Platinum Status: The Best-Selling Firearms Of All Time

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What are the most popular firearms of all time? Here we discuss the guns that went platinum.

The boss asked me, “How about a musing on the most popular firearms of all time? Or the past century?”

OK, I’m game … but we have to have some rules here.

I mean, if we’re going to go simply by the number made, then the 1898 Mauser and the AK-47 are the tops of the top. But they were made in such volume because governments bought them. Popular had little to do with it.

So, “popular” in that they were something that people reached into their pockets and pulled out their own cash to buy is what we’re looking for here.

I used to work on radio broadcasting, where I first heard the “went platinum” term. That meant 1 million albums and 2 million singles. (There were other limits back in the old days, but the first million-seller was Glenn Miller. Yes, that Glenn Miller.)

So, million-selling firearms that people paid for with their own money. And if not a million, then a whole heck of a lot.

Remington 700

The Remington 700 was an engineering marvel when it came out. Gone was the forged receiver that required a day’s worth of machining operations to craft—instead, a seamless steel tube, broached for rails and locking lugs, and threaded for a barrel. The recoil lug is simply a plate trapped between the screwed-in barrel and the receiver. Not only was it inexpensive to manufacture, but it proved to be eminently suited to “blueprinting.” This is where someone with precision machine tools makes butting shoulders square, threads concentric, locking lugs perfectly mating and everything that moves, smooth.

Made in the millions (5 at last count), it’s so popular that new, ultra-precision rifles are quick to mention “700 pattern” in the bolt and receiver.

Glock

The Glock 17 started it, and the ease of production and low cost meant the Glock was going to be popular—so popular that it seems there is an entire industry devoted to making a close that is better. (And some, perhaps many, are.) Fiercely opaque about many things, the Glock company doesn’t shout out sales figures, but the import numbers have to be recorded by Federal regulation, and the serial numbers give a lot a way as well.

Starting with AAA001, that pattern alone meant they had made 1.7 million by the time they had to change the serial number pattern. Travel anywhere in the world, see a holstered pistol on a police officer, and it’s likely a Glock. Last I checked, it’s something on the order of 20 million.

1911

Yes, the government bought a bunch, but then we bought those from the government. The 1911 has been in continual production since it was adopted in 1911, and in the past few decades, there have been more makers of this design than ever before.

So great is the demand that there are manufacturers in Turkey, the Philippines and elsewhere that are making and shipping them to the United States. If you can find a gun shop that doesn’t have a 1911 in the display case made by someone, you have to wonder what they do sell. Ten million? Not unreasonable.

Mossberg 500

Starting in 1961, the Mossberg 500 offered advances and advantages not seen before, like the aluminum receiver and the safety on the tang, equally usable by both right- and left-handed shooters. The bolt locks to the barrel extension, so the receiver does not take any of the force of combustion, so it can be aluminum.

And barrels can readily be swapped. Add in the lower cost than the competitors of the time, and it is no wonder Mossberg was a hit, then and now. Then, they were adopted by the U.S. military, and the 500 just kept evolving. Last I heard, more than 12 million have been made … and more are pouring out.

Ruger 10/22

Before the Ruger 10/22, .22 LR semi-autos were finicky, hard to clean, not particularly accurate, and could not be serviced by the owner. The 10/22 changed all that. The rotary magazine made feeding ultra-reliable. The ease of disassembly and cleaning meant even more reliability. And once aftermarket makers figured things out, swapping stocks, barrels and triggers became a winter hobby.

From a short-range plinker, the .22 LR rifle could become a long-range target rifle. I’ve spent more than one afternoon tagging steel plates at 200 and 300 yards. The platform is so popular that you can now buy all of the parts, none made by Ruger, and assemble your own 10/22. Over 6 million served.

Remington 870 

There was a time when “pump shotgun” meant “Remington 870.” Before the 870, a spare barrel also had to have the hardware for attaching it to the receiver as part of the swap. That meant extra expense. By locking the bolt to the barrel extension, Remington took forces off of the receiver and could make the barrel swap easier and less expensive.

From riot to Trap, with rib and bead or rifle sights, you could change your 870 almost daily. No wonder they’ve sold (well before bankruptcy, anyway) 11 million of them.

Ruger Standard

Now up to the Mk IV, the Ruger pistol was the firearm that made Ruger. Another marvel of engineering efficiency and insight, the Ruger Standard was a Colt killer, a High Standard replacement, and a high-enough bar to future competitors that trying to compete is not an easy task. You can’t just offer up your take on a .22 LR pistol, and expect prospective buyers to not compare it to the Ruger MkIV next to it in the case. Now, the earlier models had a reassembly trick that was aggravating, but the MkIV solved that. And since it was introduced in 1949, Ruger has made over 3 million of them.

S&W K Frame

The K Frame has been with us since 1898, when S&W unveiled it in .32-20. The next year they added their own cartridge, the .38 S&W Special. The pair have been with us ever since. A K Frame made today, while some parts won’t fully interchange, is so much so the same as the first ones made that a pistolsmith who was working in the first Roosevelt era could work on one made yesterday and not be at all out of sync.

The K Frame is perfectly sized for the .38, and it’s an ergonomic marvel. If someone has the hand size big enough to handle a firearm at all, and the strength to handle a cartridge at all, they can handle the K Frame in .38 Special. Once fully adopted by police officers and departments (right after The Great War) it went on to serve for the next 7 decades without being seriously challenged. As a result, there have been some 6 million of them made … and S&W is still making them.

Remington 1100

Before the Remington 1100, auto shotguns were not common. Oh, the Browning Auto 5 was well-known, but it was expensive, it still hammered you in use, and it required some special maintenance in order to work well and not beat itself up. The 1100? Soft-shooting. And, like the 870, it was easy to swap barrels. The 1100 soon ruled the skeet and trap fields, and it was so common in duck and geese blinds that to show up with something else was to require explanations.

As a gunsmith, I could count on the time between Labor Day and Opening Day as “1100 time.” They would pour in, needing cleaning, rust removal, parts replacement and cracked wood repairs. Not because they were particularly fragile, but because there were so many, and they often led hard lives. Many were simply stashed away in the closet after duck season, and the next summer emerged needing work.

As to the volume, Remington made more than 4 million of them, and none of them seemed to ever be kept as safe queens. They all got used, and I felt at times as if I had worked on half of them.

AR-15

You thought I had forgotten this one, didn’t you?

Before the end of the 20th century, production wasn’t all that great, because we were still in the blued steel and walnut era … and not yet fully into the “ban all gun” era. Once it became clear that those who wanted guns gone wanted them all gone, starting with the AR-15, sales took off. (If you want to sell something to Americans, tell them they can’t have it, or someone wants to take it away.)

Since then, it seemed like each year was a new record-breaking production year. It’s not easy to pin down, but I’ve seen estimates as high as 25 million. And not a single one of those was made for government use, or paid for by the government. Each one was paid for with hard-earned cash by a U.S. citizen. So, winner and still champion, is the AR-15.

Others

Now there are some that deserve to be mentioned even though they don’t quite meet our rules. (Hey, I have to draw the line someplace.)

Luger

Yes, this is iconic. There were 3 million made, but the vast majority of them were made for military use. Those that shooters here own were bring-backs, souvenirs and collectibles. No one uses them in target competition. No one uses them in practical shooting matches. No one selects a Luger to use as a daily-carry pistol, or as a home-defense pistol. Oh, I’m sure there are some being used that way, but that’s not the norm.

Many look longingly at a Luger, perhaps even lustfully. But few break out their wallet and buy one.

Browning Hi-Power

Another lustfully desired pistol, but not one that has been all that common, actually. The last of the John Browning designs, brought to fruition by Saive, suffered by comparison to the 1911. For a long time 9mm ammo wasn’t a first choice, and the Browning Hi-Power was only a 9mm.

Estimates of production are all over the map: A million-plus by FN in Belgium. But then there were the Inglis pistols, and the Indian Army made truckloads of them. Now, the Turkish firearms makers are offering better-than-ever BHPs, with harder steel and tighter tolerances than the classic FNs. This one is in an in-between status. Classic like the Luger, but with increased production and interest, it could make the leap up to the big list with the others.

Don’t Forget Military Guns

And what about the military-production firearms? The numbers are impressive, even a bit staggering. And also broad estimates, due to secrecy and wartime losses. So, the 1898 Mauser, in all its variants, numbers something like 30 to 40 million.

The AK-47, depending on who you believe, numbers more than 40 million, and perhaps more than 100 million. (No wonder you can’t turn over a rock without finding an AK buried under it.) Mosin-Nagant? Easily more than 30 million.

The M16 lifetime production run is closing in on 20 million, and that doesn’t include the AR-15. Also: Lee-Enfield, FAL, G3, Arisakas and Garands … all in the millions each.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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