Hello All!

Does anyone know the model 29 that was used in Dirty Harry (29-X, what is the X). Also, what was the barrel length, 6" 8" or both?

Steve

The length was 6.5 inch and I know it was a model 29 but I don't know what engineering change number if it had any.

A lot of the scenes used a Model 57.

There are lots of rumors about the guns used in the Dirty Harry movies. But as far as I can tell, here's the straight scoop.
The first movie came out in 1971, so the gun is probably a 29-2. That can be confirmed, because the gun is now in the NRA Museum. It was given to John Milius when he retired and he donated it (or perhaps loaned it) to the NRA museum.
When the studio asked S&W for a Model 29 to be used in the movie, the production line was not set up for producing that model. So one was made up for them in the Tool Room. If you read Dwayne Charron's new book, My Life Journey with Smith & Wesson, you will understand the difference.
It is believed that S&W later provided a second gun to the movie company, but no one seems to know what became of it.
As fyimo stated, the barrel length was 6 1/2", which was standard at the time. The nonsense about the barrel not being pinned is just that - nonsense. Pinned barrels were around for several years after the movie was released.
On the DVD version of the movie there is an interview with John Milius in the Special Features section that is worth watching.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

In the scene at the cross in the first movie, Eastwood tosses "a gun" away when the perp is holding a hostage. It seems very likely they used a stand-in gun for that part of the scene. What it actually was is unknown. He is holding the 29 a few seconds earlier, but then holds it down by his side, out of sight, just before he tosses it away. It's doubtful that they let him throw down that very nice Model 29 onto the gravel. Maybe it was a Model 57, maybe it was a beat up old Heavy Duty. Who knows?
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Oh boy, here we go again :-)

I have always heard it was a 29-2 with a 6 1/2" barrel. Millius stated in an interview that they wanted a 4", but they weren't that popular at the time and S&W didn't have any short barreled guns in stock. They did have the longer barrel so they went with it instead. After the movie they became immediately popular and the prices soared.

My Dirty Harry M29-2, 6 1/2"

Of course, you'll need the badge...

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Dirty Harry set.jpg (103.1 KB, 738 views)

Lots of threads about this here...

According to his biography online, John Milius is 68 years old and alive and kicking.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Yep! And he was on the NRA Board of Directors. I voted for him several times. If I remember correctly, he attended the Board meeting up here in Alaska in 2005. I was on the Host Committee.

So, I don't know what I was smoking that day I wrote "before he died."

But it was true, actually! He donated it, and he's not dead yet. Right?

Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Two Model 29-2s were made in S&W's tool room for the movie, "Dirty Harry", as the 44 Magnum was not in production at the time the guns were needed. For the movie, "Magnum Force", John Milius provided a Model 29, or possibly two (serial number in the low S200000 range). This revolver is now in the collection of the NRA Firearms Museum (see photo below). Jim Supica, Director of the NRA Firearms Museum, brought the 44 used in Magnum Force force for "Show and Tell" at the Fall 2011 Meeting of the "Southwest Bunch" that is held twice a year in conjunction with the show in Tulsa.

Bill

The myth of the 57 in "Dirty Harry" will never die.

One of the photos for the advertising posters used an 8" 29 to make it look bigger. Doc44 is right about two 29-2s being used for filming.

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No life story has happy end.

The poster featuring the Model 29-2 with an 8 3/8-inch barrel was used to promote "The Dead Pool", the last of the movies featuring Dirty Harry.

Also, I agree with SP about the never ending "myth" concerning the Model 57. Having shot the Model 29 and the Model 57 extensively, the blast and recoil of each is not that much different. Besides, with a 6-inch barrel, the Model 57 is easily distinguishable from a Model 29.

I do believe a Model 29-2 with a 4-inch barrel was desired initially, but the Model 29 was not in production and Warner Bros. had to take what S&W could provide at the time.

Bill

So, is "Dirty Harry" responsible for continuing production of the Model 29? Why wasn't it being made at the time and why did it resume afterwards?

Hmmm...

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Clint A.jpg (35.4 KB, 284 views)

Gun companies manufacture firearms in batches called "runs". They'll make one type of firearms for a period then switch over to another type for the next run (i.e. model 29's for 2,000 pieces, then model 25's for 500 pieces, then model 27's for 1,250 pieces).

S&W, like all companies, manufactures their products to a marketing plan (and in batches like S&W627 posted). The Model 29 was not in production "at the time", but was still an active model for the company. The movie stimulated sales dramatically for this model and caused S&W to increase its production by several hundred percent in the next few years.

Bill

It's a blued 29-2 in 6 inch barrel. I have the same model in nickel. It is a gorgeous piece.

John Milius discusses the "Dirty Harry" Model 29 here:

Dirty Harry's S&W .44 Magnum. A National Firearms Museum Treasure Gun - YouTube

Keep in mind we are talking about five different Dirty Harry movies made over a timespan of almost two decades and utilizing two to three 44 Magnums for each movie. This means that there may be around 15 or so S&W 44 Magnums that are legitimate Dirty Harry guns.
Also, at least two of these revolvers were fictionally "lost" via the plotlines, thus justifying Callahan showing up with a "new" one in the next movie.

Doc44 is indeed holding one of the 3 guns used in Dirty Harry and Magnum Force
Serial # S206921

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jj

My 29-2 6.5 inch, was purchased immediately after the move came out circa 1972.

Smith sells reissues of the gun pictured above, same box, velvet and tools, I know, I have 2 in my store right now.

Mod 29, 6.5 inch marketed as the Dirty Harry gun. Seems to me they would market a repro as true to the original as possible, so this one has my vote.

HUM, will my artificial badge be OK too ?

-------------------------- (-;




Ernie

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S&W .500 Magnums RULE !

Came across this little gem a while back. Looks nice with my 29 ...

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CCW.JPG (135.1 KB, 361 views)

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I'm with the banned ...

My 6.5 inch 29-2 is a nickel version so it doesn't count as a Dirty Harry special but it's still a cool gun all the same.

This could be the gun JP@AK was talking about that was thrown down in the gravel.
Or it could be a fake hanging on the wall to get people to come into a casino.





This is located at the Celebrity Hotel in Deadwood South Dakota

Wingmaster

Okay Okay, since you guys are showing off all your nice 29s...there is my 1969 "S" Prefix 29-2

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Smith, and Wesson, and Me!

Where is this displayed?

Note the older cokes on this particular example! Is this the rumored four-screw Dirty harry gun?

I remember a thread about this a long while back, and I think it was determined to be a fake.

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I'm with the banned ...

In the later Dirty Harry films a 29-3 is used according to other John Milius interviews.

I considered starting a separate thread for this, but I'll float it here first . . . .

The True Story Of The S&W 44 Magnum In The Movies That Made It An Icon.

I'd like to see someone who can track down the truth of all this write a commentary or even a short book (or not so short ) setting down the true details of the procurement, identification, number of units of the guns and the film biographys associated with the proper films to go with the making of the "Dirty Harry" film series. Many of the people involved are still alive and are not going to be with us much longer in relative terms. Much of the true information is already available, but fragmented and if it exists in one place in a compilation I am not aware of it.

Such a book would do much to put to rest all the fantastic and ridiculous rumors and stories that have taken the place of the facts concerning the mystique of the model 29's associated with these films.

I know it's always easier to say "someone else do it", but many of us with the desire don't have the access, the background, or the contacts to do a complete job.

I believe we have a member or two here that is up to the task, though. I, for one, would love to see such a project come to fruition. I'd buy the book in a heartbeat. While Eastwood and Milius are still with us and also many of the technical and prop personnel that worked on these movies, it would take some time and detective work but I think at least for a while, it could still be done. After these folks pass on we're left with the second, third, and fourth hand hearsay that we suffer with today.

It gets tiresome and ridiculous to see new folks come in and the same old inaccurate tales passed down over the years regurgitated here over and over. Many of the inaccuracies have found their way into print in magazines and whatnot over the years and some folks just like to embellish details to make it sound like they know something others do not. Lies become facts and the actual truth gets to be unverifiable and lost forever.

Such a book could encompass some great historical record of the story of the 44 magnum and offer opportunity for some great gun-porn photography. I know there some reference books that have attempted part of this (as far as the history of the gun goes) but I believe approaching it from the angle of the "Dirty Harry" guns would help make it more of a commercial success. I think it would cause a lot of folks who would not normally buy a reference book on the Model 29 pick it up out of curiosity connected with the films.

I'm trying to plant a seed here. Hopefully someone will pick up the ball and run with it.

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Qui plantavit curabit

I have a friend who works at the NRA museum. He has told me that the Milnus pistol was "skated" across pavement in a scene and later refinished by S&W.

I know nothing about the revolvers used in Clint Eastwood’s films, but I’ll make one speculation based on other movie guns.

A few hundred former movie rental guns were sold in a local gun store. The store owner said the movie studios rented most of the guns they used from the company he bought the guns from. They were no longer needed because real guns firing blanks had been replaced by fake guns with gun smoke, flash and noise added by special effects. In addition to the guns there were rubber SMLEs and other rubber rifles that to the unsuspecting looked real from 10 ft. away. When actors pretended to whack each other over the head with rifles, fall off horses and land rifles, etc. using rubber rifles prevented injuries and avoided scratching real guns.

I did not see rubber hand guns among the rental guns, but it sure makes sense to have used them after the cops hollered throw out your guns, or the kidnapper ordered Dirty Harry to throw away his 29.

Among the rentals were original trap door Springfield rifles fitted with extra over size brass barrel bands, replacement hammers that held a flint, flash pans, and frizzens. They were used filming an early Alamo movie that IIRC included Eastwood. The hammers still functioned to fire .45-70 blanks which saved time compared to loading real muzzle loaders.

I remember reading somewhere that Milius supposedly related that they laid out a mat and Clint was supposed to toss the gun onto the pad and missed. That sound of the 29 hitting the concrete makes me cringe every time I see that scene . . .

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Qui plantavit curabit

How can anyone claim to be a S&W collector if they don't own one? My collection is small, but I feel fortunate to have this one in it. D/A trigger pull is buttery smooth and I like the attention it gets at the range.

I've had this one since '75.

Long ago I replaced the red ramp front sight with a plain ramp. I have nice Herrett's stocks on it nowdays after years of swapping.

While it never belonged to Clint, Harry or John. I like this 29's pedigree much better - it's mine!


Sometimes though, when I am looking away - I could swear it was a Model 57...

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

l like mine too 153. 6 1/2s have so much class. Sixes are just so-so

I am somewhat ashamed to admit it, but I let my 4 screw pre-model-numbered 6 1/2" .44 Magnum go in 1978. I traded it for a bred Jersey heifer. I was just out of college (GI Bill), had a seasonal job and we needed the milk for the kids worse than I needed the gun. I had the cardboard presentation box too.
I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to own another one. I don't even have a photo of it.
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Should have kept the .44, shot the cow, then had steaks & burgers for a while.

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I'm with the banned ...

We owned that Jersey for about 5 1/2 years, and only sold her because we were moving to Alaska.
During that time, she gave us 5-6 gallons of excellent milk per day (except when we dried her up to have a calf). We got four calves out of her, had all the milk we could use, sold the rest to neighbors, used the money to buy her grain and subsidize our chicken/egg operation (had all the eggs we wanted to eat too, and sold the rest). When we left Oregon, we sold her for $750. So, I'd say I got my money's worth for the revolver. But I still miss it!
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Gorgeous piece. Have to keep my eyes peeled for the box/badge. I'm salivating.

I believe that the model is the 29-2 and that three versions were used. Most often it was the 6" but in one scene where Harry says" do you feel lucky punk" the camera looks up at the S&W from the perps view, and they used an 83/8" barrel to give the extended most threatening look. It is also reported that a special 4" barrel was made so that Clint Eastwood would have an easier time swinging the firearm back and forth in the action scenes.

Picked up my 29-3 at LGS a year or so ago, it had the rubber grips, I've found a few vendors with the original wood grips, looks like I'll have to make that plunge on my next venture to the gun show.

Frought with errors. There were no 6" versions at time of original movie, only 6.5" . Milius wanted a 4", but none were available. The only 8 3/8" barrel model used was for a promotional poster.

I had one issued right after the movie and it also
was mod 29 6.5"....so my votes the same.

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fgn40

Mine may be a NIB nickle 6 1/2 " 29-2, but to me it is a "Dirty Harry" and I have the original shoulder holster. I am not going out looking for a blued model!

medxam

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Doc Garrett
Dead Man's Doctor

copied this pic!

My 29 is a "Mountain Gun" - love it

John Milius is a pretty savvy guy, but he must have been speaking "loosely" in that video clip when he said it was a 6" barrel. I'm sure he was referring to the 6 1/2" tube, which was all they were making at that time (besides 4" and 8 3/8"). The 6" did not become standard until 8 or 9 years later (1979).
Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318