Build your own M41-A Pulse Rifle from Aliens

M41-A Pulse Rifle – TK560.com

Some sci-fi props are cool, some are neat, and some are just plain corny. To qualify for cool, the prop has to strike a special nerve for me. The M41-A Pulse Rifle is such a prop. As seen in the 1986 movie “Aliens”, this prop became an instant classic. With is fully functional hero models that fired 45 cal. blanks, and 12 guage shot gun rounds, to the ultra-slick O.D. green shrounds, this prop is the rare weapon that could actually do what it appeared to do in the movie! Shoot! This ain’t no raygun, baby!

Made from three real world weapons, the M41-A even has a cool sounding name. The M1A1 Thompson makes up the bulk of the weapon, and the Remington 870 shotgun is the guts for the “grenade launcher”. Carefully hidden inside a SPAS-12 heat shield cage and pump handle. The filming hero prop was made with a metal shroud, and is truly a work of art.

What follows on this page is my online diary of the construction of the M41-A. Although it is made like the filming props, all the firearms had been deactivated, and can never fire a live round again. As per BATF requirements.

Or about a grand for the Airsoft version:
Custom airsoft Aliens M41-A Pulse Rifle with working bullet counter