Any truth in the film?

[andym79]

Is there any truth in dirty harry, when Clint says the "I carry a .44 Magnum because its the most powerful handgun, a .41 penetrates, but not as well and I have seen a .357 slide off a windshield"?

Is a .357 Magnum good enough for almost everything?

Is it the best all round revolver?

 

[p35]

(1) Yes, a .41 will penetrate well- very powerful cartridge, not popular at all but those who have them tend to love them;

(2) Auto glass does strange things to bullets, and a .357 bullet could well slide off if it hit at the right angle;

(3) A .357 is probably the best all around revolver- can be loaded with anything from light .38 target loads to .357 rounds that sound like the end of the world and probably are for anything they hit. Still at the top of the heap for stopping power in most studies, making it a great defensive weapon. Generally considered a little too light for hunting animals deer-sized and up, but many people do it successfully. Really not much it can't do.

 

[andym79]

So the .44 Magnum is just showboating, a .41 would do just as well in most circumstances?

 

[p35]

The rules say we aren't to argue religion, so I'm not touching that one!

 

[Dr.Rob]

You have the quote a little bit wrong... Harry says "The .357 is a good weapon but I've seen .38s bounce off windshields."

Which still doesn't explain why he carries a .44.

And Tyne Daily was the one who asked him in 'The Enforcer.'

 

[andym79]

Ok Well I have not seen it for years, but is a .357/.38 likely to bounce off a windshield?

 

[scubie02]

big difference between 357 mag and 38 special. I would iamgine pretty much any handgun could bounce off a windshield, however, depending on the angle

 

[slopemeno]

Think about the cars of that era. The windshields were considerably stronger back then (late 60's, early 70's). If you ever have had the chance to do some junk yard shooting, it could be an eye opener. .38 LRN would do exactly that, but .357 158 SWC would go thru. I worked over a Honda Civic cvcc with my 10/22 and two 30 rd mags would allow daylight through from the off side. Full size cars from that era were pretty beefy.

 

[Checkman]

The 38 Super and the 38/44 High Velocity were developed in the early thirties because the "motorized bandits" were using steel bodied cars and bullet proof vests. The 38 special and even the 44 special weren't up to the task. I've been told that the .357 magnum was developed as both a hunting round and a law enforcement round. Meant to give the cops even more power and penetration then they could get form the 38 Super and 38/44. Looking at the times I'd say this is plausible, but even a 30-06 might have poor penetration depending on many factors.

 

[pezo]

park your car here "get out of it!!!!!!!!!!" and Ill take a shot at the windsheild with one of my .357's . tell me if you think it would go though.

 

[BluesBear]

Windshields, being made from laminated saftey glass along with being curved are tough to penetrate from an angle.
Side glass is much easier.

As was mentioned before junkyard shooting will open your eyes.
Cars, even cheap ones are tougher than you might think.
But at the same time they don't offer as much protection as you might think.

In some respects they' like humans. Shot placement is important.

 

[riddleofsteel]

In that movie Harry states he uses a reduced velocity .44 load. i.e .44 Specials that gives him better control out of his large .44 Mag revolver than a .357 Mag revolver loaded with maximum power wad cutters. His idea was that a lighter 158 grain .38 wad cutters might glance off of laminated glass easier than a 200 or 240 grain .44 bullet. If you ran his reduced velocity .44 loads thru a chrono you might find they had less power than the .357's that cops were packing back then.

So his idea was greater control, better shot placement and big and slow vs. light and fast.

Hmmmmmm......sounds like an old argument to me.

 

[andym79]

So which is better, slow and large or fast and light?

I guess it dependes on the application?

 

[GlenJ]

A couple of you have it wrong. The comment about the 44 special was from Magnum Force. The reason given for carrying the 44 mag he told Tyne Daily (Inspector Moore) was that he hits what he shoots at then he went into the 38/357 thing.

 

[BluesBear]

In the second Dirty Harry movie, Harry was asked, by a rookie in the underground range, "What kind of a load do you use in that .44?"

His reply was, "It's a light special. In this size gun it gives me better control and less recoil than a .357 magnum loaded with wadcutters."

That's word for word from the DVD boxed set.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Think about the cars of that era. The windshields were considerably stronger back then (late 60's, early 70's). If you ever have had the chance to do some junk yard shooting, it could be an eye opener. .3

I would actually bet a higher probablility of handgun round ricochet on todays cars, given the dramatic angles employed on most of them. My Intrepid's windshield probably has a 30 degree or so pitch, as compared to my '69 Charger that is more like 50 degrees.

If I had to shoot through auto glass, I would much prefer a .30 caliber or larger rifle.

 

[ewayte]

So which is better, slow and large or fast and light?

I think it was John Taffin who came up with the answer "can't we have large AND fast?"

 

[BluesBear]

So which is better, slow and large or fast and light?

I believe, if you do some research, that you'll find that BOTH work about equally.

My personal belief is that you need one or the other.
Use which ever you can shoot the best.

"can't we have large AND fast?"

We already have that. But that's better suited for hunting where a rapid follow up shot isn't normally required. Heavy & fast translates into more recoil. That is uaually not condusive for self defense.

But heavy & fast beats the heck out of small and slow.



But small and slow is better than nothing.

 

[Wheeldog]

The "Dirty Harry"quotes regarding 44 specials and 357 wadcutters refer to target loads used for the annual combat match.

 

[BluesBear]

No, There is no mention of what ammo they'll be using in the match.
They are just practicing their shooting.

Anyway, the combat match should be shot with duty ammo.

 

[Wheeldog]

Wadcutters are target loads,made to punch purty round holes in paper. Also,it used to be common practice to qualify with target loads. That all aside, its just a movie and I did'nt believe any of it.