Dirty Harry Gun is 44 mag

J

jspick

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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
 
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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
 
kscardsfan said:
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.
Click to expand...

I heard this one also but no idea if it's true or not.
 
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.
 
kscardsfan said:
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.
Click to expand...


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.
 
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.
 
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.

NRA_0200Medium.jpg
 
That rifle It the picture is a 458 winmag right. Is that a winchester?
 
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mattt said:
That rifle is a 458 winmag right. Is that a winchester?
Click to expand...

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
 
Gun 4 Fun said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
jspick said:
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
Click to expand...


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.
 
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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 . . . . :D

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.
 
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