Detective Lieutenant John McClane's (Bruce Willis) main sidearm throughout the film is a SIG-Sauer P220R (nowadays, this model is simply known as the standard P220). During the confrontation with Mai Linh (Maggie Q) in the power plant, she takes the P220 and holds it on Matthew Farrell (Justin Long). After McClane hits her with an SUV, she loses the gun and it is never seen again; McClane later takes a Beretta Px4 Storm from Russo (Yorgo Constantine), which becomes his weapon for the rest of the movie.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSIG-Sauer P220R - .45 ACP. This is the screen used gun in the film and was carried and fired by Bruce Willis.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDetective Lt. John McClane shows Matthew Farrell his SIG-Sauer P220R in his shoulder holster when he accuses him of being fake.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMcClane shoots a fire extinguisher with his SIG-Sauer P220R in the hallway of Farrell's apartment building and succeeds in launching a terrorist out of the window with the blast. It should be noted this is Hollywood fiction.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMcClane drops an empty magazine out of his SIG-Sauer P220R before reloading. For some reason the magazines stick and require vigorous shaking to drop fully. Also note the perfectly penetrated and rather large bullet holes.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMcClane's SIG-Sauer P220R is knocked out of reach when a terrorist bumps the door open.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA security guard at the power plant who is shot by a terrorist disguised as an FBI agent is seen holding a SIG-Sauer P220R.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMai holds McClane's SIG-Sauer P220R on Farrell before being run over by McClane in an SUV.
Beretta Px4 Storm
The terrorist Russo (Yorgo Constantine) in the film is seen carrying a Beretta Px4 Storm in several scenes, both with and without a sound suppressor. After killing him, John McClane (Bruce Willis) takes it and uses it in the second half of the film. During the final confrontation with Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), McClane drops the pistol after being shot by Emerson (Edoardo Costa), and it is then used by Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) to kill Emerson (Edoardo Costa).
One of the terrorists is seen using a Beretta 92FS to gun down the hackers in the semi-truck, including Casper (Andrew Friedman). An interesting note, the particular Beretta used in the film was the same prop gun used by Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 and Die Hard with a Vengeance. Call it a "cameo" role, if you will. This is also the first film in the Die Hard series in which McClaine does not use one of these pistols as his own sidearm.
Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) uses a stainless steel Jericho 941 as his sidearm, which he holds on Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in the final confrontation and uses to shoot Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) in the leg. Later, he sticks the muzzle of the Jericho into John McClane's (Bruce Willis) gunshot wound, so McClane simply forces him to pull the trigger, causing him to shoot through his pre-existing wound and into Gabriel. This (unrealistically) sends Gabriel flying backwards onto the car behind them.
FBI agents, including Director Bowman (Cliff Curtis) and some of the Washington D.C. patrolmen are seen using 3rd Generation Glock 22 pistols. They are noted as such by their muzzle diameters and by the fact the FBI actually carries Glock 22s in real life. John McClane (Bruce Willis) at one point takes a Glock 22 off of one of a terrorist disguised as an FBI agent and uses it to kill him.
During the scene at the power plant, McClane (Bruce Willis) runs into a terrorist who is armed with a Heckler & Koch USP Tactical fitted with a KAC suppressor. McClane fires his SIG-Sauer P220R and the terrorist fires the USP Tactical simultaneously over each other's heads before knocking each other's guns away. McClane eventually gets a Glock 22 out of the terrorist's holster and uses it to kill him.
One of the terrorists at the power plant is seen using a SIG-Sauer P226R fitted with a suppressor. When the terrorist is shoved into the elevator shaft by Matthew Farrell (Justin Long), his gun falls into the SUV lodged in the shaft. Mai Lihn (Maggie Q) tries to use the gun to kill John McClane (Bruce Willis), but the car falls to the bottom of the shaft before she can fire off a shot.
Many of the terrorists are seen using Heckler & Koch UMP-45s throughout the film. They are all fitted with C-More red-dot sights, Surefire M900A vertical grip/flashlight combinations, and flash hiders. McClane (Bruce Willis) commandeers one after the shootout at Matthew Farrell's (Justin Long) apartment, but never uses it.
Emerson (Edoardo Costa) uses a Heckler & Koch MP7A1 to wound John McClane (Bruce Willis) moments before the rescue of his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) during the final confrontation. Later, Lucy knocks the MP7A1 out of Emerson's hands and tries to kick it to McClane, but Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) intercepts the weapon before it reaches McClane.
Another weapon used by the terrorists are Heckler & Koch G36Cs. Like the UMPs, they have C-More sights and SureFire tactical flashlights mounted on them.
M4A1 Carbines are used by the FBI agents being fitted with Rear BUIS, an M68 Aimpoint Red Dot Sight, AN/PEQ-2 lasers, a Vertical Fore Grip, and a TLR-1 weapon light. The security guards at the Woodlawn facility have the same setup except that they have a Surefire M900A light/fore grip instead.
The rifle used by Rand (Cyril Raffaelli), first in the shootout at Matt Farell's (Justin Long) apartment, and later during chase scene in Washington D.C., is the Mark 12 Mod 0 SPR (Special Purpose Rifle). This is a little-known AR-15 derivative developed by Crane and is used by U.S. SOCOM personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot-spots globally. The Mod 0 uses a PRI carbon fiber handguard where the Mod 1 uses a Knight Armament free-floating aluminum handguard. The weapons in the film are fitted with a Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T Rifle Scope, suppressors, brass catchers, Surefire M900 weaponlight foregrips, as well as AN/PEQ-2 IR designators and are fired on automatic (which suggests that the terrorists simply took the upper receivers/barrels and slapped them on full-auto lowers).
Error creating thumbnail: File missingMark 12 Mod 0 SPR - 5.56x45mm NATO.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRand (Cyril Raffaelli) fires his Mark 12 Mod 0 SPR at McClane in Farrell's apartment. Here we see how the suppressor is clearly fake as it does nothing to dampen the muzzle flash on the weapon.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRand scans the room after barraging it with automatic fire, a poor choice for the sniping role.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRand aiming his Mark 12 Mod 0 SPR.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA terrorist fires his Mark 12 Mod 0 SPR at the police vehicle McClane and Farrell are in. Since the weapon is fitted with a brass catcher (a safety precaution in a helicopter), it is not neccessary to use blanks during this scene and instead CGI muzzle flashes are used. They are quite obvious to spot since they are shown as emitting a "star" pattern flash, despite coming out of a flat-tube suppressor.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRand climbs out of the co-pilot's seat and prepares to fire on the police car in the tunnel. Here we see the brass catchers are attached by electrical tape wrapped all the way around the gun, including the magazine. This completely eliminates the possibility of reloading the weapon...Error creating thumbnail: File missingRand unloads his Mark 12 Mod 0 SPR on the incoming police car. This is a good view of the PEQ-2 IR laser mounted on the SWAN rail, the Surefire M900a vertical foregrip, and the muzzle detail of the Surefire FA556-212 suppressor.
M16A2
Nation Guardsmen are seen with M16A2s slung over their back while in Washington D.C. They appear to be resin props.
At one point in the film, John McClane (Bruce Willis) is forced to face a Lockheed Martin F-35B jet (noted from the F-35A model by its short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) system similar to a Harrier jet). This jet is erroneously outfitted with a pair of GAU-22/A Gatling 25mm guns (a four-barrel version of the older GAU-12/U) under the fuselage when the actual F-35B is only outfitted with a single external gunpod; it's hard to find information on where this is mounted, so it's possible the filmmakers simply assumed the F-35 used twin external pods like some versions of the Harrier. The guns devastate the semi-truck McClane is driving but the pilot recklessly hovers the craft around a demolished cluster of overpasses and eventually crashes when debris falls in the engine.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe F-35B somehow effortlessly flying around a collection of overpasses while inaccurately firing off two GAU-22/A 25mm Gatling guns. Note the nearby car suffering no ill-effects from a high-powered jet exhaust mere feet from it.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe F-35B jet demolishes the semi-truck with its erroneous pair of GAU-22/A 25mm Gatling guns.
