Dirty Harry and his "light specials"

J. W. · Dec 28, 2012

A few weeks ago I picked up a "deluxe edition" of Magnum Force. Included on the disc is several special features including a commentary by John Milius. During the shooting range scene he explained Dirty Harry's load of choice and how the line was messed up during production. The "light special" was actually supposed to be a "lighter magnum".

Interestingly, Milius also stated that Harry's Model 29 was originally supposed to be a 4", but they were unable to locate one. Thus the now iconic 6.5" version was used.

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly relieved to find Harry was packing magnums in his Model 29!

On a side note, every time I watch Magnum Force I find myself drooling over those 4" Colt Pythons carried by the motor cops as much as I do Harry's Model 29.

Art Doc · Dec 28, 2012

Milius should know but I always heard the 6.5" model was used specifically to make the gun look big on screen. Indeed, am 8.375" gun was used for the movie poster shots for that purpose.

Any story about 29s being hard to find for the movie are false for two reasons. 1. They were easy to find until the movie was released. 2. The guns were supplied directly from S&W so nobody went looking for them.

As for the much discussed line about "light specials" I always thought the line was supposed to mean light loads were used for match shooting. Whether it meant "lighter 44 Special ammo" or "light 44 Magnum loads" is unclear. The words came from a screenwriter who may have been ignorant about guns.

Wyatt Burp · Dec 28, 2012

Lee Marvin used a 4" Model 29 to good effect in Point Blank, four years before Dirty Harry showed up. Point Blank was remade into Payback with Mel Gibson, who also used a 4" Model 29. Watch Lee Marvin blast away here with his .44 Magnum.
Point Blank (1967 Trailer) 29th Best Trailer Of All Time - YouTube

Dennis The B · Dec 28, 2012

J. W. said:
...On a side note, every time I watch Magnum Force I find myself drooling over those 4" Colt Pythons carried by the motor cops as much as I do Harry's Model 29.

You mean like this one? -

pownal55 · Dec 28, 2012

I really like those Pythons but I can get two mint Smith N frames for the price of one Colt. When it comes to rifles and shotguns I don't mind spending the big bucks, just me I guess.

kennyb · Dec 28, 2012

J. W. said:
A few weeks ago I picked up a "deluxe edition" of Magnum Force. Included on the disc is several special features including a commentary by John Milius. During the shooting range scene he explained Dirty Harry's load of choice and how the line was messed up during production. The "light special" was actually supposed to be a "lighter magnum".

Interestingly, Milius also stated that Harry's Model 29 was originally supposed to be a 4", but they were unable to locate one. Thus the now iconic 6.5" version was used.

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly relieved to find Harry was packing magnums in his Model 29!

On a side note, every time I watch Magnum Force I find myself drooling over those 4" Colt Pythons carried by the motor cops as much as I do Harry's Model 29.

"a man's got to know his limatations"

NFrameFred · Dec 28, 2012

SaxonPig said:
As for the much discussed line about "light specials" I always thought the line was supposed to mean light loads were used for match shooting. Whether it meant "lighter 44 Special ammo" or "light 44 Magnum loads" is unclear. The words came from a screenwriter who may have been ignorant about guns.

I saw a video clip interview where Milius says Clint blew the line and got the words out of order and no one noticed it or thought it enough of an issue to re-shoot the scene. It was supposed to be "a special light load" instead of "a light Special load". Given the topic of the conversation in the scene and the fact that they were discussing competition and not duty loadings for the upcoming championship, it is obvious to just about everyone what the meaning is except those who for some reason need to turn the Callahan character into some kind of wimp, cheat, or whatever. It makes no sense but that tripe gets repeated all the time by the armchair/gun store counter 'experts'. The whole point of Dirty Harry using a 44 magnum was it was a 44 MAGNUM . . .

calmex · Dec 28, 2012

Only a few years after Magnum Force came out, but before we got heavily involved in I.P.S.C., my friends and I were all Dirty Harry nuts. We all had a Model 29-2, which were quite easy to get at that time (1977 or so) in Canada. We'd go down to Minot to shoot Metal Chicken and all the American Shooters would moan about how hard it was to get a Model 29 at any reasonable price, but we could sure get them. Less demand due to stricter regulations in our country, obviously.

Anyway, Clint's line of "I use a light special. With this size gun, I get more control and less recoil than a .357 Magnum with wadcutters" had us perplexed. Try as we might, we could not make that happen. We had a load using the Lyman 42798 bullet for the .44-40 Winchester (205 grains) going out at around 780 fps. It was our P.P.C. loading, but a Colt Python shooting 150 grain Lead Wadcutters at 800 fps was a pussycat in comparison.

One day, our Club President showed up with some 150 grain wadcutters loaded into .357 cases going out around 1,100 to 1,150 fps. Suddenly, our Model 29's with our "light special" did have more control and less recoil than a .357 Magnum with Wadcutters.

"That's what Clint was talking about" he told us. We all got a chuckle out of that.

Dirty Harry and his "light specials"

J. W.

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Art Doc

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Wyatt Burp

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Dennis The B

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pownal55

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kennyb

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NFrameFred

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calmex

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