Aliens, Pulse Rifle

original movie prop

"I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A Pulse Rifle. Ten millimeter, with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher." -Cpl. Hicks, to Ripley.

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returns to the planet where her crew encountered the hostile Alien creature, this time accompanied by a unit of space marines. From the 1986 James Cameron scifi film Aliens, this is a stunt Pulse Rifle used throughout the film being handled by the actors, used in background shots and set dressing as the stunt Rifle could be used without a armorer being present. Being lightweight, it helped avoid having to hold such a heavy weapon during the long shoots. The M41A is undoubtedly one of the most popular and recognizable weapons ever created for a sci-fi film. The Pulse Rifle has had countless variants (both official and fan-made) created since the release of Aliens, along with being extensively discussed. The M41A is obviously a fictional weapon, issued as standard equipment to the U.S. Colonial Marines Corps.  And ideal for the destruction of various alien life forms. Of all the alien killing machinery shown during the film it’s definitely the Pulse Rifle that’s not only highly recognizable and sought after but was most popular within the audience and fans.