Cool Reload in Movie The Enforcer

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Low Budget Shooter

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Dear THR,

I had not watched The Enforcer, which is the the third Dirty Harry movie, vintage 1976, until a few nights ago. The new female inspector (played by a very young Tyne Daly) put down a bad guy with her snubbie, then very neatly ejected into her hand, pocketed the spent brass (along with live ones), and reloaded with a speedloader from her jacket pocket. It was a very smooth move, I thought, and the actress really did the move, no camera trick that I could detect. I was also impressed that the director would have her do that rather than just firing an infinite number of rounds from her revolver.

Have you seen it? What's your opinion?

Thanks!

LBS
 
Been a long time since I've seen any of those films. That said, considering that the firearms were more the stars of them than the human actors ever were, I'm not surprised by what you mention.

I'd be curious to know if it were actual SOP for the approppriate pd (SF?) at the time.

William
 
wlewisiii said:
Been a long time since I've seen any of those films. That said, considering that the firearms were more the stars of them than the human actors ever were, I'm not surprised by what you mention.

I'd be curious to know if it were actual SOP for the approppriate pd (SF?) at the time.

William
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Heresy!

Well, except for the Dead Pool. That one pretty much sucked. I have the Blu-ray box set, it's fun to watch with my girlfriend and my 6" 28-2. When I find the correct gun, a 6.5" 29-2, it should be even more fun. :D
 
Low Budget Shooter said:
Dear THR,

I had not watched The Enforcer, which is the the third Dirty Harry movie, vintage 1976, until a few nights ago. The new female inspector (played by a very young Tyne Daly) put down a bad guy with her snubbie, then very neatly ejected into her hand, pocketed the spent brass (along with live ones), and reloaded with a speedloader from her jacket pocket. It was a very smooth move, I thought, and the actress really did the move, no camera trick that I could detect. I was also impressed that the director would have her do that rather than just firing an infinite number of rounds from her revolver.

Have you seen it? What's your opinion?

Thanks!

LBS
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I remember that scene, where they're rescuing the mayor (governor? can't remember) in Alcatraz. The director's commentary also focused on it--they said she actually practiced doing that reload to make it as realistic as possible.

I thought that was the second best movie out of the four (I consider the original Dirty Harry to be the best). When I picked up my S&W 629-5, 6", half-lug barrel, I spent an entire week memorizing the line:

I know what you're thinkin': "did he fire six shots or only five?" To tell you the truth in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But bein' that this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world--and would blow your head clean off--you gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?
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After that, I started counting the shots from Dirty Harry's gun (makes a very distinctive sound, compared to the other guns in the movies), and they were very consistent with it--unless they specifically showed Callahan reloading, you could count on him having only six shots.

4207878028_96d0cb885f_b.jpg
 
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I remember that scene. Our NRA instructer gave a small class on revolver shooting/reloading and he said that some of the FBI agents that were killed in the Miami shootout actualy had empty brass in their pockets because they were shooting and reloading just like they were trained to do. Why in the hell would you take the extra time to put empty cases in your pocket while you were taking fire?

J.B.
 
Are you sure he didn't mean the "Newhall Incident"?

Either way, it stems from a bad range habit, meant to save you from having to pick the brass up off the ground, or losing it in the dirt/gravel in a cheap department. It is not a viable gunfighting tactic. Even doing it with a partially empty gun, keeping 2-3 live rounds isn't. It is an administrative function, done when you have the time to do it, not something to be done when the speed in which you do it is crucial.

I don't recall the scene from the movie. I might drag it out later, but did she do this after the fight was over, or while there was still shooting going on?
 
A bit off topic, but Tyne Daly's police woman pardner in 'Cagney & Lacey', Sharon Gless, is a co-star on 'Burn Notice'. Tyne Daly had a cameo there a few weeks back, like Gless did to Daly's co-star spot on 'Judging Amy' several years back. They both are seemingly anti-gun now and clearly twice the actresses they once were....

Now I have to go watch 'Blue Steel' to see if rookie cop Jamie Lee Curtis saves her brass in reloads... that was a good movie, too. Ron Silver was a really good actor.

Stainz
 
Twice pitiful is still bad. :D

Yep, really anti.

Blue Steel was a pretty good flic.

Yes, they used to do a little bit better job showing guns being used realistically in movies. And of course, some directors have tried to make it more realistic than others.
 
When it comes to reloading, I'll never argue auto versus revolver because autos are faster. Done way too much competition to claim otherwise. Autos are faster. Still, part of the charm for the revolver set is practicing with speedloaders. This guy is good.
 
shockwave said:
...This guy is good.
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Woah...now I understand the point of the longer body on those speedloaders (Safariland Comp IIIs?)--they let the shooter basically have a firing grip with his right hand as he punches the rounds into the cylinder with his right thumb (whereas with shorter speedloaders that's harder to do).

Thanks for linking to that video.

RobMoore said:
I don't recall the scene from the movie. I might drag it out later, but did she do this after the fight was over, or while there was still shooting going on?
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It's near the end, during a lull--she had just dispatched a badguy and was rescuing the mayor, with no other threats in the immediate area, so she had time to reload.
 
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That is how a tactical reload is done with a revolver when you're carrying speed loaders. It's faster even when you're using speed strips. I remember it. I've seen all the Dirty Harry stuff, some several times. The original was the best, but I like 'em all. Wasn't the dead pool the one where he's in the coffee shop and he tells the BG "We just can't let you walk outta here." BG-"Who's WE, sucka?" "Smith...and Wesson...and me." That's my favorite Callahan utterance. :D Even if you thought the rest of the movie sucked, you had to like that. But, I liked that movie, too. Or, hell, maybe that one was in Sudden Impact. I can't remember 'em all THAT well. That's why I like to see 'em again now and then.
 
I opined at the time, that Tyne was dropping the brass into her coat pocket to save any live rounds. At the time I thought "that is gonna make a lot of noise while you are sneaking about."
 
And where do we conceal those oversized speedloaders in the real world of Main Street USA????
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Don't know. I use HKS, and they have single and double holders that go on the belt. The velcro tops are great, you just sweep your hand up, there's a 'loader and bam you're in business. I've done some study of the safariland and HKS and found that HKS works for me.
 
wlewisiii says,
considering that the firearms were more the stars of them than the human actors ever were
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Harry: "Well, we're not just gonna let you walk out of here."
Robber: "Who's we sucka?"
Harry: "Smith and Wesson. . . and me."
 
In The River Wild, someone's hands (probably not Meryl Streep's) aligned and indexed a partially emptied revolver cylinder so the next trigger pull would bring a live round under the hammer.
 
Either way, it stems from a bad range habit, meant to save you from having to pick the brass up off the ground, or losing it in the dirt/gravel in a cheap department. It is not a viable gunfighting tactic. Even doing it with a partially empty gun, keeping 2-3 live rounds isn't. It is an administrative function, done when you have the time to do it, not something to be done when the speed in which you do it is crucial.
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I distinctly remember being told of the "old school" FBI range decorum while in LE academy. You carried a 3lb coffee can with you to each station. Indeed there were stories of agents found with brass in their pockets. We were taught to sling that stuff as far as you can. For one reason not to step on it and slip and fall.
 
Walkalong,

When I said Daly and Gless are twice the actresses now that they once were, I was referring to mass and volume.

I had to watch 'Blue Steel' again this AM. When rookie cop Jamie Lee Curtis reloaded from cover - with a bad arm - she put the barrel of her Model 10 in her duty belt, cylinder out, and reloaded as you'd expect someone injured would - singly - one 158gr LSWC .38 Special at a time - and with effort. Is that what they used in 10's in 1990? No 'FBI' loads (+P 158gr LSWCHPs)? When the BG reloaded his 6" 29, he put what looked like 240gr LSWCs .44 Magnums in it's cylinder - all with spent primers! They were clearly all dimpled! Odd - Hollyweird can get more use out of spent primers - can't figure that out. What a boon - no more searching for Federal primers!

Still, a good movie, even if the BG never recoiled much when firing his 'cannon'. Wrapped in a towel, I think I'd still hear it in an apartment - and have to get a fire extinguisher. Too picky?

Stainz

PS Ron Silver, co star in 'Blue Steel', was a good actor, changing from a liberal to a conservative long before his untimely passing last year. Laura Ingraham had him on her radio show regularly, as did Dennis Miller, etc.
 
nitetrane98 said:
I distinctly remember being told of the "old school" FBI range decorum while in LE academy. You carried a 3lb coffee can with you to each station. Indeed there were stories of agents found with brass in their pockets. We were taught to sling that stuff as far as you can. For one reason not to step on it and slip and fall.
Click to expand...
Bill Jordan talks about a Border Patrol agent in a gunfight with his issued Model 19 vs. a couple of bad guys with rifles in No Second Place Winner. In this case, the Agent's superior skill was scoring 100 yard hits with his .357 against the riflemen pinning his fellow Agents down. After the firefight everyone noticed his bulging right pocket. He reached in and pulled out empty brass. He was a reloader and didn't even realize he was saving his empty casings during the firefight.
 
There's a great online comic called XKCD that did a Dirty Harry strip recently:

Dirty Harry Meets Rain Man.

"I know what you're thinking - Did he fire six shots or only five? Now in all this excitement I-"

"Six. Definitely six."
 
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