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1[[quoteright:335:[[Webcomic/GrrlPower https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gun_noises.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:335:The advantage with [[MindOverMatter telekinetic powers]] is that you can make lots of gun noises ''all at once''.]]
3
4->''"Clicker-Clack Effect: The firearm counterpart to the Snicker-Snack Effect. Whenever a character is holding a gun and waves it for emphasis, regardless of whether the character actually cocks the gun, or if the gun even has a hammer to cock, it makes a cocking noise."''
5-->-- '''Matt Griffin''', ''[[Creator/RogerEbert Ebert's]] [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=GLOSSARY Little Movie Glossary]]''
6
7In real life, guns are carefully designed, well-constructed tools that — provided they are well maintained — can last a lifetime. Or somebody's lifetime, anyway. On TV, they're apparently filled with rusty nails and loose change, and held together with masking tape.
8
9As a result, whenever someone hefts a weapon — particularly if it's a machine gun or submachine gun — it will make a whole load of clicking, clacking and clonking even though all they're doing is rotating it through 90 degrees. This trope is partly the result of the fact that a noisy gun adds drama to the scene (see DramaticGunCock and ClickHello), and partly because without all those familiar clicks, the audience would [[TheCoconutEffect probably mistake]] even a real firearm for a rubber prop.
10
11Media also routinely depicts guns being dry fired more than once when they run out of ammo. The "Click Click Click" sound lets the audience know it's empty. Unfortunately, not all guns in the [[RealLife real world]] can do this. Pump-action shotguns, single fire rifles, bolt-action rifles, lever-action carbines, and even single-action pistols and revolvers — none of these will repeatedly dry fire without a re-cock.
12
13''Double''-action pistols and revolvers will fire on every trigger pull, of course. The name refers to the "double action" of the trigger — every pull both cocks the hammer (advancing the cylinder in the process) and ''then'' releases it to fire the weapon. You can dry fire a double action weapon all day without ever touching the hammer. Of course, you still can't get the empty click-click-click from a double-action semi-automatic just by continuing to pull the trigger, since on the vast majority of designs (and on a great many semi-auto and full-auto rifles as well, but this trope is far more common with pistols anyway) the slide will lock back on an empty magazine — but that's neither here nor there, and TV gets around this by simply never having the slide lock back. This trope probably originated from the time when double-action revolvers were the most popular handguns in the United States, and a great many movie directors are either [[HollywoodStyle unaware]] or [[ArtisticLicense don't care]] that other more modern guns don't work the same way.
14
15Electrically powered firearms, like {{gatling|Good}}-style cannons used on aircraft, will dry fire as long as you hold down the trigger.
16
17A sub-trope of the TheCoconutEffect. May or may not be a side effect of ReliablyUnreliableGuns. Related to BangBangBANG, where the sound of guns firing is exaggerated so as to make them distinct. Do not confuse with MoreDakka, which is where a high volume of fire is applied where it might not be necessary (but probably will be [[RuleOfCool cool]]). Subtrope of KineticClicking. If you're thinking of intentionally making a noise to announce an entrance or punctuate a phrase, see DramaticGunCock, and please don't add examples of it here. For the JustForFun/SwordCounterpart of this, see AudibleSharpness.
18
19Finally, note that guns in real life ''are'' very, very noisy when '''fired''', so much so that hearing protection needs to be worn — this trope is about the noises a gun makes when it ''isn't'' being fired.
20----
21!!Examples:
22[[foldercontrol]]
23
24[[folder:Anime]]
25* Averted in ''Manga/CityHunter''. Ryo knows when his weapon is empty or not and will not try to use it when it's empty. He religiously takes care of his weapon at home, oils the rusty parts or changes them to prevent this kind of thing. However, enemies not familiar with weapons will sometimes do this, but it's pretty rare.
26* The first episode of ''Anime/{{Hellsing}}'' has this wonderful (but noisy) montage of Alucard putting his gun together before the first scene. Complete with the ramping up of the volume of every little sound such parts would make for maximum effect.
27* Liberally applied in ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' despite its heavy level of realism.
28* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' also has plenty of rattling guns.
29* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' is guilty of this. Made worse by the fact that it's ''[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture the future]]'' and said guns are, as you'd imagine, relatively futuristic.
30* ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' features this heavily, where the slightest movement with a gun sounds like engaging a new round. Once such instance has Madlax checking a room, shifting to three different angles, and each move sounds like she just drew a new gun. On top of that, racking the slides of her pistols sounds like loading a shotgun!
31* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' is also a major offender, punctuating every draw, particularly by Heero, with a bunch of clicking.
32* ''Franchise/OnePiece'' commonly exhibits this with guns, possibly justified with them primarily being flintlocks. Zoro's swords however, rattling every time he moves them while they are outside of the scabbard, play this straight.
33* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' uses this trope on magitek weapons, but once the Belkan-Cartridge system comes into play, suddenly *Ka-chunk* or a series of clicks/steam expulsion systems get upgraded... the Anime pretty much codifies this trope among the magical girl genre.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
37* In ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'', Jack Colt's Beretta pistol always making a loud clicking sound whenever he draws it and points it at someone.
38* ''Film/TheMatrix'' has a guard draw a Glock, a polymer-framed striker-fired pistol, which immediately produces a chorus of clicks. Being striker-fired, Glock pistols only make that much noise when you move the slide back to chamber a round, a big motion best done with your other hand. He'd have to do that if he wanted to fire it, but ''you can't do that just by drawing the gun.''
39* A very obvious example occurs at the end of ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'', starring Creator/SteveMartin. A guard tightens his grip on his Glock, and it makes a cocking noise for no apparent reason.
40* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', where a ''crossbow'' makes a bunch of clicky-gun-noises like a sniper rifle being assembled.
41* When it's all gone seriously wrong, near the close of ''Film/CrimsonTide'', two groups of submariners are pointing guns at each other. Every move they make seems to result in their guns being cocked, going by the soundtrack.
42* Likewise in ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}'' every time the mercenaries brandish their weapons at the heroes.
43* Played straight in ''Film/VForVendetta'' with [[spoiler:Creedy]], although he was using a revolver so it's justified.
44* Inverted in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' when Tuco is displeased with the loud clicks that a revolver makes as its cylinder is turned, indicating its poor quality. He dismantles several pistols to construct his own from the parts and then demonstrates to the clerk that the new gun clicks very softly when its cylinder is rotated.
45* Used unabashedly in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', when Lily is shooting at Picard and Data in the silo (with a submachine gun), the weapon clicks no less than ''five times'' after running out of ammo.
46* Deconstructed in ''Film/{{Desperado}}'' when El Mariachi is hiding behind the counter in a bookstore while BigBad Bucho is having a cup of coffee with Carolina just a few feet away. A ''very'' tense scene ensues as El tries to load and chamber his pistol without making enough noise to tip off Bucho to his presence.
47* Parodied in ''Film/HotFuzz'', when Nick and his mates charge the grocery store with a makeshift battering ram consisting of a large number of trolleys. The scene is accompanied by overly loud gun clacking despite the fact that none of the present characters have their guns out. As the whole movie is an AffectionateParody of action movies, it's obviously intentional.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Literature]]
51* Parodied in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', where the [[SWATTeam macho LEP squad]] "coaxed whatever metallic sounds they could out of their weapons".
52[[/folder]]
53
54[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
55* Justified in ''Series/BabylonFive'', since their [=PPGs=] (space guns) must charge up capacitors, causing a dramatic ''zzzz!'' which rises in pitch, before they can fire.
56* A particular example from season 3 of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Right before Richard Harrow [[spoiler:kills Manny Horvitz]], he hefts his shotgun up to take aim, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGq5XaYS-dA producing a strange rattling noise.]]
57* Happens in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' every time someone picks up a crossbow pistol, despite there not being anything to 'click'. In one episode Buffy has a hammerless double-barrelled shotgun pointed at her, with accompanying pump-action sound.
58* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
59** Not so much a weapon as a tool (even though many of its uses could be weaponised and it has been used as one), but the Doctor's super-advanced alien tech sonic screwdriver frequently rattles like an old butterfly corkscrew. This only ever seems to happen when the screwdriver is on-screen.
60*** Of course, the sounds the sonic makes when being moved are dubbed by duplicating the motions the actor makes... with an old butterfly corkscrew. No kidding.
61---->'''Craig:''' Can't you make that thing be quiet?\
62'''The Doctor:''' No! It's a ''sonic'' screwdriver!
63** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], every time the Doctor switches between aiming at the Master and aiming at Rassilon, he seems to recock the gun.
64*** The ''Doctor Who'' universe is one where simply pointing a gun at a person cocks it, sometimes multiple times.
65* Common in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', though the weapons tend to make futuristic-sounding "zip-click" and "powering up" noises when being pointed.
66* Common in ''Series/HumanTarget'', for example, about 15 minutes into "Salvage and Reclamation", when [[spoiler:essentially everyone in Maria's bar pulls a gun on Chance, with a range of guns all the way from what appears to be an old Colt revolver to an AK represented]]. Seems to verge into that particular homage/lampshading/AffectionateParody realm the show is known for when they sort of re-emphasized the brandishing of their guns a few moments later and the exact same sounds are heard.
67* This accompanies almost every episode of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Pistols make mechanical clinking noises whenever they're waved around and a cocking noise whenever pointed at someone. Most annoyingly, shotgun cocking sounds routinely accompany the raising of any bolt action rifle (it's essentially a 'this weapon gesture is threatening!' code for the viewer). Anyone who's ever used a bolt action rifle will find this infuriating.
68* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E09Croatoan "Croatoan" (S02, Ep09)]], there is somewhat more slide-racking than really necessary.
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Toys]]
72* Toys/NerfBrand blasters can be surprisingly loud for toy guns.
73** The electrically-powered Vulcan LMG produces a surprisingly realistically ''loud'' clattering when fired thanks to its repeating bolt action. The Stampede ECS carbine also has an additional motorized whirring as its internals work the repeating bolt.
74** Motorized flywheel blasters like the Barricade, Stockade, Rayven, and Rapidstrike all produce a constant whine as their motors spin furiously.
75** All the bolt-action N-Strike blasters can be surprisingly noisy when working their actions because their hollow frames tend to amplify every click, clack, snap, crackle, and pop. Sometimes just picking up one of these blasters will create a sound mix worthy of Hollywood because of how plastic reacts to torque and the various imperfectly-aligned parts that shift with handling (larger Nerf magazines are quite notorious for this, especially the drum mags).
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Video Games]]
79* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' has every gun do it whenever possible, excluding shooting.
80* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' also has every gun (And some non-guns, such as the Spy's knife) make distinct noises when you switch weapons. The noisy knife actually makes sense, since it's a butterfly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDWEX9cT6rs knife.]] The guns...not so much.
81** It's worth noting that (excluding miniguns) the guns themselves have practically no rattle. Most of the noise from weapon switching and inspecting is from a class's clothing.
82* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' is also a pretty bad offender. With the background music off, it's entirely possible to track an enemy from the noise of switching weapons and picking up ammo.
83* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', JC's 10mm sidearm apparently has some kind of very loud three-part safety he has to take off when he draws it. Every time.
84* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. Every time Raiden lifts his pistol, it sounds like he's cocked it.
85** Similar to both this and the ''Unreal Tournament'' example above, if you ever play a game of ''Metal Gear Online'', turn the background music off and you can hear everything from the realistic sound of your opponents footsteps and equipment rustling to the unfortunately unrealistic ''click'' of his gun being brought to an 'aimed' position.
86* Played straight and justified in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', where drawing a weapon causes it to click and clack. Justified in that guns in the ''Mass Effect'' universe all fold up when not in use and reassemble when a button is pushed (which is obviously done as the gun is drawn).
87* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' almost every weapon falls into this category or, less frequently, AudibleSharpness (Most weapons are too big to have a sheath). In particular, in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'' the Bowgun, Switch Axe, and Lance make lots of noise when drawn and are justified due to being folded or otherwise mechanized for portability.
88* Many of the human weapons in the early ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games fit this trope. Every time a weapon is drawn, Master Chief will either: rack the slide on a pistol, pump a shotgun, or clear the bolt-action on a sniper rifle, despite that most of them are fully loaded at the time and doing so would waste a cartridge. The poor bastard will sometimes (depending on the game) do these actions upon drawing an ''empty'' weapon. In particular, ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] assault rifle has the loudest safety ''ever''. By later games, this was remedied, so that when the player character picks up a weapon for the first time, they will (for example) rack the slide on the pistol, but every time they switch weapons after that the player merely clicks the safety off with their thumb.
89* The various guns available in the ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'' all have very pronounced arming sounds when being brought up into view. This includes the numerous blasters and other energy weapons available, all of which make sounds suspiciously similar to a revolver being cocked or a charging lever being drawn back. It's possible these are due to the guns being taken off safe as they're brought up into line, but if that's the case, some of these guns must have had some of the most ludicrous safeties known to fiction to produce the variety of the sounds heard in the games.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Webcomics]]
93* ''Webcomic/FarOutThere'': represented by the UnsoundEffect [[http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/2103034/page-714-new-toys/ "GUN NOISE"]].
94* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': When the telekinetic supervillain Vekter gets hold of a lot of guns and uses them all for massively intimidating effect, [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1968 they generate a whole load of different]] {{Unsound Effect}}s.
95* In the [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/050327 "Oceans Unmoving"]] arc of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
96-->"Hey, why doesn't my gun make a 'chakat' sound?"\
97"You're set on 'Goo', you have to set it to 'Mexican standoff'."
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Web Original]]
101* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/freddiew Freddie Wong]] is particularly guilty of this in his short films, but seems to use it for a full 'action film' effect and for RuleOfCool.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Western Animation]]
105* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'', the leader of the ARC troopers draws his [[GunsAkimbo twin blasters]] with [[ContinuityNod the exact same sound effect]] as the Bryar blaster from ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII''.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Real Life]]
109* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era Thompson submachine guns (AKA "Tommy Guns") made a clacking sound when shaken; a major disadvantage in close quarters firefights. One of the reasons that the iconic round drums were retired, along with fragility, size, and reliability, was because they were too noisy to carry around. The second reason was that the 20- and 30-round box magazines worked much better.
110* Another WWII-era weapon, the Japanese [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_99_Rifle Type 99 Rifle,]] was fitted with a bolt cover to prevent mud from getting into the receiver while the bolt was closed. This feature was inherited from the Meiji Era Type 38 long rifle, as the Japanese learned how bad mud could get during the Russo-Japanese War. However, the bolt cover subverts this trope as it will NOT rattle when the bolt is in battery. It will rattle with the bolt held in the open position, but nobody in his right mind shakes an empty rifle in combat. The dust covers were hand-fitted to the rifle in question, and many rifles no longer have an original cover (since wartime steel shortages resulted in Japan melting a lot of them down), so a mismatched or modern reproduction cover will often be a looser fit that will rattle.
111* Back on the US side, the M1 Garand's en bloc clip made a distinctive pinging noise (as demonstrated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoBWUs8poYU this video]]) after ejecting. The ping is actually fairly soft and easy to miss, especially if a lot of fire from other guns is drowning it out. Nevertheless, audiences seem to [[RealityIsUnrealistic expect it]] and movies/TV shows almost always add it anyway, often making it louder than the gunshots from smaller weapons.
112** Additionally, the ping is caused by the clip's walls reverberating with each other. As such, ejecting a clip that still has ammunition in it will make an extremely muted and short ping sound, if any at all. Despite this, most video games that feature the ability to eject a partially spent clip a la tactical reload still make a loud ping.
113* In "Lad's Army", putting teenagers of today through the National Service of New Zealand of the 1950's, one former serviceman recalled that, in order to make their (unloaded) rifles make louder noises while drilling, they would place a coin in the (empty) magazine.
114* Belt-fed machine guns are another real-life example, as the heavy metal belts make quite a bit of clanking. Some models use fabric belts, which don't make remotely as much noise.
115** The FN Minimi (designated the M249 by the US army) originally used plastic drums that clacked when the belt inside shifted position, such as when the gun was fired or moved. These were replaced by canvas pouches for the belt, which reduce the sound because the canvas will move ''with'' the belt.
116* Considering the M1911's ridiculous popularity in the USA, it's probably the TropeMaker, as 1911s of any brand - from low-end RIA models to high-end, never-fired Springfield Armory guns - have a bit of a rattle whenever moved, that after some wear turns into a ''lot'' of rattling. It's considered akin to a Harley leaking oil, where something's wrong if it ''doesn't'' happen. It's not anywhere near as exaggerated as a movie gun, of course.
117* Rifles used by ceremonial guards tend to have pieces of metal attached to strategic places to make more noise.
118* Some rifles can rattle when a bayonet is fixed. This would indicate something came loose, which doesn't bode well for the users.
119* Accessories fitted to rifles can and do rattle when the weapon is moved. The old British Army SMLE[[note]]Short Magazine Lee-Enfield[[/note]] has buckles fitted fore and aft to mount the rifle sling. Even with the sling fitted these loosely mounted attachment points could make a distinctive rattling and chinking noise when on the move. If silent movement was called for, these two points needed to be muffled, usually with a cloth tied around them or tape to hold them down.
120* The AR-18 (not to be confused with its more famous cousin, the AR-15), was an attempt create a cheap easily produced assault rifle in the same vein as the AK series. To that end, it's stamped to an even greater degree than Kalashnikov so that it could be made by developing countries with little assistance. Because of all these thin sheets of metal absolutely everywhere and the loose tolerances, the gun rattles a fair bit.
121[[/folder]]

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