Yup.  The original was filmed partly in UK.  they have strict laws re: guns, so many are just plastic replicas.
See also "Saving Private Ryan"

ETA: and here we are on page two.

Less so at the time, more so by the time of Shaving Ryan's Privates. Our gun laws started to go full retard about 30 years ago. Prior to that, the restrictions were on full auto with most other stuff being fair game. I mean, they were retarded before that point in various ways, but they hadn't achieved full retard status when filming the original trilogy. I believe the deact/blankfire rules were massively more relaxed at the time, but I might be corrected on that by some of the ancient farts amongst the UK members





How can we have a starwars prop thread without the almighty Adam Savage? We can't. Just not possible.






 

Fucking nerds would rather have a Han Solo replica than a real Mauser C-96.

Well, duh. Mauser C96's can't fire bolts of energy, can they? Of course we prefer the Han Solo version. Plus, if you wander around with the blaster, all the chicks think you're Han Solo. If you wander around with the C96, they think you're Winston Churchill. Pretending to be Churchill doesn't get you laid anywhere near as much.



Nerdily enough, it appears the new HS blaster is actually the M174, modified to look like the C96, modified to look like the ANH blaster.



 

If ever I fell into great wealth, a Mauser C-96 would have its place in my extensive collection.

What's wrong with her fingertips?  Why are they flat?

They spent most of the budget on trying to make Leia's face pass for human, they had to skimp on the rest. Phasma's fingers are actually thimbles from Ikea.



 

I knew it!

Makes it easier to flick the bean.

ETA: the actress who played Phasma is 6' 3" tall.

Great, someone's managed to turn it into a "bean or no bean" thread



 

I also saw an ar15 mag well when Han and Chewie were shooting outside the nerdy little Aliens place. About 95% sure it was his bowcaster and that it reminded me of the crossbow uppers for ar15's.
It may have only been blank firing prop used only in that particular scene, but I was pretty sure it was an ar15 lower on his crossbow.
Would be very easy to configure a shooting ar15 based on the bowcaster so it's probable.



Can't find any photos of the new one, but this is the original one I believe.






 

The original was based on a crossbow built by Horton - more specifically, a version made by (or designed by) Horton for another company and eventually sold under the name "Gunmark Crossbows".



It's very likely that they used a Horton Crossbow for the new films (assuming it's not a completely custom job) as I believe there are still skeletonised versions for sale that are a very close match.



I believe this is the new one. You can immediate spot a few differences from the original, ie the area around the "open trigger guard" has a very organic flair on the original but it's very square cut on the new one. In fact the original was very curvy compared to the new more blocky version, which is probably why you're thinking of an AR15 when you catch glimpses of it.