This hero blank-fire Browning Hi-Power clone, manufactured by FEN, was used by Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas in the Ridley Scott film American Gangster. Inspired by a real-life events, American Gangster tells the story of notorious Harlem gangster Frank Lucas and his organization in the 1970s.
This pistol is a Browning Hi-Power clone manufactured by FEN. It is chrome plated with wood grips, and has been converted for blank fire. During production the gun was set up as a "solid plug" version, meaning the barrel was completely blocked off so the gun could safely be fired close to a person's skin. This was necessary for the shocking scene in the film where Washington, as Lucas, shoots a rival gangster in the forehead, and then places the gun on his chest.
This was the only FEN pistol rented to the production and so therefore is the one seen on screen in every shot. It can be screen matched by the woodgrain of the grips and small scratches on the frame.
File:AG-Revolver.jpgFrank Lucas (Denzel Washington) drops a revolver of unknown make and model, most likely a Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with a four inch barrel.The image of the revolver shows a hammer that matches the Python's hammer and the grips appear to be the 2nd generation wooden grips used by Colt on the Python throughout the sixties and seventies. Unlikely that it would be a S&W 586 since that model was not introduced by S&W until 1980 and the scene is supposed to recreate an inccident from Frank's early days as a gangster.That would put it in the late fifties or early sixties.Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt Python with 4" Barrel - .357 Magnum
This actually looks more like a S&W 586 than a Python as the guard, grips, and sights look like those of a Smith, and the vent ribs are not seen so it's likely that there was just a continuity error in the film.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingCommercial CAR-15 semiautomatic Rifle - 5.56mm. This is strictly a semiautomatic civilian copy of the XM177 style of rifles.File:XM177E1.jpgXM-177E1 Carbine 5.56mm, Used by U.S. forces in the Vietnam war.
Carried by Frank when dealing with the Nationalist heroin producers
M-16A1
Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe original M16, the first version, firing in a 20-round magazine, adopted in large numbers by the U.S. Army in Vietnam. This has the original 3-prong flash hider. It would later be replaced by the upgraded M16A1 - 5.56mmError creating thumbnail: File missingM16 aka SP1 (flat "slab side receiver") with an A1 "birdcage" Flash hider, used to imitate the M16A1 in many Vietnam era movies. This version has a 20 round magazine - 5.56mm
Error creating thumbnail: File missingMaadi ARM - most of the AKMs seen in movies during the 1980s were imported ARMs that were legally converted to full auto fire. This image is of an actual movie gun. The laminated buttstock was replaced with a hardwood one when the original stock was broken during a stunt. This example is also loaded with a 30-round bakelite plastic magazine - 7.62x39mm
