Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Head Gun Handler Had Doubts About Experience Level

The woman responsible for handling weapons on the set of Alec Baldwin‘s “Rust” had only recently taken on a gig as a head armorer, and shared she had real doubts about doing the job.

Hannah Reed — daughter of Hollywood armorer Thell Reed — appeared on the “Voices of the West” podcast last month to talk about her new experiences in the biz. Reed told the hosts she had just wrapped a western movie with Nic Cage called “The Old Way” … and it was her first time as head armorer on a movie.

In a now-eerie confession, Reed says of the Cage job, “You know, I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready … but, doing it, like, it went really smoothly.”

Reed also talked about the guidance she’s gotten from her dad — who has previously worked on “Django: Unchained” “3:10 to Yuma” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” — as an armorer.

In talking about her training, Reed told the podcast hosts loading blanks in prop guns was “the scariest” thing to her, because she didn’t know how to do it … but it was something her dad had helped her work through.

Of course, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the accident on set … including whether it was a live round in the gun Baldwin fired or a blank. Indiewire obtained an email sent by the propmasters union which claimed the gun Alec Baldwin fired had a “live single round” which struck 2 crew members.

A source who was working on the film tells us just last weekend there were several issues with blanks being shot when they weren’t supposed to … it’s unclear who the head armorer was at that time.