The Guns of The Town (2010): Every Weapon Identified

Last updated April 2026 · By Nick Hall, firearms-in-film enthusiast and the guy who has rewatched the Fenway Park shootout more times than is probably healthy

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Where to Buy the Star Guns of The Town

The Most Underrated Gun Movie of the Last 20 Years

Most lists of the greatest movie shootouts skip right past The Town and that is an injustice I am here to correct. Ben Affleck’s 2010 Charlestown crime epic does not get the gun-nut credit it deserves, and frankly that is on us.

The film follows a Boston bank robbery crew who hit armored cars and vaults using disguises that range from the absurd (skeleton masks) to the genuinely unsettling (those nuns). Doug MacRay (Affleck) wants out, his best friend Jem Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) wants more, and the two roads collide at Fenway Park in one of the best stadium shootouts ever filmed.

What sets the guns of The Town apart is the realism. Affleck cast actual former special forces guys as technical advisors, ran the principal cast through serious weapon manipulation drills, and chose firearms that match what real crews and real Boston FBI agents were carrying in the late 2000s. No Hollywood “spray and pray” nonsense.

I’ll put this on record: The Town is the only post-Heat (1995) bank-heist film that actually competes with Heat on gun handling. There is reload discipline, support hands, taped magazines done correctly, and one beautiful continuity error we are absolutely going to talk about. Verified weapon IDs come from the Internet Movie Firearms Database entry for The Town, cross-referenced against frame-by-frame analysis.

So let’s break down every firearm in The Town, who carries it, what scene it shines in, and which ones you can actually take home today.

HK 416D: The Rifle Doug Burns Down an Armored Car With

• Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
• Barrel: 11 inches
• Action: Short-stroke gas piston
• Magazine: 30 round STANAG, taped jungle-style in the film

The HK 416D is the workhorse rifle of The Town, and Doug runs it during both the armored car heist and the Fenway escape. It is the gun that Tier 1 units actually carried in 2010, which is exactly the point. Affleck wanted the crew to look like they trained for this, and the 416 reads “professional” in a way an off-the-rack M4 never quite does. I rewatched the armored car shootout three times specifically to clock his trigger discipline. He doesn’t slap the trigger once.

The piston system is what makes the 416 the 416. Stoner’s direct impingement design dumps gas back into the action, which works fine until you start running short barrels, suppressors, and full-auto cycle rates back to back. The 416 borrowed its piston from the G36 family and solved that whole problem in one move.

The film’s hero rifles run 11 inch barrels, low-mounted Aimpoint optics, and those magazines taped together face-to-face. That last detail is doing real work. Real operators tape mags inverted because flipping them is a single rotation, the inserted mag’s bullets are protected from impact, and the second mag stays out of the dirt during prone shooting. Most movies tape mags parallel, which looks cool and accomplishes nothing. The Town got it right.

You cannot just walk into a shop and buy a real HK 416D. It is a restricted military variant. HK USA only sells it to qualified law enforcement and military buyers.

But you can build a civilian-legal clone. An HK MR556 lower paired with a Geissele rail and an 11.5 inch SBR upper gets you almost there. The PSA JAKL is the budget piston AR that runs in the same neighborhood for a fraction of the price. .308 Winchester variants of either also exist if you want the SA58 OSW vibe in an AR platform.

If you want to nerd out further, our roundup of the best AR-15s for the money covers piston rifles in every price tier.

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AKMS: Jem’s Loud, Angry Fenway Rifle

• Caliber: 7.62x39mm
• Barrel: 16 inches (US-compliant)
• Stock: Underfolding wire
• Capacity: 30 round mag

Jem Coughlin runs an AKMS underfolder during the Fenway Park heist and it is the perfect choice for his character. Doug picks the disciplined precision tool. Jem picks the rifle that screams. The AKMS is louder, dirtier, and unapologetic, which is everything Jem is on screen.

The “S” in AKMS means underfolder. The wire stock tucks under the receiver for transport, then snaps out for shooting. It is the same configuration paratroopers and tankers carried, and it makes the rifle compact enough to hide under a paramedic uniform, which is exactly what Jem does.

Renner’s gun handling here is some of the best in the film. Watch the scene again. He runs his AKMS dry, drops it on its sling, transitions to a secondary, and never breaks his cover position. I would put his work in The Town next to anything Keanu does in John Wick. That is range training, not movie magic.

For the home gunner, US-market AKMS clones come and go. Zastava’s M70 underfolder is the closest current production option, and it shows up in our budget rifle conversations more often than people realize. Pioneer Arms and Pap M70 variants are also worth a look.

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Wait, Did Jem Switch Rifles Mid-Shootout?

Yes. And it is the most fun gun-nerd Easter egg in the entire film.

During the Fenway Park firefight, Jem starts the engagement with his AKMS, runs it dry across two magazines, then suddenly we see him reloading and firing an HK 416D from the same position. Watch the cuts and you can see him cycling between the two rifles depending on the angle.

The most charitable read is that Jem grabs Doug’s spare 416 from their shared kit when the AK runs dry. The less charitable read is that someone in editing did not flag a continuity issue. Either way, you can spot the swap on a careful rewatch and once you see it you cannot unsee it.

I am not docking the film for it. Realistic gun handling under cinematic time pressure is brutally hard, and they got more right in this scene than 90 percent of action movies get in their entire runtime.

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HK UMP45: The Cambridge Bank Robbery Sweep Gun

• Caliber: .45 ACP (also exists in 9mm and .40 S&W)
• Capacity: 25 round mag
• Action: Closed-bolt blowback
• Stock: Side-folding polymer

The opening Cambridge Merchants Bank robbery is where Ben Affleck’s Doug MacRay carries the HK UMP. I love that they picked the UMP over the obvious MP5 reach. The UMP looks like nothing else: blocky polymer body, side-folder stock, that distinctive pop when it cycles. There is no mistaking it for an MP5, and that is the point.

HK developed the UMP in the 1990s as a cheaper, simpler successor to the MP5 family, chambered in pistol calibers heavy enough to defeat soft body armor that 9mm sometimes struggled with. The .45 ACP version pairs the round’s stopping power with a closed-bolt blowback action, which is why it sounds so meaty when Doug fires it.

For the civilian shopper there is no good news. The UMP is a select-fire submachine gun and not legally importable for civilian sale.

Vector Arms made a semi-auto version called the UMP-45 SBR for a window of years. Those occasionally surface on the secondary market for serious money.

Want the closed-bolt .45 carbine vibe without the NFA paperwork? The Kel-Tec Sub-2000 in .45 (when you can find one) and the HK SP5 (a semi-auto MP5 cousin) are the closest realistic options.

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DSArms SA58 OSW: The Most Niche Rifle in the Movie

• Caliber: 7.62x51mm NATO
• Barrel: 11 inches
• Action: Short-stroke gas piston (FAL pattern)
• Stock: Magpul collapsing

The DSArms SA58 OSW is the deep cut of The Town‘s armory. Doug MacRay carries it during the armored car heist and most viewers will not even register what it is. DSArms still makes this rifle today. That is a problem only for nerds like me, and it is exactly why I love that the film included it.

The SA58 is DSArms’ US-built FAL clone, the famed “right arm of the free world” designed by FN.

The OSW (Operations Specialist Weapon) variant chops the barrel down to 11 inches and rebuilds the gas system to run reliably with the shorter dwell time. A 7.62 NATO short-barrel rifle in a year when almost everyone else was running 5.56.

Why would Doug, fictional Boston bank robber, carry one? Because the FAL hits harder than 5.56 at close range, the OSW is short enough to hide under a long coat, and any crew that wants to put cars or armored doors out of commission needs more than a varmint round. The choice tracks for a serious career criminal who has thought about edge cases.

Civilian SA58 OSWs are still produced by DSArms and they are SBR or pistol-brace configurable depending on your tax stamp appetite.

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Glock 17 Gen 3: The Fake Cop Carry Gun

• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 17+1
• Barrel: 4.49 inches
• Frame: Polymer

When Doug puts on the fake police uniform to bluff the security guards at the Cambridge Merchants Bank, the pistol on his belt is a Glock 17 Gen 3. That is the right gun for the lie. Boston PD was deep into Glock 17s in the late 2000s, and a security guard glancing at the holster would not blink.

The Gen 3 17 is the platonic ideal of a duty pistol. Polymer frame, 17 round magazine, finger grooves love them or hate them, accessory rail, and a striker-fired trigger that any cop in America has muscle memory for. I have run thousands of rounds through Gen 3 17s and they still feel like the bar everything else gets measured against. There is a reason it has been in continuous police service for nearly four decades.

If you want to run Doug’s exact pistol, the Gen 3 is still made. The newer Gen 5 has refinements (no finger grooves, ambidextrous slide stop, marksman barrel) but for the period-correct Town look you want the Gen 3 with the original finger grooves.

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HK USP Compact: Jem’s Personal Weapon

• Caliber: 9mm Luger (also .40 S&W and .45 ACP)
• Capacity: 13+1 in 9mm
• Barrel: 3.58 inches
• Action: DA/SA hammer fired

In a flashback we learn what Jem actually did to earn his reputation: he murdered a guy who got Doug’s father sent to prison. The pistol he used was an HK USP Compact, and it tells you everything you need to know about Jem’s relationship with violence. This is the gun he carries when he is not playing crew member, when it is personal.

The USP Compact is a polymer-framed hammer-fired DA/SA pistol that splits the difference between a duty gun and a CCW. It is heavier and more complicated than a Glock but with the kind of build quality that has put it in service with German police, US Navy SEAL Team 6 (the SOCOM variant), and a long list of agencies that test before they buy.

You can still buy a brand new USP Compact in 2026. The model has not been substantially changed in over two decades and that is on purpose. If it works, it works.

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Remington 870 Police Magnum: Frawley’s Fenway Shotgun

• Gauge: 12, 3 inch chamber
• Barrel: 18 to 20 inches
• Capacity: 6+1 to 7+1 (extended tube)
• Action: Pump

FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) carries a Remington 870 Police Magnum during the apartment raid and again at the Fenway Park standoff. It has the extended magazine tube, the side saddle for spare shells, and the parkerized matte finish that screams “agency-issued.”

The 870 is the most-produced shotgun in American history. Over 11 million made. Remington has kept police departments and federal agencies leaning on this gun since the 1950s for one reason: it works. The Police Magnum variant takes the standard 870 and adds beefier internals, a heavier-duty magazine tube, and the matte finish that holds up to being dragged in and out of cruiser racks for two decades. My own truck gun is an 870 with a sidesaddle nearly identical to Frawley’s.

You cannot buy a brand new Remington 870 Police Magnum directly any more, since the line was discontinued. But used examples come up all the time on the secondary market, and a standard 870 with a Magpul forend, an extension tube, and a side saddle gets you 95 percent of the way there for half the money.

For more pump-action options see our roundup of the best tactical shotguns, and the best short barrel shotguns if Frawley’s setup is more your speed.

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M4A1 Carbine: Boston PD and FBI SWAT

• Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
• Barrel: 14.5 inches
• Action: Direct gas impingement
• Stock: Collapsing

When the FBI SWAT and Boston PD perimeter closes around Fenway, they are running M4A1 carbines. Old-school A2 round handguards on some, free-float rails on others.

EOTech and Aimpoint optics. Vertical foregrips and weapon lights. The late-2000s American duty rifle in its natural habitat.

The M4A1 is what Doug’s HK 416 was specifically designed to outperform, and yet for sheer volume of police and federal agency adoption nothing has touched it. Direct-impingement, 14.5 inch barrel, three-round burst or full auto on the military variant. The civilian semi-auto AR-15 in M4 trim is the most common rifle in American homes, period.

If you want the FBI SWAT vibe at home, you want a 16 inch barrel AR-15 (the civilian length floor without an SBR stamp), a quad rail or M-LOK handguard, an EOTech 552 or Aimpoint Comp M2, and an old-school flip-up rear sight. Nothing about it has to be expensive.

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Why The Town Got the Guns Right

I have rewatched The Town probably a dozen times and the gun handling stays at the front of my mind. The guns of The Town are not props. They feel chosen. A few things stand out.

The crew reloads. They do it under cover, they do it with the support hand, and they do it without taking their eyes off threats. That is so rare in films that watching it the first time felt like a magic trick.

The crew also chooses different guns for different jobs. They are not running a single hero rifle through every set piece.

The Cambridge bank robbery uses an HK UMP because it is compact and intimidating in close quarters. The armored car heist uses the 416 and SA58 OSW because the crew needs to defeat hardened glass and possibly armored door panels.

The Fenway escape mixes the AKMS and 416 because each crew member is running their own preferred rifle. That is how real crews actually kit out. Almost no movie bothers to write to that level of specificity.

Then there is the law enforcement side, which most films completely neglect. The FBI Tactical Operations team in The Town shows up looking like the FBI, with shotguns and M4s and body armor that match what the bureau was actually issuing in 2010. Not Hollywood “tactical.” The real thing.

It is the difference between a director who casts gun guys as advisors and one who hands the prop master a budget and a Hollywood-Tactical wishlist. Affleck did the first. Most directors do the second.

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How I Verified These Guns

Every weapon ID in this post is cross-checked against the Internet Movie Firearms Database entry for The Town, the published armorer interviews, and frame-by-frame analysis of the actual shootout sequences. I rewatched the Fenway scene three times specifically to spot the AKMS-to-416 swap, then double-checked it against the IMFDB stills.

Specs, calibers, and capacities for every rifle, pistol, and shotgun on this page were confirmed against current manufacturer pages: HK USA for the 416 and UMP, DSArms for the SA58 OSW, Glock USA for the 17 Gen 3, Remington archives for the 870 Police Magnum, and Zastava USA for the closest current AKMS-pattern import. Where the prop gun is restricted (the 416D, the UMP), I noted the closest civilian-legal clone instead of pretending you can buy one.

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Bottom Line

If you can only own one gun from The Town, build the HK 416 clone. An MR556 with an 11.5 inch SBR upper and inverted-tape Magpul mags gets you 95 percent of Doug’s Fenway loadout for a few thousand dollars. Add a Glock 17 Gen 3 for the police-disguise nostalgia and you have the heart of the film’s arsenal in two guns.

If you want the Renner option instead, a Zastava M70 underfolder is the AKMS clone you actually want. Loud, rude, hits harder than 5.56 at close range. Doesn’t care that you can’t reload it gracefully because Jem couldn’t either.

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Related Reading

• The Guns of John Wick 4: Every Weapon Identified
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• Best Semi-Auto Tactical Shotguns