Dirty Harry Model 29

[tec69]

Will the real "Dirty Harry" please stand up?

I'm no expert on the subject but I did find a link that has a pretty believeable account: Dirty Harry - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

If this is true, then the guns are probably not true 29-1's or
29-2's since they were "pieced" together from whatever parts were available.

I bought a nickel 29-1 for my brother for Christmas. It was kind of hard handing it over, but he loves it so much he told his wife she'd have to find another place to sleep!

 

[stevehenry1]

I have also read that, at least the first movie, a model 25 was used in the shooting scenes with the 5n1 blanks. If you put a 25 and a 29 side by side you couldn't tell the difference

 

[NFrameFred]

Once and for all, for gosh sakes - THEY WERE MODEL 29's - NOT 25's, NOT bored out 44's to accept 45 blanks, or any of these other asinine stories that keep creeping in.

That book I spoke of in post #32 really needs to be written. That these silly rumors continue to be regurgitated as fact becomes more and more ridiculous.

For the newbies here, use the search function on this - it's been hashed out time after time. The facts are known and they're available.

 

[Nlmadog]

I have to add my first wheel gun was a Dirty Harry !!!
My Dirty is a 29-2 Blue 4". She gets attention at the range.The tupperware boys always want to feel the power !

 

[vilhelm]

Of course JM was "speaking Loosely" when he said "6 inch".

Heck, most of us describe a snubby J-Frame as a 2".

 

[Arisin Wind]

 

[DRYHEAT]

Had a 6.5" M29-2 back in the DH Days...

Just another in a long list of guns I let slip away.

 

[JP@AK]

Of course JM was "speaking Loosely" when he said "6 inch".

Heck, most of us describe a snubby J-Frame as a 2".

Agreed. I wasn't criticizing him. I was just wanting to clarify so that no one uses his statement to argue that it was not a 6 1/2" barrel.

Jack

 

[Bohonkie]

Very interesting thread! I have a few notes about barrel length. I have six S&W .44 mags, N frame. I wrote it that way because one of them is a pre-29 model made in 1957 and one is a 329PD (so I couldn't just say Model 29).
I had always assumed, though I can't say for sure why, that the gun used in DH was a very early, probably pre-29. I measured the barrels on all of my guns and found something interesting:
Pre-29: 6.5" barrel. Bright blueing (maybe this is why I thought Harry's gun was a pre-29?)
Mdl 29-6 (circa 1999): 8.25" (not quite 8 3/8" but my 1979 Mdl 14-1, Circa 1979, is actually 8 3/8")
Mdl 29-4 (circa 2000): Also 8.25"
Mdl 29-3 (circa 1982): 5.75" (not 6")
For comparison, in addition to the .38 special Mdl 14 mentioned above, I measured my 27-2 (circa 1975): 5 7/8" (not quite 6").
Another reason I assumed harry's gun was an older model is because it looks to me like it's a 6.5" barrel. I know that S&Ws have not used a 6.5" barrel since at least the Mdl -3. As someone wrote earlier, maybe 1979. I do know that S&W first made the 4" barrel available in 1960.
These guns are very special to me. When DH came out I just had to have one. I wrote S&W and was told (if memory serves) that, at the current production rate, it would take 21 years beofre I'd see one!
I bought a single action made by a competitor and never did like it. I couldn't hit an 8.5x11" piece of paper at 20 feet with it. I sold it when I found my 29-3 in 1982. Cost me more than $350.00! I took her out in the dead of winter, found several beer cans some idiot left in the woods, threw one as far as I could (about 30 feet) and it landed with the end toward me. First shot I put a 40 grain bullet right in the end of that can! The other five shots performed similarly. Seemed I couldn't miss with that gun! I have been hooked ever since.
Sorry for the length, but I could talk about these great guns all day and the Model 29 is responbible for my love of S&W today. Two closing thoughts:
If Harry "skidded" his 29, I think maybe that would have been in The Enforcer where it skidded off the pier into the ocean.
Also, I too have heard the .41 mag being used in DH and have always doubted that as I could not figure out why they would do it. Whatever, I wasn't there, but I'm not so sure I could tell for sure if the gun in the movie was a .41 or a .44 (the latter being only .020" larger in caliber).
Thanks again - m

 

[rdcl]

Frank Sinatra was the first choice to play Dirty Harry.

Just wouldn't be the same movie.

 

[mkk41]

And I'm thinking Sinatra would have carried a nickel-plated .32 with pearl grips!

 

[Quakertown]

And I'm thinking Sinatra would have carried a nickel-plated .32 with pearl grips!

and a strange, out-of-place-in-San Francisco..New Jersey accent.

 

[shawn mccarver]

A long time ago, I read in a gun mag that a Model 25 was used for the shooting scenes, so that the so-called Five-in-One movie blanks could be used. These blanks had a base and rim made for 45 Colt, 44/40, and 38/40 chambered revolvers. The 'Five' refers to fact they could also be used in 1873 and 1892 Winchesters.

You read it somewhere, so it must be true. Unfortunately, that is one of those oft-repeated, but untrue rumors that will just not die.

 

[153]

and a strange, out-of-place-in-San Francisco..New Jersey accent.

Clint and Director Don Siegel planned to film "Harry" in Seattle. During a stop over in S.F. they diecided to change the location. With Frank in the lead, the picture may have been moved to New York!

 

[rdcl]

Interesting that they created a poster showing Sinatra before the movie was made. I wonder if at this point the Callahan characters gun would have been a .44 magnum or something different.

Does anyone even know if the S&W model 29 was written into the script only after Eastwood was selected?


......casting Eastwood, BTW.....was a stroke of genius.


Russ

 

[JP@AK]

...casting Eastwood, BTW.....was a stroke of genius.

The story is (I don't know the source, so I can't verify it as fact) that Paul Newman, after turning down the role, suggested Eastwood. Knowing what I know about Newman, the story has the ring of truth to it. Unfortunately, Newman has now passed on, so it would be difficult to confirm this.
Jack

 

[Quakertown]

Clint and Director Don Siegel planned to film "Harry" in Seattle. During a stop over in S.F. they diecided to change the location. With Frank in the lead, the picture may have been moved to New York!

It would of had to been changed. I'm from SE Pennsylvania, close to Philly and Jersey. My uncle, who originally is from Boston, lives in California. He busts on my supposed accent all the time when I see him. East coast just has a way of speaking that stands out too much on the left coast. Watch Sparticus sometime. Tony Curtis sounds ridiculous.

 

[rczeltman]

Dirty Harry Model 29 barrel length(s) used?

I watched a television special on the making of the Dirty Harry movies and it was disclosed that they used both a 6 1/2-inch and a 8 3/8-inch length barrels of the Model 29. The 6 1/2-inch barrel was used most of the time, but the 8 3/8-inch was only used in a few scenes to achieve a larger than life shot of the Model 29. I never get tired of watching these movies with Clint Eastwood who personified a no nonsense detective who got the job done in spite of the bureaucratic superiors he reported to.

 

[vilhelm]

a no nonsense detective who got the job done in spite of the bureaucratic superiors he reported to.

I love my Dirty Harry movies but torturing a suspect is a little more than "no nonsense".

 

[Magnum-Krazy]

Well I got my promotion today.
Had to turn in my Blue-Ray 5-DVD Movie Dirty Harry badge.
Finally got a correct one ----------------
Genuine leather case, Authentic emblem recessed into case cover, gold Dirty Harry Badge, prop ID card, recessed removable Badge with Pin and Safety Catch.

Now my 29-2 6 1/2" feels a lot better !
Now to find my 3rd speed loader somewhere in the vault, and still waiting for my Dirty Harry shoulder holster.
Here's the link if you also want to get the Badge:
Dirty Harry Collectible Badge Set


Ernie