The video opens with a countdown of the top five guns in the Indiana Jones franchise, focusing first on the MP40. The host explains that the MP40 evolved from earlier German designs, the MP36 and MP38, as a simplified, mass-producible 9mm weapon that became visually synonymous with Nazi Germany. Early automatic shoulder-fired guns were often heavy, complex, and full of machined steel and wood, but the MP40 represents a later generation where designers emphasized speed and economy of manufacture. Its receiver is largely made from stamped sheet metal, with minimal use of wood, and it features a metal folding stock that could be produced quickly and cheaply. Operating as a direct blowback firearm, it set the pattern for many later pistol-caliber shoulder guns. Although Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade are set in 1936–1938, before the MP40 was widely issued, the gun appears throughout the films because of its strong cinematic association with German forces of World War II. The host notes that this is a good reminder not to treat movies as strict historical references. The discussion also touches on its influence on later designs such as the American M3 “Grease Gun,” praised as a marvel of simplicity, and the style of folding stocks later seen on Kalashnikov rifles. All of this helps explain why the MP40 earns a place on the list despite being slightly anachronistic in the Indiana Jones timeline.
Attention then shifts to the Mauser C96, the classic “broomhandle” pistol. The video describes it as one of the earliest successful semi-automatic handguns, recognizable by its internal magazine positioned ahead of the grip and its distinctive wooden stock/holster combination. Typically chambered in 7.63×25 Mauser, it uses a short recoil operating system and is loaded from the top with stripper clips into 10- or 20-round fixed magazines. Although slower to reload than later detachable box magazine pistols, the C96 offered high capacity and impressive performance for its era. The host highlights its extensive production and combat use, including World War I service and mentions in Winston Churchill’s writings. In the Indiana Jones films, the C96 appears in the hands of both allies and enemies: Marion famously wields one in the bar fight in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and various Nazi characters carry it, reinforcing its image as a powerful, exotic sidearm in early 20th-century adventure settings.
The Walther P38 is introduced as a major technological step forward in service pistols and another key gun in the Indiana Jones universe. Designed to replace the P08 Luger, the P38 is a steel-framed, short recoil-operated pistol with a detachable magazine. Its standout feature is being the first widely adopted service handgun with a double-action/single-action trigger combined with an integrated decocker safety, allowing a loaded chamber to be carried safely with the hammer down. Mechanically, it uses a falling locking block under the barrel, a system later echoed in designs like the Beretta 92. The video contrasts this locking wedge with earlier link-based systems, emphasizing its robustness and influence. In The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones uses a P38 during the dramatic tank-top fight sequence, cementing the pistol’s place in the franchise’s visual language. The segment also notes the postwar aluminum-framed P1 variant, showing how the design continued in service long after World War II.
Next, the focus moves to the Haenel Schmeisser MP28/II, presented as an evolutionary step from the World War I-era MP18. The MP18 originally fed from a 45-degree-mounted P08 Luger snail drum, but the MP28/II adopts a 90-degree side-mounted box magazine designed by Hugo Schmeisser, greatly improving practicality. It retains a wood stock, 9mm chambering, and simple direct-blowback, open-bolt operation. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, members of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword fire MP28/II automatic pistol-caliber guns during the speedboat chase, shredding Indy’s boat and sending dramatic splinters flying, making the gun a memorable part of that sequence. The video then notes how the MP28/II influenced a generation of similar firearms worldwide, inspiring or paralleling designs such as the Finnish Suomi 31, Soviet PPD-40, PPSh-41, PPS-43, British Lancaster and Sten, and the Japanese Type 100. Brief mention is made of the Beretta M38 family, whose layout and features show clear design kinship with these interwar and World War II pistol-caliber shoulder arms and which also appear in notable action scenes.
An honorable mention goes to the RPG-2, the only rocket launcher highlighted in the countdown. Developed in the Soviet Union as an improvement over the RPG-1, it blends concepts from German Panzerfaust-style disposable launchers and the American M1 bazooka into a reusable, man-portable system. The RPG-2 uses a 40 mm smoothbore launch tube firing an 82 mm shaped-charge warhead. The video explains that it has an effective range of roughly 150 yards or meters and can penetrate about 180 mm of armor, enough to defeat most tank armor of its era except the thickest frontal plates. This technical background sets up its cinematic role: in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones shoulders an RPG-2 and threatens to destroy the Ark of the Covenant to force Belloq and the Nazis to release Marion. Even though the weapon is somewhat anachronistic for the 1930s setting, its imposing silhouette and destructive potential make it a powerful visual tool in one of the franchise’s most tense standoffs.
The number one spot is reserved for the M1917 revolver, specifically the Smith & Wesson variant, which the video identifies as Indiana Jones’ signature firearm. The story begins during World War I, when the U.S. military faced a shortage of M1911 semi-automatic pistols. To quickly boost sidearm numbers, the government asked Colt and Smith & Wesson to adapt their large-frame revolvers to fire the standard .45 ACP cartridge. Smith & Wesson based its M1917 on the .44 Hand Ejector Model 2, while Colt adapted its 1908 New Service-style .45 Colt revolver. Because .45 ACP is rimless, S&W introduced revolver clips—initially half-moon clips—to hold the cartridges for both headspacing and extraction. The cylinders were stepped so rounds could also headspace on the case mouth, allowing limited use without clips. The video notes that similar contracts produced .455 Webley-chambered revolvers for British service, showing how this basic design was adapted for multiple Allied needs during the war.
The final segment explains how the M1917 became inseparable from Indiana Jones’ on-screen persona and reveals that two different revolvers were used during filming. For non-firing scenes, Indy carries a Smith & Wesson M1917 in .45 ACP with a shortened 4-inch barrel, no grip medallions, and a visibly chipped left grip panel. For shooting scenes, the production switched to a .455 Webley-chambered version with grip medallions, which attentive viewers can spot by the different grips. The video revisits the famous Cairo marketplace scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where a sword-wielding opponent shows off elaborate moves before Indy casually draws his revolver and shoots him. This moment, originally planned as a complex whip fight, was improvised due to Harrison Ford’s illness and became one of the most iconic gun moments in film history. The host concludes that, alongside the whip and fedora, the M1917 Smith & Wesson revolver defines Indiana Jones’ look, justifying its place as the top gun in the franchise and inviting viewers to suggest future top-five topics.
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