Bonnie and Clyde is a 2013 television miniseries that is based on the true story of the infamous criminal couple of the 1930s: Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) and Clyde Barrow (Emile Hirsch), who went on a two-year crime spree across the South and the Midwest. The television miniseries was directed by Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant) and aired in December 2013 simultaneously on three cable networks including A&E, the History Channel, and Lifetime.
The following weapons were used in the miniseries Bonnie and Clyde:
Clyde Barrow's preferred weapon, the M1911A1, is represented in the series by the anachronistic Colt Mk IV Series 70, carried by Clyde (Emile Hirsch) during the gang's robberies and murders. Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (William Hurt) and Dallas County Deputy Ted Hinton (Austin Hébert) also carry holstered Colt Mk IV Series 70 pistols. Hinton dual-wields his during the final ambush in Louisiana.
In her garter belt, Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) smuggles a nickel Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket with pearl grips to Clyde (Emile Hirsch) while he is imprisoned in Waco. In real life, the weapon was a .32-caliber revolver, which Bonnie found at the home of Clyde's cellmate William Turner and nervously smuggled to him from her dress.
Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) carries an anachronistic post-war Colt Detective Special as her primary weapon in the film. The anachronism is evident since her Detective Special has a smooth cylinder latch and longer ejector rod. An early 1930s-era Detective Special should have a checked cylinder latch and a short ejector rod.
The Smith & Wesson Model 10, at this time known as a "Military & Police," is carried by Ponder, Texas police officers and Dallas County Deputy Ted Hinton (Austin Hébert) before Hinton begins carrying the Colt Mk IV Series 70. This also appears to be the revolver that John Bucher (Doc Whitney) has in his safe while he is being robbed.
A heavy-barreled Colt Official Police (previously identified as a Colt New Service) is part of the gang's collection. Clyde (Emile Hirsch) hands one to Bonnie (Holliday Grainger) during their first photo session, and Marvin "Buck" Barrow (Lane Garrison) pulls one out of his nightstand when he goes to join his brother. Buck's wife Blanche (Sarah Hyland) also carries Buck's Official Police. The revolver is an anachronistic post-war Heavy Barrel model, evident by the ramped front sight and single screw on the side of the frame.
The M1928 Thompson submachine gun is seen in the hands of both criminals and police. Clyde (Emile Hirsch), Bonnie (Holliday Grainger), Buck (Lane Garrison), and Raymond Hamilton (Desmond Phillips) all use the Thompson during robberies and gunfights with police. Platte City police officers and one of the Dallas County deputies, likely meant to be Bob Alcorn, fire Thompsons back at the Barrow Gang.
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), Clyde Barrow's preferred weapon in real life, makes a number of appearances in the series, carried by Clyde (Emile Hirsch) and Bonnie (Holliday Grainger). Dallas County Deputy Ted Hinton (Austin Hébert) also uses a BAR while tracking the gang. The series depicts the gang's frequent robbery of military armories for their high-powered weapons. (The real-life Clyde had actually cut-down the barrel of a BAR and allegedly welded together three magazines for his custom "scattergun" to fire sixty .30-06 rounds without reloading. However, the theory of welding together three magazines would have not only placed the magazines at an ackward angle, but the internal springs would no longer have the ability to properly feed the rounds into the gun's chamber. Perhaps, this rumor comes from a distorted interpretation of the "The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde" by Larry Buchanan, where, in particular, an extended magazine was demonstrated on Remington Model 8, which was used by Hamer).
Frank Hamer (William Hurt), the ex-Texas Ranger tracking the Barrow Gang, carries the Colt R80 Monitor, a Colt-manufactured variant of the BAR with a Cutts compensator.
Frank Hamer (William Hurt) carries the Remington Model 81 while engaging the Barrow Gang outside of Dexter, Iowa. The real life Hamer did use a custom Remington Model 8 in his pursuit of the gang, but he wasn't at Dexfield Park during the ambush nor was he even chasing the gang yet at this time.
During the Grand Prairie, Texas bank robbery, Bonnie (Holliday Grainger) takes a sawed-off Colt Model 1878 double-barreled shotgun from the bank president and uses it during the robbery.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingStevens Model 520 Riot Gun - 12 gaugeError creating thumbnail: File missingFults uses his shotgun to goad Hillsboro jeweler John Bucher into his office to open the safe. The series unfairly shows Fults as the killer, when the real killer was a small-time bandit named Ted Rogers that was killed in prison two years later. After his time with Clyde Barrow, Ralph Fults continued his criminal career without including murder and, after narrating his adventures to author John Neal Phillips, died in 1993 in his early 80s.Error creating thumbnail: File missingFults holds his shotgun after shooting Bucher.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBonnie and Clyde clown around with a shotgun. The real photo featured Clyde's preferred semi-auto 16-gauge Remington.Error creating thumbnail: File missingClyde poses in front of one of his stolen Fords with his BARs and shotgun, recreating a famous photo taken of him in spring 1933. In the real photo, Clyde strangely poses next to his shotguns and a Krag rifle rather than his preferred BARs.Error creating thumbnail: File missingClyde holds the shotgun while hiding out in Louisiana.
