For roughly a 20-year period from the mid-1970s to the mid-'90s the MAC-10 submachine gun was everywhere. At least that’s what you might think if your only exposure to the weapon is action films and T.V. shows from the era.
The compact MAC-10 first registered in America’s collective imagination when John Wayne wielded one with lethal prowess in the 1974 police thriller McQ.
After that, the MAC-10 became a standard prop gun, often appearing prominently in several feature films and episodes of popular T.V. shows, such as The A-Team and Miami Vice, in a single year. A veritable who’s-who of Hollywood elites, action superheroes and B-movie regulars fired a MAC-10 at someone on screen at some point.