Throughout the six films of the Star Wars saga, creator George Lucas was determined that the universe he envisioned would have a "lived-in" look to it. Thus, the many weapons seen in the saga are in fact visually modified or based upon real-world weapons.
The following lists the real-world firearms that were visually modified for use in the six films of the Star Wars saga:
In the early scenes of A New Hope and in a few scenes in Return Of The Jedi, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) can be seen with a Defender Sporting Blaster, actually a Vostok Margolin .22 LR Target Pistol, with some muzzle attachment fitted.
Standard issue blaster rifle of the Imperial Stormtroopers. The E-11 blaster rifle props were built from the British-made Sterling L2A3 submachine gun. Numerous main characters, including Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) use the weapon.
While the gun is being fired, in some scenes, if you look closely, you can see the spent casings being ejected out of the gun. The one that comes to mind is in "A New Hope" when Luke and Leia swing across the gap to the other side of the bridge while inside the death star. The stormtrooper that fires at them from the platform they just left clearly has spent casings coming out of the gun.
The BlasTech DH-17 blaster pistol is one of the blaster pistols on issue to the Rebel Alliance. Like the E-11 blaster rifle prop, the DH-17 blaster pistol prop was also built from the British-made Sterling L2A3 submachine gun.
Standard issue blaster rifle of the Rebel Alliance ground forces in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Both the A280 and A295 blaster rifle props were CAST FROM replicas simlilar to (built from) both the World War 2-era German Sturmgewehr 44 (The Empire Strikes Back) and from the M16 series rifles (Return Of The Jedi).
Standard issue heavy blaster of the Imperial Stormtroopers. The DLT-19s were nothing more than World War 2 German MG34 general purpose machine guns with little to no modifications to its external appearance.
The DL-44 blaster pistol was the blaster of choice for Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the Rebel Alliance and was possibly the best known duplicate of a real gun. The DL-44 blaster pistol prop was built from a Mauser C96 handgun, sometimes with a sniper scope. The modifications are obviously added on to the exterior, though the distinct "broomhandle" grips are still wooden.
The blaster utilized by the Jawa who shot R2-D2 in A New Hope was built from a cut-down British Lee-Enfield No.1 MkIII* series bolt-action rifle with the grenade launcher cup attached to the shortened barrel.
The SE-14C blaster pistol Ponda Baba used when his partner, Evazan, tries to get Luke Skywalker into a fight at the Mos Eisley cantina in A New Hope is actually a Swiss Rexim-Favor submachine gun with the stock, barrel, and magazine removed and has a double sniper scope attached.
Manufactured by BlasTech Industries, the DC-15-series was a range of plasma weapons used by the Republic clone troopers during the Clone Wars in Episode II "Attack of the Clones" and Episode III "Revenge of the Sith". It is based on parts from the German MG34 making up the rear half, as well as much of the Sterling L2A3 turned upside-down for the front.
