true or false?

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bigfreakinrevolver

bigfreakinrevolver

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mount vernon,wa
i was told by a gun smith the other day that he worked on the dirty harry 29-2's. he was told to change the caliber from 44 mag to 45 colt by the prop guy for the movie is this true??
 
Well if you believe Wikipedia - then "both", it has an unsupported reference that the actual shooting shots, were done with blanks. However, as the .44 Magnum was new, they did not have blanks. But they did in .45 Colt and hence the purported "truth" that he actually was firing a Model 25 in the .45 Colt, the Model 29 was for the closeup glamour shots.

But who's to believe Wikipedia - they also state that Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum is the second best known screen weapon. Coming in second the Star Wars - Lightsaber. I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach now.
 
I believe he might have because he has been around for a long time, and talked of how the shop was packed with people trying to see the guns. so is it worth having a 29-2 done the same way by him is the big question. And how does one prove he did the work on both the guns? would the s&w historian know??
 
IMFDB says they had .44 blanks made up because 5 in 1s would not work.

What work would you have somebody who is at best a prop maker and likely a liar do to your gun?
 
Flint Ridge said:
Well if you believe Wikipedia - then "both", it has an unsupported reference that the actual shooting shots, were done with blanks. However, as the .44 Magnum was new, they did not have blanks. But they did in .45 Colt and hence the purported "truth" that he actually was firing a Model 25 in the .45 Colt, the Model 29 was for the closeup glamour shots.
Click to expand...

I have also heard that they used a model 57 in 41 magnum for actual shooting due to "not being able to get blanks in 44 magnum.

Let's think about this for a minute in reference to the quoted post, specifically the bolded part.

1. the 44 magnum was designed in the early 50's, released and available to the public in what, 1954

2. Dirty Harry was filmed in 1971

3. the 41 magnum was developed in the mid 60's, the model 57 was released in 1967.

4. 44 special has been around since the early 1900's, say 1908 or so.

I find it hard to believe that blanks for 44 magnum or 44 special, which they also could have used were not available, yet they could find blanks for a 41 magnum? A caliber of cartridge that has NEVER been very plentiful or particularly popular?

By 1970, the 45 colt was about dead as a cartridge, outside of a few cowboys who hung onto their Colt 1873's and replicas. It's possible the movie industry had plentiful 45 colt blanks considering how many westerns were still being produced at that time

But the whole "they couldnt find blanks" thing never really held water to me.
 
Lord help us . . .

FIRST - "wikipedia" and other sites that accept submissions of "facts" from just about anyone are USELESS for hard information in my book. "Hey, it has to true - IT'S ON THE INTERNET!" :rolleyes:

This cabbage has been chewed to death by arm chair commandos and people who are experts propping up gun shop counters with their bloviating BS . . .

The guns were 44's - Not 41's, Not 45's, and it's all well documented. There are so many stories floating around by people talking out their rear ends about this it has become a cottage industry for urban legendary for decades. Some guys have to make up interesting stories to dazzle newbies with or pass on any hare-brained scuttlebutt they hear as fact, since the truth isn't nearly as interesting. I once heard an old preacher say that "a lie will make it half-way around the world before the truth can get it's shoes on . . . " Just so.

For some reason the mis-information about the "Harry" movies and associated gun facts have always irritated me more than all the other junk from TV and movies. I know I'm wasting my time venting since these threads show up with regularity and there is no doubt they will continue to do so.
 
i agree jim but his shop has been around for longer then ive been alive and he does amazing work. he is the only gun smith in his shop. The shop is called Greenes gun shop in WA. Also wiki again quoting says "Originally it was set in New York City, not San Francisco, California, and ended with a police sniper instead of Callahan taking out Scorpio. Another earlier version of the story was set in Seattle, Washington. sorry dont mean to make anyone angry just want to know. if all that is said everywhere is a lie then whats the truth Nframefred?
 
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I heard it was actually a highly modified Colt M1877 Lightning revolver and they had to smear each frame of the film with grease to make it look like a S&W 29 since it would cost them too much to re-film the whole movie but Elvis said he had plans and everyone would believe it so they just went with it.
 
It's a he** of a lot easier to load up 44 blanks, than to recut chambers. There are, and were then also lots of custom ammo mfg's.
 
It was a movie, and the script line of the character "Inspector Callahan" said " This is a 44 Mag..." so that's what it was-according to the fictional movie the revolver was a 44 Mag. For me-nuf said.
 
Years ago I had a chat with Roy Jinks about this very question. He told me that he had worked on the guns himself, one with a 6 (or 6 1/2", memories fade) and one with an 8 3/8" barrel. The "long" one was for shots looking up the barrel ("I gots to know!"). He said that despite rumours to the contrary both were Model 29s. He could not address the caliber conversion issue and said that Stembridge may have converted them to use 5-in-1 blanks because of the availability of those blanks but had no firsthand knowledge about that.

Apparently there were rubber versions of the gun for the movies as well. I believe one of those is on display at the NRA musuem.
 
bigfreakinrevolver said:
I believe he might have because he has been around for a long time, and talked of how the shop was packed with people trying to see the guns. so is it worth having a 29-2 done the same way by him is the big question. And how does one prove he did the work on both the guns? would the s&w historian know??
Click to expand...

Here's a few questions. Who did he work for at the time? From my conversation with Roy Jinks, the guns were shipped to Stembridge, the prop house.

Why would people be in the shop to see the guns? The movie hadn't been made yet, so who would make a special trip to see a gun that was going to be used in some cop flick starring some guy whose fame came from spaghetti westerns?
 
This myth always cracks me up.

First - the budget for Dirty Harry was $4,000,000 - that would be about $22,000,000 today. They could afford any blanks they wanted.

Second - anyone who has seen the movie knows the sound you hear when he fires that gun isn't from a blank. Its some kind of post-production unreal gun shot added in during editing. An empty case with a primer would work just fine during filming.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
I heard it was actually a highly modified Colt M1877 Lightning revolver and they had to smear each frame of the film with grease to make it look like a S&W 29 since it would cost them too much to re-film the whole movie but Elvis said he had plans and everyone would believe it so they just went with it.
Click to expand...

I read somwhere it was actually a light saber.....
 
Fat Old Guy said:
Years ago I had a chat with Roy Jinks about this very question. He told me that he had worked on the guns himself, one with a 6 (or 6 1/2", memories fade) and one with an 8 3/8" barrel. The "long" one was for shots looking up the barrel ("I gots to know!"). He said that despite rumours to the contrary both were Model 29s. He could not address the caliber conversion issue and said that Stembridge may have converted them to use 5-in-1 blanks because of the availability of those blanks but had no firsthand knowledge about that.

Apparently there were rubber versions of the gun for the movies as well. I believe one of those is on display at the NRA musuem.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it is fro real or not, but Celebrities casino in Deadwood South Dakota has a display that they claim is a "Rubber" prop gun from the Dirty Harry Movies.

cid__Photo033.jpg


cid__Photo035.jpg
 
A10 said:
I read somewhere it was actually a light saber.....
Click to expand...
After all the "I heard this" and "I heard that" silliness that keeps getting regurgitated here when it's been refuted ad nauseum . . . I'm ready to concede to the above. And Vader was Harry's father . . . .
 
nipster said:
I have also heard that they used a model 57 in 41 magnum for actual shooting due to "not being able to get blanks in 44 magnum.

Let's think about this for a minute in reference to the quoted post, specifically the bolded part.

1. the 44 magnum was designed in the early 50's, released and available to the public in what, 1954

2. Dirty Harry was filmed in 1971

3. the 41 magnum was developed in the mid 60's, the model 57 was released in 1967.

4. 44 special has been around since the early 1900's, say 1908 or so.

I find it hard to believe that blanks for 44 magnum or 44 special, which they also could have used were not available, yet they could find blanks for a 41 magnum? A caliber of cartridge that has NEVER been very plentiful or particularly popular?

By 1970, the 45 colt was about dead as a cartridge, outside of a few cowboys who hung onto their Colt 1873's and replicas. It's possible the movie industry had plentiful 45 colt blanks considering how many westerns were still being produced at that time

But the whole "they couldnt find blanks" thing never really held water to me.
Click to expand...

Plus one ^^^^^^
 
I also heard that the "light saber" was originally part of the scipt. If you look close in a couple of scenes you can possibly see one. I also heard if you watch the movie "backwards" you will see Darf Vader playing the part as Harry Calahan.
 
NFrameFred said:
Lord help us . . .

FIRST - "wikipedia" and other sites that accept submissions of "facts" from just about anyone are USELESS for hard information in my book. "Hey, it has to true - IT'S ON THE INTERNET!" :rolleyes:

This cabbage has been chewed to death by arm chair commandos and people who are experts propping up gun shop counters with their bloviating BS . . .

The guns were 44's - Not 41's, Not 45's, and it's all well documented. There are so many stories floating around by people talking out their rear ends about this it has become a cottage industry for urban legendary for decades. Some guys have to make up interesting stories to dazzle newbies with or pass on any hare-brained scuttlebutt they hear as fact, since the truth isn't nearly as interesting. I once heard an old preacher say that "a lie will make it half-way around the world before the truth can get it's shoes on . . . " Just so.

For some reason the mis-information about the "Harry" movies and associated gun facts have always irritated me more than all the other junk from TV and movies. I know I'm wasting my time venting since these threads show up with regularity and there is no doubt they will continue to do so.
Click to expand...

^^^ Can I use that? :) ^^^ Are we sure it was a preacher? ;)
 
NFrameFred said:
After all the "I heard this" and "I heard that" silliness that keeps getting regurgitated here when it's been refuted ad nauseum . . . I'm ready to concede to the above. And Vader was Harry's father . . . .
Click to expand...

Wait. Darth Vader was Harry's father???

My mind is now blown. And yet it makes so much sense now. Yes, it's all starting to cone together now o_O.
 
5-in-1s had been around for many years by the time Dirty Harry came along, and the .44 Mag was introduced in 1955.

I have some here, they fit perfectly in my Model 29, and converting a .44 Mag to fire ".45" blanks would have been idiotic since the 5-in-1 was used in both caliber guns extensively in Hollywood.

There were no feeding issues to be dealt with, and the 5-in-1 would have functioned every bit as well in an un-altered 29 in .44 caliber as it would have in one altered to .45 caliber.
Denis

In looking further, there is some mention elsewhere on the Internet that the 5-in-1 has been re-designed at some point to also fit the .44 Mag.
I have a brass 5-in-1 fired in a scene from the old Werewolf TV series in the early 1980s here someplace & recall a slightly different configuration up front, but it should have fit a .44 Mag chamber.
If not, I'm wrong. :)

Still would have been easier to fabricate .44 Mag blanks than to alter the guns.
 
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