Indy's pistol

"Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am."

―Indiana Jones to Marcus Brody about his firearms,^[src]

Indiana Jones frequently carried some type of sidearm during his adventures, especially when attempting to obtain rare antiquities, to protect himself from threats.

His weapon of choice was a large Smith and Wesson Revolver ('N' frame type) with a shortened barrel.^[1]

He also made use of a Colt New Service Revolver and an Inglis-made Browning Hi-Power 9mm Automatic Pistol, on some of his adventures.^[1]

By 1938, Jones carried a commercially-available British Webley "WG" Army Model .455 caliber revolver during his efforts to find his missing father and recover the Holy Grail.^[2] Comparing the types of weapons that he and his father preferred, Jones drew a sketch of it in his journal.^[3] The Webley accompanied Jones on his trip to Haiti with George McHale in 1941 in search of the Heart of Darkness.^[4]

History[]

World War I[]

Indy's first pistol was a French Modèle 1892 Revolver, which he used on the Western Front, at the Battle of the Somme and Verdun.^[5]

During Indy's operations in German East Africa, for the battle where he lead a charge of the Askari troops, he carried a Belgian Nagant Model 1883 Revolver.^[6] On several occasions he would also make use of an FN Model 1910 and a Ruby M1915.^[7]

Between China and India[]

During 1935 Jones carried a Colt Official Police and used it against the Ivory Hunters in Ceylon. After Jones recovered the Heart of Koru Watu, he was hired by Chinese government official Marshal Kai and his assistant Mei Ying to help recover the Heart of The Dragon, an ancient artifact buried with the First Emperor. Jones was sent to Prague to take the Mirror of Dreams which would help guide him to the tomb's location, and took his Colt Official Police with him. Jones was later captured by the Nazi's after taking the second piece of the artifact and was imprisoned in Istanbul, having the Colt confiscated. Jones realized that their leader, Albrecht Von Beck was alive, whom Indy had a scuffle with in Ceylon.^[8]

Before awaiting certain torture, he was freed by Mei Ying, and after fighting dozens of Beck's men, he recovered the weapon and gear and escapes. Jones and Ying begin to see that Kai betrayed them, and had formed an alliance with Beck and the Nazis and prepared to double-cross them when they find it, so the duo head to Hong Kong. Jones didn't bring his weapon with him, and left it behind with his adventuring gear. When they enter the Golden Lotus Opera, Mei Ying was abducted and Jones barely escaped with his new ally, Wu Han. Jones reclaimed his gear, and the two headed off to follow the Nazi Submarine where Mei Ying is imprisoned in by Beck and the Nazis. Jones later hided the weapon in his satchel when he disguises himself as a Nazi, and after freeing Mei Ying, he fell through a trapdoor, and works his away around to the Black Dragon Fortress. Jones and Ying found the remains of the Mirror, and returned to Wu Han to take a train to Xian China. Jones carried the Colt one last time during his search in the Tombs, and used it to combat Ch'in Shi-Huang-Ti.^[8]

Indy's use of his revolver in China was cut short, due to it being dropped out of a car window by Willie Scott. After Indy escapes Club Obi-Wan with Scott and Short Round, Indy was cured of his poisoning while being chased Lao Che and his men in a car chase. Indy quickly pulled the revolver out from his bag and firds off all six shots at Lao's men, killing his driver.^[9]

Jones firing his weapon at Lao Che and his men.

Realizing he was out of ammo and that Lao Che was still pursuing, Jones told Willie to hold the revolver while he goes through his bag for ammo. However when his back was turned, the hot metal of the fired revolver made her drop the gun out of the car window, much to Jones's dismay. During the final battle against Mola Ram and the Thuggee cult, Jones is confronted by two swordsmen. Jones smiles smugly and reaches in his holster, only to painfully remember that Willie dropped his gun during the chase in Shanghai. After discovering the blunder, he smiles sheepishly, and quickly subdues the two, then takes a sword.^[9]

Search for the Lost Ark[]

In 1936, shortly after escaping from the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, Jones attempted to threaten his arch-rival René Emile Belloq with a Smith & Wesson M1917 revolver, before surrendering the gun to him.^[10]

After Indiana was hired by US government officials, he took a Smith & Wesson Mk II Hand Ejector revolver from his desk and tossed it in his suitcase. He also packed a Browning Hi-Power pistol.^[10]

When Indiana headed to Nepal to ask Marion Ravenwood of her father's medallion, he used the Hand Ejector Mk II revolver in the shootout against Arnold Toht's men. When it ran out of ammo he switched to his Browning Hi-Power before being surprise attacked by a Giant Sherpa.^[10]

The two fought over the handgun, and quickly worked together to shoot Toht's henchman that was ordered to shoot them both. After the Sherpa was subdued, Jones retrieved his gun, and escaped the burning bar with Marion.^[10]

During his frantic search for Marion in Cairo, Jones was confronted by a menacing Arab Swordsman. When the swordsman showed Indy his skills with his humongous scimitar, Jones; seeing that he has no time for such a protracted fight, pulled out his revolver and dispatches the swordsman. He then used it to fire it at several thugs including the driver of a truck full of explosives that careens out-of-control, rolls over and explodes. Believing Marion was in the truck, Jones went on a depressed drinking state at the Marhala Bar, before being confronted by Belloq and his men. Angry at Belloq for involving Ravenwood in the matters of searching for the Ark, Jones attempted to pull out his weapon, before being stopped by Belloq's army of thugs wielding MP40's.^[10]

After escaping the Well of Souls with Marion, Jones attempted to commandeer the German plane that was to carry the seized Ark to Germany, but was intercepted by the German Mechanic. During the brutal fistfight, Jones dropped his HE2 and tried several times to grab it, but was intercepted by the burly Mechanic. After the Mechanic was killed by the plane's propeller, Jones used the gun to fire two shots at the planes hatch to save Marion and the two escaped the scene to hide.^[10]

The Browning was pulled out by Jones on the Bantu Wind, after the engines were stopped due to the Nazis boarding the ship for the Ark. Jones didn't fire it, but tucks it in his waistband. However, his Hi-Power was taken by Belloq and his men, before they open the Ark.^[10]

Along the Great Circle[]

Following a 1937 break-in at Marshall College in the dead of night, an enigmatic individual stole a Cat Mummy which set Jones off around the globe and pulled him into the wider mystery of the Great Circle, during which Indy continued to rely on his Smith & Wesson M1917 Hand Ejector Mk II revolver, the same firearm the archaeologist had wielded a year earlier when searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant.^[11]

Search for the Grail[]

When Indiana discovered that his father was missing in 1938, he packed his bags and prepared to go on his journey to find the Holy Grail with colleague and friend, Marcus Brody for which Indy packed the Webley "WG" Army Model. The weapon was used when Elsa and Jones searched Castle Brunwald for Henry Jones Sr, before Elsa revealed she was a Nazi. After being captured, Jones retrieved his weapon and escaped the burning fortress with his father. When the duo boarded the zeppelin, Jones concealed it in his waistband. After the Nazis on boarded the craft and realized that the duo were there, Indiana commandeered a bi-plane, and escaped the zeppelin, not long before other German aircraft were on their tail. With Henry Sr. on the back machine gun, Jones wasted all six shots from his own weapon firing at their pursuers. When their plane crashed, Jones considered firing at the last incoming pilot, but realized he no ammo left. Instead, Henry Sr. used his umbrella to finally destroy the plane by spooking a group of seagulls into its flight path, clogging its engines.^[2]

When Henry Sr. and Marcus Brody were captured inside Vogel's tank, Indiana chased the tank on horseback, and engaged in a quick shootout with Vogel, before once again running out of bullets. Jones reholstered his weapon and jumped on the tank, and engaged Vogel and his men in combat. Right after Vogel and his men were dispatched and the tank was obliterated; Jones reloaded his weapon again and carried it in the Canyon's temple. Before it could be used again, the weapon was relinquished to Walter Donovan.^[2]

One year later, Jones used his Webley during his search for the Staff of Kings, for example in several shootouts with Blind Duck and his gang on the Chinatown rooftops. For the rest of the adventure, Jones used it to its full effect whenever caught in a firefight.^[12]

World War II and later years[]

During the next nineteen years, Jones carried his Webley as his sidearm through missions in the second World War, and despite declaring it too heavy for fieldwork.^[1] he still described it in his journal as his favorite handgun.^[3] It was carried by Jones in 1941, while in Haiti with George McHale.^[4] In 1947, Jones retired the weapon in exchange for a more practical Smith & Wesson M1917 out in the field. He carried the Smith & Wesson M1917 during his quest for the Infernal Machine,^[13] and a Colt M1917 for several other adventures during the late 40s and early 50s.

In 1957, Jones once again packed the Webley for his search for Akator and Harold Oxley. Although he didn't fire it, Jones effectivly wielded the gun to frighten off a cemetery guard attacking Mutt Williams in Peru. Yet again the weapon was confiscated when Jones and Williams were captured by Irina Spalko and her men. After reuniting with Marion Ravenwood, Jones discovered that Mutt is his son, and during the latter of the adventure, his entire gun belt was missing, with Jones losing his most prized sidearm.^[14]

The only weaponry which Indy did use in 1969 was a Walther P-38 acquired by force from Hauke with the help of Teddy, which he used to dispatch a goon of Voller's while in Archimedes Tomb.^[15]

Behind the scenes[]

Indiana Jones uses a Fabrique Nationale Hi-Power during the shootout in The Raven, and is seen with the similar Inglis Hi-Power, manufactured by Inglis of Canada, on the Bantu Wind. While the FN Hi-Power was introduced in 1935, the Inglis Hi-Power did not start production until early 1944.

Although not visible in The Raven shootout, Harrison Ford wore a shoulder holster under his jacket which held Jones' Hi-Power during the filming, a detail not revealed for several years which finally settled any argument as to where the secondary handgun was kept for viewers.

In PSP version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, Jones carries a M1917/Hand Ejector 2 model, instead of his Webley.^[12]^[16]

In Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine Indy's S&W M1917 has an unlimited ammo supply.^[13]

In Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb it takes two shots to kill someone, and ammo becomes extremely limited in later levels.^[8]

Indy makes use of the FN M1910 in The Phantom Train of Doom. In Daredevils of the Desert, he uses a Ruby pistol. This is switched for an anachronistic CZ. 27 later in the episode.^[7] He wields the Nagant 1883 while leading Belgian troops in Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life.