During the opening credits, just as director John Milius's name comes on, a M1911A1 found in the actual Dillinger gang's collection during a 1934 arrest is seen at the base of a Thompson with its stock removed. Also, in the scene at Little Bohemia where "Baby Face" Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) questions Dillinger's (Warren Oates) leadership, Dillinger grabs Nelson's 1911 from him and attacks him with it, then gives it back to him, taunting him. This is the only scene in which gang members are seen with genuine 1911s, identified by the larger bore diameter and lack of an external extractor.
Bank robbers John Dillinger (Warren Oates), Homer Van Meter (Harry Dean Stanton), "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Steve Kanaly), Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis), and Eddie the getaway driver (John Martino) use Star Model B pistols, standing in for the M1911A1. In several scenes, Dillinger and Floyd dual-wield them. FBI agent Samuel Cowley (Roy Jenson) carries a Star Model B, notably when he watches Purvis face off against Underhill. Other vigilantes and policemen can occasionally be seen with Model Bs as well.
FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson) uses a Star Model B throughout the film, most likely standing in for the Colt Super Automatic chambered in .38 Super used by the FBI during the 1930s. Although Purvis did receive a nickel-plated .45-caliber 1911A1 upon his retirement from the FBI in 1935, he typically carried a Colt Detective Special during the hunts for Dillinger and Floyd in 1934, emptying all six shots from his revolver at Floyd according to contemporary FBI reports.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt New Service M1917 - .45 ACP.Error creating thumbnail: File missingHomer Van Meter tries to intimidate a filling station owner with his New Service.Error creating thumbnail: File missingHomer Van Meter shoots a gumball machine out of anger.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMakley is shot in the stomach while carrying his New Service during the East Chicago bank robbery.Error creating thumbnail: File missingDillinger holds a New Service to the prison mechanic's head during his escape.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe prison warden is understandably concerned when Reed Youngblood (Frank McRae) keeps a New Service pointed at him during Dillinger's impromptu post-prison-breakout bank robbery.Error creating thumbnail: File missingReed Youngblood fires a shot from one of his two New Services as he is killed during the Mason City gunfight. Somehow these two white-gripped New Services end up in the hands of...Error creating thumbnail: File missing...Dillinger during the Little Bohemia gunfight the next morning. They seem to be the same revolvers as Youngblood had used and yet Dillinger had no time to stop and pick them up during the escape from Mason City the previous day. In this scene, Dillinger is seen firing the revolvers until empty before reverting back to his usual dual Star Model B pistols.
Colt Detective Special
"Handsome Jack" Klutas (Terry Leonard) draws a Colt Detective Special from his pocket when he is killed by Purvis (Ben Johnson), firing a few shots into the air before he falls down the stairs, riddled by Thompson bullets. "Baby Face" Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) fires a Detective Special during the Little Bohemia shootout.
Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis) fires a Smith & Wesson Model 10 at Little Bohemia. Several police officers, FBI agents, and vigilantes use them as well.
Several members of Dillinger's gang, most notably Lester "Baby Face" Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss), Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis), John Dillinger (Warren Oates), Charley Makley (John Ryan), Homer Van Meter (Harry Dean Stanton), Tommy Carroll (Jerry Summers), and Reed Youngblood (Frank McRae) fire the Thompson M1921 with either drum or box magazines. Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette (Michelle Phillips) fires a Thompson to cover his escape from Little Bohemia (although it inexplicably alternates with a Browning Automatic Rifle in the same scene). Many FBI agents and policemen too, such as Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson) and Samuel Cowley (Roy Jenson) carry Thompsons.
Several Thompson seen have their stocks removed. The Thompson Dillinger uses during the prison breakout and subsequent bank robbery alternates between a model with a stock (in most shots) and with the stock removed (while inside the bank). Most of the Thompsons in the film use drum magazines, but some (most notably FBI agents and "Baby Face" Nelson) have models loaded with box magazines. Weapons supplied by Stembridge Gun Rentals.
Several members of Dillinger's gang, most notably Homer Van Meter (Harry Dean Stanton), Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis), and Lester "Baby Face" Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) fire Browning Automatic Rifles during the Mason City bank robbery and subsequent Little Bohemia shootout. Billie Frechette (Michelle Phillips) covers Dillinger's escape with a B.A.R. (inexplicably alternating with a Thompson during the same scene).
M1903 Springfield rifles are seen in the hands of vigilantes in Mason City. One is also seen held by a vigilante and a state police officer at the farm where Purvis shoots Wilbur Underhill.
A Mason City vigilante carries a Winchester Model 70 with open sights. Technically, the use of the Model 70 (developed in 1936) is an anachronism for a scene taking place in early 1934.
Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis) uses a Winchester Model 1897 during several shootouts. Several police, FBI agents, and vigilantes also have 1897s. Dillinger (Warren Oates) steals one from the Crown Point jail during his break out.
