Mesrine: Killer Instinct is part 1 of a two-part 2008 French-Canadian Mesrine film series directed by Jean-François Richet and starring Vincent Cassel as the French criminal Jacques Mesrine. Based on Mesrine's autobiographical book "L'instinct de mort", Killer Instinct details Mesrine's rise in the Paris criminal underworld after serving in the army in Algeria, as well as his early exploits in Paris, and later in Quebec, Canada. Part 2 is known as Mesrine: Public Enemy Number 1.
The following weapons were used in the film Mesrine: Killer Instinct:
Mesrine uses an M1911A1 when serving in the French Army to shoot a prisoner in Algeria in the 1950s. Later, he acquires a nickel-plated M1911A1 in France that he uses for most of the movie.
Smith & Wesson Model 28
Members of the Arizona Highway Patrol as wield the Smith & Wesson Model 28 during a high speed chase with Mesrine and his girlfriend in 1969 (when he is caught and returned to Quebec). The real life Mesrine was caught in Arkansas, not Arizona.
Smith & Wesson Model 60
During the high speed chase in Arizona in 1969, Jeanne Schneider (Cécile De France) attempts to use a Smith & Wesson Model 60 when they hit the police roadblock, but Jacques Mesrine tells her to stop and throws the gun to the floor of the car.
Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) uses a MAT-49 during his military service in Algeria.
Uzi
During the shootout at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul prison in Quebec, Mesrine throws an Uzi submachine gun into the prison yard in an attempt to enable the prisoners to escape.
M1A1 Thompson
A gangster uses what appears to be an M1A1 Thompson during a drive-by shooting in Paris.
Rifles
Ruger Mini-14
Guards in the watchtowers at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul prison are armed with the Ruger Mini-14.
AR-15A2 HBAR
Mesrine and his accomplice Jean-Paul Mercier (Roy Dupuis) are armed with anachronistic post-ban AR-15A2 HBAR rifles (most likely a Bushmaster XM15E2) when they attack the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul prison. Their rifles have multiple magazines taped together. These rifles are "post-ban" AR-15 rifles (which was a cosmetic change forced on the gun industry in 1994 by the Clinton Administration, and expired in 2004). The heavy barreled rifles have no flash hiders, muzzle threads or bayonet lugs. Even if they would standing in for period-correct AR-15 rifles, the use of these rifles is doubly anachronistic since the sequence takes place in the early 1970s and their design is based on the M16A2 introduced in the mid-1980s.
During the real assault, they carried M1 Carbines.
Shotguns
12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun
Paul (Gilles Lellouche) steals a 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun from an apartment that he and Mesrine rob in Paris. Mesrine's partner in Quebec, Jean-Paul Mercier (Roy Dupuis), also carries a double barreled shotgun when he is confronted by two park rangers in the forest.
Remington 870
The Remington 870 is carried by the Canadian park rangers. At least one M870 is also used by a prison guard.
Manufrance Rapid
Mesrine uses a sawed-off pump-action Manufrance Rapid during the casino robbery.