I was watching Dirty Harry the other night and when he had his gun pointed at the bank robber on the ground at the beginning of the movie I paused the picture and then moved it forward frame by frame until I could make out the caliber of the gun. It definately has the 44 on the side of the gun. This is a angle shot so it is not picture perfect, but the numbers 44 are there.
So so much for the stories of the gun he used was a 45 colt. The marvels of DVD's and widescreen TV's is so helpful at times.

John

I had never heard that rumor. I did hear that one of the "stunt doubles" for the gun was a model 57 in .41 mag because the .44 was somewhat harder to come by and they didn't want to damage it during filiming during the action shots etc.

S&W made two Model 29-2s for the movie, Dirty Harry, and shipped them to their sales representative in Los Angeles. The Model 29 was not in production at the time the guns were needed so they were made in the tool room from parts on hand. From what I have heard, the disposition of these 29-2s is unknown.

The revolver used in the movie, Magnum Force, is a 4-screw Model 29. It was donated to the National Firearms Museum and is on display there from time to time. I was able to handle and examine this revolver as it was on display at the last gun show in Tulsa earlier this month along with many of the other handguns used by Clint Eastwood in his movies (Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales, etc.).

Bill

Hi:
I understood that the Writer of "Dirty Harry" requested the Model 29 and His request was granted??
Jimmy

I heard this one also but no idea if it's true or not.

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... ed ...

Bill, I thought "Harry's" gun was always a 6.5" M29 in all the movies. I don't recall him ever having a 4" revolver.

From my list of 100 FAQs.


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.

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No life story has happy end.

I have heard of this one as well, so I asked Jim Supica if there was any truth to it during the presentation of the "Magnum Force" M29 in Tulsa.
He replied that the rumor is untrue.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

I believe he said "4-screw" SP,not 4".
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Yes, he certainly did. My error. I guess they gave away the guns after the 1st film and had to acquire different ones for the sequels.

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No life story has happy end.

I went to the NRA Museum in November of 2002 to see the exhibit "Reel Guns of the Real Heroes and saw the 29-2--- Serial # S206921. There was a card stating that it was one of 3 used in the filming of Dirty Harry. Milius does indeed have the one in this picture.

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jj

That rifle It the picture is a 458 winmag right. Is that a winchester?

i also always thought i was a .44 in all his movies. but i love my .41

Yes. It is a post '64 model 70 Super grade in .458. He used it in the original film to snipe rooftop to rooftop at the bad guy in the night scene.

This is interesting. I have read in at least one other thread here some time back that the gun used was a 45 colt N frame. And there seemed to be a lot of opinions that floated that way.

With what I have read here, if it was posted in the other thread I'm sure that would have been a different thread. I have read more convicing evidence here than I have ever read before.

I thank you all for your input. This is very interesting.

John

Just think if Harry had used something like a .222 Remington with a light-gathering scope instead of the .458 and spotlight...the movie could have ended right there! But, that would have been un-Harry-like, and boring.

We really need a sticky on the whole Dirty Harry model 29 thing.

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Tony

It was stated at the Tulsa meeting the Model 29's or one of them used in the filming had been fitted with a 45 colt cylinder to facilitate the use of blanks.

The Dirty Harry films were all made prior to the model 25 being introduced in .45 Colt ('71, '73, and '78 release dates), so it doesn't wash that the model 25 in .45 Colt could have been used in the movies the since it was introduced in '78 after the filming was completed on all three.

I know that there was the model 25-3 that came out in 1977, but it had a short 25-2 length cylinder and would have been easily spotted in almost any scene in "The Enforcer" which was filmed that same year.

The internet myths that won't die, because someone's third cousin dated a guy whose brother delivered laundry to a sister of one of the lighting guys on the set of the movie who claimed it was really an RG with fake barrel because Elmer Keith had bought up the entire supply of model 29's that year . . . .

The real details have been documented to death in interviews and direct questions to those involved, but the myths will never die as long as 'expert' postings on the net survive.

The gun was supposed to be a 4" as per the script, but supposedly at this time the 29 was "out of production", (that may need to be checked, I know a lot of the fame came after Dirty Harry, before that, it was a more specialized set that enjoyed it for hunting) and a 6.5 & 8 3/8 were pieced together by S&W at Clint's request, but a 4" was not available. Also the blanks were supposedly custom made for the gun as the standard blanks would not work. The people who would be in the best position to know may be dead or, not being S&W junkies, wouldn't even remember the details, so I'm sure threads and rumors like this will be with us forever.

From the horses mouth:

YouTube - Milius, filming Dirty Harry: "I want one of those guns"

I saw pics years ago of Milius on a hunting trip and he had a "nickel"
M29(that had been refinished) and it was supposedly one
of the 29s used in the movie series. Pete

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NRA LIFE 1974

Could you clarify what you mean? Last time I checked, there were 5 Dirty Harry movies: Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988). So I would think that the model 25 could have been used as a double in the last two installments?

The International Movie Database (IMDB, you can search for it, I will not post a link to their incorrect information) used to say it was a .45 Colt, supposedly having something to do with the blanks in common use in Hollywood at the time.

I just now went to the IMDB website and sure enough, they are now repeating the myth that it was a .41 Mag.

They just can't seem to get it right.

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You're shy a few manners.

The myth that keeps floating around is generally related to the first three films, especialy the first two, since at that time the 29 was very hard to come by. The last two just weren't in the same league IMO. Yes, I have seen them all too. By the time the last two films were made, the model 29 was easily and readily available so using anything else simply wouldn't make any sense. I believe that in the last one he used the .44 Automag, which is not going to be mistaken for a revo. The blank issue is BS too. They're not going to make a multi million dollar movie, then worry about the cost of having to have some .44 blanks made up.

This **** keeps being repeated by guys on these forums, even though plenty of accurate info is available, not to mention the Millius interview that is on the net.

Sudden Impact had the automag. I understand what you meant now. It was hard to believe that someone who has Dirty Harry himself would think that there is only 3 dirty harry films.

I personally like Sudden Impact a lot. It was better than The Enforcer and the Dead Pool, IMO. The first one however is hands down the best.

The originals usually are .
I have to admit though, that I like magnum force equally well.

I saw an interview with Eastwood a couple of years back at a golf tournament. He was asked about the Calahan movies, and the .44 Mag. and said clearly "yes, I still have it", and I thought he said something about even shooting occasionally. He was asked where he kept it and didn't really want to answer, understandably. He said something like, "oh, it's around somewhere". This is only from memory, I cannot back it up, perhaps someone else heard the same interview. Also, I suppose it's possible he was talking about the AutoMag 44, but I thought they were talking about the original M29. I do recall being surprised that he still had the gun - I thought he was more or less an anti-gun liberal. Evidently not.

Having been involved with movie making from my experiance. Here is a thought that I think is possible. The movie industry has had literally 100's of thousands of the ""5 in 1" blank cartage made. This special blank is made so it fits the 45 colt, the 44-40 and 38-40 and 2 other cartridges that I don't recall off hand. That is why more win. 92's are used in movies than any other rifle.

Any western that I have been involved in that has had shooting in it the "5 in 1" empties are laying around. I have picked up and kept some of these fire blanks.

--This is a possible senario. The M29 used had the chamber reamed to 45 Colt to accept the "5 in1" blank. Or it could have had another cylinder fitted chamber to 45 colt to accept the "5 in 1" blank cartridge. ---

But this is not to say the 44 mag blank wasn't made special for Dirty Harry. But another senario that is very possible.

John

i always heard it was a model 29 in .44 mag.

I always read that Clint did indeed use the .44 mag in all the movie scenes. But he also stated that he spent time practicing with the .41 mag off camera.

Just about anything you've always wanted to know about movie guns, can be found at; http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Main_Page

(I am not responsible for the amount of time spent browsing this web site.)

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Retired Police, Life NRA

Whether or not the Dirty Harry gun was a model 29 (which I clearly was) or a 57 or a 25, the demand for the 29 went through the roof after the first movie and moreso after the second. I purchased a number of them during that time from disgruntled owners who (literally) fired one cylinder full then sold the gun afterward. They paid a premium and I got them for considerably less. Most all in the 70's were three 'T's and in mahogany presentation boxes. I have nearly all of them still. I imagine a number of you 'old timers' like myself also prospered in the same manner.

I was heavily into 44 magnums back then and owned a number of Rugers and a lever Marlin in the caliber. I did not own a Smith only because they were too pricey for me at the time and moreso after the movies. The recoil of the caliber allowed me to acquire many at a reduced price.

Please note that frequently the information provided about firearms at IMFDB is inaccurate. They may be movie experts, but they are certainly not firearm experts (like us!) and there is no way to verify the information they present.

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Tony

I'm inclined to believe the posts about one of the three guns being fitted with a .45LC cylinder or bored out to fit 5-in1 blanks. Keeping a supply of .44 blanks on hand would have been a pain, and the armorer and stunt coordinator should each have thrown a pluperfect fit over the idea of anything that could be confused with live ammo, or vice versa, on the set. Live blanks are dangerous enough. Remember Jon-Erik Hexum, the idiot actor that put a gun loaded with a 5-in-1 against the side of his head and pulled the trigger? As an armorer friend said, the moron flame-cut his brain. In an odd twist of fate, he was an organ donor, which led to his heart being transplanted into one of Las Vegas' most prominent pimps of the day. Go figure.

I did not bother to read this almost 3 year old thread because I had enough whipping this dead horse in the current thread:
Dirty Harry Model 29
In its reply #90 you can watch an interview with the NRA Museum curator who displays the 6 ½” 29-2 used filming the 1st Dirty Harry movie and its theatrical soft rubber duplicate.