The True Story of Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum S&W Model 29

THAT MAN HAD RIGHTS Callahan " Well I'm all torn up about that man's rights "

“You want a capable armorer” I know of an actor who needed to watch this video.

I woke up this morning and I had to ask myself.... "Do I feel lucky?" TFB posts a Dirty Harry trivia video. Looks like I was.

Fun fact: The script originally called for Harry to carry a four inch nickel or chrome plated M 29. But the sales of M29´s were so low that there just were no guns for sale of that type. S&W at that time just made a low batch of a number of guns and that was that until the next batch. So what was available was a couple of 6 1/2 inch blued models and that was what they went with. Now, over the course of filming the barrel lengths varied. 6&1/2 to 8 3/8 inches were used and as said in the video, it was a case of availability.

This blew my head clean off...

I know what your thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kind of lost track my self. But being as this is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?'

Interesting that he doesn't mention John Milius at all. Without him doing a draft of the early script (it went through a few by a few different writers, including Terrence Malick) then there would be no .44 Magnum in the script. When it comes to firearms in film, Milius is very important figure in that regard, especially since he is quite the gun-buff.

I was a young uniform cop when the Dirty Harry movies came out. My agency issued us a Model 15 and did not allow any personal weapons for anything other than off-duty carry, and those required approval & we had to qualify w/them. All that said some in our ranks did buy the .S&W 44 Mag and tried tocarry it on duty, but were caught by their sergeant & faced disciplinary actions. Not worth the hassle to me but I still enjoy these movies.

I'm 48 years old my father bought a Smith & Wesson model 29 long barrel from Van loon and sporting goods in Cincinnati and I remember him waiting months to get his hands on it because of the movie.. I have the gun now in the original box that came in with the bill of sale 80 bucks

Because of Dirty Harry my dad got me a S&W Model 29 in 44 Magnum 6.5 in barrel in 1974 when I was 12 years old, I still have that firearm today and have about 40,000 rounds through it. MY dad and I both had a blast with that firearm.

I had no idea the space station was so well defended. The Martian's better recognize...

When i was a kid in the eighties you couldn't go in a gun store without seeing a whole display of these.

John Milius was the one who gave the character Dirty Harry the gun because of its symbolism. The gun, as stated, is designed for hunting. It might be something of what was referred to as a "Howdah Pistol" a backup gun for big game hunters. Milius wanted to portray Harry as a hunter so he gave him that gun despite the fact it is perhaps too large for use for most police officers.

It's a shame all those great firearms are trapped in California. ☹️

My father was gifted a S&W 29-2 for his High School graduation. Never been fired. Really is a beautiful gun!

I’ve heard that it was John Milius - who was an uncredited screenwriter in Dirty Harry, and wrote the screenplay for the sequel, “Magnum Force” - specifically wrote the model 29 into the script

It destroyed the 41 magnum model 57 in sales because of the movie. Now a lot of folks don't even know what a 41 magnum is. It was a more manageable round than the 44.

$140 for a model 29! I know what the first thing I'm doing when I get a time machine is.

John Milieus the writer of the film was a gun guy. They gave Harry that gun, because the model 29 was designed for hunting or finishing off large game, and they wanted Harry to come off as a hunter, not a standard cop. That’s what the commentary on the blu ray says

Arnold in Red Heat...."what is Dirty Harry?"