The Aliens Colonial Marines M41A Pulse Rifle Prop!

Adam gets his hands on an original Colonial Marines Pulse Rifle prop used in Aliens and Aliens 3! We learn the story of how this prop was made for James Cameron's Aliens and then rebuilt for its sequel, and how a film production's armorer handles and decomissions these kinds of props during and after filming.

Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
Music by Jinglepunks

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#adamsavage #aliens #props

[cullenoy]

The M41A Pulse Rifle is literally my favorite weapon from any piece of fiction.

[Gorbyrev]

Fascinating. Those yellow screw are almost certainly the yellow plastic bolts that are used to secure yellow rear number plates here in the UK (license plate in US). Just in case any of you are thinking of making a replica!

[blisterwalken]

I am currently restoring a 20 yr-old scratch built pulse rifle replica. Wood, metal and plastic. Looks spot on and feels heavy. Love seeing the real props for detail and inspiration.

[odyshopody]

My son and I dressed as Colonial Marines for the 30th anniversary of Aliens at San Diego Comic Con. We made all the armor with fiberglass and pepakura, but I splurged and bought an airsoft pulse rifle to complete the costume. It's super fun to fire, even has a working counter on the side!

[leefields]

Literally thousands of people have held that particular piece. Bapty used to hire it out and I remember it doing the rounds with a games company during the late 1990's at the big trade shows of the time. I remember getting all weak at the knees myself when I spotted it walking past their stand and got handed it to hold 🙂

[Storyracing]

When I first saw Aliens, it made want to learn everything about how a movie is made!! Hands down, my favorite! All the videos you do about the props, fx, anything....I'm all over it!!! P.S. my favorite movie weapon too!

[temetius]

Alien movies are one of my favorite movies of all time. So cool to see that some of the props are still around, especially those used in the first three movies.

[gaming]

Wow, I can hear the iconic firing sound while I'm watching this.

[cbyrne]

The Royal Armouries in Leeds UK have two Pulse rifles as part of their collection. Those were the only two not to be totally disassembled after Aliens and were also used in Alien 3.

[RobertBosworth]

“I like the way a good deadline lops branches off your decision tree.” 😂😂😂

[RAZORBLACKRX]

When it comes down to it, it's the unique firing sound that really define the pulse rifle as one of the iconic weapon of scifi.

[incrediblefruit]

I got hold of one at alien war back in the 90s when my research began for my scratch built one and it had a wooden magazine base because the mag had been lost and being a huge fan of the movies made it a very cool experience

[pixiniarts]

Wouldn't mind betting that if it was used in Alien 3 that Pulse Rifle was very last minute, the chaos and mess of shooting due to studio interference is now legendary, they were right up on Fincher's back even telling him when to turn lights off, and changing things on the fly.

[yoabyse]

Some of the props of this gun were also used by GDI in the video-game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun.

[agentorange]

The bump style lower is actually from a Franchi Spas-12, another legendary movie gun.

[adammassacre]

The iconic Pulse rifle with the even more iconic firing sound.That is so awesome!

[almac]

Saw one in the Royal Armouries Leeds last week

[hazonku]

I too enjoy all the little details that tell how this thing was just hastily slapped together in a panic for Alien 3. It's part of the individual prop's story and character.

[Demonanimator]

If you want things to get even better, Nerf even made a limited edition Pulse Rifle Nerf Gun with a functional ammo counter as well. Knowing Adam, he wouldn't mind having one that at least fires something.

[jeremyblackmouth]

I remember some years after the Sci-Fi Channel first started, long before it became Syfy, there was a show that sold items like comic books and various other merchandise and memorabilia. One item they sold was in fact an actual decommissioned pulse rifle with certificate of authentication. Not sure how many were sold because even back then such props to buy were expensive but it was definitely a hot item. Mythbusters wasn't around at the time and neither was the internet in full swing since dial up modems were still in service but I know if he had the chance, Adam would have bought one that day.