Illinois Gordon (Chi McBride) gives his cousin Bumpy Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) a Colt Police Positive revolver, which he uses throughout the entire movie to take over Harlem. At one point, Bumpy's girlfriend Francine (Vanessa Williams) is forced to shoot assassin Albert Salke (Mike Starr) with the revolver.
Bumpy's bodyguard Calvin (J.W. Smith) uses a Colt Detective Special to apprehend Vallie (John Toles-Bey). Albert Salke (Mike Starr) and Jules Salke (Beau Starr) use a "suppressed" Colt Detective Special to kill the guard at Bumpy's building during their attempted hit, following the classic movie myth of having a suppressor work on a revolver.
Many of the Harlem gangsters in the film use M1911A1s. Whispers (Paul Benjamin) carries two, one on each hip, that he draws several times. Dutch Schultz's bodyguard, Lulu Rosencrantz (Ed O'Ross) carries a 1911, which he eventually uses to shoot his boss in the Palace Chop House bathroom.
Queen Stephanie's bodyguard, Tee-Ninchy (Eddie "Bo" Smith, Jr.) caries a sawed off Ithaca 37 as his weapon of choice. He carries it with him, (and nearly uses it) during the meeting between Queen Stephanie, and Dutch Schultz. He also uses it to kill several hitmen during the attempted hit on the Queen before being shot to death. When Bumpy and Whispers gain the upper hand during the shootout, Bumpy picks it up and uses it to (unrealistically) set a nearby truck ablaze. Before the hit, one of the Queen's guards can also be seen holding this weapon. The use of the Ithaca 37, while relatively close to the timeline, is still anachronistic, as it was introduced in 1937.
Bub Hewlett (Clarence Williams III) carries a sawed-off Remington 870 when Dutch's men raid the apartment at the end. He also uses one during the attempted hit on Queen Stephanie before tossing it away. This is anachronistic, as the Remington 870 was not introduced until 1951. Several other sawed-off 870 shotguns are used, some without their stocks.
Dutch's gunmen use M1928 Thompsons during their attempted hit on the Queen and Bumpy. After killing one of the hoods, Bumpy picks up the Thompson and fires back at them with it.
