Warhorse...firearms on stage

[450 Martini]

The tragic death of Brandon Lee occurred when the prop man on the film "the crow" loaded a revolver on screen with "inert" ammunition that the crew had made themselves by pulling live ammunition apart and reseating the bullet, the primers in these rounds had been oiled but the oil didn't destroy the priming compound. When the revolver was fired a bullet was pushed into the barrel of the revolver. The crew did not realise that they were missing a bullet. The next scene involved shooting blanks at Lee when he came through a door. He was hit in the chest by the breech seated .44 magnum bullet from 4 meters away.
It came out in the enquiry that the professional armourer had gone home and the crew had opened the armoury themselves to film extra scenes.

I have been a armourer for several re-enactment groups and I am very weary of any "inert" ammunition on site and I ask all members who are carrying a firearm at a event not to have it on their person.
I have been told a few horror stories by some of my groups older members from the 1980's about those who took re-enactment far too seriously and had items on their person that were not appropriate.