Dirty Harrys gun:41 mag or 44 mag
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Rollis R. Karvellis
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I, have also heard that the gun was a mod 57, because they were not able to find any 29's at the time. I, chalk it up to urban legend. But if it was really a 57, then that would make detective Calahan just that much cooler.
dprice3844444
member
45 colt
Harry Callahan pointing his S&W Model 29Dirty Harry helped popularize the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum cartridge. The film initiated an increase in sales of the powerful handgun, which continues to be popular forty years after the film's release.[citation needed] The .44 Magnum ranked second in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, after only the lightsaber of Star Wars fame. The poll surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.[54] However, the only appearances of the Model 29 in the movie are in the close-ups: Any time Eastwood actually fired the revolver, he was shooting a Smith & Wesson Model 25 in .45 Colt[citation needed]. In 1971, .44 Magnum blanks were not available[citation needed]. However, as a result of decades of Hollywood Western movies there was an ample supply of 5-in-1 blank cartridges.[citation needed] As the Model 25 is built on the same Smith & Wesson N frame as the Model 29, it was simple to substitute it for the Model 29 in scenes where Eastwood had to shoot the revolver[citation needed].
Director Don Siegel owned the actual Model 29 used in principal photography in Dirty Harry.[
Harry Callahan pointing his S&W Model 29Dirty Harry helped popularize the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum cartridge. The film initiated an increase in sales of the powerful handgun, which continues to be popular forty years after the film's release.[citation needed] The .44 Magnum ranked second in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, after only the lightsaber of Star Wars fame. The poll surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.[54] However, the only appearances of the Model 29 in the movie are in the close-ups: Any time Eastwood actually fired the revolver, he was shooting a Smith & Wesson Model 25 in .45 Colt[citation needed]. In 1971, .44 Magnum blanks were not available[citation needed]. However, as a result of decades of Hollywood Western movies there was an ample supply of 5-in-1 blank cartridges.[citation needed] As the Model 25 is built on the same Smith & Wesson N frame as the Model 29, it was simple to substitute it for the Model 29 in scenes where Eastwood had to shoot the revolver[citation needed].
Director Don Siegel owned the actual Model 29 used in principal photography in Dirty Harry.[
Quoheleth
Member
Per Skeeter Skelton, it was a .44 Mag, but because all frames in various stages of completion were already designated to fill standing orders, the 29 Clint used was actually assembled from parts by one of the skilled custom guys at S&W's service department.
It was a model 29, .44 Magnum, with full custom trigger work, etc..
Q
It was a model 29, .44 Magnum, with full custom trigger work, etc..
Q
Guillermo
member
THE INTERNET RUMOR THAT WILL NOT DIE!!!!
It was a Model 29.
John Millius would know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x-tGz6dNdg
http://books.google.com/books?id=OAeBNnV3m-cC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=John+Milius+41+magnum+rumor&source=bl&ots=EENniaMgt_&sig=feAe25O0VUV3LBv95Kyum0qQ6UY&hl=en&ei=pFLRTuOiJJKHsAKq87zRDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=John%20Milius%2041%20magnum%20rumor&f=false
It was a Model 29.
John Millius would know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x-tGz6dNdg
http://books.google.com/books?id=OAeBNnV3m-cC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=John+Milius+41+magnum+rumor&source=bl&ots=EENniaMgt_&sig=feAe25O0VUV3LBv95Kyum0qQ6UY&hl=en&ei=pFLRTuOiJJKHsAKq87zRDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=John%20Milius%2041%20magnum%20rumor&f=false
ApacheCoTodd
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Funny, I heard it was a Colt...
Strykervet
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I have 'em, I guess I could go freeze frame it and zoom in and see if I can read the stamping. That would solve it once and for all. I know everyone is dying to know. In the very beginning, he tells the would be robber the famous line, "This is a .44 magnum..."
FWIW, in the second one (I think the second --the one with the renegade motorcycle cops) he is shooting at an indoor range, he walks in on those guys. They have a discussion and shoot some targets and one asks "what loads do you use" and he basically responds "I use specials, in this larger frame it improves control".
Those are not the exact quotes by the way, but that is what was said.
Later in the first movie he also deploys a .458WinMag as a sniper rifle, and in the later sequels moves to a (Wildey?) semi auto.
Funny thing is I carry a 10mm for almost the same reason he carried the .44 loaded with specials... I also carry a .40 sometimes, but perfer the 10mm. A large frame handgun with reduced loads loses little in performance but gains a LOT in controllability. My buddy's 16yo daughter, she hates the recoil from my G27. But she loves the G29 when loaded warm... My wife, who is VERY recoil sensitive, she feels the same way.
Everyone loves shooting specials through my 686+. Not nearly as many like shooting 125gr. XTP's at 1700+ fps though. I think if I were to carry a .44, I'd probably load it with specials or some kind of soft custom mag loads. Better performance than a .45ACP, much more control.
FWIW, in the second one (I think the second --the one with the renegade motorcycle cops) he is shooting at an indoor range, he walks in on those guys. They have a discussion and shoot some targets and one asks "what loads do you use" and he basically responds "I use specials, in this larger frame it improves control".
Those are not the exact quotes by the way, but that is what was said.
Later in the first movie he also deploys a .458WinMag as a sniper rifle, and in the later sequels moves to a (Wildey?) semi auto.
Funny thing is I carry a 10mm for almost the same reason he carried the .44 loaded with specials... I also carry a .40 sometimes, but perfer the 10mm. A large frame handgun with reduced loads loses little in performance but gains a LOT in controllability. My buddy's 16yo daughter, she hates the recoil from my G27. But she loves the G29 when loaded warm... My wife, who is VERY recoil sensitive, she feels the same way.
Everyone loves shooting specials through my 686+. Not nearly as many like shooting 125gr. XTP's at 1700+ fps though. I think if I were to carry a .44, I'd probably load it with specials or some kind of soft custom mag loads. Better performance than a .45ACP, much more control.
Strykervet
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icantunderstandwhatyouaresayingslowdownandusepunctuationandsomewhatpropersentenceconstruction
Seriously, it seems you have something interesting to say but I can't deciper the code.
Okay this isn't about the gun but some fun minutiae from the bank robbery scene in Dirty Harry. Those of you who own the movie, look carefully at what's playing in the theatre up the street from the shootout. (It's on the theatre's marquee sign.) Very nice inside joke.
If somebody spots what I'm talking about feel free to quote my post and add the info. If nobody replies by tonight I'll fill in the rest of you.
If somebody spots what I'm talking about feel free to quote my post and add the info. If nobody replies by tonight I'll fill in the rest of you.
Guillermo
member
Play Misty For Me is playing at the movie
Rollis R. Karvellis
Member
Inside jokes like that happen all the time. Forest Gump being told by Captain Dan that he would become an astronaut, if Forest becomes a shrimp boat captain. Hanks, and Saniec's next film was Apollo 13.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Internet rumor it is.
There were two 6" Model 29-2's used in the films.
One was presented to John Milhous, who later loaned? or donated? it to the NRA Nationl Museum.
http://www.nramuseum.com/the-museum...law/dirty-harry's-smith-wesson-44-magnum.aspx
http://wn.com/Dirty_Harry's_S&W_44_Magnum_A_National_Firearms_Museum_Treasure_Gun
I could be wrong, but I believe Clint Eastwood still has the other one.
rc
There were two 6" Model 29-2's used in the films.
One was presented to John Milhous, who later loaned? or donated? it to the NRA Nationl Museum.
http://www.nramuseum.com/the-museum...law/dirty-harry's-smith-wesson-44-magnum.aspx
http://wn.com/Dirty_Harry's_S&W_44_Magnum_A_National_Firearms_Museum_Treasure_Gun
I could be wrong, but I believe Clint Eastwood still has the other one.
rc
If he was shooting blanks why would it matter?
In "Magnum Force", the scene at the range where Calahan first meets all the motorcylce cops, he says he uses "light, specials", as it "gives him more control in a gun this size".
dprice3844444
member
but back then,if you read my post from wikipedia,44 blanks were not available at the time,so they used a model 25 45 long colt during firing scenes
Harry Callahan’s revolver.
5. In Dirty Harry Inspector Callahan’s revolver was a 6.5” Model 29-2. The rumor that they used a Model 57 because the 29 was hard to find is not only incorrect but ridiculous since it was the release of the movie that caused the 29 to be so popular that it was hard to find in gun shops. That situation didn’t exist when they MADE the film. Besides, the studio was sent the guns directly from S&W so gun shop supplies were irrelevant. John Millius worked on that film as a screenwriter and was presented the gun (well, one of them as two were used for shooting) and he has described it and photos have been published in various magazines over the years. It was indeed a Model 29 in 44 Magnum. Millius has stated than an 8” gun was used for some publicity photos to make the gun look big at a distance.
5. In Dirty Harry Inspector Callahan’s revolver was a 6.5” Model 29-2. The rumor that they used a Model 57 because the 29 was hard to find is not only incorrect but ridiculous since it was the release of the movie that caused the 29 to be so popular that it was hard to find in gun shops. That situation didn’t exist when they MADE the film. Besides, the studio was sent the guns directly from S&W so gun shop supplies were irrelevant. John Millius worked on that film as a screenwriter and was presented the gun (well, one of them as two were used for shooting) and he has described it and photos have been published in various magazines over the years. It was indeed a Model 29 in 44 Magnum. Millius has stated than an 8” gun was used for some publicity photos to make the gun look big at a distance.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I kinda sorta disagree.
Dirty Harry made the Model 29 hard to get after 1971 for sure.
But Vietnam had already made ALL S&W's hard to get before then.
I think they were focusing all their production capacity on the K-Frames at the time to fill military & law enforcement orders.
Riots in the late 60's & early 70's had cops stocking up on men & equipment big time..
1965 also marked the takeover of S&W by Bangor Punta.
Right off the bat there was a big push to diversify the product line, and people making guns in 1966 were suddenly making handcuffs & pepper spray in 1970 instead!
I hunted for a long long time to find a Model 36 I could buy on Army pay in 1968 & 69.
Everyone and the horse they rode in on was getting scalpers prices for them, if you could even find a new one.
I did buy a new Model 19 then and they were always in stock at normal prices.
But J's & N's, not hardly, it seemed to me.
rc
ApacheCoTodd
member
The above post cracks me up. I hadn't thought about the paradox of saying that they used a stand-in pistol because the movie's release led to a shortage of the original. It's such an obviously bogus claim that I'm embarrassed that I didn't throw the BS flag upon reading it.
As far as lack of blanks... there's never been a requirement for factory produced blanks in Hollywood - most of the old Studio gun shop/fabricator/FFL's did their own along with squibs and such. I knew a few of these guys when I was buying from the Studios arms rooms in the 90's.
As far as lack of blanks... there's never been a requirement for factory produced blanks in Hollywood - most of the old Studio gun shop/fabricator/FFL's did their own along with squibs and such. I knew a few of these guys when I was buying from the Studios arms rooms in the 90's.
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Bush Pilot
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I've read that Clint Eastwood was presented with one of the model 29s used in the film. Rumor has it he immediately traded it and $100.00 for a model 57 because he knew all along the .41 was a better cartridge. Sounds about right to me.
He was shooting blanks?? He musta been a great shot if all he was using was blanks
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