Blade Runner - Deckard's Gun
A bit of movie prop detective work.
The Blade Runner cult has grown over the years, and one of the most popular reproduction props is Deckard's blaster. (The original was sold at auction in 2006 for a quarter of a million dollars.)
Plenty of resin kits (like the one pictured above) are available, but what if you wanted to make an exact reproduction? What components were used in the original gun? The prop was obviously a working fire-arm dressed with a few futuristic additions, but which real-world gun had been used during construction?
Uber-geek Phil Steinschneider spent ten months solving the mystery. The double-trigger is clearly from a Steyr Mannlicher SL rifle, as is the upper receiver and bolt.
However these additions appear to have been welded to a snub-nosed pistol. After much research, Steinschneider identified the weapon.
Beneath all the sci-fi dressing, Deckard's blaster is a Charter Arms .44 Police Bulldog. So, thanks to Phil, Blade Runner nuts can now build a fully authentic Deckard gun, assured they are using the correct components.
