most common handgun in American movies & TV in last 30 years?

[W.E.G.]

What is the most common handgun in American movies in the last 30 years?

I know about IMDB http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Movie
IMDB doesn't seem to have any kind of direct answer to my question.

I suppose if I had to guess, it would be the Glock.
Anybody care to challenge that?

Since the demise of the western, we rarely see any sort of single action revolver. So there goes Colt.

I sincerely believe Tommy Lee Jones' comment about "nickel plated sissy pistol" did it in for the Beretta.

I've been noticing a lot of SIG's lately.

California cop shows seem to have a even mix of third-gen S&W's and Glock.

Ruger only occasionally shows up as a "perp gun."

Smith and Wesson revolvers still show up occasionally, but rarely in the key scenes. More lately, also a "perp gun."

 

[Dmitri Popov]

Yea I'd say glock. Probably started because of Die Hard, and has carried on.

 

[Red Wind]

GlocK,IMO. The brand is as ubiquitous in movies and TV today as the lever action was in the westerns of the 1940's and '50's

 

[HDCamel]

I dunno about that. Glocks are certainly appearing in more movies and TV recently, but over the last 30 years (since 1984) I'd still have to give it to the Beretta 92 series (and the Taurus PT92).

 

[9mmepiphany]

I agree with HDCamel.

Glock has certainly been in a lot of movies lately...I think you actually see them more on TV shows (which I'm not counting)...but since the mid-80s, I don't think it is the dominate pistol.

I have to agree that the Beretta 92 is the most common. Part of it is the distinctive look of the open slide and the sheer size of the 5" barrel...show up better on the screen...but the other thing is how easy they are to convert to firing Hollywood blanks.

I had a friend that provide guns to movie productions and he was always happy if the requested the Beretta for the show. With it's non-tilting barrel, it is not only easy to convert but extremely reliable once converted

 

[rcmodel]

There for quite a while about 4 years ago, a SIG P232SL appeared in every TV cop show on TV for about three years.

I would probably never have noticed it if I hadn't have just bought one in 2010.

More recently, more SIG 9mm's are on TV then Glocks on all the shows I watch.
Justified, NCIS, NCIS Los Angles, etc.

I couldn't say about movies.
Because I haven't been to one in the last 30 years.

rc

 

[Quiet]

Some of those cop shows try to match the firearms with what the actual LE agency depicted in the show uses.

 

[mgmorden]

I'll agree on the Beretta 92. Seems like every time I turn on the TV I see them everywhere. Heck over the past few months I watched all 10 seasons of Smallville and I'd joke with my sister (who watched them with me) that the producers of the show must have had an agreement with Beretta or something. It wasn't the only type of gun ever shown, but if they showed a handgun 90% of the time it was a Beretta.

 

[tarosean]

Some time ago I did a spreadsheet converting the tables on imfdb ( it may still be on a post here)

Beretta 92 was used more than any gun..

 

[Schwing]

If you are going back 30 years, I would say the Beretta 92 hands down. Die hard, Lethal Weapon, the Stargate movie and tv series, etc...

Over the last couple of years, it seems like the sigs are what I see the most. I admit I don't watch a lot of cop shows which is where I am sure the Glocks are prevalent.

 

[jerkface11]

You see a LOT of third gen smiths on cop shows. On Hawaii 5-0 the uniformed cops carry 4506s!!

 

[herrwalther]

Glock would be my vote. I would say SIG would be a distant second most popular brand in movies/TV.

 

[greenr18]

In a lot of early to mid 80s movies for some reason there were TONS of hi powers and most the time for some reason bad guys had them, then towards the later 80s early 90s good guys always seemed to have berettas then it went to sig sauers and glocks

 

[Twiki357]

deleted

 

[larryh1108]

Recent tv cop shows seem to use a lot of Glocks. Movies used to show a lot of Berettas, probably because of Mel Gibson but Steven Segal seemed to just love his M1911s.

 

[HJ857]

This thread reminded of a quote from director John Woo, "I feel the Beretta is a great character, it's so strong and elegant. The other guns look dumb to me."

 

[Cee Zee]

I think Sigs are more common. They have a classic semi-auto pistol look to them. They're square looking and black (for the most part) which I think makes them popular with movie makers. S&W's are still popular but mostly as revolvers.

 

[r1derbike]

1911x

I see a lot of BGs totin' 1911s

 

[jgiehl]

John Woo like Berretas because, "other guns look dumb."

 

[savanahsdad]

just want to say thanks for making me feel old ,,,, I was going to say there were no glocks or sigs on "Barny Miller" then I remembered that was more than 30 years ago and Fish had the best gun on that show in the last 30 ?? I say the M9

 

[guyfromohio]

I see quite a few bad guy Desert Eagle .50/.44, but that us probably because they stand out.

 

[M1GarandDeerHunter]

Beretta and Glock. There are look alike beretas that are made for blank firing too. jmo.

 

[Mp7]

Beretta92.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I'll guess Beretta, possibly in a tie with Glock. The Beretta 92 is great for cycling with the blanks used in movies.

 

[gidaeon]

I always thought there were a fair amount of s&w 590x in TV and movies mostly '90s though, still see them occasionally on newer stuff as of it folks are digger deeper in the props box.