The Man from UNCLE Gun

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Gun is a fictional firearm depicted on the popular TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which ran from September 1964 until it was canceled mid-season in 1968. Onscreen it was semi-automatic pistol that could be converted to a carbine-sniper rifle that could fire full automatic.

In the episodes, the gun(s) were used by Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. The gun was extremely popular with viewers. MGM began to get fan mail addressed to "The Gun." At one point the gun was getting 500 letters per week. A US Army Ordinance General once asked if a few of the guns were available, he would like to borrow them for testing as possible weapons for our armed forces.

The U.N.C.L.E. is a fictional international organization that operates world-wide. The acronym stands for the "United Network Command for Law and Enforcement" and was made up of operatives working together from all over the world, including the United States and the Soviet Union, to fight international crime. It was notable because the program aired during the time of the cold war when such cooperation would have been desirable but highly unlikely. The creators of U.N.C.L.E, producers Norman Felton and Sam Rolfe, wished to give the field agents a special weapon- not only memorable, but equally important, non-lethal. So was born the U.N.C.L.E. Special.

The U.N.C.L.E. Special was originally based on a 1934 7.65mm German Mauser pistol. While early episodes were being shot, the Mauser jammed frequently, and visually all the accessories added to convert the pistol to a carbine seemed to overwhelm the small pistol. It was rather quickly replaced by the Walther P38 9mm Parabellum. The long barrel of the P-38 was shorted and it was modified to accept a bird-cage flash suppressor. The Special was depicted on screen as firing "sleep darts". Although the non-lethal feature of the gun was always the intent of its creators, this was not always clearly shown to the audience especially in later seasons, and as producers changed.

For situations where more firepower was necessary, the concealable pistol was modified to accept a barrel extension with hand-grip and silencer, a Phantom Bushnell pistol scope, an extended magazine and a collapsible shoulder stock. The bird cage suppressor, silencer and barrel extension were attached by threaded plugs. Though a sophisticated weapon on screen, the U.N.C.L.E. Special Carbine in reality could not shoot real bullets, only blanks. However the pistol alone was still a working firearm. It was also modified by the studio to allow it to fire in full automatic "machine gun" mode. Unfortunately, this caught the attention of the US Treasury Department- the manufacture of automatic weapons without a license is very illegal, and the show nearly had the guns confiscated. In the end MGM was fined $2000 and the matter was closed.

The gun is the inspiration behind the design of the original Transformers Megatron toy.

By 2011, fans of the show have created an actual, live-firing gun based on the real one.

The Man from UNCLE Gun

Further reading