The Dirty Harry Movies

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Dirty Harry 1971

www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/trivia


Magnum Force 1973

www.imfdb.org/w/Magnum_Force


This video shows the actual gun used by Dirty Harry in "The Enforcer."

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....Although Dirty Harry was using the S&W Model 29 ( 44 magnum ) Revolver, in the movie "Magnum Force", while in the indoor police range, with the rookies, He confessed to using the "Light Specials", for less recoil.

....Harry also said that the recoil would be the same as shooting .357 magnum wadcutters. I tested his opinion about this and took my four inch Colt Python ( the same has the rookies carried in the movie ) and I carried my S&W 29-3 with it's 6 inch barrel, and I also carried 44 specials.

......Dirty Harry was Right.......Clint Eastwood was once a competitive handgun shooter.

Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) returns with his ".44 Magnum", a Smith & Wesson Model 29 with a 6 1/2" barrel as his famous sidearm in the film. In the film, Callahan's .44 loads are in fact .44 Special, and not Magnums. He notes so by stating "It's a light Special. This size gun it gives you better control and less recoil than a .357 Magnum with wadcutters." Granted, in this context, the dialogue could have meant that he used a 'light' .44 Magnum cartridge, possibly reloaded by himself; however, with a commentary by director John Milius in the 2008 DVD release of the Dirty Harry series, he states that the "light Special" line was in fact a mistake in the script.
www.imfdb.org/w/Magnum_Force

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......This is from Dirty Harry (1971).......Magnum Force came out in 1973

"It is a common misconception that a Model 29 could not be located and a Model 57, chambered in .41 Magnum, was used instead. Clint Eastwood contacted Bob Sauer, representative for Smith and Wesson, to acquire the pistol. The Model 29 had been out of production for several years at the time, but a number of pistols were assembled from parts at the factory and provided to the crew. Eastwood took one to a firing range to familiarize himself with the Model 29."

.... Later on, in this same article :

"All of the blanks for Harry's gun had to be made especially for the film, as the standard 5-in-1 blanks used in most films do not fit a .44 chamber."

www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/trivia