We’ve had several articles on movies weapons, but we’re starting a new spin-off with TV weapons, looking at some of the cool firearms and other weapons used in TV series.  Terra Nova is one of the newest shows on broadcast television, but it’s already been a hit in terms of sci-fi action and drama.  We’ve only seen a small selection of TV weapons featured, but we’re going to take a look at them anyway.

Just to give some background on those who aren’t familiar with the show, Terra Nova follows the story of Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) and his family as they travel from the year 2149 A.D. on the Tenth Pilgrimage through a portal to an alternate Earth 85 million years earlier in order to escape the depleted wasteland of their present day planet.  They’re part of the settlement called Terra Nova, led by Commander Nathaniel Taylor (Stephen Lang), whose goal is to give the settlers a new beginning.  The settlers face dangers of the Earth, including ferocious dinosaurs and a  group of revolutionaries who came on the Sixth Pilgrimage in an attempt to prevent Taylor from reaching his goal.

Since the series is set in the future, some of the TV weapons are fictitious, but they have an obvious origins in modern-day firearms.

Modified CAR-15 – The assault rifle seen many times in the series is a version of Colt’s AR-15 and M16 category of rifles.  They look similar to the 733 Model, which have components of an A1 and A2, as well as an M16.  The 733′s have three groups of fire control.  Other aspects (no case deflectors, for example) of the firearms suggest they are shortened versions of the Sporter SP1 Carbine (an AR-15).

Several characters use this modified rifle, including Josh Shannon (Landon Liboiron), Skye (Allison Miller), and military members..  Several modifications have obviously been made in order to enhance believability that the guns are futuristic, but they still appear to have comparable firepower to modern-day assault rifles.  Their automatic features come in handy when fending off reptilian creatures…

Unidentified Pistol – It’s amazing how creators of movies and TV series can continue to imagine futuristic weapons that are different than ones that have been thought of already, but Spielberg and his crew have done it in Terra Nova.  The pistols in this futuristic society appear to be somewhat more bulky than modern pistols, but they sure get the job done.  The modified pistol is a favorite of Commander Taylor and Jim Shannon, and it makes recurring appearances throughout the series.  Some have compared the pistol to a Nerf gun, which is slightly tacky, but who am I to judge?

It’s uncertain yet what other firearms may be featured in the series, but if the Terra Nova settlers make contact with 2149 again before the end of the series, there’s a good chance that some more TV weapons would make an appearance.  The future for this new series has yet to be decided, but we can only hope Fox (or some other network) will renew it for at least a second season.  Then we can see some more military surplus in the form of TV weapons.

Episode 10 is set to air on Fox this Monday, and the series finale will be a two-parter on December 19th, so don’t miss it!

Written by Craig Kent, member of the Best Military Surplus team.