Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 World War II film directed by Steven Spielberg that stars Tom Hanks as a US Army Ranger captain who leads a squad of men into Normandy to bring home a paratrooper from the 101st Airborne Division who had just lost his three brothers in combat. The film was especially notable for its unflinching depiction of the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach.
The following weapons were used in the film Saving Private Ryan:
The M1 Garand is the standard issue rifle used by the majority of U.S. soldiers in the film, most notably being the primary weapon of U.S. Army Rangers Private Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Private Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel), 29th Infantry Division Technical Fifth Grade Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies) and briefly carried by Private Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper) and Technical Fourth Grade Medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi). U.S. Army 101st Airborne Paratroopers including Sergeant Hill (Paul Giamatti), Private James Frederick Ryan (Nathan Fillion) and Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) carry M1 Garands as their main rifle. Saving Private Ryan is also one of few films that correctly depicts the easily identifiable "ping" sound the Garand makes after the last round is fired and the en bloc clip is ejected. In some scenes, soldiers can be seen holding their Garands with relative ease, making these Garands most likely lightweight prop models.
The M1 Carbine appears as the main weapon of Technical Sergeant Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), which is fitted with a double magazine pouch strapped to the buttstock. At least one Paratrooper of the 101st Airborne under Sergeant Hill’s command carries a M1 Carbine in Neuville. Lieutenant Briggs appears to have a M1 Carbine shot up at Omaha Beach.
Several paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division, including Private Goldman (Raffaello Degruttola), a paratrooper runner, Michaelson (Ryan Hurst) and Private First Class Toynbe (Dylan Bruno) carry the folding stock variant M1A1 Carbine.
The squad's sharpshooter, Private Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), carries the sniper variant of the M1903 Springfield, the M1903A4 Sniper Rifle. The differences include the deletion of the front sight, and the addition of a Weaver 330C scope. As a left-handed shooter, Jackson clearly has trouble cycling the gun throughout the film due to the gun being built for right-handed shooters.
Jackson switches between two sniper scopes throughout the film, a Lyman Alaskan scope and a Unertl scope. Neither of them is the M1903A4's actual Weaver 330C scope, and both are unlikely sights on the WWII European theater: for the Lyman Alaskan, while it was considered for the standard scope for the M1903A4, Lyman's insufficient production led to the Weaver scope being adopted instead. For the Unertl, it was made and issued exclusively to the US Marine Corps, and it had a very different mounting system compared to the Lyman and the Weaver.
There is also a notable scene where Jackson shoots a German sniper through that sniper's own scope, a feat similar to one accomplished by Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War. However, in this film, the bullet drop at 400yds would make it impossible to clear all the scope lenses, while Hathcock was far closer to his target, as well as looking down at said target (Hathcock was on a hill, while the enemy sniper was at the base).
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM1903A4 Springfield with Model 330 Weaver scope - .30-06Error creating thumbnail: File missing-Be not Thou far from me, O Lord. Pvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper) aims his M1903A4 Springfield on Omaha Beach, here fitted with the Lyman Alaskan. He quotes the Bible (Psalms 22:19) before firing his weapon, a habit that he repeats throughout the film.Error creating thumbnail: File missingPvt. Jackson fires his M1903A4.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAt Neuville, Jackson replaces the Lyman Alaskan scope with an 8x Unertl scope on his M1903A4 to face the German sniper. Here, he is seen adjusting the scope's front objective, which adjusts the scope's parallax, even though he claims it is for windage. Also, his hand is the only thing moving, the front of the scope never twists.Error creating thumbnail: File missing-O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. Jackson takes aim at the German sniper with his M1903A4.Error creating thumbnail: File missingJackson with his M1903A4 during the standoff. Note that he's using the Lyman Alaskan scope.Error creating thumbnail: File missingCpl. Upham looks through Jackson's Lyman Alaskan scope. Despite which way he turns it, the reticle is always shown perfectly centered.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAn angle view of the M1903A4 Springfield as Jackson covers the Paratroopers over the Tiger Tank. Here the rifle is equipped with the Unertl scope again; note that the Unertl scope has apparently been customized to fit the M1903A4 mount, a very different mount from the actual Unertl scope mount on USMC M1903A1 Springfields.Error creating thumbnail: File missingJackson ejects a shell (which is clearly a blank) from his M1903A4.Error creating thumbnail: File missingJackson holds his M1903A4 Springfield after firing more than 5 rounds without reloading. Note how the free-bolt safety is clearly on in this shot.
Faulty Scope
During the bell tower sequence, Jackson's Unertl scope appears to be very off from where the bullets hit, as a result of the effects simulating the bullet impacts not being aligned in any way with the camera filming the action.
As common with the German forces as the M1 Garand is with the Americans, the Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle is the standard-issue weapon of the German military. SS Grenadiers during the battle in Ramelle line up armed almost entirely with Kar98k rifles, including 'Steamboat Willie' (Joerg Stadler), who mortally wounds Cpt. Miller with his 98k rifle. Also note how most of the rifles lack the hooded sights and cleaning rods which usually indicates Russian captures.
A Heer sniper is armed with a Karabiner 98k sniper rifle fitted with a Zeiss ZF42 scope with a rubber light blocking eye cover (which despite goof reports, is at proper eye relief with him resting his eye on it) and covered in makeshift burlap camouflage. He mortally wounds PFC Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel) before being killed himself by Private Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper). Jackson shoots this German sniper through his scope, a reference to a shot made by legendary Marine Corps sniper Carlos Norman Hathcock II during the Vietnam War.
The M1A1 Thompson aka the "Tommy Gun" or "fast gun" is carried by Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks). The Thompson is also used by other soldiers as well as Paratroopers, notably Pathfinder Captain Fred Hamill (Ted Danson) to end a standoff between Miller's squad and a group of German soldiers they had stumbled upon. Corporal Fred Henderson (Max Martini) and some Paratroopers under his command also carry the Thompson submachine gun in Ramelle.
The MP40 is also used by German forces, notably in the scene where Miller's squad stumbles upon a group of German soldiers, as well as during the defense of the bridge at Ramelle.
As the squad's support gunner, Private First Class Richard Reiben (Edward Burns) carries an M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle or "B.A.R." as his main weapon. The B.A.R. Reiben carries is not his originally issued one, which he claims he lost during the start of the D-Day landing to keep from drowning, and has the bipod removed, making it more into an assault rifle instead of a light machine gun. Further supporting this theory is how he fires it on the faster of the B.A.R.'s two full-auto fire modes, instead of the more efficient slow auto-fire used for support. Reports have said that, like the M1 Garands in the film, this B.A.R. was lightened for easier use by the actors, making it far easier to shoulder fire the weapon as an assault rifle.
The Browning M1919A4 or "Browning .30 caliber" machine gun is briefly seen being lugged by a U.S. soldier during the Omaha Beach scene. This machine gun is also among the weapons used by the defenders during the final battle at Ramelle. With only two machine guns available at Ramelle, one M1919A4 is manned by Airborne paratrooper Pvt. Parker (Demetri Goritsas) in the bell tower with Private Jackson and the other is manned by Corporal Fred Henderson (Max Martini) with Private Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg) as his assistant feeding and reloading. Both guns eventually run out of ammunition, their users being killed. The gun in the tower has a disintegrating belt and Mellish's gun has a fabric belt.
Known by the Allies as "Hitler's Buzzsaw", the German MG42 was perhaps the deadliest machine gun of World War II. Its extreme high rate of fire is accurately portrayed in the film. Its most notable appearance is during the Omaha Beach sequence, being fired from large pillboxes and sandbag positions overlooking the beach. Two pillboxes housing the MG42s are called 'Schnabelstand' and they were only used for observation and target spotting, not MG emplacement. However, there were none of these bunkers on the real Omaha Beach. The MG42 is later seen mounted on a lafette tripod, when Miller's squad encounter a German machine gun nest.
During the final battle, SS Tiger tanks (in reality mocked-up T34s) can be seen armed with MG34 Panzerlauf machine guns, mounted coaxially next to the main gun and in the bow of the hull next to the driver's compartment.
The Colt M1911A1 pistol is seen in the hands of TSgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Pvt. Jackson (Barry Pepper), and Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks). Horvath uses it to threaten PFC Richard Reiben (Edward Burns) when he wants to abandon his squad, later throws it during a melee scuffle in the final battle. Captain Miller is seen firing it at one of "Tiger" tanks as he sits wounded on the bridge in one of the film's most memorable moments.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt M1911A1 - .45 ACPError creating thumbnail: File missingA large muzzle flash is emitted from Jackson's Colt M1911A1.Error creating thumbnail: File missingPvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper) fires his M1911A1 into a German filled trench.Error creating thumbnail: File missingPvt. Jackson draws his M1911A1 when his squad first confronts Steamboat Willie (Joerg Stadler) and checks the magazine, which is clearly empty.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMike Horvath (Tom Sizemore) threatening to shoot PFC Richard Reiben (Edward Burns) with his M1911A1.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA wounded Capt. Miller fires his M1911A1 at an advancing "Tiger" tank. Note how his pistol is clearly out of battery, but in perfect working order in the next shot.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMiller fires his M1911A1 at the advancing tank.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMiller in amazement after seeing the tank blow up after shooting it with his M1911A1 (which was actually blown up by a P-51 Mustang). In this sequence, the pistol was only loaded with six rounds instead of the fully-loaded seven which is not unusual since soldiers don't always 'top off' their magazines in the middle of a war zone after firing one or more rounds previously. It is also likely that since there are too many camera angle shots of Miller firing his pistol, the camera shot for the seventh round may be unused or misplaced.
Walther P38
During the final battle in Ramelle, an SS Panzergrenadier can be seen using a Walther P38 when confronting TSgt. Horvath and is killed but still manages to wound him with it.
The M1A1 Bazooka is used in some scenes. It is first seen in the hands of a U.S. soldier under the command of Captain Fred Hamill (Ted Danson). Later we see Private James F. Ryan (Matt Damon) using an M1A1 Bazooka to destroy a German half-track. In preparation for the battle of Ramelle, the inventory shows two Bazookas available, one of them bring the same one carried by Ryan and later used by TSgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore) during the final battle to destroy a Marder III self-propelled gun. The second Bazooka was briefly picked up by Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) before being commandeered by Horvath in an attempt to destroy a "Tiger" tank, but the rocket is deflected off the tank's heavy armor.
During the final battle, one of SS Grenadiers can be seen carrying a Raketenpanzerbüchse (RPzB) 54 rocket launcher, better known as the "Panzerschreck", and fires at a group of retreating U.S. troops, sending one paratrooper through a glass window. Another Grenadier is also seen with a RPzB but is killed by Pvt. Ryan.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM7 rifle grenade launcherError creating thumbnail: File missingM9A1 Rifle GrenadeError creating thumbnail: File missingAn M9A1 grenade about to be fired from the M7 launcher of an M1 Garand. Note that this is likely a lightweight prop, as the stabilizer fin of the grenade has slid up the tail section to be directly behind the warhead.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAn M9A1 grenade fired from the M7 launcher of an M1 Garand. While the combination of overcharged M3 grenade launcher cartridge and the heavy 19-ounce grenade was unpleasant, direct fire from the shoulder was safely possible.
Grenades
Mk 2 Hand Grenade
During the attack on the German machine gun nest, Miller's squad uses Mk 2 hand grenades to take out all but one of German soldiers throws the grenades back at them, though thankfully miss. Later, during the final battle in Ramelle, several Mk 2 hand grenades are tossed into a disabled German tank, killing the crew.
During the final battle, Private Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg) and Corporal Fred Henderson (Max Martini) get two Model 24 Stielhandgranates thrown at them while manning one of M1919A4 machine guns. Thankfully the two are able to grab and toss the grenades clear before they detonate.
During the Omaha Beach scene, Private First Class Doyle (Glenn Wrage) uses the M1 Flamethrower to clear a German bunker overlooking the beach, turning the occupants into human torches. A group of U.S. soldiers are ordered to let them burn. During the opening of the scene, a flamethrower operator gets hit in the napalm tank and gets blown up along with his comrades around him.
Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) aids some soldiers in employing M1A1 Bangalore Torpedos to clear the barbed wire seawall (which would have actually been made of concrete, wood timbers, and pebbles). This is an homage to Major General Norman "Dutch" Cota who fearlessly encouraged his men to use the Bangalores to clear the seawall.
During the final battle at Ramelle, Private Ryan (Matt Damon) and Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) arm 60mm M2 Mortar shells by banging them against the steel launching base of the mortar tube and throw them like hand grenades at advancing SS soldiers, scoring several kills. This scene is based on the real life tactics of Medal of Honor winner Charles "Commando" Kelly, who really used 60mm mortar shells as grenades during a firefight in Italy.
