The Guns of Justified: Every Weapon Identified

Justified opens with a man in a hat giving a gangster twenty-four hours to leave Miami, then shooting him across a lunch table when he doesn’t. “You made me pull,” Raylan says afterwards. Six seasons live inside that sentence: a US Marshal who genuinely believes every shooting was the other man’s decision.

The gun work holds up better than most modern cop shows, and there’s a detail in that very first scene that people still argue about. Here’s what Raylan, Boyd and the rest of Harlan County actually carried.

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Raylan Givens’ Glock 17

Raylan carries a full-size Glock as his duty sidearm, and from season two it’s clearly a Glock 17. That’s the right call. He’s a Deputy US Marshal, not a gunfighter, and the Marshals Service issues Glocks. The hat is the affectation. The pistol is the day job.

What sells it is how he wears it. Strong-side hip, plain leather, no drop-leg nonsense. The show understood that the gap between the Stetson and the very ordinary government sidearm was both the joke and the point.

The pilot’s SIG Sauer P226

Here’s the detail worth knowing. In “Fire in the Hole,” the pistol Raylan uses on Tommy Bucks appears to be a SIG Sauer P226, not a Glock. The show settled into the Glock afterwards and never mentioned it again.

Pilots do this constantly. Props get sourced before anyone has locked down what the character carries, and by episode four somebody has made a decision. Sonny Crockett started Miami Vice with a P220 for exactly the same reason.

Raylan’s Glock 26 backup

He keeps a Glock 26 as a second gun, and the show uses it properly. In “Debts and Accounts” he hands it to his ex-wife Winona so she can defend herself from hitmen, which tells you more about that relationship than any dialogue in the episode.

A 26 backing up a 17 is genuinely sensible. Same manual of arms, the bigger magazines will run in it if you’re desperate, and it vanishes under a jacket.

Boyd Crowder’s Colt M1911A1

Boyd carries a 1911, which is exactly right. He’s the other side of Raylan’s coin, a Harlan boy who quotes scripture and blows up churches, and the 1911 carries all the same American baggage he does. In “Hole in the Wall” he hands the M1911A1 to Colton Rhodes, which in this show counts as a gesture of trust.

He runs a Beretta through the back half of season one before the 1911 becomes his gun.

We tested the current gun in our Colt 1911 Government review.

Dewey Crowe and the shotgun

My favorite gun moment in the series involves a Mossberg 500 and a man who forgets to work the action. Dewey Crowe loads two rounds, points the gun, and Raylan asks him mildly whether he can rack in a load before getting a hole put through him. Raylan then takes the shotgun off him and fires a round to underline it.

Mossberg pumps and Remington 870s run right through the series, mostly held by people who shouldn’t have them.

See our best pump-action shotguns guide.

Everything else in Harlan

Ruger Mini-14s appear across four seasons, usually with the Crowes or whoever is currently cooking something in a trailer. Smith & Wesson Model 36 snubs turn up in pockets and glove boxes. Beretta 92FS pistols run through all six seasons on both sides of the law.

One production quirk: a fair number of the pistols are airsoft replicas, including a Beretta Cougar stand-in and a Hi-Capa used for certain shots. That’s normal for modern cable and it’s why some close-ups look slightly off if you know what you’re looking at.

Frequently asked questions

What gun does Raylan Givens carry?

A full-size Glock, clearly a Glock 17 from season two onwards, worn strong-side on the hip. He also keeps a Glock 26 as a backup.

Was Raylan’s gun in the pilot a Glock?

No. In “Fire in the Hole” the pistol appears to be a SIG Sauer P226. The show moved to the Glock shortly after and stayed there.

What does Boyd Crowder carry?

A Colt M1911A1 for most of the series, after running a Beretta through the latter half of season one.

Is Raylan’s fast draw realistic?

The speed is theatrical, but the mechanics are sound. He works from a plain strong-side hip holster with no retention theatrics, which is the sort of rig that actually supports a fast presentation.

Keep exploring

Part of our guns of TV legends series. See also Yellowstone and The Rifleman for the other end of the western tradition.