Weapons from the 1920s and early 1930s.

heretoinform

Hey, I'm writing a screenplay for a movie set in the early 1930s, and I was wondering if any of you know of some popular handguns and machine guns used back then.

Thanks.

Ado-san

Well The Thompson submachine gun or 'Tommy' gun immediately comes to mind. They seem to be pretty stock-standard for gangster movies set around that time.

James

These are all military weapons.

Lee-Enfield
Mosin-Nagant
Springfield 1903
Mauser C96

Enfield Revolver
Webley Revolver

Thompson SMG: around for a while, didn't enter service until late 30's.

M1 Garand is also late 30's.

Honestly, I found this in under a minute on wikipedia. Searching around a bit on wiki and google won't hurt.

heretoinform

James wrote: »

These are all military weapons.

Lee-Enfield
Mosin-Nagant
Springfield 1903
Mauser C96

Enfield Revolver
Webley Revolver

Thompson SMG: around for a while, didn't enter service until late 30's.

M1 Garand is also late 30's.

Honestly, I found this in under a minute on wikipedia. Searching around a bit on wiki and google won't hurt.

Yes, thanks for those, but I'm also thinking more of handguns, like pistols (not revolvers). I'm thinking of the normal weapon that someone would carry back then, for safety.

DarkPrimus

The Colt M1911, Browning Hi-Power, and various revolvers would be the common selection of handguns.

VThornheart

If it helps, I don't think that Mauser C96 usually has a stock on it (as the picture on Wikipedia shows it with, which makes it look more like a small rifle than the small handgun it is). Without that bulky stock, it's roughly pistol-sized.

Plutonium

Try a Browning Automatic Rifle.

James

heretoinform wrote: »

James wrote: »

These are all military weapons.

Lee-Enfield
Mosin-Nagant
Springfield 1903
Mauser C96

Enfield Revolver
Webley Revolver

Thompson SMG: around for a while, didn't enter service until late 30's.

M1 Garand is also late 30's.

Honestly, I found this in under a minute on wikipedia. Searching around a bit on wiki and google won't hurt.

Yes, thanks for those, but I'm also thinking more of handguns, like pistols (not revolvers). I'm thinking of the normal weapon that someone would carry back then, for safety.

Keep in mind that self-loading semi-automatic pistols were a relatively new thing back then, and most civilians would probably carry revolvers. Depending on the setting or situation, I suppose you could carry a Luger or Beholla.

Colt sold a few pistols commercially, including the M1900, M1902, and M1911. Again depending on the time and situation you could use the FN 1910 or the Walther PP (and variants).

DarkPrimus

VThornheart wrote: »

If it helps, I don't think that Mauser C96 usually has a stock on it (as the picture on Wikipedia shows it with, which makes it look more like a small rifle than the small handgun it is). Without that bulky stock, it's roughly pistol-sized.

There wasn't much of an American market for the C96, not before WWII, anyway, if Wikipedia is to be trusted.

James

DarkPrimus wrote: »

VThornheart wrote: »

If it helps, I don't think that Mauser C96 usually has a stock on it (as the picture on Wikipedia shows it with, which makes it look more like a small rifle than the small handgun it is). Without that bulky stock, it's roughly pistol-sized.

There wasn't much of an American market for the C96, not before WWII, anyway, if Wikipedia is to be trusted.

Speaking of which, a message to the OP:

If you plan on using any of these weapons, read through the articles and get to know them. Check the references to make sure the information is correct, too. It's obvious you don't know a lot about these guns (because we've had to find them for you :P), and anyone reading your screenplay will see that unless you put the time into research and learning about them. Same goes for pretty much every aspect of written work.

Also, good luck :^:

Xenocide Geek

i came in here to recommend the 1911, but people already said it!

it's a great gun though, would probably suit your needs perfectly

(i might be biased though, i shot one/examined one thoroughly yesterday, and i was fairly enamored with it)

DarkPrimus

You can always go rent Road to Perdition and compare screencaps from the film to various Wiki articles, too. :P

Noff

Handgun wise revolvers would be much more common in this period than semi-autos, although there were plenty of semi-autos that would still be around, especially compact forms. Foreign guns like the luger or mauser are famous now but would be uncommon in the US. Although there was one famous story of a mobster that took a luger off someone he shot and was unable to use it because he had no idea how to operate it...

Smith & Wesson and Colt are going to be the big ones for law enforcement and professional criminals, but of course there are tons of cheaper ripoffs (often made cheaply in Spain) and competitors if you need them for other characters. Some ripoffs include cebra, escodin, and orbea. Cheap guns are hard to get specifics on because no one takes the time to record their histories, so you could probably describe a cheap POS gun in your story as such and let it go.

For Smith & Wesson a model 10 in .38 special would be appropriate, or after 1935 you could have a model 27, which would be a .357 magnum.

Colt revolvers were actually preferred over S&W in this period. The Colt police positive was colt's .38 special workhorse for this period. This would be pretty much the #1 cop gun for this period. The detective special was introduced in 1927 and it's a good example of a shortened 'snubby' revolver. Colt also made good semi-autos, the 1903 or 1908 are semi compact, the 1911 is the full sized larger caliber gun.

Among professional gangsters BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles) were very popular. National guard armories were barely protected at all, so they'd literally steal them then saw off the barrel and or stock to make it more compact. They could also get Thompson SMGs after 1928 or so. Also very popular were sawed off shotguns. Good example would be Remington 10's (made '08-'29) or 31 (made '31 until post war); or the Winchester model 12 would be good pump actions.

Slagmire

Luparas saw a bit of action during that time period if I remember correctly - you know them as sawed-off shotguns.

Noff

And I totally thought you said it was a gangster story. Ah well, all the stuff I wrote applies if it's in the US at that period.

RocketSauce

If your main character has good taste, then he will be packing a 1911.

Steel Angel

There are a few famous instances of police and gangsters carrying M1911s, not sure how common they were among civilians.

Small caliber revolvers that could fit in the pocket were popular among civilians. I cannot remember the specific calibers or the makers/models though.

Zyrelax

Semi Auto pistols:
Colt 1903 (.32 or .380 ACP)
Beretta 418 (.25)
Browning 1910 (.32 or .380 ACP)
Remington 51 (.32 or 380ACP)
Colt 1911 (.45 ACP; also chambered for .38 Super)
Colt Woodsman (.22)

Revolvers - Most popular caliber was the .38 special
Colt Official Police
S&W Model 10 (Military and Police)
S&W Model 27 (first .357 Magnum, first sold 1935)
Colt 1917 (.45 ACP)
S&W Model 1917 (.45 ACP)
Many people still carried the Colt Single Action Army (Peacemaker) (.45 Long, 44-40)
Various Colts and S&Ws in .44 special