BY 2015, THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE had grown so large that a number of heroes near and dear to fans hearts that haven't done so well on the big screen got a new start on Netflix via original television series that don't have to operate by the strictures of networks.
The first was Daredevil, which was a success. So, for the show's second season, Frank Castle, otherwise known as The Punisher, was added to the mix, this time played by Jon Bernthal of Walking Dead fame. The two character frequently interacted in the comics, so it was a natural fit.
Fans responded so well to Bernthal's take on The Punisher that Marvel released the character's own violent and bloody series on Netflix, simply titled The Punisher, which ran for two seasons. While the show was popular and well-received by fans, due to Disney wanting all Marvel properties and shows to be distributed by it's new streaming service, it was cancelled in 2019 along with all existing Netflix shows.
Let's take a look at the guns used by Bernthal's Punisher on the small screen, starting with his first appearance on Daredevil.
After being shrouded in mystery for the beginning of the series, our first big episode with Castle involved an extended confrontation between him and a tied up Daredevil on a rooftop.
During this sequence, Castle uses a Smith & Wesson Model 327 Performance Center TRR8 to threaten Daredevil as they talk.
During the confrontation at the carousel, Frank draws what appears to be a Para 1911 G.I. Expert pistol, returning Castle to his preference for 1911s over other pistols. This continues through the rest of the Daredevil season and into the new The Punisher series, though the 1911s vary. This makes Bernthal's Castle a little old school, since he served in Iraq and Afghanistan in this version.
In the episode "Dogs to a Gunfight" (S2E02), Castle kills several Dogs of Hell biker gang members in a garage with a Mossberg 500 pump action shotgun fitted with a Sidewinder kit from Knoxx.
The kit converts the shotgun to accept detachable box and drum magazines. It appears Frank's gun is fitted with 10-round drum.
In "New York's Finest" (S2E03), castle uses what looks to be a SIG-Sauer 516 Tactical Patrol carbine with an LMT M203 launcher mounted under the barrel. He uses the carbine again in ".380" (S2E11) The configuration of some kind of AR carbine fitted with a grenade launcher has become a staple of Frank Castle in his on-screen depictions.
In "Bang" (S2E01), we see Frank use a Nemesis Arms Vanquish sniper rifle in &.62 NATO. The Vanquish is a multi-caliber take-down snuper rifle system that is quite expensive and cutting edge.
Once Castle has pretty much become The Punisher, in "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" (S2E13) Frank is seen holding a Barrett MRAD (Multi-Role Adaptive Design) rifle after taking a shot with it, saving his new friend Daredevil. The rifle is based on the Barrett M98 sniper rifle.
Like Dolph Lundgren before him, Bernthal also uses a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun briefly before it is taken off him by the mobsters in "Penny and Dime" (S2E04).
In "The Dark at the End of the Tunnel" (S2E12), Castle finds a hidden weapons cache in a cabin that hints at how he will find the resources to become The Punisher and exact his full measure of revenge.
In the cage we see an M60E4 machine gun, a Barrett M82A1, a TDI Vector pistol, a Sentinel Arms Striker-12 shotgun, a SIG-Sauer MPX-P-9, a two-toned Glock 17, a KRISS Vector GEN II SMG, an M1 Carbine, and a Mossberg 590 shotgun in addition to the Barrett MRAD rifle he uses later.
We also see an M249 SAW machine gun, which looks to make an appearance in the new The Punisher TV series.
With Frank Castle (again played by Bernthal) as the main character, he gets a lot of trigger time and uses a gaggle of firearms through the series first season of 13 episodes.
First up, Frank, in keeping with the original character and the depiction of this version of The Punisher on Daredevil, he carries a 1911 as his primary sidearm.
In the flashback episode ("Kandahar") to Castle's service in Afghanistan, he carries a Kimber Warrior 1911 in .45 ACP, which he uses in the house clearing scene.
In present times, Frank takes what appears to be a plain Colt M1911A1 off a criminal in the season's first episode and carries it for some time, but at some point, it becomes a Kimber Warrior much like the one he used in Afghanistan. He can be seen using it in a number of episodes.
We also should have known that the masked man in the video was Frank from the beginning, if we'd been paying attention to the Kimber in his hand.
Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) keeps a SIG Sauer P320 Compact pistol underneath a table. Frank takes it from him while holding Micro hostage in S1E3 and threatens him with it when tied to a chair before he knows exactly what Micro's agenda is. Frank later mentions that Micro hasn't taken very good care of his gun.
In "Two Dead Men" (S1E02), the corrupt ICE Special Agent in Charge Carson Wolf (C. Thomas Howell) uses a Glock 17, which Frank takes away and uses to perform a ruse tricking Wolf into confessing.
At several instances throughout the season, Frank uses what looks to be a Mossberg Cruiser cutdown pump action shotgun. In Afghanistan, he keeps the shotgun in a scabbard on the back of his body armor and uses it during the intense building clearing scene.
He uses another Cruiser at the to of the first episode to take out the bikers and then again during the ambush in the warehouse where he and Micro had been hiding.
In S1E11, Frank uses a Remington 870 MCS, which stand for Modular Combat Shotgun - a new modular version of the popular 870 shotgun that can be quickly modified without tools for different applications with various barrels, magazine tubes, and stocks and grips including urban combat or breaching.
Frank's is in the most compact configuration with a 10-inch barrel and a revolver style pistol grip. He also uses one in flashbacks to his time in Afghanistan.
In S1E11, Frank Castle is armed up with a Heckler & Koch G36C rifle during the assault in Micro's hideout. We get a good closeup of of the ammo in his magazine as he reloads the gun, and if you pause, you can see they are dummy rounds with expended primers.
In the Afghanistan flashbacks in S1E3, we Frank and his Marine unit are armed with Heckler & Koch HK416 carbines as their primary firearms. The guns are fitted with slimline G28-style buttstocks made for the HK416 A5 model. We see the masked soldiers in S1E6 carrying the same carbines.
In the S1E3 flashback, Frank either loses or discards his HK416 off screen, presumably because he's out of ammo and we then see him using an AKS-74U that he probably took from a downed Taliban fighter.
Frank attempts to intercept a large weapons shipment in S1E4 to assemble an armory for himself using intelligence Micro cleaned from his various sources. After a tight scrape, Frank finds only a single Ruger AC556 rifle with a synthetic hot pink stock and scope.
He tells Mirco he's going to need more than a pink Ruger to go up against their enemies while taunting him about his bad intel.
When finally facing off against Russo in S1E13 on the carousel in the park, Frank is armed with a compact AR platform rifle that imfdb.org identifies as a Seekins Precision NXP8. The .223 gun is classified as a pistol and comes with a PDW Pistol Brace instead of a stock, but it's hard to see if that's what Frank has on his gun. In either case, he's using it as a stock.
In the show's opening episode, as Frank is taking care of some of the last gang leaders responsible for the death of his family, he uses what looks like an Accuracy International AWSM-F bolt action rifle to take out a cartel leader.
The Accuracy International AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum or AI-Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed for magnum rifle cartridges and comes chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum or .338 Lapua Magnum. Frank also appear to use the gun in S1E13.
When Frank finally does get his arsenal assembled, we see an FN M249 SAW hanging on a rack with other long guns.
Near the end of the season, when Russo's men attack Micro's hideout, frank uses the SAW, firing it off-hand at times, to take out a hefty number of bad guys. It's a pretty awesome Rambo-screaming-while-firing-a-machine-gun moment.
Frank uses what looks like a modified Sage Control SL-6 Rotary Launcher in S1E13. It seems to be pump action as Frank has to charge it each time he shoots. In addition to breach loading single-shot launchers, Sage also manufactures 6- and 8-shot rotary launchers with fixed and folding stocks. They're offered in non-restricted 37mm gas grenade LEO versions and 40mm Destructive Device versions as well.
In S1E4, Frank uses a flamethrower to surprise some bad guys when they open the back of a box truck. This is the weapons shipment that turns out to be just a pink gun.
