Ho-Ho-Ho: 7 of the Best Guns From the Movie 'Die Hard'

When we think of Christmas, we think of Santa Claus, presents under the tree, and John McClane (Bruce Willis) running amok inside the Nakatomi Building as a dozen terrorists try to kill him before he foils their plans. Surely, nothing says “Christmas” more than the 1988 movie “Die Hard.” Yes, “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie. And “Die Hard” has some impressive guns throughout.

The Best Guns of Die Hard

Throughout the film, the terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), showcase an impressive arsenal that scene-by-scene destroy different parts of Nakatomi Plaza.

HK 94A3

Tony Vreski looks for John McClane in Die Hard — From IMFDB: “Heckler & Koch HK94A3 chopped and converted to resemble an MP5A3. Note the lack of a paddle magazine release, a lugged barrel, and a push pin set – 9x19mm.”

From IMFDB: “Heckler & Koch HK94A3 chopped and converted to resemble an MP5A3. Note the lack of a paddle magazine release, a lugged barrel, and a push pin set – 9x19mm.”

Not only does this gun scream exotic and Euro, you really gotta know your hardware to understand what you’re looking at. Hans’ group comprised some serious hitters. They surely brought equal knowledge and skill to the heist. This is clearly a gun they might have carried.

HK P7M13

Hans Gruber removing the suppressor from his Heckler & Koch P7M13 in Die Hard — From IMFDB: “Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) carries a hard chromed Heckler & Koch P7M13 as his main weapon. … When he first brings out the weapon while threatening Joseph Takagi (James Shigeta), he is shown removing a matching suppressor from the barrel, thus indicating it’s not a P7M13SD because there is no threaded barrel to use a suppressor.”

From IMFDB: “Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) carries a hard chromed Heckler & Koch P7M13 as his main weapon. … When he first brings out the weapon while threatening Joseph Takagi (James Shigeta), he is shown removing a matching suppressor from the barrel, thus indicating it’s not a P7M13SD because there is no threaded barrel to use a suppressor.”

The armory of HKs used Hans and company really sets the tone. For most American audiences, the HK’s loomed exotic and very tactical.

Beretta 92F

John McClane (Bruce Willis) brought some solid fightin’ iron to the table, the 92F. Another great representative choice, the Beretta 92F screamed American military back in the day. America’s military sidearm, any cop worth his salt surely knew his way around a 92F. Easily recognizable, the 92F screamed “good guy,” in the face of Euro terrorists.

Rocket Launcher

A big moment in the movie, the terrorists bring out some seriously big guns. A big ol’ rocket launcher and tripod proved too much for SWAT. It sure didn’t look good for McClane at this point.

The terrorist named Alexander yells, “Ya, I see him!” as he locates the SWAT members with the rocket launcher before firing.

Steyr AUG

From IMFDB: “One of the more unusual weapons (for the time) in the film, the Steyr AUG assault rifle is used by Karl (Alexander Godunov) throughout the movie. It was likely chosen as the writers wanted to contrast the terrorists’ exotic European weapons with the more traditional American firearms used by the LAPD.”

Inclusion of the Steyr AUG just feels right. Euro terrorists come in, trying to make bank on this insane robbery, the AUG really seemed exotic at the time. Many of U.S. shooters remain in love with AUG ever since.

Steyr SSG 69

FBI Special Agent Johnson shoots his sniper rifle in Die Hard — From IMFDB: “Mistaking McClane for a terrorist shooting hostages, FBI Special Agent Johnson (Robert Davi) is seen taking aim with what appears to be a Steyr SSG 69 fitted with an AN/PVS-3 Starlight night-vision scope.”

Featuring old school night vision, this rifle, appearing to be a Steyr SSG 69, nearly clipped our hero early on. We’re not sure how many SWAT Teams truly employed this rifle back in the day. Likelihood remains low for most. But it sure proved a cool choice in the movie.

S&W Model 15

Sgt. Al Powell fires the Smith & Wesson Model 15 in Die Hard — Sgt. Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson, right) holds the Smith & Wesson Model 15 next to John McClane (Bruce Willis, left).

One of the final scenes of the movie sees Sgt. Al Powell pull his duty sidearm. A cop with some history, we know at this point pulling his pieces comes at some cost for Powell. But he rises to the occasion, pulling a perfect sidearm to represent an old school cop. The S&W Model 15 absolutely saw service across the country, one of the last revolvers to see work before the proliferation of the striker-fired 9mm we still enjoy today.

And for those of you who don’t think “Die Hard” is the greatest Christmas movie of all time, please see the clip below:

DIE HARD: A Christmas Movie

Christmas story or no??? This remains one of the more hotly-debated topics surrounding Die Hard all these years later. Of course, any good 2A-lovin’ shooter knows very well Die Hard remains a Christmas Classic. Don’t believe us? Well, recent reporting proves just that fact. Screenwriter Jeb Stuart, who wrote the script, settled the debate once and for all recently.

“Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie,” Stuart told UPI, reported breitbart.com.

“I’m out in L.A. now and I can remember writing it years and years ago at Christmas and, coming from the East Coast, I felt a little bit of, ‘What am I doing in Los Angeles for Christmas?’ And there is a lot of that wrapped up in that script,” Stuart said, reported breitbart.com.

There you have it. Ho, ho, ho ….