend insight into the desperation of Japan at the end of WWII.
Arisaka Type 99 Rifles
Tests conducted by the NRA after the war showed the Arisaka action was stronger than any other bolt-action rifle fielded by a major combatant. Early Type 99 rifles were things of beauty, sporting such niceties as folding monopods, anti-aircraft sights and checkered safety knobs. Late-war last-ditch guns were horribly bodged-together affairs with wooden buttplates held in place by nails. The catalyst driving this sordid transformation was countless waves of B29 bombers.
Beater guns with ground-off mums can still be found for a couple hundred bucks. A Type 2 Paratrooper takedown version with matching numbers will set you back as much as a used car. However, a guy of modest means can still get into a genuine Japanese-surplus combat rifle for beans if he is patient and stalks his prey.
Sometimes you can happen upon a true gem. This high-mileage Type 99 sports a pair of .30-caliber bullet scars.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program
The CMP is a throwback to a previous era. Back when America was indeed a nation of riflemen, the government began this program to sell military surplus Infantry rifles and ammunition directly to the public. Back in the 1980s a really nice M1 Garand cost $165 through the CMP.
Like everything the government does, there is an onerous paperwork requirement. The details are available online. As I was pulling this article together much of the CMP inventory was depleted but they still had rifles starting at around $650. CMP guns do not have import marks and just drip with personality. Mine is fairly high mileage but sports an armorer’s repair to the upper handguard giving it special character. It also shoots like a dream.
If your checkbook can bear it, vintage subguns like this 1940-production Steyr MP40
are still available. This particular example was an online find years ago.
The Big Leagues
If you have really deep pockets there are yet available some of the most tantalizing WWII-era German machineguns. I acquired my own modest collection over a long period of time using the proceeds from my writing gig. I am blessed with a day job which feeds my family so I can fold my writing cash into guns.
The MP40 submachine gun is a personal favorite. Long, front-heavy, and fairly ungainly, this iconic German subgun nonetheless cycles at a sedate 500 rpm and is eminently controllable. I got mine years ago when it was just plain expensive. Now they are ludicrously thus. However, it’s not like they’re making any more. Classic machineguns are reliably good investments.
Not unlike a supermodel, my MG34 belt-fed machinegun is both beautiful and finicky. The MG34 was the world’s first true General Purpose Machinegun and the workmanship and complexity of the design must be seen to be appreciated. A recoil-operated gun wherein the fire selector is built into the trigger, the MG34 is a complicated beast indeed.
Spare parts and accessories are still available, as is a .308 conversion kit. Serious collectors can drop a fortune on period accessories for classic guns and the MG34 is worse than most in this regard. However, it all melts away when you settle in behind the monster and launch 50 of those finger-sized rounds downrange at 900 rpm.
Denouement
It has been said “The Germans fought for Hitler, the Japanese fought for the emperor, the British fought for their king, and the Americans fought for souvenirs.” Once the new wore off, many of these old bring-back guns were sold off to pay for diapers and baby formula. Lugers, Walthers, 1911s, Nambus, Enfields, Nagants, Thompsons and Stens are all still floating around out there waiting to be collected and revered. Be patient, save your pennies, and strike when the opportunity arises. Quite literally anything is available, at a price.
Special thanks to www.worldwarsupply.com for the period gear used in our photographs.
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Hiroshima in a Gun
Lies Lie Detector Liar Concept of lies Lie detector Adobe Stock 76207749In the run-up to the 2024 Presidential election, President Joe Biden vowed not to use his presidential authority to pardon his son, Hunter Biden. He has doubled down multiple times through states and his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, but now he has backtracked and pardoned his son, who was convicted of lying on an ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) Form 4473 and was accused of tax evasion.
Hunter Biden was arrested and successfully prosecuted for lying on an ATF Form 4473 that he filled out when he purchased a revolver from a Delaware gun shop. The firearm was recovered from a dumpster after his lover and dead brother’s wife disposed of it. When Hunter purchased the handgun, he was an addicted user of crack cocaine. Hunter would mark that he was not an unlawful user of drugs on the form.
After being charged, the younger Biden was offered a sweetheart deal not in line with those provided to others accused of lying on the government form. The judge rejected that deal, sending the case to a jury trial. He would be convicted on all charges and was waiting for sentencing. Even after the felony conviction, his father would maintain that there was no chance that he would pardon his son.
Hunter Biden was also facing charges of tax evasion. He allegedly hid large sums of money from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Hunter has always blamed his tax issues on his addictions. There have also been accusations of Hunter selling access to his father when Joe Biden was Vice President. Critics claim that the President’s son made millions from the scheme, leading some on the Republican side of the aisle to refer to the family as the “Biden Crime Family.”
Late Sunday night, President Joe Biden would break his promise not to use his presidential power to pardon his son. He claimed that the Democrat-run Department of Justice (DOJ) targeted his son for political reasons. He claimed his son did nothing wrong when lying on the 4473 because there wasn’t a victim. President Biden said almost no one is charged with lying on a 4473. Quick research shows that several hundred people each year are charged with lying on the ATF gun purchase form.
The President wrote: “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
The DOJ issued a press release in January of last year stating that it is “aggressively pursuing those who lie in connection with firearms transactions.” The ATF and the DOJ are taking a hard line on those who lie when purchasing a firearm. The press release included examples of Americans charged and convicted of the same crime as Hunter Biden. Many wonder if President Biden will pardon these Americans as well.
United States Attorney Robert J. “Bob” Troester wrote: “Federal law prohibits knowingly making any false statement in connection with purchasing, or attempting to purchase, a firearm. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) requires prospective firearm buyers to complete ATF Form 4473. This Form requires buyers to answer several questions, including those about the buyer’s competency, criminal history, drug use, immigration status, and history with domestic violence. Applicants who knowingly make false statements may also face criminal prosecution for a felony and up to 10 years in federal prison.”
The ATF even had an operation that included going after people lying on a 4473. “Project Safe Neighborhoods” was a nationwide effort to catch and prosecute those lying on a 4473. The ATF and the DOJ disagree with the President’s accusation that lying on a 4473 isn’t a big deal. According to both agencies, the crimes are serious, and the government should be pursuing the violators with all available resources.
“Keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them is of paramount concern,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. “We will use the tools available to us to pursue those who use a straw purchaser or lie when trying to buy a gun. We will continue to work closely with ATF and our law enforcement partners to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands by holding accountable those who lie to get them.”
President Biden also insists that his son’s alleged tax evasion should be forgiven because of his addiction to crack cocaine at the time the crime was committed. Many will point out that the U.S. prison system is full of people who commit crimes because of their addictions. This contradiction causes many to think that President Biden is acting hypocritical by pardoning his son, not just for going back on his promise but for his push to prosecute aggressively those citizens who commit similar crimes. Others claim this is an example of a two-tiered justice system where the rich and powerful can commit crimes with impunity, even though Biden has stated many times in the past that “no one is above the law.”
Hunter Biden issued a statement on the pardon after it was made public by the White House. He blamed politics for his convictions. Hunter said he would dedicate his life to helping people who are “sick and suffering.” He thanked his family for supporting him through his trials.
Hunter Biden’s Statement: “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport. Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends. In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages.
In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded. I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
Hunter Biden’s legal team has filed motions with the courts in both cases to have them dismissed because of the pardon.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons