From the seasonal setting of an office Christmas party to what is arguably the best line of the movie, “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie. This movie has it all from a Ho-Ho-Ho Santa moment to Christmas trees to the kind of violence that’s oh-so-common this time of year. It also has a lot of great guns, and we’re here to tell you all about our favorites from what is, of course, the best holiday movie ever made.
Heckler and Koch HK94A3 (Cut Down and Converted)
In what might be the most infamous scene in the entire movie, Bruce Willis as John McClane takes on a bad guy, wins, and takes his gun. The resulting moment is nothing short of epic: the deceased bad guy is seen in an elevator, minus his gun, with “Now I have a machine gun, Ho, Ho, Ho” written on his shirt.
Then there’s the gun in question, an HK94A3 that was chopped down to size and converted. Apparently, the gun powers on set tried to make the HK94A3 look like an MP5A3. At the time the movie was made, the MP5A3 was popular among those who could get their hands on submachine guns. These converted HKs are seen throughout “Die Hard.”
The actual MP5A3 is a roller-delayed blowback submachine gun chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum. It was designed by Heckler and Koch in the 1960s and gained some serious popularity in the 1980s (not that it isn’t still loved today). Selector switch possibilities include semi-auto, two-round burst, three-round burst, and full auto. This is a fun gun to run. It’s no wonder the terrorists in “Die Hard” had a bunch of these (or, guns converted to look like them).
Smith & Wesson Model 15
Just because the movie has a lot of cool submachine guns and military gear doesn’t mean there aren’t other types of guns in it. Sergeant Al Powell, the cop who believes and tries to help John McClane, has a Smith & Wesson Model 15. That’s right, it was still the era of revolvers as duty guns for law enforcement. In fact, the LAPD had the Model 15 as their standard issue from 1971 to 1988, and the movie was released in 1988.
The Smith & Wesson Model 15 is a revolver chambered in 38 Special +P. It has a six-round capacity, a carbon steel cylinder, and is a single-action/double-action gun. The gun’s four-inch barrel made it easier to carry than many long-barreled models and the dark carbon steel finish is less likely to reflect or create glare. Unfortunately, this gun is out of production, but you can still find used models at gun stores and pawn shops.
Steyr AUG
There are a lot of actual assault rifles in “Die Hard,” and the Steyr AUG is another. The theory among movie buffs is that the AUG and other guns were used to try to contrast the terrorists’ weapons with the guns used by the good guys, but only the director knows.
This gun is perhaps most famously wielded by Karl, a blonde terrorist played by Alexander Godunov. While the bad guys are on the hunt for McClane, they spend a moment in the elevator, and Karl takes the opportunity to assemble his AUG. Karl is seriously mad at McClane for taking out his brother, and somehow he ends up in a body bag with his AUG at the end of the movie.
Of course, the weirdness of being zipped into a body bag with a gun can be ignored, because the cool factor of Karl rising from the presumed-dead, AUG in hand, to try to kill McClane is pretty memorable.
The Steyr AUG is, as mentioned, an assault rifle. It has a three-position selector switch with semi-auto and full-auto as the fire options. This is a bullpup rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO, although there is a variant in 9mm. According to Steyr, this rifle is favored by a lot of special forces guys. Whatever the case, it’s a cool-looking bullpup with a giggle switch, and that’s enough to make us wish we could have one.
Heckler & Koch P7M13
The Heckler & Koch P7M13 is the gun of choice for terrorist faction leader Hans Gruber, played by the late Alan Rickman. Many know and love Rickman for his portrayal of Snape in Harry Potter, but he had a whole other acting career before witches and wizards become The Thing. His acting in “Die Hard” is fantastic. The movie wouldn’t be the same if they’d cast someone else. What can we say, Rickman always makes a good bad dude.
As for the gun, it’s part of the P7 line of guns, which were produced between 1979 and 2008. It’s chambered in 9mm and recognizable due to its front-strap cocking lever-grip safety combo, if for no other reason. The lever must remain engaged during live fire, which takes a fair amount of pressure. The nice thing about the 97M13 variant is that it’s a double stack with a 13-round capacity. This gun is also the largest of the P7 family with an overall length of 6.9 inches and a barrel length of 4.1 inches.
As our parting word on Rickman and the P7M13, we have to say the scene where Hans falls from the tower, gun in hand, is legendary.
Beretta 92F
Yes, there’s also a Beretta in the movie, and it’s used by McClane. Although it’s primarily McClane’s weapon, it gets passed around a bit and is used by Hans and Karl as well. There’s one particular scene where McClane mag-dumps at the terrorist through a table, and according to the movie director, that scene permanently damaged Bruce Willis’ hearing. We have no idea what the safety standards were in 1988, but it’s an interesting bit of trivia.
Here’s another piece of movie trivia: The 92F isn’t the gun the original McClane used in the book the movie is based on, and it was also never authorized for NYPD duty use (remember, McClane is with the NYPD).
The Beretta 92F is part of the company’s 92 line of pistols. It’s a 9mm and a rather heavy metal gun, weighing in around 34 ounces, empty. This is a single-action/double-action gun with a decocker, so if you ever run one in a class, be prepared to be super-efficient with that decocker and trigger press. The 92F variant has some cool additions like a hard chromed bore, which was done to drastically reduce wear, and 100% interchangeable parts (that was done to make the government contract writers happy).
What’s your favorite “Die Hard” moment? Tell us what you think in the comments section. We’ll just be over here wishing for our own submachine gun.
