Can We "Out Dirty" Dirty Harry ?

Debating the carry load of a fictitious character?

The fact of the matter is he carried blanks...... because it's a movie, not reality. So you've out dirtied Dirty Harry with a pellet gun.

Dick Casull out dirtied the .44 mag with the 454 only a few years after the 44 was released, and years before the movie. I like 44 just fine, but in sheer impact energy and ballistics superiority , the 44 mag was outclassed over 50 years ago.

Whether or not it accomplishes anything better than the 44 is debatable.

 

Milius was retconning with that explanation, plain and simple. Writers and directors do it all the time. Whatever he might have "really" meant, all we, the viewers, have ever had to go by is what was said in the released version of the movie. If he meant something else, then he should have put that in the movie. Harry Callahan using light loads in a heavy pistol for better control makes more sense than a lot of the other gun nonsense that made it into those movies. Using a .458 magnum bolt action rifle as a counter-sniper weapon comes to mind...or would you prefer we discuss the harpoon gun?

 

Of course Dirt Harry the character (and his weapon) should be updated. The 454 Casull would be a great candidate as would the 480 Ruger, or S&W 500. It is the pure absurdity of the situation that makes it fun. It's a MOVIE.

 

ooops

 

Dirty Harry carried the biggest, badest magnum at the time because that's all there was. Today if he were to do the same, that's what I think with the Pfeifer Zeliska .600 Nitro mag revolver. Nothing in the world is as powerful as that for a handgun.

 

Hand Cannon

Man, that looks like a Ruger Blackhawk on steroids !

Actions speak louder than words . Wow ! Harry would have to leave his badge at home .

Wonder why all these powerful handguns are "Wheelies", and not semi's ? Think about it .

 

You're able to read his mind?

You're saying this about a movie that also features a silenced .357 magnum revolver, for pete's sake. Do you really imagine for an instant strict technical accuracy was a priority?

Yes, and given those over-the-top powerful weapons, doesn't it seem a bit incongruous that Harry would then reverse this trend toward maximum power in his primary weapon? A light .44 special -- meaning literally the .44 special cartridge is eminently controllable in the .44 special N frame revolvers S&W had been making since the early 1900s. It would make no sense to go to a 6.5 barreled Model 29, and give up a huge degree of concealability and speed on the draw, to say nothing of how much more the Model 29 would have cost a poorly paid cop, in search of a truly negligible amount of extra controlability -- all to end up with a less powerful handgun than numerous other SFPD cops carrying .357s. It makes far more sense to suppose that Harry really was carrying magnum loads, given the umpteen billion other times he refers to his handgun as a .44 magnum (and touts it as "the most powerful handgun in the world" -- a strange thing to say about a .44 special), vs. this one single mention of a "light special." Given that, and given the writer's own statements on the matter, I don't see why there's even a debate.

But as for this trend I see on this board of postulating that Harry, today, would have a .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, .500 S&W magnum, etc... I think that's taking things way too far. The .44 magnum was picked because it was the most powerful handgun generally available back in 1971 (and it wasn't even very available back then -- they weren't selling well and S&W had, IIRC, stopped making them; in fact they originally meant to give Harry a 4" bbl one, but they simply couldn't find one, so he got the 6.5" bbl), but except for being beefed up to mitigate the felt recoil of the .44 magnum, it really wasn't any different than other S&W large frame revolvers lawmen had been carrying for decades, and so, not that much of a stretch to imagine a cop carrying.

A slow-to-reload, 5-shot, single action hunting revolver, on the other hand... That's straining suspension of disbelief just a wee bit too far.

 

This is, clearly, something on which you will brook no disagreement.
Have a good day and a better tomorrow.

 

45colt out of a Ruger will

 

It's not a matter of not brooking any disagreement. It's a matter of not parsing words like a contract lawyer. Not everyone is a terminology nazi. People, even gun people, use terms like silencers for suppressors, clips for magazines, pistols for revolvers, etc. even though these terms may be technically incorrect or at least frowned upon by people knowledgeable about firearms. And moreover, you have the clear statement of the writer on the matter, and I see no reason to assume he's lying.

 

Whatever, dude. Out of everything in the world right now, the Dirty Harry movies aren't anywhere near the top of the list of things I consider important. Your mileage is obviously very different. If it will ease your butthurt:

ATTENTION WORLD! BILLY SHEARS IS RIGHT WITH RESPECT TO ALL THINGS DIRTY HARRY AND I AM AN IGNORANT POLTROON! DISREGARD EVERYTHING I EVER SAID ON THE TOPIC. BILLY SHEARS IS RIGHT, I AM WRONG. BILLY SHEARS KNOWS DIRTY HARRY. BILLY SHEARS MAY ACTUALLY BE DIRTY HARRY. LET ME SAY, ONE MORE TIME, I WAS WRONG AND BILLY SHEARS WAS RIGHT! THAT IS ALL.

 

Dirty Harry : Fact or Fiction (And Possibly Friction)

Wow ! I didn't think I might stir up a hornet's nest in this thread. We all should feel free to express our thoughts and opinions.

I originally thought to use a relatively popular character, to address today's potentially most powerful hand cannon. As it progressed, the fictional persona was also brought to play. This began to be fun, too.
In his posting # 6, rcmodel addressed the thread question directly, and his answer was correct. "No". The modern day cop could not (and should not) operate as Harry Callahan did.

Sure, it was fun seeing the malefactors get blown away, rather than get away. Often we are frustrated in the failures of our current justice system, but on the positive side, where would we be without it ? Anarchy !

"Harry C." was an adventure into " the suspension of disbelief ".

I am enjoying "the facts and the fiction" of this thread, and I hope all others do too.

 

Charles Bronson with a big ole single action .454 Casull might be fun

 

Didn't Bronson use a .475 Wildey magnum in one of the Death Wish films? Doesn't that beat a .44 magnum?

 

Death Wish CLX (or The Mechanic)

Haw, haw, haw !

That too!

 

Danny Vermin's 88 Magnum ?

 

I'd be happy just to have Mr. Buchinsky back and making movies like he made in the 70s, especially the ones he made in Europe. Before the Death Wish series tempted him with filthy lucre, I actually preferred his work to Eastwood's. Eastwood has made his share of crap too, the ones with the orangutan spring to mind along with "Paint Your Wagon," but he transitioned to directing and was responsible for some good movies. Charley took the money and ran. I probably would have, too.

 

The problem is, dirty harry was not dirty. Dirty harry was called dirty harry as explained in the film, HE DIDNT PLAY PRIMA DONNA. Someloony was threatening to jump off the roof, he took care of it. Some nut job was running around city park naked making faces at the girlies, he tackled the fool and made an arrest.
He didnt care about politics, and just applied the law in a logical manner.

Modern cops all seem to be political.

 

School must be out for summer........

 

Dude, there are decaf brews that taste just as good as the real thing.

 

Is too rate to apporigize![/Benny Hill]

 

Dir-ry Haw-lay

???

 

I actually liked 'Any which way but loose'. Sure it was a bit hokey, a pugilistic drifter with a pet orangutan, but its appeal was that it wasn't the typical Clint movie.

Right turn, Clyde!

 

Can't believe this is still open.