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Lord of War
The following guns were used in the movie Lord of War
AK-47/AKM/AKMS
One of the most frequently-seen weapons in the film, numerous versions of the AK-47 and the newer AKM appear constantly. The weapon's simplicity and near-indestructibility are highly praised by Yuri during the movie in one memorable scene where he examines an AK while detailing its features and history in modern war. The film starts out following the journey of an AK-47 7.62x39mm round from a munitions factory in Russia to its final destination in an African country, where it is fired at and kills a child soldier.
As in many Hollywood movies, one of the most common AK derivatives seen in the film is the Norinco Type 56-1, the Chinese copy of the AKMS, with its distinctive hooded front sight. In fact, AKs of this type are seen being used by the ex-USSR soldiers in Ukraine during the early-1990s (which is highly inaccurate, because Soviet troops would never use Chinese-made weapons, and the 7.62x39mm AKs had been phased out of Russian service at the time of the scene, anyway). Several early-1950s Type III AK-47s (which are true "AK-47s", as opposed to AKMs) also appear - this is the type which Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is seen playing with during his infamous narrative speech describing the versatility and popularity of the Kalashnikov. Most of rifles in this scene are Czech SA 58s only acting as AK-47s.
André Baptiste, Jr.'s custom AK
The gold-plated AK-47/AKM derivative carried by André Baptiste, Jr. (Sammi Rotibi) is not, as has been written previously, an "AKS-47U" or "AKMSU" or any such factory-manufactured weapon. It is a custom-made Kalashnikov that was built specially for the movie. Martin Edge, an armorer at Hire Weapons, which supplied the guns for all scenes filmed in South Africa, has sent IMFDB an e-mail with the following details:
"The weapon started out as a Saiga hunting rifle with synthetic stock and furniture...Here are the rest of the details:
-The folding stock is, as you mentioned from East Germany, this was purchased in East Germany at an arms fair and fitted to the weapon
-The top cover is held on by means of a S.M.L.E. rear top cover spring clip
-A pistol grip was installed and the trigger moved forward, the trigger guard is from a Vector R4
-The barrel and gas tube were shortened and the front sight is fitted to the barrel by means a flat on the barrel and a key on the front sight, the hand guard is held in position by the flash hider
-The Muzzle brake/flash hider was turned down from a piece of bar
The weapon was originally supplied to the production with the black synthetic furniture, but was rejected in favour of the wooden furniture. The weapon was actually built by Bruce Wenztel, the owner of Hire Arms, which is Johannesburg based movie weapons props house in South Africa. I was not one of the armourers on the movie as I was not working for the company that the time of the production. The armourer was Lance Peters who handled the weapons on set on the companies behalf. Hire Arms imported some weapons and supplied the others. I spend most of my time building specialised weapons for future productions and spend very little time on set. The company has 400 feature movies under its belt and seems to be going from strength to strength. I am attaching various other pictures, please feel free to upload as you like.
You also mention the magazine in your copy, and it is an early type and was chosen because of its surface area for ease of plating. Brass plating was suggested as an alternative to gold but was rejected by the production in favour of 18crt gold plating, which cost a small fortune."
As mentioned in Martin's e-mail, he sent us a number of photos of the gold-plated AK. IMFDB is extremely grateful to him for this exclusive info!
Micro Uzi
Yuri's very first arms sale is a batch of Micro Uzi machine pistols, which are sold to local Russian mobsters (inaccurately, the scene takes place in 1982 - the Micro Uzi was not introduced until 1983).
M16A2
In one of Yuri's first major sales, he procures hundreds of surplus M16A2 rifles left in Lebanon by America peace keepers, which he sells to the leader of a Lebanese Maronite militia (probably the real-life Phalange) in a joint deal with a corrupt American military officer named Lt. Colonel Southern (a reference to Lt. Colonel Oliver North, who in real life helped sell American-made weaponry "under the table" to proxy forces).
Colt Model 653
During the Berlin Arms Fair scenes, several female models can be seen posing with Colt Model 653s.
Uzi
In one scene, Yuri and Vitaly sell full-size Uzi submachine guns to Somali Islamic resistance fighters (one of them tests the weapon by firing it at a cardboard cutout of Ronald Reagan). Yuri notes the irony of this transaction: "I sold Israeli-made Uzis to Muslims."
Glock 17
In one part of the film, Yuri sells four Glock 17 pistols to a Colombian narco-guerilla (possibly a member of FARC),along with a large shipment of other weapons. When a dispute arises regarding payment for the weapons (the drug lord wants to give him cocaine instead of money), Yuri ends up getting shot with one of the pistols, violating the most important of his three rules; "Don't get shot with your own merchandise".
A notable mistake is that two of the Glock-17s in this scene (including the one used by the drug lord to shoot Yuri) are clearly 3rd Generation models (they have frame rails for mounting accessories, plus thumb reliefs and finger grooves in the grip), which were introduced in the late-1990s, but the scene takes place in the late-1980s. The other two Glocks are both 2nd Generation models, which would have been correct for the time period.
Strictly speaking, 2nd Gen Glocks in 1989 should still have the field grey type finish, but that's just hair-splitting.
Smith & Wesson Model 686
While Yuri is negotiating with André Baptiste Sr. (Eamonn Walker), the warlord uses a Smith & Wesson Model 686 to kill one of the men in the room, after which Yuri comments that he'll have to purchase the weapon having used it. Later on, André captures Yuri's primary gun-running competitor, Simeon Weisz (Ian Holm) as a "present" for Yuri and gives him the opportunity to kill him using the revolver. When Yuri is reluctant to do the deed himself, the warlord puts the gun in Yuri's hand and presses Yuri's finger on the trigger until the gun fires, killing Weisz.
M60 Machine Gun
While doing buisness with André Baptiste, André Baptiste Jr. requests that Yuri get him what he calls "the gun of Rambo", an M60 machine gun. Upon receiving it, he is seen firing the gun at random civilians while driving in the truck to do business with the R.U.F. in Sierra Leone.
An M60 is also seen on the Coast Guard launch when Jack Valentine is about to board the Kristol/Kono.
Heckler & Koch MP5A2/A3
Throughout the movie, the Interpol agents are brandishing Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, both the MP5A2 and MP5A3 (they might be A4s and A5s, but it is difficult to see whether or not they have the 4-position trigger groups or not). In one scene where Interpol agents confront Yuri as he is about to ship an Mi-24 attack helicopter to Burkina Faso, one of the agents shoves an MP5 in his face threateningly. He coolly replies, "Oh, the new MP5...would you like a silencer for that?"
Heckler & Koch MP5K
Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) carries a Heckler & Koch MP5K with a 15-round magazine.
RPG-7
Another frequently-seen weapon in the film is the RPG-7 rocket launcher. In one scene, Yuri gives away a whole plane full of weapons, including RPGs, to peasants to avoid being caught with them by Interpol agents.
Beretta 92FS
Yuri's brother Vitaly Orlov (Jared Leto) carries a Beretta 92FS pistol throughout the movie. During the altercation with the narco-guerilla in Colombia, he pulls this weapon to defend his brother.
Karabiner 98k
A Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle can be seen in the hands of an Afghan Mudjahideen rebel during the montage where Yuri describes the growth of his business.
- The straight bolt doesn't match the stock. That indent in the stock is so you can easily grab the turned bolt, but the bolt is straight. This could indicate the rifle is a mockup of several Mauser carbine variants. - Gunmaster45
RGD-5 Hand Grenade
Near the end of the film, Vitaly uses RGD-5 hand grenades to try to destroy the weapons his brother is selling to the R.U.F. in exchange for conflict diamonds, but only manages to destroy one truck (containing half the weapons) before he's shot multiple times by rebel gunmen. He falls close to the second truckload of weapons and tries to pull the pin out of a second grenade as he lies dying, but he is stopped by Yuri, who puts the pin back into the grenade. Vitaly then expires.
