What is it about Hollywood and guns?
I don’t think there’s any entity out there that can create a desire for a particular firearm more than putting it at the forefront of an awesome movie.
It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not, if it’s awesome enough in the film, it moves to our number one Christmas boutique gift item.
So what about the best movie guns? Every action villain needs a nasty looking gun and every hero needs an equally if not more awesome gun.
These are the guns, real or not, that either make the movie or define the action movie genre altogether.
Presented in no real order…
Most Famous Movie Guns
1. Heckler & Koch MP5
One of the classic ‘80s action movie guns, from its release in 1966 the MP5 was quickly the hottest thing for tactical units the world over.
From Vietnam to the war in Iraq, the MP5 hasn’t gone out of style in over 50 years of service.
Other than action heroes, the most famous users are probably the U.S. Navy SEALs. Compact, accurate, and very handy in tight places — the MP5 is one of the coolest pistol caliber firearms ever made.
H&K has come out with a half dozen or so flavors of the MP5 in attempts to modernize it or to fulfill needs requests from the military and police.
Suppressors, folding or collapsing stocks, integrated lights, and lasers, full-auto or burst fire settings — there isn’t much that the MP5 can’t do.
Best Movies Featuring The MP5
“Now I Have a Machine Gun. Ho-Ho-Ho”
Does any more need to be said?
A Charlie Sheen classic, the gun handling isn’t the best but it isn’t the worst either. Lots of awesome MP5SD action in a couple of different flavors also!
The gun plays a pretty unimportant role in the movie, but it’s a great movie and definitely worth watching.
2. FN Hi-Power
The double-stack, 9mm pistol that started the Wonder Nine craze, the Hi-Power never really gained a lot of popularity in America.
But everywhere else in the world… this was THE handgun for decades.
13+1 (or 14+1 for the Canadians), single-action with a decent trigger, very ergonomic feel, the Hi-Power really is the first super modern feeling mass-market pistol to gain wide-spread acceptance.
Best Movies Featuring The Hi-Power
A surprising choice for Eddie Murphy’s character, it’s super cool to see him rocking the Hi-Power… even if he does tend to shoot this single action pistol with the hammer down.
An incredible action movie with some of the best gunplay ever put to film, the Hi-Power is briefly seen carried by Mumbai police officers.
Truly authentic use of the gun since the Hi-Power was very popular with all of the Commonwealth nations.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Hugely underrated movie, Henry Cavill welds the Hi-Power fitted with a suppressor.
While really a suppressed Hi-Power is very uncommon to find, it’s still possible and makes sense if the user is a spy.
3. Walther PPK
It’s the 007 gun. We all know this little guy and love it.
One of the most popular guns in film ever and based almost totally on Bond’s use of it.
If that isn’t enough fame for you, the Walther PPK is also reportedly the gun that Hitler used to kill himself.
A downsized version of the Walther PP, the design itself has remained mostly unchanged since it was released in 1931.
Most commonly chambered in .380 ACP and using a 6+1 magazine, the Walther PPK is tiny, reliable, and very cool. Check out more about the Walther PPK History!
Best Movies Featuring The Walther PPK
Literally All Of The James Bond Movies (1963-2020+)
I like the ones with Sean Connery best, but you do you.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Another great spy movie, a much slower burn than any of the Bond films but an amazing thriller.
One of the best Cold War spy movies you will ever see, Gary Oldman is awesome and the cast is packed with great actors.
Several Walther PPKs are featured, all of them cool.
4. M60 Machine Gun
The Pig is one of the most recognizable firearms ever on film. Starting in the early 60s, grunts carrying the M60 would develop a love/hate relationship with the 23-pound 7.62x51mm NATO belt-fed machine gun.
Hollywood on the other hand, it was love at first sight.
From Rambo to Terminator 2, the M60 has been in dozens of movies and video games.
Ever seen any movie set during the Vietnam War? Then you’ve seen the M60.
Best Movies Featuring The M60
I could list off a dozen or more, but I’ll try to hold back.
“Can you get me the gun of Rambo?” The semi-true story of an arms dealer in the ‘80s and ‘90s, this is a must-see movie. Period.
The battle of the Ia Drang valley was the first time the American army faced the army of North Vietnam in a full-scale battle.
It is an emotional and incredible film and really shows how useful and important firearms like the M60 and M16 were in combat.
Operation Gothic Serpent was a disaster. If you only watch one movie this year, it should be Black Hawk Down.
It also provides an interesting comparison between the M249 SAW and the M60.
I like this movie because it’s a good action flick, but it also features the Mk 43 Mod 0/1 M60 — a US Navy only variant of the M60. As far as I know, this is the only movie to feature it.
5. .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson 29
Clint Eastwood tends to show up a lot on this site and others like it. Why? Because of one character: Dirty Harry.
Had Dirty Harry been carrying a snub nose .38 or a .22 Ruger Mark III, the movie would have been stupid as hell.
In this case, however, that hand cannon essentially became the star of the movie with Clint Eastwood taking the supporting role.
Too bad the Academy Awards requires the best lead actor to be human and not an inanimate object. I think the S&W would have been a shoo-in that year.
Best Movies Featuring The S&W 29
Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya. Punk.
6. M134 Mini Gun
A modern update to a very old design. This electric-powered Gatling gun is capable of blanketing the land with 7.62mm bullets at a rate of 2,000 to 6,000 rounds a minute.
Who can forget the scene in Predator where they pretty much leveled a stretch of the jungle with one of these?
This gun is used throughout our military, usually mounted to vehicles, to devastating results.
If you want a lot of things obliterated, this is a great gun to pick.
Best Movies Featuring The Mini Gun
One of the very few movies made about the Vietnam war while we were still fighting it, the Department of Defense gave the filmmakers a LOT of help and support to the making of it.
Including letting them borrow a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship and it’s M124 Mini-Gun.
Hey if you’re able to summon any weapon you want in the Matrix, the M124 Mini-Gun is an obvious choice. Especially when you’re not paying for ammo!
7. 1911
This gun is used in a lot of movies. Pretty much any period war film is going to be covered with these.
At the same time, because of the unassuming nature of the 1911, you’re almost always going to see someone carrying this in a movie.
From Dean in “Supernatural” with a beautifully engraved Colt to Walter from “The Big Lebowski” using a 1911 to enforce bowling rules.
Best Movies Featuring The 1911
Reaching way back in the movie drawer for this one, all the way back to 1941.
Great movie about the WWI Medal of Honor winner, you NEED to see it!
Focusing on the law enforcement agents that tracked down Bonnie and Clyde, I love this movie. And not just because I’m a big Costner fan.
It’s on Netflix, watch it!
8. Desert Eagle .50
If you want to instantly establish someone as a force to be reckoned with, this gun is the one to hand them.
The biggest, baddest mamma jammas are the only ones in film that you will see with this gun.
If you’ve never held one of these cannons, and that’s the only way to describe it is a cannon, then go find a gun store that carries them and hold it.
With its massive size and its distinctive triangular shape, this gun is instantly recognizable.
Best Movies Featuring The Desert Eagle .50
The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2003)
Every Agent in the Matrix chooses a Desert Eagle XIX, perfect for the discerning AI that doesn’t feel recoil or pay for ammo.
One of the best modern pure action movies, this is a really fun shoot ‘em up starring John Travolta. Don’t overthink the story, enjoy the explosions.
9. AK-47
In old western films, the good guys and bad guys were immediately recognizable because of a simple trick: the good guy wore white and the bad guy wore black.
These days, that trick is still used although it has nothing to do with their apparel (good guys have finally realized just how slimming a black outfit can be).
If they want to instantly establish someone as the bad guy in an action film, they just hand them an AK-47.
With its menacing silhouette and easily spotted wooden accouterments, everyone knows what an AK-47 looks like even if they don’t know what it’s called.
Everyone also knows that if you see someone wielding this, they’re not to be trusted.
The M16/AR-15 may be the mechanically and technologically superior weapon but style-wise, you’ve gotta give props to the Kalashnikov.
Best Movies Featuring The AK-47
Like I said, a great look at the arms dealing life in the ‘80s and ‘90s — you really owe it to yourself to watch it. Tonight. Or right now.
EOD people don’t get nearly the respect they deserve from Hollywood, so this is one of the very few films featuring them.
It also has an AK used but someone who isn’t the bad guy. Another rare occurrence.
An awesome movie for a dozen reasons. First off, it’s filmed entirely in first-person. So if you get motion sickness… maybe skip this one.
The other cool thing is that this isn’t your standard AK-47, the bad guys in Hardcore Henry rock the AK-103.
10. The Beretta 92FS
There is no handgun that has appeared in more films than this Italian made, flashy-looking 9mm pistol.
Seriously, go pick any action film. Chances are you will see one of these guns being wielded by someone before the end of the first action sequence.
This was John McClain’s choice in the “Die Hard” films, it was modified and stylized even more for use by the Clerics in “Equilibrium”, it was carried by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and I could go on and on.
There’s something about the shape of the slide, the lines, the style that just makes this gun appeal to filmmakers.
Best Movies Featuring The Beretta 92FS
It’s a Christmas movie. Fight me in the comments if you disagree.
Is the 92FS cool because of Lethal Weapon? Or is Lethal Weapon cool because of the 92FS? We may never know.
Honorable Mentions
The Noisy Cricket
“I feel like I’m gonna break this damn thing!” This tiny gun, smaller than the average derringer, has been a running gag throughout the Men In Black universe (from the comics to the movies to the cartoons).
Don’t let the size of this gun fool you, it can blow a hole through buildings and propels the shooter backward 20 feet or more when fired.
Used as a kind of hazing in the Men In Black organization, it is given to new recruits as their first weapon for the entertainment of senior agents.
M203 Grenade Launcher
Not really a gun but it’s close enough. And it’s an action movie classic!
When bullets won’t solve your problem, area of effect will!
Attached normally to an M16 rifle, this underslung grenade launcher fires a 40mm shell for some great effect.
Not as much payload as most movies would have you believe, but still enough to get the job done in most cases.
Pancor Jackhammer
The Jackhammer is a bullpup automatic shotgun that doesn’t exist. Sort of. Designed in 1984, this is a real gun. But it never actually entered production so there is only like… one of them in existence.
Despite the fact that this isn’t a gun that anyone can actually get their hands on, it’s cool looking and perfect for video games.
Battlefield 2 and 3, Far Cry, Delta Force: Land Warrior, Max Payne, and a dozen other games have featured this mythical scatter-blaster.
Parting Shots
These are some of our favorite guns and favorite movies. Hopefully you’ve got some ideas for what to watch next also!
Did we miss one? Let us know your picks in the comments! For some more awesome guns in movie action, take a look at the Most Realistic Gun Scenes in Movies!
44 Leave a Reply
Wrong UNCLE gun. Go with the famous gun of the series. The P-38 short barrel with all the extensions on it changes it to a carbine.
Walther PPK does look cool, which is why Ian Fleming chose it for Bond BTW, but in my experience it's just not great to shoot. Sub-compact and all.
Odd you don't include the three (so far) John Wick movies: the Walther P30L. Good gun, and actually reasonably priced for a Walther.
...reasonably priced for an HK. Dhow! thinking HK and typed Walther.
No Thompson! How about Sonny Corelone getting turned into hamburger. Or Albert Finney blasting away mobsters to "Danny Boy" in Miller's Crossing. And more correct action in Saving Private Ryan & Band of Brothers with the M1A1 variant.
Colt single action army. Especially in the hands of Thell Reid or Arvo Ojala
I feel like Eastwood's sharps rifle from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is missing.
Gotta say the MP5 is most famous and associated with the SAS not the SEALS. Good overview nonetheless.
All good pics - but how could you miss Schwarzenegger's Terminator level action shotgun?
I liked the AK-47 in Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak Ridge. “It makes a distinctive sound when fired at you”
What about Danny Vermin's 88 Magnum from Johnny Dangerously?
No Colt SAA?! Surely you jest.
Not to be too pedantic, but I noticed a Copy/Paste Error. Best Movies Featuring The Hi-Power is listed twice, the second of which should be PPK.
Thanks! I'll fix that.
Um......just about any film involving early era gangsters? Thompson Submachine gun!
My entry is the Colt 1903 hammerless. Popular in black and white movies of the day, and Winston's gun in JW3!
Really could’ve given props to the old school. At least in the honorable mentions section to the old Peacemaker, Schofields, and the mythical Sharps from ‘Quigley Down Under’.
what?.... no SPAS-12?..... jurassic park, terminator, etc.? :)
I know it’s not a movie but, Raymond Reddington carries a Hi Power on the show “ The Blacklist”
I always dug 'The Hand of God' in "3:10 to Yuma."
Sergeant York is one of my all-time favorite movies. Classic! This was a fun read.
Gotta have a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.
....just what you see pal...
Good list although you could have titled it "iconic" perhaps...because all of the John Wick's guns are famous...just not nearly as iconic as a Beretta 92 or the "Dirty Harry" gun.
Also where's the Glock 7, the porcelain gun made in Germany that doesn't show up on the airport x-ray machines, that costs more than you make in a month... :)
For anyone who wants to lose a few hours of their life, visit the Internet Movie Firearm Database (http://www.imfdb.org) and go down the rabbit holes on which guns are in which tv shows or movies...
Hans Gruber's (Alan Rickman) HK P7.
Not general icons like your choices, but here are two:
Sharps rifle in Quigley and True Grit (and others)
Tokarev with grenade launcher from Kingsmen.
You beat me to it.... got to include the 45-70 Sharps and especially the Custom piece in Quigley.
John wicks HK P30L long slide
One of my 'bucket list' guns is the old Astra Terminator revolver in .44 mag. 'Lethal Weapon' and 'From Dusk to Dawn' are 2 movies it was shown. Fun article!
I agree but I would add the Winchester lever action. The movie Winchester '73. It is the weapon that " won the west"
Wow. Great article. Lotsa fun.... there are a few of them I don’t own... ......but gotta have em now.....
The Beretta 92 we were issued was a piece of shit. After 3 months we were issued HK P2000. THAT was a great gun.
Anton Chigurh’s captive bolt gun is quite effective in “No Country for Old Men.”
Great movie ordnance picks. Not to be confused with best choices for practical civilian defensive purposes. No matter: I love this site.
I was sure I'd see the HK USP Match 9mm's Lara Croft Dual-wields in The Tomb Raider franchise.
Armat Battlefield Systems M41A Pulse Rifle from the movie Aliens
“I want to introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A Pulse Rifle. Ten millimeter, with an over-and-under 30mm pump-action grenade launcher … feel the weight.”
https://d2cdo4blch85n8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Aliens-Colonial-Marine-M41-A-Pulse-Rifle-Movie-Prop-image-2.jpg
The M60 MK 43 mod 0 was also the M60e4 correct?
Pretty sure this was the model my unit (A 1/502) received in 94. Ours had rails. We also got rails for some of our Saw’s and had what were told were the first M4’s in a line unit.
The Mk 43 mod 0 is a M60E4 but with a shorter barrel. The mod 1 added rails to the Mk 43 design.
So basically the same -- the Navy one is just shorter and handier.
Great layout.
How is the 92FS going to make it onto this list without mentioning the Boondock Saints?
I’ve noticed in the last few years KSG and DP12 shotguns are starting to make appearances now in movies .......although the movie makers really should find out how both guns operate.....and also what rounds they fire .....methinks they are chosen for the way they look.
Exclusion of the S&W model 10 (M&P revolver as it was known from 1899-1956) is criminal. That gun was the go to Cop gun both irl and in films. It was used in so many films that it easily eclipses the beretta 92 simply because the beretta didnt enter cinema until the mid 80's.....by that point The Model 10 had already been in thousands of films both domestic and foreign and continues to be used in virtually every period film shot between the 1920's-70's. Classic Famous films such as "King Kong(1933)", "Silence of the lambs(1991)" as well as modern flicks like "public enemies(2009)". Television particularly crime shows just about demand its presence. Shows like "The X-files", "Law & order", "The sopranos", and "criminal minds" had the model 10 or some variant of itself periodically in episodes.
TLDR; I'm a dude who carries a Beretta 92fs everyday as a duty weapon and i off the clock conceal a model 10 both are amazing cool guy guns and they both deserve love.
50 AE Desert Eagle ==> Barb Wire (aka Pamela Anderson) even holding one in each hand on the cover.
You did include the Golden Gun, but what about the Walther PPK which was used on the first 18 Bond Films.
Ive always wanted Harrison fords gun from Blade Runner. I think the luger is most obvious villian gun, dr doom even has one.