Shawshank Redemption

I watched this (again) tonight and looked carefully at the scene where the warden takes his life.

In that scene, was that snubby a S&W?

I believe the warden uses a 2” M10

That was a good movie. I'm not sure about the gun, but I'm pretty sure they used a look-alike stunt man to do the actual deed. They were expendable.

Here you go. Salvation (and the images) lies within.

glowe said:

Here you go. Salvation (and the images) lies within.

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I have seen the movie a couple times. Of course movies are movies not real life but I was always amazed that the warden had to open a desk drawer and load his weapon.

That and the fact that his prisoner "bookkeeper" had access to his office on a regular biases that a gun was so casually kept there!

jeffrefrig said:

That was a good movie. I'm not sure about the gun, but I'm pretty sure they used a look-alike stunt man to do the actual deed. They were expendable.

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No. Not true. If you watch the Behind the Scenes section on the DVD, you will find the actor actually killed himself for the movie.

He was that dedicated to the craft. A real method actor, I must say.

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Interesting thing; bringing up this question made me pull up that clip off youtube. Between the two pictures posted above is a quick view of the revolver as he is struggling to quickly load it. The thumb latch is plainly visible, so no doubt it's a S&W, but you can also see the small S&W roll stamp on the LEFT, below the thumb latch, and can also see there is no barrel pin.

To paraphrase what Red (Morgan Freeman) was saying at that moment about what the warden was thinking, "How the hell did Warden Norton have a M10 made after 1982, back in 1966?"

The box of Remington Kleanbore's add authenticity.

NYlakesider said:

I have seen the movie a couple times. Of course movies are movies not real life but I was always amazed that the warden had to open a desk drawer and load his weapon.

That and the fact that his prisoner "bookkeeper" had access to his office on a regular biases that a gun was so casually kept there!

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Quite a few knowledgeable gun guys I know never load their guns till it is time to shoot. I know 2 that keep their concealed guns unloaded with magazine out. As for the prisoner having access, I felt was a little unusual. An interesting side note, the Colorado maximum security prison in Canon City used to have a gift shop in which the public could purchase prisoner made crafts. A friend, as a young girl, lived in the town. She walked into the main gate and shop. She bought a beautiful jewelry box made by a prisoner. Cannot even imagine a 13-year-old girl walking alone into a prison these days. When the prison was built in the late 1800's the state could not afford to finish it for years. It only had 3 walls. The prisoners were allowed to walk into to town and work in the day and return and sleep in the prison at night. And this was the where the bad boys lived.

The revolver has the standard 4 line address stamping introduced in 1948. Diamonds around stocks screws eliminated around 1966-1967, but the apparent lack of the barrel pin is an issue. Of course, how many people would know that or care? Besides the eraser in the drawer is period and even used!

30-30remchester said:

Quite a few knowledgeable gun guys I know never load their guns till it is time to shoot. I know 2 that keep their concealed guns unloaded with magazine out. As for the prisoner having access, I felt was a little unusual. An interesting side note, the Colorado maximum security prison in Canon City used to have a gift shop in which the public could purchase prisoner made crafts. A friend, as a young girl, lived in the town. She walked into the main gate and shop. She bought a beautiful jewelry box made by a prisoner. Cannot even imagine a 13-year-old girl walking alone into a prison these days. When the prison was built in the late 1800's the state could not afford to finish it for years. It only had 3 walls. The prisoners were allowed to walk into to town and work in the day and return and sleep in the prison at night. And this was the where the bad boys lived.

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Sounds like James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff. "We don't have bars yet, but lets pretend like they're there" or something to that effect.

That was a good movie and good story despite the wrong gun that I didn't notice. I hope the lack of period correctness didn't ruin the film for too many.

At least he didn’t shoot seven times out of a six shooter

Kevin G said:

At least he didn’t shoot seven times out of a six shooter

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I'd have been pretty impressed if he'd managed 5 more under the chin.

Arkansas prison farms use to use trustees as armed guards.

Hair Trigger said:

I'd have been pretty impressed if he'd managed 5 more under the chin.

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One of my best friends had that murder defense—young wife said wealthy, older husband committed suicide. But he was shot 8 times! (With a six shot .38–she had reloaded) AND IN THE BACK!

The jury didn’t buy the “suicide” either!

My favorite scene is when Andy Dufresne locks himself in the prison office in an act of defiance against prison authorities and plays “Duettino- Sull’aria” aria duet from one of Mozart’s most popular operas “The Marriage of Figaro” over the loudspeakers, creating a sense of euphoria throughout the prison yard.

sjbrdn said:

The box of Remington Kleanbore's add authenticity.

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That box is not civilian .38 Special ammo. It is WWII GI ammo used for Victory (and similar) revolvers.

glowe said:

The revolver has the standard 4 line address stamping introduced in 1948. Diamonds around stocks screws eliminated around 1966-1967, but the apparent lack of the barrel pin is an issue. Of course, how many people would know that or care? Besides the eraser in the drawer is period and even used!

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That's the picture I was referencing in my post, wish I knew how to cut it out of the video like that.
Certainly, the revolver is of a much later period of time than the film's setting, but you're right, who's normally going to notice, but someone who routinely messes with old revolvers and easily spots the differences. I'd never have thought to look until I started reading this thread. You only saw the gun for a few seconds during the scene, but it's one of those things that goes to continuity that a lot of people look for. No doubt you've seen scenes where the gunner racks his shotgun several times during successive scenes, or some guy is holding a 1911 with the hammer down, yet fires the gun. This is a hard one to see, but it's no different than accidentally seeing a C3 Corvette parked down the street in a scene from a 1950's biker movie.


I think The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best stories ever put on screen, thanks to Stephen King's awesome talent. One other firearms scene I thought was well-done was when Captain Hadley shot young tommy in the prison yard from the tower with a M14. The sound foley got it just right, the M14 has a distinctive sound as the action cycles when fired, and it was there. The timeframe also works, as Tommy came to the prison in 1965 and it was 1966 when Andy escaped, so it's not impossible, or even unlikely, a prison would arm its tower guards with such a rifle. Other scenes in the film show Thompson SMG's and pump shotguns, also not unlikely (the Thompson especially) in a prison that has been there as long as Shawshank has.

One other incongruity I noticed with the warden's handgun was how pristine it looked. I'd have expected it to have muzzle wear, maybe loss of bluing on the cylinder edges, from sliding around in a drawer like that one apparently had been.

I spent 5 years as a Correctional Officer; until we replaced our handguns with Model 65's, we had older M10's with 4" barrels, a mix of pencil and bull barrel guns. Not one of them had all the bluing. We did not issue rifles for our tower guards, we had residential areas too close by, but we did have Remington 870's. The larger units down east (prison farms) and more rurally located units used Mini-14's when I was in DOC (late 1970's), not really sure what they used before that.

DWalt said:

That box is not civilian .38 Special ammo. It is WWII GI ammo used for Victory (and similar) revolvers.

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Wouldn't be the first box of military ammo to find its way into civilian hands. I have a shelf full of it. The age of the box gives authenticity to the scene. Its a nice touch by the prop master.