Review: The .44 Magnum and Dirty Harry

By Allan B. Colombo Sept 1972, Guns magazine The article, “The 44 Magnum and Dirty Harry,” published in the September 1972 issue of Guns magazine, discusses the movie, the prime actor, Clint Eastwood, how the movie excited gun enthusiasts, and Eastwood’s performance so far as realistic use of the .44 Magnum revolver is concerned. “The movie, “Dirty Harry” starring Clint Eastwood, is a good picture as far as gun enthusiasts are concerned. It has real guns--not the exotic fantasies of the James Bond series--and they are, for the most part, used in a realistic way,” says the author, Walter Rickell. Scorpio aims from a roof in San Francisco. According to Rickell, Eastwood received expert instructions on how to fire a real .44 Magnum. The weapon of choice, as depicted in the movie, as an honest to goodness Smith & Wesson, Model 29. “These were not in production at the time but a little string pulling was done and Fred Miller at the plant had a couple assembled from parts,” says Rickell. “...Eastwood spent many hours on the range with Bob Sauer instructing him in the use of ‘The World’s Most Powerful Handgun.’” Dirty Harry confronts Scorpio. The result of the instruction that the star of the movie received was a more than realistic performance in most all respects, down to how such a powerful weapon is aimed and fired as well as the actual recoil. Toward the end of the article, Rickell asks the question: “Is ‘Dirty Harry’ pro or anti-gun?” I guess you’ll have to wait and read this magazine article to find out the answer (click here).

Dirty Harry, played by Clint Eastwood.

Between bites of is hotdog, Dirty Harry stops this get-away car with two rounds of his .44 Magnum.