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Tactical Notes

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Doesn’t everyone love a good action flick? Here at Casual Tactical I know we do, and no good action flick is complete without it’s weaponry. We love to see which firearms end up being unofficial characters in the story. Whether you’re re-watching a classic in the comfort of your own home, or seeing a film for the first time in the theater, here are fifteen iconic guns we think the movies made famous.

MAC-10
Our list begins with a submachine gun. The Military Armament Corporation Model 10, or MAC-10, is a machine pistol designed in 1964 by Gordon B. Ingram. This firearm was produced in the 70s, it weighs over 6 pounds and comes in two calibers: .45 ACP, 9x19mm. Depending on the caliber, this gun has a capacity of 30 or 32 rounds.

We know this gun from “Escape From New York”. The gun issued to Snake by the USPF, but it can also be seen in other films like: McQ, Stripes, Pulp Fiction, and True Lies among others.

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Winchester Model 1887
We have a small affinity for Browning here at Casual Tactical, so we were happy to include John Browning’s Winchester Model 1887. Some say is was the first successful repeating shotgun. This lever action shotgun weighs 8 pounds and comes in 12 or 10 gauge.

You’d think we would list a Western first for this firearm, but actually we want to bring your attention to “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”. This is the gun that T-800 (Arnold Schwartznegger) uses to shoot T-1000 throughout much of the movie, most notably in my opinion, in the mental hospital during the elevator scene. The shotgun can be seen in more period movies too, like: The Professionals, The Mummy Returns, and Sherlock Holmes.

Desert Eagle Mark XIX
The Mark XIX is the most recent production of the Desert Eagle pistol and though you can get it in .357 and .44 Magnum, we like the .50 AE best. It weighs almost 4.5 pounds, and the .50 AE doesn’t have the fluted barrel that the .357 and .44 Magnum do.

Though Desert Eagles have been used in a number of films, the Mark XIX was made famous in the Matrix Trilogy. It is the gun of choice for The Agents, including Smith.

Smith & Wesson 61 Escort
This subcompact pistol is a semi-automatic, it weighs less than a pound, has a 5 round capacity and shoots .22LR. It was a gun made for self defense. It was only produced between 1970 & 1973 and if I am being honest here, it wasn’t very popular with the public, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be famous.

This weapon hasn’t shown up in many movies, but it doesn’t need to because of it’s iconic placement in the movie “Taxi Driver”. The Smith & Wesson Escort was the weapon that Travis (Robert De Niro) mounted to a drawer slide on his forearm. It was the gun he was using during his famous, ‘You talkin’ to me’ speech, and was used in the final shootout scene.

Mini Uzi
The Mini Uzi is a scaled down military variant of the traditional Israeli Uzi and it was introduced in 1980. It can be categorized as a submachine gun or machine pistol. It weighs approximately 6 pounds and comes in a variety of calibers such as: 9x19mm, .22 LR, .45 ACP, .41 AE with varying capacities from 10 to 50 rounds.

This firearm can be seen, most notably, in the movie Delta Force. It is the main weapon of Major Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris) and others. It is used enough in the film that you could call it an unofficial character. Other movies you can catch the Mini Uzi in are: Tango & Cash, Leon (The Professional), The Long Kiss Goodnight, Clear and Present Danger, among others.

Smith & Wesson 659
Manufactured for about eight years, the Smith & Wesson 659 is a 9x19mm Parabellum pistol was produced in the 1980s. This gun is a traditional double-action/high capacity pistol. It has a 14 round capacity and weighs about 1.75 pounds. At the end of the eighties this gun was replaced by Smith & Wesson’s 3rd Generation of stainless/semi-auto 5900 series pistols.

Though this gun has been used in a movies like Alien Nation, Sneakers and Point of No Return, you probably know this gun from Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. This gun is used by Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blonde (these are characters are play by Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi and Michael Madsen respectively). The Smith & Wesson 659 is the gun they were given for the robbery.

M60 Machine Gun
The M60, and its variants, have quite the prolific movie resume. It is an American weapon designed in the 1950s and it still being produced today. The M60 is a general purpose, fully automatic, belt fed machine gun that shoots 7.62 mm rounds at a rate of 500-650 rounds per minute and weighs over 23 pounds. It is a very distinct firearm

Over the years you’ve seen the M60, and it variants (M60C, M60D, M60E3, M60E4 and others), in a number of movies. Arnold Schwarzenegger used one in Commando. It’s also in movies like, Tears of the Sun, Predator, Red Dawn, Apocalypse Now, Heart Break Ridge, and Full Metal Jacket. The movie that made it famous is First Blood. It is because of this movie, when you see an M60 you immediately think “John Rambo”.

Franchi SPAS-12
Designed in 1972, the Franchi SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun from Italy. It weighs almost 10 pounds. It is a pump-action, semi automatic shotgun that takes a 12 gauge cartridge. The SPAS-12 was manufactured from 1979-2000 and 37,000 of them were built.

The Terminator is thought to be the first and possibly most memorable use of the SPAS-12 in the movies. Arnold Schwarzenegger once again getting a nod in our list for using this shotgun (along with an AR-18) in the assault on the police station. Other movies that the SPAS-12 has appeared in are: The Hitcher, The Matrix, Snatch, Jurassic Park and 3000 Miles to Graceland.

M134 Minigun
This is probably the most controversial gun we have on our list because one of the most famous versions of this firearm doesn’t actually exist, the handheld M134 Minigun. As a whole, The M134 Minigun is a six barrel, electric, rotary machine gun. It was designed in 1960 by General Electric and is still being produced today. It has a variable rate of fire, between 2000 & 6000 rounds per minute and weighs between 41 & 85 pounds.

‘Ol’ Painless’ is probably one of the most famous M134’s there is. It was Blain’s (Jesse Ventura) main weapon in Predator and it was handheld and modified with a M60 handguard assembly. Other movies you can see the M134 in are: Rambo: First Blood Part II, We Were Soldiers, The Matrix, and Black Hawk Down.

Sig Sauer P226
The same basic design as the P220, the Sig Sauer P226 was developed with higher capacity in mind. The P226 takes a staggered column magazine as opposed to a straight column magazine (which is how it gains in higher capacity). It was designed specifically for entry in the XM9 Service Pistol Trials and was one of only two guns to complete the trials. This gun weighs just over 2 pounds, and is produced for various cartridges including: 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG.

This gun gains its fame more from how often it is seen than by one movie that you’ve surely seen it in. The Sig Sauer P226 has been showing up in movies since the 80’s, when it was first developed. Some of the P226’s more notable movies are: RoboCop (1987), The Abyss, Point Break, Bad Boys, Enemy of the State, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Man On Fire, Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and Bourne Legacy, just to name a few.

Smith and Wesson Model 29
The only revolver to make the list, the Smith and Wesson Model 29 stands out. This gun weighs almost 3 pounds and though it was produced in many barrel lengths such as 3, 4, 5, and 6 inches it is probably best known for its 6 ½ and 8 ⅜ inch barrels. This gun was made to shoot either .44 Magnum or .44 Special.

This gun has shown up in a few movies over the years. It was in Taxi Driver, Live and Let Die, and Blue Steel. But the movie that made this gun a Hollywood icon was Dirty Harry. We find it doubtful that anyone wouldn’t recognize the handgun Clint Eastwood was holding when he said the words, “Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

The Glock
If you know your guns the first question you’re probably asking is, “But which Glock?” Though we believe that Glock as a brand has earned some serious movie fame, when people think of ‘The Glock’ it’s the 9x19mm Parabellum Glock 17 that they are picturing. It is the first model in the Glock series, and has a standard capacity of 17 rounds.

This is another gun with a long list of movie credits, most notably would be Die Hard 2 in which the refer to the Glock 17 as the fictional Glock 7. Other films include: The Fugitive, True Lies, Eraser, Metro, Rush Hour, The Bone Collector, The Watcher, Frequency, Training Day, 16 Blocks, Mission Impossible III, Shooter, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, Sky Fall, The Dark Knight Rises and many more.

The Beretta 92 (and variants)
Chances are that handgun you were eyeing up in that last movie you saw was a Beretta 92 (or one of its variants). By far, we’ve found that the Beretta 92 series of pistols are, we won’t say most used, but we will say “highly” used in Hollywood. The Beretta 92 series is a 9x19mm parabellum, Italian designed pistol, and depending on the magazine it can hold 10 to 32 rounds.

There is one movie that stands out over the others for this gun. Of the variants, it seems that the 92F and 92FS are the most used in movies. Some of the movies it can be seen in are: A Better Tomorrow, Lethal Weapon Franchise, Die Hard Franchise, If Looks Could Kill, Rapid Fire, Under Siege, Strange Days, The Rock, Rush Hour, The Boondock Saints, Training Day, Hard Candy, The Expendables, and The Bourne Franchise are just a few.

Walther PPK
The gun for the discerning spy, where would James Bond be without his Walther PPK? This is another one of those character guns, though there are few films in which Bond doesn’t use his trademark, it is the gun he is known for. This German gun is simply a smaller version of the PP and is the most common variant in the PP series. It only has a 9 round capacity (at most) and was manufactured in 6.35mm auto (.25 ACP), 7.65x17mm (.32 ACP) Auto or 9x17mm (.380 ACP).

Though this gun wasn’t used in the Brosnan years, there are very few films in the Bond series that don’t use the PPK. Some other films you can see the Walther PPK in are: Where Eagles Dare, The Bourne Identity (1988), The Client, Valkyrie, and Inglorious Bastards.

Colt AR-15 with M203 Grenade Launcher
No list would be complete without “My Little Friend”. Al Pacino in Scarface made the M16A1 (with grenade launcher) famous. This is a classic assault rifle (sans grenade launcher) still being produced today. It weighs almost 9 pounds when loaded and shoots 5.56x45mm NATO rounds.

There are many variants in the Colt Assault Rifle line. Scarface made this particular famous, and by extension, many others in the line noteworthy. Here are few other movies you can see this, and other, AR-15s in: Predator, Apocalypse Now, Commando, The Matrix, Platoon, Uncommon Valor, Heartbreak Ridge, Three Kings, Black Hawk Down, and Jarhead.

Information on firearms and the movies they have been are from Wikipedia and the Internet Movie Firearms Database.

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