Top 5 Most Popular Movie Guns

By  //  September 28, 2021

Introduction

Since the development of some of the first silent films, firearms have played a major part in motion movies. Firearms have often played memorable and important roles in some of the most popular films ever created, whether they were employed in westerns, war flicks, or criminal dramas. 

The process of ranking the importance of these signature weapon by movie heroes was exceedingly tough and subjective. Each of the guns seen here had an impact on the consumer firearm industry, encouraged the usage of similar weaponry in future films, and became part of popular culture. In certain ways, each of these movie firearms grew in importance beyond the films in which they featured.

1. Harry Callahan’s Smith & Wesson Model 29

Clint Eastwood’s character, Detective Harry Callahan, had a unique sidearm when he first appeared on screen in 1971. A Smith & Wesson Model 29 44 Magnum was the weapon in dispute. The Model 29 was introduced to the shooting public in early 1956, after it was originally produced in 1955. A 240-grain bullet was propelled at approximately 1,200 feet per second using factory ammo, which was initially produced by Remington. 

In the film, Callahan refers to the 44 Magnum as “the most powerful pistol in the world,” and its ballistics were revolutionary at the time. As he pursues criminals on the streets of San Francisco, Callahan uses the Model 29 to great advantage, complementing his excellent marksmanship with some of the most memorable lines ever spoken on screen. The 44 Magnum was invented by Smith & Wesson, but it was made famous by Dirty Harry.

2. Matthew Quigley’s 1874 Sharps Rifle

The Sharps rifle used by Selleck’s character Matthew Quigley nearly stole the show in the opinion of many gun aficionados in the film Quigley Down Under, which featured Tom Selleck. Quigley is a Wyoming cowboy and sniper recruited by the story’s villain owing to his long-range shooting talents in the 1990 film. 

Quigley uses a single-shot rifle made by the Shiloh Sharps business in Big Timber, Montana, to achieve some incredible feats of marksmanship. Three rifles with hefty 34-inch octagonal barrels were constructed for production, each chambered in 45-110. 

Though some of the long-range shooting in the film may look implausible for the time period, real-life buffalo hunter and scout Billy Dixon killed a Comanche warrior at a range of 1,538 yards at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874. Dixon, like Quigley, is said to have fired the shot using a Sharps rifle.

3. James Bond’s Walther PPK

The 7.65mm Walther PPK, which Bond also carries in the Ian Fleming books that gave life to his character, has been the most famous and acclaimed of 007’s pistols in the 24 Bond films that have been produced since 1962. Ironically, the Walther identified as a PPK and carried by Sean Connery in Dr. No is really the bigger PP type. 

In this context, PP stands for “police pistol,” and the PPK is the smallest of the PP series, suited for detective usage. Bond looked to have progressed to the 9mm Walther P99 in Tomorrow Never Dies, but in Spectre, the newest film in the James Bond franchise, he was back to utilizing the PPK.

4. Rooster Cogburn’s 1892 Winchester Saddle Ring Carbine

There are nearly too many western movies with too many excellent firearms to pick from, but True Grit, a 1969 John Wayne classic, is impossible to go wrong with. Wayne portrays Marshall Rooster Cogburn, a lawman who sets out on a vengeance quest with the help of a young woman.

Cogburn carries a Colt Single Action Army revolver on his hip, but it’s his 44-40 Winchester 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine that steals the show, due to an enlarged lever loop that lets him cock and fire the rifle with one hand. These weapons had ten-round tube magazines and could fire as quickly as the shooter could cycle the action.

5. Colt 1872 Gatling Gun of Josey Wales

Clint Eastwood directed and starred in The Outlaw Josey Wales, which is packed with legendary guns from the Civil War era and beyond. Eastwood plays a competent Confederate veteran attempting to flee arrest in the post-war wilderness, which leads to a slew of gunfights. 

A Colt 1872 Gatling Gun chambered in 44 Rimfire is one of the most memorable and unusual guns in the film, and it is utilised to quickly send a huge number of government forces. Regardless of the fact that this specific model would not have existed during the time period depicted in the film, the scene is memorable.