Special Report
Iconic Guns Used by Hollywood's Most Famous Spies
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Spies have been a movie staple for almost a century. Though there may have been references to espionage in earlier movies, the first spy film ever made was probably ”Mata Hari,” a 1931 hit starring Greta Garbo as the legendary real-life Dutch exotic dancer of that name who spied for Germany during World War I.
The real Mata Hari probably never resorted to the use of firearms (her charms were deadly enough), but in the film, Garbo’s version shoots General Shubin as he is about to make a telephone confession with a Smith & Wesson .32 Hand Ejector Third Model revolver – then places it in his hand so it appears as if he committed suicide. (These are the best spy movies based on true stories.)
Since that time, fictional spies – occasionally based on real ones – have been pulling triggers with great frequency and abandon.
To assemble a list of the iconic guns of the most famous spies on screen, 24/7 Tempo consulted the Internet Firearms Database, and drew information on movie release dates and television season spans from IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon. In almost every case, the fictional spies wielding the weapons listed here are depicted as using a variety of firearms in each of their films or TV series. We have chosen just one representative example from each. Some characters appear more than once, as they have been portrayed in both TV series and movies. In the case of the most famous fictional spy of all, James Bond, we have included one film and its associated weapon representing each of the six actors who have portrayed Bond.
One Bond movie, “The Man With the Golden Gun” (1974), with Roger Moore as 007, features one of the more unusual firearms to appear in a spy film – the golden gun of the title, a weapon made of that precious metal in innocuous-looking parts that could be assembled into a deadly pistol. (Because it was the invention of hitman Francisco Scaramanga, and not directly associated with Bond, it isn’t included here.)
Throughout his cinematic history, though, Bond used a wide array of weaponry that actually exists, if not always convincingly. In “From Russia With Love” (1963), for instance, he employs an AR7 as a sniper rifle, a purpose for which it is ill-suited).
Click here for a list of icon guns of the most famous spies on screen
Other spies who are seen firing many different guns include Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise and “burned” spy Michael Westen in the TV series “Burn Notice.” Other spies, though, fall back repeatedly on the basics – like George Smiley in the 2011 film version of John Le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” for whom a classic Walther PPK is more than enough, or Maxwell Smart in the 1960s spy spoof “Get Smart,” who fought the bad guys with a trusty Colt Detective Special – Colt, of course, being one of America’s top revolver companies.
Beretta 8000 Cougar
> The spy: Ethan Hunt
> Where the gun appears: Mission Impossible (1996)
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SIG Pro SP2009
> The spy: Jason Bourne
> Where the gun appears: The Bourne Identity (2002)
Desert Eagle Mk. 1
> The spy: Austin Powers
> Where the gun appears: Goldmember (2002)
Hy Hunter Bolomauser
> The spy: Matt Helm
> Where the gun appears: Murderers’ Row (1966)
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T-62 Civilian Defense Model
> The spy: Matt Helm
> Where the gun appears: The Ambushers (1967)
Sterling SMG
> The spy: Harry Palmer
> Where the gun appears: The Ipcress File (1965)
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Beretta M1934
> The spy: George Smiley
> Where the gun appears: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (TV series, 1979)
Walther PPK
> The spy: George Smiley
> Where the gun appears: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Smith & Wesson .32 Hand Ejector Third Model revolver
> The spy: Mata Hari
> Where the gun appears: Mata Hari (1931)
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Heckler & Koch USP Compact
> The spy: Jack Bauer
> Where the gun appears: 24 (TV series, 2001-2010)
Colt Detective Special
> The spy: Maxwell Smart
> Where the gun appears: Get Smart (TV series, 1965-1970)
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Smith & Wesson Model 36
> The spy: Maxwell Smart
> Where the gun appears: The Nudе Bomb (1980)
Luger P08
> The spy: Napoleon Solo
> Where the gun appears: The Man from Uncle (TV series, 1964-1968)
Browning Hi-Power
> The spy: Napoleon Solo
> Where the gun appears: The Man from Uncle (2015)
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Heckler & Koch P9S
> The spy: Jack Ryan
> Where the gun appears: Patriot Games (1992)
M1911A1
> The spy: Jack Ryan
> Where the gun appears: The Sum of All Fears (2002)
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Sig Sauer P226
> The spy: Jack Ryan
> Where the gun appears: Jack Ryan (TV series, 2018-2019)
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Colt M1911
> The spy: Joe “Condor” Turner
> Where the gun appears: Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Beretta Laramie
> The spy: Emma Peel
> Where the gun appears: The Avengers (TV series, 1965-1969)
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AKS-74U
> The spy: Simon Templar
> Where the gun appears: The Saint (1997)
THRUSH Carbine
> The spy: Ilya Kuryakin
> Where the gun appears: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968)
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Makarov PM
> The spy: Ilya Kuryakin
> Where the gun appears: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
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Beretta 92FS
> The spy: Harry Hart
> Where the gun appears: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Colt 1903 Hammerless
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: You Only Live Twice (1965)
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Sterling L2A3
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Remington Model 31 Field Model
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: A View to a Kill (1985)
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Beretta Cheetah
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: The Living Daylights (1987)
MAC-10
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: Die Another Day (2002)
FN Browning Hi-Power
> The spy: James Bond
> Where the gun appears: No Time to Die (2021)
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Tokarev TT-33
> The spy: Lorraine Broughton
> Where the gun appears: Atomic Blonde (2017)
Mossberg 500 Homeland Defender
> The spy: Michael Westen
> Where the gun appears: Burn Notice (TV series, 2007-2013)
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Beretta 3032 Tomcat
> The spy: Fiona Glenanne
> Where the gun appears: Burn Notice (TV series, 2007-2013)
Walther P38K
> The spy: Kelly Robinson
> Where the gun appears: I Spy (TV series, 1964-1968)
Diana 5G air pistol
> The spy: Number Six
> Where the gun appears: The Prisoner (TV series, 1967-1968)
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Mannlicher Model 1905
> The spy: Sidney Reilly
> Where the gun appears: Reilly: Ace of Spies (TV series, 1983)
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