The XM16E1 assault rifle are used by the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment including Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson), First Lieutenant Charlie Hastings (Robert Bagnell), Second Lieutenant Jack Geoghegan (Chris Klein), Sergeant Ernie Savage (Ryan Hurst) and most United States Army soldiers. Later on the film during the Battle of Landing Zone X-Ray, Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper) uses one as well. These were actual XM16E1s.
A Korean war era M1 Carbine is carried by the ARVN interpreter dressed in tiger stripe fatigues. He appears in the scene in which the NVA scout is captured and interrogated. Viet Minh soldiers also use them against the French during the intro.
A Colt M1911 is used by Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley (Sam Elliott) as his main weapon since he prefers the .45 to the XM16E1, which he calls a "Piece of Plastic". It is anachronistic to see the first model of the M1911 being used by Plumley since the M1911 was replaced in 1924 by the improved M1911A1 which was the sidearm of the US Military in the Vietnam War, World War 2 and the Korean War. It could be that the M1911 was used to make Plumley more "Badass". As if a Sergeant Major that fought against a entire regiment of heavily armed NVA and a NFL Battalion armed only with an M1911A1 was not badass enough.
No, he really did that-S&Wshooter 21:38, 16 August 2009 (UTC)
Wait, Plumley actually carried a M1911 not an M1911A1 in the battle?--Oliveira 14:32, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
A Colt M1911A1 is seen in the holster of Lt. Col. Hal Moore and most of the soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division that appear in the movie. Some soldiers use the M1911A1s.
In several scenes, U.S. soldiers can be seen with M26 hand grenades strapped to their pouches.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM26 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenadeAn production photo of Captain Nadal and his RTO patrol the battlefield with M16s in hand and M26 hand grenades strapped to their pouches. Note the trigger discipline, fingers resting alongside the trigger guard.Error creating thumbnail: File missingUS soldiers drag an dead or wounded soldier off the battle. Three M26s can be seen in his pouche.
PPSh-41
The NVA and the Vietcong use PPSh-41s submachine guns during the intro sequence and the rest of the movie.
During the movie the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) use genuine AK-47s with milled receivers. Victor Charlie (The official name NATO gave to the Vietcong) fighters also use AK-47s.
The AK-47s used in the movie were built by the Movie's Armourer Mike Papac.
Various US soldiers can be seen carrying M79 grenade launchers in a few scenes. Specialist Galen Bungum (Blake Heron) uses one since he is the grenadier of Sergeant Savage's squad.
The .38 caliber revolver pulled out by Maj. Bruce "Snake Shit" Crandall (Greg Kinnear) is most likely a Smith & Wesson M-13 Aircrewman, an unsuccessful lightweight aluminum-cylindered revolver designed for US military flyers. This was part of a generally badly thought-out push to make things from aluminum in the 1960s, also resulting in the M551 Sheridan's lightweight aluminum armour which could be penetrated by machine gun fire and a number of disastrous fires on warships with aluminum superstructures. In 2007, the real Crandall was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley.
A pair of GE M134 Miniguns are seen mounted on the gunship Hueys that rip apart PAVN soldiers in the climax of the film, and one is also on display on a table near the beginning of the film.
Two Browning M1919A4s can be seen mounted on French jeeps on the intro sequence.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingA variant of the Browning M1919 developed during World War 2, this model is designated the M37, with the ability to feed from either the left or the right of the weapon - 30-06. This example is shown without a tripod, only the pintle mount. This the MOST likely .30 cal machine gun to be seen firing from armored vehicles.File:Vlcsnap-30185.jpgA French soldier fires the Browning M1919A4 at Viet Minh forces.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe Browning M1919A4 can be seen mounted on the jeep on the left.
MAT-49
Various French Soldiers use MAT-49 submachine guns during the opening Scene. Various NVA and VC soldiers use them during the rest of the movie, probably scavenged from French and South Vietnamese troops during the Indochina war.
A Viet Minh soldier during the intro sequence and a Vietcong soldier later on can be seen using Karabiner 98k rifles.
It should be noted that acording to one of the Armorers of the film, Steve Karnes, the Kar98ks used in the movie came from Israel and were chambered to 7.62mm NATO.
A Viet Minh soldier uses a varient of the M1 Bazooka, the M1A1 Bazooka with one forward grip and a modified rear sight to destroy a French jeep during the intro sequence.
While it seems that a Viet Minh soldier using a Bazooka could be a anachronism, the French army widely used the M1A1, M9A1, and M20 bazookas during the Indochina War. The Viet Minh widely used scavanged French weapons during the Indochina War, and the PAVN and Vietcong also widely used them during the Vietnam War.
In the scene where the men of the 1st Cavalry Division perform a bayonet charge against the NVA position (an event which actually didn't happen in real life), a small crew of PAVN soldiers man a DP-28, a varient of the Soviet Degtyarev light machine gun.
An ZB26 is used by a Viet Minh machine gunner during the opening sequence of the film set during the Indochina War. Acording to Steve Karnes, The Movie's Armourer, the ZB26 used in the movie was sold to the Chinese and converted to 7.62x39 later in its life. It also has Chinese Characters on the side of the receiver.
When the American Soldiers charge the NVA position, a two man crew of NVA soldiers man an MG34 Light Machine Gun before they get killed by the Huey Helicopters. One NVA soldier also mans another MG34 in the same scene.
A DShK is seen manned by an NVA machine gun team in the final battle before being wasted by the Huey helicopters. The DShK seen in the film is actually an Browning M2 machine gun mocked up to look like an DShK.
During the Intro of the Movie set during the Indochina War, a French Officer uses his Siderarm, a Browning Hi-Power pistol, to kill several Viet Minh soldiers before being killed himself.
The use of the Browning Hi-Power pistol by the French Army in the movie is a error. The Armourers couln't get French MAB pistols and since Hi-Powers were at the region the Armourers used those Hi-Powers instead.
In one scene, an wounded NVA soldier throws an M34 Willy Pete (as it is called by US military personnel) at Sergeant Forrester, severely wounding him.
An training version of an american Willy Pete.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe NVA soldier, covered in blood and burn marks, pins the M34 grenade.File:Vlcsnap-94126.jpgSgt. Forrester (Who is armed with an XM16E1 and an 7.62x51mm NATO Bullet belt.) gets his face burned by the M34.
Notes
There are several errors also in the uniforms of French troops.
- 1) No lieutenant from "troupes de Marine" (2 golden horizontal stripes on bleu) whould have a white kepi (Kepi blanc for Foreign Legion soldiers only, excluding NCOs and officers)
- 2) The red berets are worne the wrong way (Insigna on the right in France for all the Army. Only exception French Navy Commando green berets)
- 3) Insigna on the red berets are wrong (infantry instead of paratroopers)
Sorry, not hardware but military exactitude as well
