The Guns of Sons of Anarchy: Every Weapon Identified

Sons of Anarchy is a show about an illegal gun-running operation, so you’d expect the armoury to be busy. It is. Seven seasons, and the club moves everything from AKs to MAC-10s while carrying something rather more considered on their own hips.

Jax Teller’s sidearm in particular is a specific, expensive, slightly surprising choice. Here’s what SAMCRO actually carried.

Jax Teller’s Springfield Custom Professional 1911-A1

Jax carries a Springfield Armory Custom Shop Professional 1911-A1 as his main sidearm from season three right through to the end.

That is not a generic 1911. The Professional is Springfield’s Custom Shop gun, the one built to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team contract specification, and it costs multiples of a standard 1911. Putting it in the hands of a motorcycle club vice president is a real character decision: Jax is the son of the founder, he reads his father’s manuscript, and he carries the most serious version of the most traditional American pistol there is.

The show uses it constantly and consistently. He fires it at Lobos in “Kiss,” draws it during the Niners skirmish in “Hands,” and runs it suppressed on several occasions, including avenging the corrupt sergeant in “Small World” and chasing Randall Hightower in “Crucifixed.” He surrenders it on a car bonnet in “Sovereign” and has it taken off him by Sheriff Roosevelt in “Andare Pescare.” A gun that gets handed over that often is a gun the writers were thinking about.

If the Custom Shop price is out of reach, our Colt 1911 Government review covers the sensible starting point.

The SIG Sauer P226

If the 1911 is Jax’s gun, the P226 is the club’s. It appears in all seven seasons, in more hands than anything else. That tracks: it’s a durable, common, high-capacity service pistol, exactly what a group buying guns in bulk would end up holding.

The Jericho 941 and the HK USP

Two more guns run the full seven seasons: the IMI Jericho 941 R and the Heckler & Koch USP. The Jericho is a nice touch given the club’s arms-dealing storylines, since it’s an Israeli service pistol that reached the American market through exactly the sort of channels the show is about. The USP is the heavier, more expensive option that turns up when a character wants to look serious.

The Remington 870

Also present in all seven seasons, alongside Mossberg 500 Cruisers. Shotguns in this show are close-quarters, garage-and-clubhouse guns, and the 870 is the one that keeps turning up because it’s the one that’s actually everywhere in California.

More in our best pump-action shotguns guide.

The merchandise

The guns the club sells are a different category from the guns they carry, and the show is good about that distinction. AKM rifles run all seven seasons. Intratec TEC-9s and Ingram MAC-10s handle the cheap end. In “Booster,” Jax demonstrates carbines and rifles to the Galindo cartel and their people test-fire them, which is one of the few scenes on television that treats a gun deal as a sales meeting rather than a shootout waiting to happen.

Glock 17s, Beretta 92FS pistols, Springfield XD9s and Smith & Wesson 5904s fill out the rest. Clay Morrow runs a Colt M1911A1, which quietly makes the point that he and Jax are more alike than either wants to admit.

Frequently asked questions

What gun does Jax Teller carry?

A Springfield Armory Custom Shop Professional 1911-A1, his main sidearm from season three onwards, often used suppressed.

Is the Springfield Professional a real gun?

Yes. It’s Springfield Armory’s Custom Shop 1911, built to the specification originally developed for the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, and it sits well above a standard production 1911 in price.

What guns does the club sell?

Mostly AKM rifles, with TEC-9s and MAC-10s at the cheaper end. The Galindo cartel deal in “Booster” involves carbines and rifles being demonstrated and test-fired.

What does Clay Morrow carry?

A Colt M1911A1, plus a Beretta seen at his house in “Family Recipe,” where he also surrenders a gun to Piney.

Keep exploring

Part of our guns of TV legends series. See also Breaking Bad and Justified.