chaogomu , 7 months ago

The set was not meant to have any live ammo. It was a "cold" set.

The live ammo actually came from the prop supply company, co-mingled with dummy rounds.

The live rounds were re-loads into casings that would normally be dummy rounds, because a previous film used them to train the actors how to react to live fire from their guns.

The live rounds were then turned over to the prop company at the end of that film, and at some point became co-mingled with dummy rounds and then sent out to the Rust film location.

The armorer should have checked every dummy round. But didn't even know how to do so. The re-loads were also slightly different looking than the standard dummy round. (red paint in the logo vs blue for the dummy)

As a note, when questioned by police, the armorer didn't even know the name brand of the dummy rounds.