The XM16E1 assault rifle are used by the soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division including Lt. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), First Lieutenent Charlie Hastings (Robert Bagnell), Second Lieutenent Jack Geoghegan (Chris Klein), Sergeant Ernie Savage (Ryan Hurst) and most United States Army soldiers. Later on the film during the Ia Drang battle Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper) uses one as well. These were actual XM16E1's used on the film for the heroes.
A Korean war era M1 Carbine is carried by the South Vietnamese (ARVN) advisor dressed in Tigerstripe fatigues. He appears in the scene in which the NVA scout is caught and interrogated. Viet Minh soldiers also use them against the french during the intro.
A Colt M1911 is fired by Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott) during a close combat sequence and is also seen in the holsters of his fellow soldiers.
I read somewhere (I think LMO) that Sam Elliot used an older M1911 not an A1. Gibson on the other hand did use an A1. I'm sure Steve would know something about it, since he worked on the film. - Gunmaster45
Sam Elliot did indeed used a Colt 1911 rebuilt for World War II and Mel Gibson used a Colt 1911A1 pre-war commercial issued to the military during World War II. -Steve
Colt M1911A1 pistol
A Colt M1911A1 is seen in the holster of Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) during a close combat sequence, shooting an NVA soldier attempting to bayonet him while he's on the radio.
Various US soldiers can be seen carrying M79 grenade launchers in a few scenes. Specialist Galen Bungum(Blake Heron) uses one since he is the grenadier of Seargent Savage's squad.
The .38 caliber revolver pulled out by Maj. Bruce "Snake S!@#" Crandall (Greg Kinnear) is most likely a Smith & Wesson M-13 Aircrewman, an unsuccessful lightweight aluminium-cylindered revolver designed for US military flyers.
A pair each of GE M134 Miniguns are seen mounted on the gunship Hueys that rip apart PAVN soldiers at the climax of the film, and one is also on display on a table in the beginning of the movie.
As the American soldiers are heading off for battle you can see a South Vietnamese soldier holding up an M1928A1 Thompson with a 20-round magazine.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM1928A1 Thompson .45 ACP with 30-round box magazine.Error creating thumbnail: File missingHooray! The American troops and a ARVN soldier with a M1928A1 Thompson cheer the rest of the 1st Cavalry when they go to the Ia Drang Valley to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And they are all out of bubblegum.
Browning M1919A4
Two Browning M1919A4s can be seen mounted on French jeeps on the intro sequence.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingA variant of the Browning M1919 developed during World War 2, this model is designated the M37, with the ability to feed from either the left or the right of the weapon - 30-06. This example is shown without a tripod, only the pintle mount. This the MOST likely .30 cal machine gun to be seen firing from armored vehicles.File:Vlcsnap-30185.jpgA french soldier fires the Browning M1919A4 at Viet Minh forces.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe Browning M1919A4 can be seen mounted on the jeep on the left.
MAT-49
Various French Soldiers use MAT-49 submachine guns during the opening Scene. Various North Vietnam soldiers and Vietcong soldiers use them during the rest of the movie, probably scavenged from French and South Vietnamise troops during the Indochina war.
A Viet Minh soldier during the intro sequence and a Vietcong soldier during the rest of the movie can be seen using Karabiner 98k rifles.
It should be noted that acording to one of the armorer's of the film, Steve Karnes, the Kar98ks used in the movie came from Israel and were chambered to 7.62 NATO.
A Viet Minh soldier uses a varient of the M1 Bazooka, the M1A1 Bazooka with one forward grip and a modified rear sight to destroy a french jeep during the intro sequence.
While it seems that a Viet Minh soldier using a Bazooka could be a anachronism the french army widely used the M1A1, M9A1, and M20 bazookas during the indochina war and the Viet Minh widely used scavanged french weapons during the Indochina War and the PAVN and Vietcong also widely used them during the Vietnam War.
During the scene where the men of the 1st Cavalry division do a bayonet charge against a NVA position(that actually didn't happen in real life)a small crew of PAVN soldiers man a DP-28, a varient of the soviet Degtyarev light machine gun.
