The Custom Springfield 1911 from Seven (1995)
A Breakdown of the 1911 Carried By Brad Pitt's Character
Click to listen to the audio version of this article.
Sometimes you see a gun on screen and it just sticks with you. Maybe it's the gun itself, maybe it’s the way it’s shot in the film that makes it look especially interesting or just cool, maybe it’s the character who carries it and what they do with it, but usually, it’s a combination of all of those things. I saw Se7en, aka Seven (1995), with my dad on a VHS tape fresh from Blockbuster when I was about 12 years old.
It freaked me out, gave me a couple of weird nightmares, and made me wonder what kind of pistol Det. David Mills (Brad Pitt) was carrying. It cut a strange silhouette with high sights and what looked like a long slide and barrel. And during that unforgettable ending, we see a slow motion close-up shot of the barrel and it had a strange flare to it and holes cut in it. I had never seen such a thing.
Since this is a ported 1911, which could be considered the granddad of today's ultra-popular integral compensator pistols, which are basically barrels and slides with one really big port pointing up, it's a good time to check out the details on this one-of-a-kind movie handgun.
Years later, when the Internet was more of a thing, I found out that he was carrying a customized Springfield M1911-A1 with a 5-inch barrel. I don’t know why the gun looks so long in Seven — it must be the way it’s shot, but one day, I will create a replica of Mills’ sidearm, which he carries in a really strangely adjusted leather shoulder holster, likely a Galco.
The screen-used Springfield has a host of features that weren’t off the shelf at the time. That big stand-out feature was a set of Mag-na-port ports on top of the barrel. Mag-na-port has been around since the 1970s offering gunsmithing services to cut ports into existing firearm barrels and slides, in the case of semi-autos. Their slogan hasn’t changed: Enjoy Your Sport with Mag-na-Port - Reduce Recoil & Muzzle Lift. They’re still around and they offer custom porting for shotguns, rifles, and handguns.
The barrel is a match-grade bull barrel with a bushingless setup, which explains the flare at the muzzle. For a while I thought it might have been a .45 ACP 1911 converted to 9mm, but that’s not the case. It has a full-length guide rod, an Ed Brown beavertail safety, a checkered front strap, extended slide release, extended thumb safety, a Commander-style ring hammer, adjustable target sights, a squared trigger guard, and a lightweight 3-hole target trigger. It’s capped with a classic and visually striking aesthetic feature, a set of light-colored stag horn grips.
There were two guns built for the production, which were both apparently sold this year by Heritage Auctions, though the site still lists one of the pistols and says the owner is accepting offers for $24,375 or more.
That’s all well and good if you’re rich and want a screen-used pistol. The rest of us can get a base Springfield 1911 and try to hunt down some vintage parts before sending it off to Mag-na-port.
Opposite Mills is Det. Somerset (Morgan Freeman), an older cop who carries a classic Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolver. He draws his firearm during that unforgettable ending and fires into the air to get the delivery driver to stop his van on the road. Supposedly, this is the first time Somerset has ever fired his gun in the line of duty after a long career.
On the bad-guy side, John Doe (Kevin Spacey) carries a Taurus PT99 AF pistol with wood grips. We see it best at the end of the foot chase when Mills goes down and John Doe has the drop on him. We can tell this is a Taurus and not a Beretta because the Taurus has a frame-mounted thumb safety, while the Beretta 92’s is mounted on the slide. And we can tell it’s a PT99 and not a PT92 because it has raised, adjustable target sights.
Other than that, there’s a regular menagerie of firearms in the movie. The uniformed street cops all carry Glock 17 pistols, while detectives carry whatever they want. As we said, Mills’ sidearm is a custom 1911, Somerset carries a Model 15 revolver, and we see a SIG Sauer P226 in the holster of another detective.
The SWAT Team members carry Springfield 1911-A1 pistols in right-handed crossdraw holsters, along with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns. In a memorable scene when police discover John Doe’s third victim, California (John C. McGinley) carries a Mossberg 590 with a weapon light attached to the mag tube and ghost ring sights.
