During the robbery, a nickel plated model M1911A1 is used by both Kirby (Keith David), who fires a whopping 11 rounds without locking, and Skip blows alway the NYPD Officer on beat (Chris Tucker).
During a confrontation with Anthony, Cutty (Clifton Powell) is seen drawing a well polished nickel plated Colt Combat Commander in 9mm (denoted as a 9 by the smaller chamber and bore diameter) from his coat, and aims it at Anthony's head, telling him to "suck it."
After Kirby (Keith David) goes to collect some debts with Anthony (Larenz Tate) as his unknowing getaway driver, a woman threatens him with a small silver revolver. He easily wrestles it from her, and is attacked by another man from the shop, who accidentally takes Kirby's prosthetic leg off. Kirby falls to the floor and aims at him, claiming the entire time everyone in town knows he has one leg, and he pulled the wrong one. As they get away in Kirby's car, Anthony notices Kirby set down the revolver, which is quite obviously a nickel plated Smith & Wesson Model 36. Another blued Model 36 "Flat Latch" is seen on the table in the planning room, and is used as Anthony's sidearm during the robbery, from which he fires 3 rounds before running out of ammunition on the second police officer he attempts to kill with it.
The police officer who attempts to intervene in the armored truck robbery uses a Smith & Wesson Model 10. He is drawn by Kirby's 11 rounds fired from his Commander, and returns 9 of his own from his six shot revolver, making their gun battle highly fictitious. Another Smith & Wesson Model 10 is used by Joe in the planning room, and after the robbery as he fires 8 rounds without reloading at a pursuing police car.
Most of the police officers guarding the armored car carry a version of the Colt Official Police with a 4 inch barrel and a semi rounded front sight post.
During Anthony's tour in Vietnam, he carries an anachronistic Mossberg 590 shotgun, which wasn't introduced until 1987. In order to make the shotgun resemble a more accurate Mossberg 500, the 590's original wood has been replaced with sporting wood taken off of a 500C model.
As the armored car driver notices the gang moving in on the car, he calls "ambush" and a police officer in the back seat racks an Ithaca 37 and points it through the slit in the van, firing on Joe.
Many of the men in the Marine Recon unit use the M16A1 rifle. Lieutenant Dugan's is noteworthy in that it is an M16A1, but it has the original M16 three prong flash hider, indicating that it was mocked up to resemble the XM16-E1. Historically this would be unnecessary, since the M16-A1 was already wide spread in the field throughout Vietnam by the 1970s.
As Anthony is the designated shotgunner, the platoon Staff Sergeant, Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine) is the designated autogunner. He carries an M3A1 "Grease Gun", which in the movie has a very memorable muzzle report and slow fire rate. The sound of fire for this weapon, is obviously taken from a much larger caliber weapon.
When Dugan goes for cover after unloading his 1911A1, we see that a machine gun crew armed with a Soviet RPD Light Machine Gun is firing upon him. It is not the Chinese copy as the front sight has an open hood.
