The Guns Of the Wild Bunch

I have a debate on whether my favorite western is The Wild Bunch or Unforgiven. Both deconstruct the heroes and villains’ story we typically see in tales of the Old West, and are brutal movies. While I can’t decide which I like more, I do get to pick which one I want to write about, and today we are looking at the most interesting guns of the Wild Bunch. 

The M1911 

The main sidearm of the Wild Bunch is the M1911 pistol. The film takes place in 1913, and the use of a semi-automatic over the typical revolver speaks to the death of the Wild West. It might not have been intentional, but it’s one of those little details that I adore. The majority of the Wild Bunch carry M1911s. 

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The film uses two different guns. We often see classic Colt M1911s in .45 ACP, but in most of the scenes where they are firing the guns, they are using the Star BM series of 9mm M1911s. This was incredibly common in this era because 9mm blank guns tended to work better. 

The Wild Bunch was a pragmatic gang. They would do whatever was necessary to survive and adapt to new technology rather than keeping what’s old just because it’s old, which is well within their character. 

The Single Action Army 

The Single Action Army is another common weapon throughout the film. It’s used by the posse chasing the Wild Bunch, and by the Wild Bunch themselves. In fact, it’s typically the secondary weapon of Pike, Dutch, and Tector. 

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This cements its near sidelining in the face of semi-auto pistols and, again, reinforces that the Wild West the Wild Bunch operated in was quickly losing out to civilization. The Single Action Army is directly connected to the Old West in cinema. 

In reality, it wasn’t the most common revolver of the era. These were typically pricey revolvers in this era. Most people likely had a much cheaper revolver. However, media coverage of the Old West would have you think that the Colt SAA was the Glock 19 of its era, when it was more like the Glock 19 of its era. 

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Luger P08 

Much like the Colt M1911, the Luger P08 was a new pistol in 1913. The 9mm Luger is another automatic that gradually pushed revolvers out of the limelight in military service. The Luger likely wouldn’t be a common sight in the Wild West, and specifically in Mexico, where we see it, but the film makes it work. 

The Mexican Army has a German military adviser, Commander Mohr, who appears in the film. His sidearm of choice was the Luger pistol, an accurate weapon for a German soldier of the era. We also see a Luger in the hands of a prostitute who ultimately shoots Pike in the back. 

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Pike dies fighting, but in a moment of underestimating the situation, he pays dearly for it, and so does the Prostitute. The Luger’s presence in the Wild Bunch is another sign that the days of men like the Wild Bunch are coming to an end. 

Winchester 1892 

If the Wild Bunch had an official rifle, it would be the Winchester ‘92. The classic lever-action design is visible everywhere in the film. It’s used by both sides of the movie. I can’t say good guys or bad guys, because it’s just all bad guys at the end of the day. Pike, Dutch, Tector, and Freddie all carry Winchester ‘92s. Numerous members of the posse also carry the Winchester ‘92. 

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Lever-action rifles are permanently sealed into the Wild West mythos. The gun was designed by John Browning, but came at the tail end of the Wild West. Lever actions come in numerous calibers, but the ‘92 chambered smaller cartridges like .44-40, .32-20, .38-40, and .25-20, not cartridges like the .45-70. 

This made a light, easy-shooting rifle with an impressive capacity of 9 to 14 rounds. The Model ‘92 wasn’t the gun that won the West, but that’s the point. The Wild West was losing out, but the lever action hung on for its easy handling, fast-firing design, and excellent capacity. 

Winchester 1897 

The Wild Bunch is stacked with turn-of-the-century weapons, and their shotguns are no different. The mythos of the West is one that involves the double-barreled coach gun, or maybe the sawn-off street howitzer of Doc Holiday. One way or the other, it’s a double-barreled gun. 

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In the Wild Bunch, we see a few double-barreled, but the Winchester 1897 Riot gun takes the lead. In fact, it’s there from the first to the last shoot-out, wielded by the Wild Bunch quite well. The five-round magazine tube and pump action made the 1897 the street sweeper of its era. 

For a close-quarters fight, this would be a tough gun to beat. It was shorter and lighter than most rifles of the era, had a quick repeating action, and delivered unmatched firepower. Much like the double-barreled of old, if you were a moving target trying to hit moving targets, a scatter gun just worked. 

Browning M1917A1 

How does a gun called the M1917 appear in 1913? Well, the train they robbed was actually the Back To The Future 3 train, apparently. Yes, it’s anachronistic, especially when you consider the M1917A1 didn’t come until the 1930s. However, I imagine production had trouble getting vintage machine guns, so they took what they could get. 

The M1917 is the coup de grace of modern guns in this movie. Not just because it’s from the future, but because it’s a machine gun. It’s the force of industrialization turned into a weapon. It’s the factories of the East Coast sending weapons west to tame the land. 

We see the M1917 used at the end of the gunfight, mowing down soldiers, a small preview of what would come when World War I started. The M1917 doesn’t save the day, as the Wild Bunch die fighting, but it does make it a Pyrrhic victory at best. The Mexican soldiers lay dead in heaps, showing the future of industrialized warfare. 

Stay Wild 

The Wild Bunch doesn’t stress about good guys or bad guys. It’s about survival and pragmatism for a group of men that the world is quickly catching up to. It’s violent and vicious, and there is a story told with the guns used. I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but it’s certainly fascinating.