"Dirty Harry" Magnum Force

[Brubz]

Couldn't sleep the other night and was scrolling through the channels came across that old Clint Eastwood movie Magnum Force with Dirty Harry.
In that memorable scene on the practice range with the young motorcycle cops Harry is talking about his gun and what he loads. if I got the line right I think he said he uses a .44 special light load.
What exactly was he loading in that S&W 44 Magnum Mod. 29?

 

[bigpower491]

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[Col. Harrumph]

Blanks

 

[Pat Riot]

This should clarify things. Open this link and go to the second paragraph under “Revolvers”

https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Magnum_Force

 

[bigpower491]

I couldn't resist a little fun there. I love that line in the movie where Harry tells them he shoots a light special, because he's seen 38s and 357s 'careen" off windshields. I will say this....he musta been loading it with the early prototype of Power Pistol, cause the only time my light specials sound like his is when there's 6 5 grains of it under a 240 SWC

 

[Thomasss]

I like playing "Dirty Harry" with my S&W 14-4 with a 8 3/8 barrel. I guess you could say I'm shooting extra lights. lol

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

he musta been loading it with the early prototype of Power Pistol, cause the only time my light specials sound like his is when there's 6 5 grains of it under a 240 SWC

Or they were target loads out of snub noses, which very well would give a low velocity.

 

[SwampWolf]

What exactly was he loading in that S&W 44 Magnum Mod. 29?

Blanks

Ask Alec Baldwin. He's an expert on these things.

 

[bangswitch]

This should clarify things. Open this link and go to the second paragraph under “Revolvers”

https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Magnum_Force

That's an interesting site, very complete for the guns seen in the Dirty Harry flicks. There's one very "interesting" statement, in the section talking about the Colt Python and how the patrol officer attaches a suppressor to one. The commentary goes, "Almost all revolvers have a gap between the barrel and cylinder which allows gases to escape...." I guess they're including pepperbox guns in there, that's the only revolving gun I can think of that doesn't have a B/C gap.

 

[DukeConnor]

I had a 41 mag load that sounded just like clints 44 mag. Really throaty sound.

 

[eddiememphis]

That's an interesting site, very complete for the guns seen in the Dirty Harry flicks. There's one very "interesting" statement, in the section talking about the Colt Python and how the patrol officer attaches a suppressor to one. The commentary goes, "Almost all revolvers have a gap between the barrel and cylinder which allows gases to escape...." I guess they're including pepperbox guns in there, that's the only revolving gun I can think of that doesn't have a B/C gap.

That site has the nerdiest of gun nerds as contributors so that statement was likely argued about and someone brought up the same point you did.

It is a great reference while watching a movie and helping to identify those "what the heck was that thing?" moments.

Also a good resource for looking up your favorite firearm to see what movies it has been in.

 

[DR505]

That's an interesting site, very complete for the guns seen in the Dirty Harry flicks. There's one very "interesting" statement, in the section talking about the Colt Python and how the patrol officer attaches a suppressor to one. The commentary goes, "Almost all revolvers have a gap between the barrel and cylinder which allows gases to escape...." I guess they're including pepperbox guns in there, that's the only revolving gun I can think of that doesn't have a B/C gap.

The Nagant M1895 had a mechanism that moved the cylinder forward eliminating the BC gap right before firing.

 

[WisBorn]

This should clarify things. Open this link and go to the second paragraph under “Revolvers”

https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Magnum_Force

Thanks for sharing the link. I have a four disk set of the Dirty Harry series. I may nwed to watch Magnum Force again

 

[Rudolph31]

The Nagant M1895 had a mechanism that moved the cylinder forward eliminating the BC gap right before firing.

Not only that, but the ammunition features an extra long case that enters the barrel and seals the breech.

 

[Pat Riot]

Thanks for sharing the link. I have a four disk set of the Dirty Harry series. I may nwed to watch Magnum Force again

Great Minds!
I am planning to find my Dirty Harry discs tomorrow so I can watch ‘em over the next couple of days. All my discs are still boxed up from my move. Then maybe I’ll take my model 25-15 to the range. It’s the closest thing I have to Harry’s model 29.

 

[wcwhitey]

Great Minds!
I am planning to find my Dirty Harry discs tomorrow so I can watch ‘em over the next couple of days. All my discs are still boxed up from my move. Then maybe I’ll take my model 25-15 to the range. It’s the closest thing I have to Harry’s model 29.

Look for the part where the Lt. has Harry the car and disarms him because he doesn’t want to become a vigilante. He takes his gun, empties it and then asks him for the extra speed loader that he keeps, always two. Anyway the SKS speed loader is clearly filled with 6 44 Specials of a 240ish lead SWC. So my guess is Harry carriers Skeeter loads in .44 Special.

 

[Leon tP]

I like how his "Light Specials" nearly rip his arm off under recoil. I have to wonder what his "Magnum" loads do

 

[WisBorn]

Now in Sudden Impact Harry uses a 300 grain bullet in the 44 Auto Mag. Do they say what bullet Harry uses in Magnum Force?

One of my favorites in the series is Kate Moore's (Tyne Daily) Colt Diamondback. The 2" Colt looks like mini 44mag in Tyne's hands.

 

[bigpower491]

Look for the part where the Lt. has Harry the car and disarms him because he doesn’t want to become a vigilante. He takes his gun, empties it and then asks him for the extra speed loader that he keeps, always two. Anyway the SKS speed loader is clearly filled with 6 44 Specials of a 240ish lead SWC. So my guess is Harry carriers Skeeter loads in .44 Special.

A man's got to know his limitations.....

 

[shoebox1.1]

My fav part of all the Dirty Harry movies is in the enforcer… the foot chase scene of the black pimp lookin dude. The jazz music is KILLER! I need that blue Ray set!

 

[bigpower491]

Excuse me, we seem to be lost....we're looking for the entrance to San Quentin........
His partner was about to need to change underwear

 

[Pat Riot]

One of the things I liked about the series was Harry ( Eastwood) almost always shot his magnum single action…or at least I am pretty sure he did.
Oh Darn…I guess I will have to watch to movies again to be sure.
I bring this up because one day at the range several months ago a gent asked me why I wasn’t shooting my model 25 .45 Colt in “double action the way it’s supposed to be fired”. I responded with “I prefer to shoot it like Dirty Harry.” He gave me an odd look and said “Who’s Dirty Harry?” Millennials!
I told him he needed to watch the movies then offered to let him shoot my model 25. He didn’t like the first shot DA trigger pull and opted to shoot the remaining 5 single action. He had a grin on his face afterwards. The load was 255 grain lead RNFP over 8 grains of Unique. I think I may have made his day.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

I responded with “I prefer to shoot it like Dirty Harry.” He gave me an odd look and said “Who’s Dirty Harry?” Millennials!

I watched all of them when I was 15. Perfect movies for a teenager, in that they deal with a deep concept of justified vigilance vs corrupt enforcement. My favorite line was in one of the later movies, where he's in the chinese restaurant, opens the fortune cookie and pretends it says "you're **** out of luck"

 

[Brubz]

One of the things I liked about the series was Harry ( Eastwood) almost always shot his magnum single action…or at least I am pretty sure he did.
Oh Darn…I guess I will have to watch to movies again to be sure.
I bring this up because one day at the range several months ago a gent asked me why I wasn’t shooting my model 25 .45 Colt in “double action the way it’s supposed to be fired”. I responded with “I prefer to shoot it like Dirty Harry.” He gave me an odd look and said “Who’s Dirty Harry?” Millennials!
I told him he needed to watch the movies then offered to let him shoot my model 25. He didn’t like the first shot DA trigger pull and opted to shoot the remaining 5 single action. He had a grin on his face afterwards. The load was 255 grain lead RNFP over 8 grains of Unique. I think I may have made his day.

Millennials just love to pretend that they don't know anything about Boomer culture but in fact they've all seen those Dirty Hairy movies. Millennial guy I used to work with would say "you got to ask yourself do you feel lucky?"when we were getting ready to work on an expensive machine

 

[lightman]

I enjoyed all of his movies. The way that 29 recoils doesn't look like a special load to me!