Guns occupy an interesting place in Christmas movies. In this holly jolly time of year they serve as an object of longing, reunite families, teach a small town sheriff a violent lesson and feature in a satirical Christmas special.

Grab a cup of hot cocoa or eggnog and curl up with Rock Island Auction Company’s top 10 Christmas movie guns. They include guns with full auto ferocity, wheel guns in long-time family favorites, a scattergun in newer films, classic World War 2 rifles and… well, let’s just jump right in.

10) General Electric M134 Minigun

When Santa Claus exclaims “Lee Majors!” viewers of “The Night the Reindeer Died” know the terrorists attacking the North Pole are in trouble. The parka-clad, once-upon-a-time “Six Million Dollar Man” arrives in the nick of time to save Christmas in this Christmas-special-within-a-Christmas movie, “Scrooged,” the Bill Murray take on “A Christmas Carol.”

It is a bit part for the Minigun but it is a fun moment to see Santa and his elves dive into the North Pole Armory for an M60 and some M-16s to fend off the terrorists. Majors’ modern day Gatling gun helps save the day in this situation, but a Minigun couldn’t help Jesse Ventura armed with “Old Painless” in the original “Predator.”

"Lee Majors!" proclaims Santa, armed with an M-16. A hand-carried M134 Minigun, as real as Santa Claus himself.

9) Smith & Wesson Model 60

When an elf betrays Santa Claus and pulls a gun on him, it has to be a compact piece that packs some punch, and that’s what Marcus does to Willie in Bad Santa, threatening him with a Smith & Wesson Model 60.

Portrayed by Tony Cox, Marcus is the put-upon but devious elf sidekick to Billy Bob Thornton’s titular Bad Santa in this profane and laugh-out-loud Christmas crime comedy. Fed up with Willie’s (the bad Santa’s) obscene antics, Marcus intends to kill him but is stopped by the police and gets in a shootout. Willie gets away, trying to deliver a toy to a boy he has befriended, only to be brought down – but not killed -- in a hail of police bullets.

First made in 1965, the Model 60 is a five-shot stainless steel Model 36 Chief’s Special made on the J-frame. The gun was originally chambered for .38 Special but in the 90s then Smith & Wesson later lengthened the ejector shroud for .357 Magnum.

Marcus, Santa's helper, holds his Smith & Wesson Model 60 revolver on Jolly Ol' St. Nick in "Bad Santa."

8) Springfield M1903

World War 2 was still fresh in the public consciousness when the movies “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) and “White Christmas” (1954) came out. In the Jimmy Stewart vehicle, a flashback shows Bert the Cop fighting in North Africa, carrying a Springfield M1903 with a bayonet. White Christmas opens during the holidays of 1944 with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye’s soldiers entertaining the troops with smatterings of soldiers holding the Springfield M1903A1 as well as M1 Garands and M1 Carbines. From there, the movie enters into its night club plot of this soldiering song-and-dance men trying to save a Vermont inn owned by their former commanding general.

The U.S. Rifle Caliber .30 Model of 1903, better known as the Springfield Model 1903, is a five-round bolt action rifle that was first used by U.S. troops in the Philippines and along the Mexican border before they were sent to Europe in World War 1. Despite being replaced by the M1 Garand, the M1903 remained in use by U.S. infantry in World War 2. Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal combined to make about 2 million rifles but were done with production by 1936 and 1920 respectively. During World War 2, the gun was made by Remington and Smith-Corona.

U.S. GIs listen to Bing Crosby sing during the film "White Christmas." The soldier on the right is fiddling with the bolt of his Springfield Model 1903.

7) Steyr AUG

Karl, one of the “Die Hard” bad guys, lands on the naughty list with his Steyr AUG. On Christmas Eve, when the thieves burst into Nokatomi Plaza to steal bearer bonds, things don’t go well thanks to barefoot New York cop John McClane. The Heckler & Koch MP5 could certainly be on this list since McClane took it from one of the thieves, leaving “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho” written on the dead man’s sweatshirt. Unfortunately that dead thief was Karl’s brother, enraging Karl who wants revenge.

SPOILER ALERT! In the film’s climactic moment, Karl, once thought dead, emerges waving the Steyr AUG, only to be shot by unassuming beat cop and voice of reason, Al Powell.

The majority of Hans Gruber’s gang are Euro-criminals so a very European weapon like a bullpup AUG is a good choice. Bullpups, like the AUG, are shorter than traditional rifles since the firing action and magazine are located behind the trigger, bringing the barrel back. While sharing barrel lengths of 20 inches, the AUG is 31.1 inches long while an M16 is 39.5 inches long, making it easier to wield inside Natatomi Plaza.

Karl, still wanting revenge, is about to get stopped by LAPD Officer Al Powell in "Die Hard."

6) Mossberg 500

The inexpensive pump-action Mossberg 500 or one of its variations made its way into several Christmas or Christmas-adjacent films as well as into the armories of several countries. One of the most reliable shotguns made, making it a good gun to use and abuse.

Abuse it definitely takes, from being used by both sides in a Christmas Eve heist gone wrong in “Reindeer Games,” used by bad guys in a Christmas tree lot shootout with undercover cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) in “Lethal Weapon” to “shooting Santa Claus from the sky in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” When a Christmas movie needs a shotgun, the Mossberg 500 or one of its variations is the clear choice.

Harold with a Mossberg 500 moments before he shoots Santa out of the Christmas Eve night sky in "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas."

5) Smith & Wesson Model 10

The Smith & Wesson Model 10, produced starting in 1899 and the most produced handgun of the 20th century, made a number of appearances in Christmas movies.  It has worn several designations since its production started, including the Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector of 1899, the Military & Police and the Victory Model.

A classic police revolver, Bert the cop carries one in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and even fires off a few rounds in the direction of George Bailey. Police officers of the rural Washington town that picks a fight with John Rambo carry the Smith & Wesson in “First Blood.” One of the wet burglars carried one when he impersonates a police officer at Kevin’s house in “Home Alone.” Police also carry the Model 10 when arresting Eddie Murphy’s Billy Ray Valentine in “Trading Places” that is set at Christmastime.

Bert the cop with his Smith & Wesson Model 10 drawn in "It's a Wonderful Life.

4) M60

The police of Christmas-bedecked Hope, Wash., tried to make John Rambo an example, but the former Green Beret was having none of their holiday shenanigans because they drew first blood. Definitely not in the Christmas spirit, Rambo, as a Vietnam veteran, is familiar with the stalwart M60 and uses it to shoot up the Yuletide-festooned downtown in the 1985 action flick “First Blood.”

Nicknamed “the pig,” the ever-present M60 served as a squad machine gun but was also mounted in gunboats for the brown water navy, helicopters and other vehicles. Soldiers loved it for its reliability but hated it for its bulk and awkward process for changing barrels.

John Rambo is armed with an M60 and ready to throw lead in "First Blood."

3) Colt Single Action Army

The iconic and ubiquitous Colt Single Action Army seems to have been on the hip of not just every cowboy, desperado, rancher, rancher’s wife, dance hall girl and lawman of the Wild West. It certainly has been on the hip of every actor who played any of those roles on film. The most Christmas-y version is the one carried by arctic explorer Yukon Cornelius in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Leading his pack of mongrels pulling his sleigh, Cornelius is out there looking for silver and gold, all the while trying to avoid the Abominable Snow Monster, or as he refers to the beast, “the Bumble.” If there’s trouble, he’s ready with “Sam Colt and his jury of six.” He befriends Rudolph and Hermey the elf and rescues Rudolph’s friends before arriving at the North Pole with the tamed Bumble. Strapped in case of trouble, Cornelius keeps his gun, nickel-plated with staghorn grips, in his belt during the Christmas special.

Yukon Cornelius keeps his nickel-plated Colt Single Action Army in his belt while befriending "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and even while capturing the Abominable Snow Monster.

2) Beretta 92FS

Thankfully, John McClane carried his Beretta from New York City to Los Angeles so he had it on him when things took a turn for the worst at the Nakatomi Corporation Christmas party in “Die Hard.” Martin Riggs was armed with his Beretta when he made a drug bust at a Christmas tree lot in “Lethal Weapon.”  They also made lesser appearances in “Jingle All the Way,” “The Long Kiss Good Night” and “Reindeer Games.”

Since starting production in 1976 and adoption by the U.S. Army in 1985, the Beretta 92FS seemed to pop up in every action movie of the 1980s, including holiday adjacent films like “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon.” The FS enlarged the hammer pin to prevent the slide from flying off the frame if it cracked, done in response to reported defective slides during U.S. military testing.

NYPD Cop John McClane takes cover from Hans Gruber's crew in Christmas classic "Die Hard."

1) Red Ryder BB Gun

All of the guns listed previously are supporting players – some with bigger roles than others, like John McClane’s Beretta, but one gun is truly the star of its Christmas movie, and that is the Red Ryder BB gun, described by Ralphie as “as cool and deadly a piece of weaponry as I had ever laid eyes on.”

We can count the ways the “Official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” permeates the movie. Ralphie covets one in the window of Higbee’s Department Store and climbs back up the slide to ask Santa for one. He writes an essay about what he wants for Christmas and dreams of “pranging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.” At every turn, he’s told, “you’ll shoot your eye out kid.”

Following numerous adventures and mishaps, by the end of the film, the Old Man – Ralphie’s father – gives him one last gift, the Red Ryder BB gun. He heads outside and nearly shoots his eye out, breaking his glasses. After getting cleaned up, putting on his old glasses and the Bumpus hounds ruining the Christmas turkey, the family heads out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. At the end of the day, Ralphie is asleep in his bed, his beloved BB gun cradled in his arms.

Ralphie with his “Official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” in "A Christmas Story.

Merry Christmas from Rock Island Auction Company

Here’s hoping Santa leaves you the longed-for handgun or hunting rifle, a box of ammo or a “Bear Dogs” print in your stocking! As we recognize these guns and their holiday-related movies, Rock Island Auction wishes you a merry Christmas and a most prosperous new year as we leap into our second year at our splendid Bedford, Texas venue.

The bear dogs of H.R. Poore wish you a merry Christmas.