The Guns of Magnum P.I.: Every Weapon Identified

Magnum P.I. ran for eight seasons and 162 episodes, and across all of it Thomas Magnum carried essentially one gun. That’s unusual. Most shows rotate hardware constantly. Magnum had a 1911 he’d supposedly brought back from Vietnam, and the writers left it alone.

What’s interesting is that the gun on screen wasn’t always the gun in the script. Here’s what Magnum, Higgins, T.C. and Rick actually carried, plus the prop-department compromise that most viewers never spotted.

Thomas Magnum’s Colt Government Model

Magnum’s pistol is a Colt MK IV Series 70 Government Model, the commercial version of the M1911A1. The show treats it as his service pistol from Vietnam, and it turns up in the flashback sequences as well as the present-day scenes.

He carries it badly, on purpose. Sometimes it’s in a tanker-style shoulder rig, but far more often it’s just shoved inside the waistband at the small of his back with no holster at all. For a man living rent-free in someone else’s guest house and driving someone else’s Ferrari, that tracks.

We ran the current production version through a full test in our Colt 1911 Government review.

The .45 that became a 9mm

Here’s the detail that makes this show fun for gun people.

A former propmaster on the series has said the original screen gun was a genuine .45 ACP 1911, but they moved to a 9mm version fairly early because .45 blanks were too hard to get hold of while shooting on location in Hawaii. Blank supply drove the decision, not the script.

It goes further. In a number of episodes Magnum’s Colt quietly becomes a Star Model B. The Star is a Spanish pistol with a strong family resemblance to the 1911, it ran 9mm blanks more reliably than most alternatives, and it was the standard 1911 stunt double of the era. In “Adelaide” he’s carrying a Star Model BM, and once you know what to look for the angled slide serrations and the curved heel give it away instantly.

So the honest answer to “what gun does Magnum carry” is: a Colt Series 70 in the story, and whatever fired reliably that week in reality.

Jonathan Higgins’ Walther P38

Higgins carries a Walther P38, and it’s a quietly excellent character choice. He’s a former British Army sergeant-major of exactly the generation that would have brought a German service pistol home, and the show never once stops to explain it. It just puts the gun in his hand and trusts you.

The Walther PP and PPK also appear across the series, on both sides of the law.

More on that little Walther in our Walther PPK review.

Higgins’ long guns

The estate armoury is better stocked than Magnum’s. Higgins cleans a Remington 700 in “Missing in Action,” and shoots skeet with a Mossberg 500 in “Skin Deep.” Both are exactly right for the character. A man who manages Robin Masters’ estate and takes the job far too seriously would absolutely own a bolt gun he maintains obsessively and a pump gun for clays.

T.C. and Rick

T.C. is a helicopter pilot first and a shooter second, but he handles a Walther P38 in “Legend of the Lost Art.” Rick, the club owner with the connections, tends to turn up with whatever the plot needs. Neither of them has a signature gun the way Magnum does, and that’s deliberate. The show is built so that Magnum is the one who escalates.

The Vietnam flashbacks

The M16A1 carries the flashback sequences across five seasons, with M60s and the occasional XM16E1 alongside it. These scenes are where the show does its serious work, and the hardware is handled with more care than the Hawaii-set material. There’s a Steyr SSG 69 and a Weatherby Mark V in the mix too when the plot needs a precision rifle.

The revolvers

Smith & Wesson wheelguns are everywhere, which is just accurate for 1980s Hawaii. The Model 15 and Model 36 appear in four seasons each, plus a Model 66, a Model 34, a Model 60 and a Model 67 scattered through. In the pilot a thug confronts Higgins at the Ferrari holding a Model 34. There’s a stainless 2.5-inch Model 66 used to hold a character at gunpoint in a later episode.

If small-frame revolvers are your thing, see best snub-nose revolvers and best .38 Special revolvers.

Frequently asked questions

What gun did Magnum P.I. carry?

A Colt MK IV Series 70 Government Model, the commercial version of the M1911A1, presented as the pistol he carried in Vietnam.

Was Magnum’s 1911 a .45?

It started as one. A former propmaster has said the production switched to a 9mm version because .45 blanks were hard to source while filming on location in Hawaii.

Why does Magnum’s pistol look different in some episodes?

Because in some episodes it’s a Star Model B or Model BM standing in for the Colt. The Star looks similar, ran 9mm blanks reliably, and was a common 1911 substitute in period productions.

What pistol does Higgins carry?

A Walther P38, fitting his background as a former British Army sergeant-major. He also keeps a Remington 700 and a Mossberg 500 on the estate.

Keep exploring

Part of our guns of TV legends series. See also The A-Team, Miami Vice, and on the film side, Dirty Harry.