The Empire Strikes Back

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The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Empire Strikes Back, also known as Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner, the sequel to the 1977 film Star Wars, and the second film in the Star Wars film franchise.

Blaster Pistols

BlasTech DH-17 Blaster Pistol

The "BlasTech DH-17 blaster pistol" based on the Sterling SMG appears again in The Empire Strikes Back. In the film, it is the weapon of a few Rebel soldiers on Hoth and a couple of guards on Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer. For this film, the DH-17s were made from real Sterlings (rather than casts of Sterlings) and were usable props that could actually fire. Despite the prop upgrade, the weapon had very little overall screen time during the film.

The DH-17s in the film appear to be made from Canadian C1 Sterlings, as they feature the enlarged and square trigger guards of the C1s.

Prop of the BlasTech DH-17 Blaster Pistol from the Star Wars franchise. This particular prop is from The Empire Strikes Back.

C1 Submachine Gun - 9x19mm Parabellum

DL-21 Blaster Pistol (Armalite AR-7)

The DL-21, a modified Armalite AR-7, makes its first definitive appearance in the series in The Empire Strikes Back. Whereas the original version used in the production of A New Hope featured a basic tube as a grip, The Empire Strikes Back replaced this simplistic grip with a modified Sterling SMG pistol grip and was fitted with a Singlepoint OEG sight. The pistol can be seen being carried by numerous Echo Base Rebel troopers on Hoth, and is also carrier by the bounty hunter Dengar.

DL-21 Blaster Pistol (rubber prop). This is the version used in The Empire Strikes Back with the full length barrel and finned muzzle.

BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol (Mauser C96)

The Mauser C96-based DL-44 blaster pistol is the iconic sidearm of Han Solo (Harrison Ford). In The Empire Strikes Back, the weapon is also seen been wielded by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) throughout the film.

In scenes where the gun did not need to fire in The Empire Strikes Back and in all scenes in Return of the Jedi the blaster is not a real C96: instead it is built around a "Model 1916 Militarish Pistole," a high-quality replica C96 made by MGC Japan.

Screen-used resin replica blaster as seen in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This particular prop was sold at auction in 2013.

Luke gets surprised by Yoda's appearance and draws his DL-44 blaster on him in The Empire Strikes Back.

Blaster Rifles

BlasTech E-11 Blaster Rifle (Sterling L2A3)

The "BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle", built from the Sterling L2A3, is the standard issue blaster rifle of the Imperial Stormtroopers. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) also uses an E-11 blaster in The Empire Strikes Back.

Sterling L2A3 - 9x19mm

Replica of the BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle from the Star Wars franchise.

BlasTech A295 Blaster Rifle

The "BlasTech A295 blaster rifle" is the standard issue blaster of the Rebel Alliance ground forces in The Empire Strikes Back. The A295 props were cast from replicas similar to (built from) the World War II-era German Sturmgewehr 44.

StG44-based BlasTech A295 Blaster as seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

A line of Rebel Hoth forces in the back fire their A295 blaster rifles at the Imperial walkers in The Empire Strikes Back. The professionalism of the Rebel troops during the Hoth sequence is a product of most of them being played by soldiers from the Norwegian Army: Hoth is mostly Hardangerjøkulen glacier in Norway, and during filming the temperatures dipped as low as -26 degrees. Several shots were literally filmed out of the back door of a lodge in Finse because the crew did not want to go outside.

A close up of a Rebel's A295 blaster rifle in The Empire Strikes Back.

EE-3 Carbine Rifle (Webley & Scott Flare Gun)

The "EE-3 carbine rifle" (modeled after the E-11 in-universe), a modified Webley & Scott No.1 Mark 1 Flare Gun, is used by Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back. It has a rather simple looking barrel in The Empire Strikes Back, and its distinctive barrel shape only appeared in the sequel to The Empire Strikes Back, in Return of the Jedi.

Webley & Scott No.1 Mark 1 Flare Gun - 37mm