Jason Statham has had a fun career. As one of the later additions to the old guard of action stars, he didn’t really arrive on the American movie scene until Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels found a cult audience after its 1998 release. By then, the careers of action giants like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis were winding down or morphing into something new.
After the success of Snatch in 2000—and a couple of lame ducks like Ghosts of Mars—Statham began carving out his tough-guy niche with The Transporter in 2002. That movie eventually became a trilogy and helped establish the basic Jason Statham character template: highly competent, usually taciturn and much better at violence than everyone around him.
Several franchises followed, giving Statham an absurd number of opportunities to pick up Berettas, Glocks, SIGs, oddball European rifles and whatever else the nearest bad guy happened to drop.
What Guns Does Jason Statham Use in His Movies?
Jason Statham doesn’t have one true signature gun. Frank Martin gravitates toward the Beretta 92FS Inox, Chev Chelios begins Crank with a Springfield Armory XD, Arthur Bishop favors the Glock 17 and Lee Christmas cycles through Berettas, SIGs and Heckler & Koch rifles.
That constant scavenging is part of the appeal. Statham’s characters usually treat guns like any other tool: use the one at hand, discard it when it runs dry and move on to something bigger.
Jason Statham Guns at a Glance
- The Transporter: Beretta 92FS Inox, cut-down Ruger Super Redhawk, Smith & Wesson Model 36, SIG SG 552
- Transporter 2: Jericho 941 R
- Transporter 3: M4A1 carbine
- Crank: Springfield Armory XD, Kahr K9, SIG Sauer P226, Glock 17, FN Five-seveN, Beretta 92FS, Desert Eagle Mark I
- Crank: High Voltage: Beretta 92FS, Springfield Armory XD, Mossberg 500, Jericho 941 R
- The Mechanic: Glock 17, engraved M1911A1, Heckler & Koch USP, Valmet M76F, FN F2000 Tactical, Mossberg 590 Compact Cruiser
- Mechanic: Resurrection: Beretta 92FS, Glock 17, MP5A3, M4A1, Accuracy International AWM-F, Orion flare gun
- The Expendables: Beretta 92G Elite 1A, MP5K-PDW, .50 AN/M2 machine guns, M8 flare pistol
- The Expendables 2: SIG Sauer P226 SCT, M4A1 with M26 MASS, Noveske Diplomat, FN MAG-family machine gun
- The Expendables 3: SIG Sauer P226R, HK416D, G36C, M4A1 with M203
- Expend4bles: SIG Sauer P226R, Glock 17, HK416, AK variants, Browning M2, RPG-7 and fictional bike-mounted machine guns
The Transporter Series
Character: Frank Martin
The Transporter (2002)
Video: https://youtu.be/7FnbLyv2oio?si=YrD-p6fKs0Nifr_G
This is about as cut and dried as an action-movie premise can get, and it set the tone for much of Jason Statham’s career.
Statham plays Frank Martin, a top wheelman whose specialty is safely transporting any kind of cargo to any destination on time, with no questions asked. He will literally go through, over or under anything to get the job done, and he has rules: Never change the deal, no names and never open the package.
Frank is also a former Special Forces operator, another theme that will remain remarkably consistent across Statham movies.
It’s a great setup because urgency and intensity are baked into the plot. One package brings Frank into the world of international human trafficking, and things get wild from there.
Frank isn’t much of a dedicated shooter. He generally prefers his fists, feet and whatever piece of the set happens to be within reach, but he will pick up discarded firearms and put them to use when necessary. He gets a much wider array of guns pointed directly at his head, which becomes something of a running gag throughout the series.
That said, he handles a few interesting pieces in this first French-American co-production.
Beretta 92FS Inox
Like a lot of action stars from this era, Statham uses his share of Beretta 92-series pistols.
Frank captures a Beretta 92FS Inox and carries it through much of the movie. The stainless-steel slide and other silver-finished components give the Inox the bright, modern look filmmakers loved when they wanted a handgun to stand out on camera.
Similar-looking Taurus PT92 pistols also appeared regularly in 1980s and ’90s movies. Taurus acquired the former Beretta factory in São Paulo, Brazil, along with machinery and technical drawings, but the resulting Taurus pistols developed into their own family with notable differences, including a frame-mounted safety.
In The Transporter, however, Frank’s pistol is a genuine Beretta 92FS Inox.
Ruger Super Redhawk
Frank also gets his hands on a strange, snub-nosed Ruger Super Redhawk that looks a little like the later Super Redhawk Alaskan at first glance.
It isn’t an Alaskan. That model didn’t arrive until 2005, three years after the movie. The screen gun appears to be a standard Super Redhawk that was heavily modified with its barrel cut extremely short—or possibly altered by the armory to stand in for another revolver.
There’s a timely footnote to this oddball movie gun. Ruger announced in October 2026 that the current-generation Redhawk and Super Redhawk families would receive final planned production runs through the end of the year. The company described the move as a production suspension rather than necessarily the permanent end of those names.
Smith & Wesson Model 36
Inspector Tarconi, played by François Berléand, carries a Smith & Wesson Model 36 snub-nosed revolver with black plastic grips.
He offers it to Frank twice. Frank uses it during his staged escape from police custody, returns it and later declines it when Tarconi offers it again for the assault on the shipyard. By that point, Frank has decided he needs something with a bit more reach.
SIG SG 552
When Frank searches shipping containers for trafficked people from China, he carries a SIG SG 552 fitted with a Weaver Qwik-Point sight.
The Qwik-Point dates to the late 1960s and early 1970s, making it an arcane accessory even when the movie was released in 2002. It’s a wonderfully strange combination: a relatively modern Swiss carbine wearing an optic from another era.
Transporter 2 (2005)
Video: https://youtu.be/_KFOYFBh2QM?si=oquF_ocyv3aQbubJ
Frank Martin returns in a sequel that finds him in Miami, where he has been tasked with protecting the young son of a high-ranking U.S. drug-control official. When the boy is kidnapped, Frank is implicated and must recover him while clearing his own name.
The gag of Martin getting guns pointed at his face continues, but he uses firearms far less in this sequel.
Jericho 941 R
One exception comes when Frank raids Gianni’s home carrying a stainless-steel Jericho 941 R.
The Jericho was introduced by Israel Military Industries, later reorganized as Israel Weapon Industries. Its design is derived from the CZ 75 family, and the gun’s angular profile and gleaming stainless finish helped it land plenty of movie roles.
It looked futuristic without being so futuristic that an armorer had to build it from scratch. That made it a natural fit for an action movie that also features a car flipping through the air to knock a bomb off its undercarriage.
Transporter 3 (2008)
Video: https://youtu.be/Pbh3CDBNIQA?si=lISqJdjqFRniqO76
The third installment sees Statham play Frank Martin for the final time. He takes an assignment that pairs him with Valentina, played by Natalya Rudakova, and the two are fitted with explosive bracelets that prevent them from straying too far from Frank’s car.
Yeah, they were stretching the premise pretty thin.
M4A1 Carbine
The only firearm Frank really puts to use is an M4A1 carbine he picks up from a downed bad guy.
The guns pointed at his face include a Para-Ordnance LDA Limited pistol and another Beretta 92FS Inox, but Frank spends most of the movie solving problems without pulling a trigger himself.
This was the final film in the original Transporter trilogy. The concept was revived as a television series in 2012, followed by the 2015 reboot film The Transporter Refueled, starring Ed Skrein—the guy from Deadpool. Neither matched the cultural footprint of Statham’s original trilogy.
More Guns of the Movies and TV from Hook & Barrel:
- The Jason Bourne Guns: Every Firearm Used in the Movies
- Pistols of John Wick: Every Handgun From All 4 Movies
- The Guns of 'Heat': Inside the Ultimate Gun Movie
- 10 Coolest Guns from Western Movies & TV Shows
- The Guns of Hell or High Water: Ultimate Movie Firearm Guide
The Crank Series
Character: Chev Chelios
The Crank movies are just…fun. They’re frenetic and kind of forgivably dumb—the sort of action movies built around a singular concept that must have sounded incredible in an elevator pitch.
Chev Chelios is a hitman who wakes up to discover that his nemesis has injected him with something called the Beijing Cocktail. The poison will stop his heart, but Chelios can delay the process by keeping his adrenaline elevated.
And we’re off.
Chelios does anything he can to keep his system fired up. He snorts rails of whatever is available, steals a cop’s motorcycle, has extremely public sex and commits an impressive variety of reckless and violent acts on the advice of his questionable doctor.
The movie works because the concept is utterly goofy, but Statham plays it at full throttle.
Crank (2006)
Video: https://youtu.be/218nsccFpag?si=27LRi5-s4cH49iwV
Springfield Armory XD
Chelios uses a Springfield Armory XD chambered in 9mm as his principal sidearm.
The Croatian-designed, striker-fired XD family reached the American market through Springfield Armory in the early 2000s and went on to become a large line of duty, competition and concealed-carry pistols.
It’s not an especially flashy choice, which makes it a funny contrast with basically everything else happening in this movie.
Kahr K9
Chelios gets his hands on a Kahr K9 on the textile-mill roof and uses it to threaten a bad guy before throwing him off the building.
He keeps the compact steel-framed 9mm for the opening portion of the ensuing gunfight, then tosses it when it runs dry.
SIG Sauer P226
During that same textile-mill fight, Chelios jams a thug’s hand into a sewing machine and takes his SIG Sauer P226.
He uses the P226 for much of the rest of the sequence before trading it for a Glock. It’s one of several scenes that establish Chelios’ basic firearm logistics: Why reload when the floor is covered with guns?
Glock 17
Another bad guy shoots at Chelios with a second-generation Glock 17. Chelios kills him, takes the pistol and uses it through the remainder of the mill sequence and ensuing car chase.
A suppressed Glock 17 and a full-auto conversion fitted with an extended magazine also appear in the film, although those are carried by Don Kim’s men.
FN Five-seveN
When Chelios prepares to kill Don Kim as part of a contracted hit, we see him ready an FN Five-seveN USG fitted with a laser and a Gemtech SFN-57 suppressor.
This is some heavy Splinter Cell stuff.
FN Herstal began developing the 5.7x28mm cartridge in the late 1980s in response to the increasing use of body armor. The company designed the P90 personal-defense weapon around it, followed later by the Five-seveN pistol.
The cartridge and both guns became science-fiction-looking fixtures in movies, television and video games. The Five-seveN and P90 have since become far more recognizable than they were when Crank hit theaters.
Beretta 92FS
Ah, the Beretta 92FS. Back again.
Chelios takes one from a police officer while running around in a hospital gown. He taunts the officer with it, then tosses it away as a diversion so he can steal the cop’s motorcycle.
That sentence tells you almost everything you need to know about Crank.
Desert Eagle Mark I
When Chelios encounters Verona’s brother in an alley, he acquires a chrome-finished Desert Eagle Mark I chambered in .357 Magnum.
He brings it into the hospital and uses it during the hilarious sequence in which he tears through the building looking for epinephrine. The Desert Eagle is enormous, bright and completely on-brand for a movie determined to turn every dial past its stop.
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
Video: https://youtu.be/t2koYVqwzT4?si=2u7G0vsCFOMqYmrk
Chelios is back, and he still has to keep himself charged to stay alive. This time, though, he has no natural heart. It has been removed and replaced with an artificial one powered by an external battery pack.
So he sets out with Eve, played by Amy Smart, to recover the original. Along the way, he recharges himself with jumper cables, Tasers and electrical panels.
You know—standard cardiology.
Beretta 92FS
Chelios appears with a Beretta 92FS in promotional material for the sequel.
In the movie, he takes one from a gangster outside the Cypress Members Club and uses it during the strip-club shootout until it runs empty. No worries: Once he gets outside, he takes another Beretta 92FS from an LAPD officer.
Springfield Armory XD
A thug holds a two-tone Springfield XD Service pistol on Chelios near the beginning of the movie.
Chelios naturally takes it away and uses it until it runs dry, at which point he transitions to a shotgun.
Mossberg 500
When the XD goes empty, Chelios takes a Mossberg 500 fitted with a heat shield from a thug he kills.
At one point, he uses the barrel in a particularly invasive interrogation technique involving a bad guy’s backside. It may be the least dignified screen appearance in the long and honorable history of the Mossberg 500.
Jericho 941 R
Chelios takes a stainless Jericho 941 R from one of Don Kim’s men in a limousine.
He uses it to shoot open a high-voltage box so he can recharge, then carries it while pursuing Johnny Vang. The Jericho even gets a reload during the chase, which is unusually responsible ammunition management for Chev Chelios.
The Mechanic Series
Character: Arthur Bishop
In this remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson movie, Arthur Bishop is a “mechanic”—an elite hitman whose specialty is making murders look like accidents, overdoses or plain bad luck.
Statham plays him as a man of total control. He lives alone in a secluded house outside New Orleans, listens to classical records and plans every job down to the second.
When his employer hands him a target he never expected—his friend and mentor Harry McKenna, played by Donald Sutherland—Bishop completes the job. He then takes Harry’s reckless, grieving son Steve, played by Ben Foster, under his wing. Steve has no idea who really killed his father.
That goes about as well as you’d expect.
The Mechanic (2011)
Video: https://youtu.be/zMY1sWGoeyM?si=JOovCUtozOc8Glt4
Glock 17
Bishop uses the tried-and-true Glock 17 as his standard working handgun.
It’s reliable, unglamorous and extremely common throughout much of the world, making it a fitting choice for an assassin who would rather disappear than make a fashion statement.
Engraved M1911A1 and Heckler & Koch USP
Before he dies, Harry gives Bishop an engraved, nickel-plated M1911A1 with pearl grips. The pistol bears the Latin phrase “Amat Victoria Curam” on one side and its translation—“Victory Loves Preparation”—on the other.
Steve later uses the gun.
When Bishop fires what is supposed to be the same 1911, however, a close-up reveals a Heckler & Koch USP. The USP is also used in a separate rooftop sequence, suggesting the insert shot was borrowed from or confused with that scene.
The production used at least two different 1911s to represent Harry’s pistol, so its screen identity was already a little fluid before the USP wandered into the shot.
Valmet M76F
Bishop is shown firing a Valmet M76F at a range.
It’s an unusual and interesting choice. The Finnish-made M76 family is descended from the AK operating system but incorporates a number of Finnish refinements. The folding-stock rifle seen in the movie is chambered in 5.56x45mm.
FN F2000 Tactical
When Bishop needs an assault rifle in the field, he chooses an FN F2000 Tactical bullpup fitted with a Leupold CQ/T optic.
Regrettably, the optic is mounted backward.
FN introduced the F2000 around the turn of the century, and its rounded polymer body and bullpup configuration quickly made it a darling of video games and action movies looking for a futuristic rifle.
Mossberg 590 Compact Cruiser
When Bishop packs a duffel bag with guns, a pistol-gripped Mossberg 590 Compact Cruiser fitted with a side-saddle shell carrier is clearly visible.
The gun gets only a quick appearance, but the unusual compact configuration makes it hard to miss. The exact movie setup shouldn’t be confused with later Mossberg AOW catalog configurations, which used different combinations of barrel length, overall length and capacity.
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Video: https://youtu.be/QF903RaKLvs?si=4PKKactZPiwuQQ_2
The sequel finds Bishop living a quiet, anonymous life in Rio after faking his death.
Bad guys connected to an arms-dealing operation eventually track him down and demand that he carry out three assassinations. Bishop refuses, so they kidnap Gina, played by Jessica Alba, to ensure his cooperation.
Bishop travels the world completing the forced hit list, making each death look like an accident, until he reaches the final target.
Beretta 92FS
Bishop has traded the Glock for a suppressed Beretta 92FS as his principal handgun.
It isn’t the most original assassin pistol in movie history, but it fits the job and gives Statham yet another opportunity to use a Beretta on screen.
Glock 17
There are plenty of Glock 17s in this movie, most carried by the bad guys. Eventually, Bishop gets his hands on one and puts it to use during the finale.
Heckler & Koch MP5A3
Bishop takes an MP5A3 from Crain’s men and turns it against them during the assault on Crain’s boat.
In some shots, the retractable-stock MP5A3 appears to become a fixed-stock MP5A5, giving the movie another small firearm continuity error.
Thank goodness the bad guys are so well armed and so willing to drop their guns.
Orion Flare Gun
In the finale, Bishop douses the boat with fuel and ignites it with an Orion flare gun.
Apparently, when Jason Statham finds a flare pistol, there is an excellent chance a fuel-soaked structure is about to explode.
M4A1 Carbine
Some of Crain’s men carry M4A1 carbines. Bishop liberates one fitted with an ACOG and uses it during the fighting aboard the boat.
Accuracy International AWM-F
When Bishop needs to make a long-range shot in Bulgaria, he chooses an Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum with a folding stock.
The movie rifle is identified as an AWM-F chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum—not .338 Lapua Magnum. It’s a bolt-action, detachable-magazine precision rifle from the British company’s Arctic Warfare family.
The Expendables Series
Character: Lee Christmas
In this 1980s-and-’90s-action-star family-reunion franchise, Statham plays Lee Christmas, a former SAS operator who becomes a mercenary with morals and stuff.
Christmas is Barney Ross’ closest friend and second-in-command. Statham plays him in The Expendables from 2010, The Expendables 2 in 2012, The Expendables 3 in 2014 and Expend4bles in 2023.
Stallone’s role is reduced in the fourth movie, leaving Statham to carry much more of the story as its de facto lead. The supporting cast may not match the wall-to-wall action royalty of the earlier installments, but Christmas certainly isn’t sitting this one out.
The Expendables (2010)
Video: https://youtu.be/8KtYRALe-xo?si=9vyEuKFQu8qU1sUl
Beretta 92G Elite 1A
Christmas wears a Beretta 92G Elite 1A in a cross-draw holster on his plate carrier.
When the team storms General Garza’s compound, he alternates between the pistol and his throwing knives, using whichever one can reach the next target fastest.
Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW
When the team boards the hijacked oil tanker, Christmas carries a compact MP5K-PDW fitted with a red-dot sight and laser.
The short 9mm is well suited to the tanker’s cramped passageways and gives Christmas something more substantial than his knives without saddling him with a full-length rifle.
Browning .50 AN/M2
Christmas’ first experience in the series with a .50-caliber Browning comes courtesy of a hidden feature in Barney Ross’ seaplane.
Four .50 AN/M2 aircraft machine guns are mounted in the nose. Christmas climbs into a special forward firing station and uses them to chew the dock below into splinters.
He returns to Browning .50s later in the series, firing an M2HB from a Land Rover in The Expendables 2 and another vehicle-mounted M2 in Expend4bles.
M8 Flare Pistol
As the seaplane lifts away, Christmas retrieves an M8 flare pistol from a storage compartment and fires it into the fuel-soaked dock.
The result is a spectacular wall of flame—which Arthur Bishop essentially recreates six years later in Mechanic: Resurrection.
The Expendables 2 (2012)
Video: https://youtu.be/xtpdj31wshI?si=sxAOt4JAed4ipOST
SIG Sauer P226 SCT
Christmas trades his Beretta for a SIG Sauer P226 SCT during the opening rescue mission in Nepal, but he carries it in the same cross-draw position on his vest.
He stays with the broader P226 family in the following sequels, carrying a P226R in The Expendables 3 and again in Expend4bles.
M4A1 With M26 MASS
Christmas’ M4A1 is fitted with an M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System, or MASS, beneath the barrel.
The 12-gauge, bolt-action, magazine-fed shotgun can be mounted beneath an M4 or configured as a stand-alone weapon. Christmas uses it to breach a door during the Nepal raid before turning the M4A1 on an attack helicopter.
The M26 is sometimes casually called a Masterkey, but that name properly belongs to an earlier underbarrel shotgun system built around a modified Remington 870. Christmas is carrying the distinct M26 MASS.
Noveske Rifleworks Diplomat
Christmas later uses a Noveske Rifleworks Diplomat like several other members of the team.
He aims it at Hector, keeps it ready while the team waits for the Sangs at the airport and generally benefits from the Expendables’ belief that no rifle needs to remain in its factory configuration.
FN MAG
When enemy airboats chase the seaplane, Christmas fires what appears to be an M240G, a member of the FN MAG family, through the open doorway.
The original Belgian FN MAG design dates to the 1950s and has been adopted in numerous forms by militaries around the world. The American M240 family is among its best-known descendants.
The Expendables 3 (2014)
Video: https://youtu.be/OuXkXJ1fPuk?si=RPAySrKQOjnWUZGp
SIG Sauer P226R
Christmas carries a SIG Sauer P226R as his sidearm, including during the Mogadishu sequence.
The pistol is also used by several other members of the team, making the P226R something close to standard Expendables equipment in this installment.
Heckler & Koch HK416D
The HK416 becomes Christmas’ principal rifle.
He carries a short-barreled HK416D with a C-More sight and SureFire M900 weapon-light foregrip from the train raid through the final battle. He adds a suppressor for the Mogadishu mission.
It’s a much more serious-looking setup than Frank Martin’s salvaged M4A1 in Transporter 3, but then Christmas works for a team that apparently has an unlimited accessories budget.
Heckler & Koch G36C
In one scene, Christmas fires a G36C with plain iron sights. A moment later, the rifle has an EOTech.
He may have switched rifles in the confusion, but a continuity error is the simpler explanation.
M4A1 With M203
During the extended “Christmas Gauntlet” sequence included in the unrated cut, Christmas acquires an M4A1 with an M203 grenade launcher mounted beneath the barrel.
The launcher appears to be an airsoft-style prop, but it looks the part well enough during the chaos.
Expend4bles (2023)
Video: https://youtu.be/6IOjkmPi5uM?si=IvgKcICcCLJISjem
SIG Sauer P226R
Christmas briefly carries and fires a SIG Sauer P226R, maintaining the sidearm continuity established in the two previous sequels.
Glock 17
Glock 17s are everywhere in Expend4bles, and Christmas handles one as well.
The Glock is considerably more prominent across the cast than it was in earlier installments, giving the fourth movie a more generic modern-action loadout in several scenes.
Heckler & Koch HK416
For the assault on the ship, Christmas returns to the HK416.
This one is suppressed and fitted with an ACOG, an RMR-style miniature red dot mounted above it and a SureFire weapon light. It’s an excellent setup for a night fight in tight steel passageways—and considerably more believable than the guns mounted on his motorcycle.
AK Variants
Christmas also uses an AK-pattern rifle, joining several of his teammates.
The movie includes both fixed-stock AK-47-type rifles and AKS-47 variants with folding stocks. Using one is a departure for Christmas, who previously stuck mainly to Western European and American rifles.
Browning M2
Christmas fires another vehicle-mounted Browning M2HB during the opening action sequence, continuing his long relationship with .50-caliber Brownings.
At this point, finding Christmas behind an M2 is almost an Expendables tradition.
Bike-Mounted Machine Guns
In one of the movie’s more bombastic moments, Christmas takes control of a motorcycle armed with twin machine guns.
The guns don’t appear to represent any specific real-world model. They are most likely fictional, non-firing props built for the motorcycle and enhanced with visual effects.
Honestly, “fictional motorcycle machine guns” feels like the most natural possible destination for a series called The Expendables.
RPG-7
Christmas brings down a UH-60 Black Hawk with an RPG-7, although the actual shot occurs off-screen.
He is shown holding the launcher afterward without a warhead attached, allowing the movie to communicate what happened without having Statham fire a complete rocket-propelled grenade prop in the shot.
Jason Statham’s Real Signature Weapon
After four franchises, it’s clear that Jason Statham doesn’t have a single signature gun. He has used Berettas more than once, returned repeatedly to SIG Sauer P226s and spent plenty of time with Glocks, but no one firearm defines him the way the Walther PPK defines James Bond.
His real signature is adaptation.
Frank Martin kicks a discarded Beretta into the air and catches it. Chev Chelios burns through whatever gun he can rip from the nearest thug. Arthur Bishop chooses the right tool for a meticulously planned job. Lee Christmas arrives with enough accessories attached to his rifle to stock a small gun shop.
Whether the weapon is a polished Beretta, a suppressed HK416, an aircraft-mounted .50 or a flare pistol pointed at a puddle of gasoline, the formula stays the same: Put it in Jason Statham’s hands and something nearby is about to have a very bad day.
