Magnum Force with Dirty Harry

[pazz]

Well, I was at home free today so I turned on the television to watch something. Found that "Magnum Force" was playing.

As I watched the show I kept thinking about how revolvers were the king back in the day before autos and tactical things became so popular. A D/A revolver was reliable and simple. Anyone else like revolvers?

 

[Valkman]

Love that movie, and revolvers! A bit of trivia - remember the part where the 3 bike cops are waiting in the garage for Harry? After he turns down their offer they roar out, Harry looking at them. In real life they piled up right outside the garage, three bikes in a heap but ol' Clint kept his Harry face on! Funny stuff.

 

[pioneer461]

Yup, being old school, I have a warm spot in my heart for my revolvers. My original police duty gun (1971) was a S&W mod. 19, .357 magnum. I still own it, shoot it and love it. Not so easy to carry concealed though.

​

 

[pazz]

That's a nice gun pioneer. I like it

 

[19&41]

I remember when Tales Of The Gun had a segment with John Milius was showing his pistol that had been used in Dirty Harry.

 

[pazz]

I remember when Tales Of The Gun had a segment with John Milius was showing his pistol that had been used in Dirty Harry.

I didn't see that show but, wasn't Dirty Harry's .44 magnum really a .41 with a light load? I heard this somewhere

 

[Jaymo]

Love Dirty Harry movies. Love revolvers.

19&41, are you in Clayton, Henry, or Spalding County?
You can PM the answer to me, if you prefer.

 

[David E]

In "Magnum Force," Harry said he loaded his .44 with "light specials," but apparently that wasn't the intended line according to John Milius.

 

[Cosmoline]

I took that to mean Harry used .44 Specials for practice and the upcoming competition shooting, which made perfect sense.

 

[Ricky T]

Love revolvers, carry one or two on regular basis. Definitely require more work and dedication to shoot a wheelgun well.

 

[PapaG]

Lots of conjecture about the guns actually used in the "Dirty Harry" movies...some say that the first one was made with a 27 because they couldn't get a 44 because of the demand that created...duh...how do you create a demand before the movie comes out? Another says 41. In the movie with Tyne Daly (don't know why in heck they used her) Harry does say its a 44 but I use "specials" in it.
He also had an Automag in one show.
Don't really care but I'm keeping my 29-2 for no other reason than it looks as cool as his did and shoots really well.
I think we need one more movie, "Gray Harry", or "Geezer Harry" or something else starring the eighty something Clint, the all time movie stud of all.

 

[Ricky T]

The gun used in the first movie, Dirty Harry, was a model 57 in .41 as a stand in because they couldn't get the model 29. That was what John Milius said in all the interviews I've seen. Maybe in the later movies that they finally secured a few 29s.

The movie Sudden Impact saw the introduction of the .44 Auto Mag due to the result of the mafia coming after Harry in armored limousine.

 

[wrs840]

some say that the first one was made with a M57 because they couldn't get a 44 because of the demand that created...duh...how do you create a demand before the movie comes out? Another says 41.

I read that the M29 was scarce and had actually been dropped from the S&W catalog by the time the first movie was made because of slow sales. Clint Eastwood bought a M29 somewhere when he got the script though to "get realistically familiar with one" but the studio didn't manage to come up with any, so they filmed with a stable of M57s. The movie release changed the demand for M29s in a big way (obviously), and the rest, as they say...

 

[bikemutt]

Love the wheel guns. My wife and I recently acquired a quite nice condition 29-2, 8-3/8" specimen which we share at the range. Neither of us have figured out how to shoot it with a great degree of accuracy yet, but the effort is not a chore. The mashup with the gun, the movies, the one-liners, is just plain good ole family fun.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

The script called for Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) to use a Smith & Wesson Model 29 with a 4" barrel, chambered in .44 Magnum throughout the film as his sidearm. This proved troublesome for the filmmakers, since the Model 29 was no longer in production at the time. Before shooting began, Eastwood contacted Bob Sauer (then a representative for Smith & Wesson) to acquire the gun for the film. It was a challenge, but Fred Miller at the plant had a couple assembled from parts eventually. To better familiarize himself with the weapon's handling and recoil, Eastwood took one to a gun range and fired live rounds through it. Unlike the gun in the script, the only barrels acquired for the guns in this film were the 8 3/8" barrel and the 6 1/2" barrel. Both can be seen used in some scenes. The blanks it fired were custom made since the 5-in-1 blank didn't fit the chambers. It is said scriptwriter John Milius was presented with one of the actual guns used in the film as a gift later on.

Theres the scoop on the 29s used in the film. As for the 57, they used it in shots that weren't close ups and the close ups like the "are you feeling lucky?" was a 29.

 

[Blueduck]

I've heard that "It was really a 41 magnum" thing for years, but I think it's just gun lore. John Milius the writer director knows his guns, and I think would have mentioned any 41's used in the film in this history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x-tGz6dNdg

It WAS however supposed to be a 4" model, but they could not easily come up with enough of those, and Clint was tall and lanky enough that the 6" worked anyway though.

 

[danjet500]

I took this pic at Camp Perry last fall during the rifle/pistol matches. The NRA had a display of several of Clint Eastwood's movie guns. This is the 29 used in Dirty Harry. The medallion on the grip says it was presented to John Milius for his work in the movie. Couple other pics of his movie guns also.

 

[mesinge2]

I love revolvers:

Huge Shameless display of pics
















And a have more but I'll stop,




.

 

[Guillermo]

I hate revolvers

 

[reppans]

I love this guy's description.... from HERE

I notice now most of us older guys (50+)
perfer revolvers to high cap auto's....I was talking to some kid at the range
next to me who could not under stand why somebody would pay as much for
5/6 shot Ruger vs his Glock 19.
I told him one good .357 in the right place beats 10 spray and pray 9mm
and the Ruger is built to last 100 years...older Colts and Smiths were also.
And I would take ANY .44 mag Smith/Colt/Ruger to his Glock 9mm or .40
I told him goes back to "Dirty Harry" movies he looked puzzled and he thought I was talking about some
gay porn flick.

I'm a 50+ firearm noob and immediately went for the auto's..... then some guys let me try out their breathed-on 6" S&Ws with wadcutter hand loads and suddenly, all of that childhood revolver coveting must have come crashing back - can't get revolvers outta mind :banghead:.

Nice collection mesinge2... here's the start of mine:

 

[Jeb21]

Cool, gun porn!

 

[wrs840]

Here's my 29-5. 'Cause sooner-or-later, you just have to say "That's my policy..."

 

[MagnumDweeb]

I wish Florida was an open carry state. I could carry my Ruger Redhawk 4" .44 Magnum(with .44 special loads) on my hip. But as a concealed carry only I have to typically stick with semi-autos for carry unless they are snub nose revolvers that are J-Frame size.

 

[Dr Who]

Metal Speed Loaders

Hey mesinge2

Great collection there...who makes the all metal speed loaders shown in the pics ?

 

[ForumSurfer]

I'm a bottom feeder kind of guy, but something about a deep blued smith with a color case hardened hammer and trigger along with some custom grips is just sexy and always has a special place for me.

The 29-5 above me is a sweet looking piece to me. I need something like that.

I've recently started training myself on a ruger LCR for a summer carry handgun, but she ain't nuthin' to look at. I'm pretty sure I bought the wrong revolver, I need to look around for something in blued steel...