# So, uh, is this Dirty Harry's new sidearm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972 "2003-02-14T01:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/1 "2003-02-14T01:42:35Z")
[http://www.smith-wesson.com/products/firearms/m500.htm#](http://www.smith-wesson.com/products/firearms/m500.htm#) Damn! I had no idea they even made a handgun that big! The side holster to carry the thing must almost reach your knee! ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/2 "2003-02-14T03:05:27Z")
Damn, that’s a serious hand-cannon. And _just_ in time for Valentine’s Day! ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/3 "2003-02-14T03:11:57Z")
Scary. I’d be too scared to fire it. It would probably break my wrist. ---
**Author:** ![Echo23TC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Echo23TC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Echo23TC)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/4 "2003-02-14T03:20:55Z")
:eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/5 "2003-02-14T03:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*The side holster to carry the thing must almost reach your knee! \*\* Make your own penis joke here. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/6 "2003-02-14T03:25:27Z")
We need a firearms expert in here. Where does this fall in the “Godawful overpowered” spectrum with the Automag and the Cassul .454 and all of those other non-production handguns? More to the point, how much bigger is it than the Model 29(?) that Harry used to lug around? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/7 "2003-02-14T03:26:31Z")
hey ! Thanks **Bernse!** Now I know what to get Sweety for Valentine’s Day ! > [@](#): > > A Hunting Handgun For Any Game Animal Walking :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tmwster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@tmwster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmwster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/8 "2003-02-14T03:37:16Z")
Mmmmm. Overall length fifteen inches, oh my. But it’s only good for five rounds before it dry-fires. tsk, tsk. ---
**Author:** ![Echo23TC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Echo23TC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Echo23TC)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/9 "2003-02-14T03:48:43Z")
**2trew** , I am not a firearms expert, but I know that “Godawful overpowered” may be just a teeny bit of an understatement here. Roughly equivalent to 5 .357 Magnums at once. Oh, my, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/10 "2003-02-14T04:15:21Z")
**Echo23TC** , I hear ya, but that’s why we need an expert. They say it’s the most powerful “production” handgun in the world, but strangely enough there have been a lot of folks working on wierd and wonderful custom stuff for a long time. The Automag, IIRC, started with a .223 rifle round, modified the case, and built the pistol around it. A Cassul .454 starts off life as a Ruger Redhawk(?) with six in the cylinder and winds up with five in the cylinder and a whole lot more on the bullet. I’ve read news reports (once, a long time ago, no cite) about a Belgian handgun that combined high velocity low weight slugs in the same way that makes a Weatherby .460 Magnum (smaller bullet than the S&W in the OP) a better elephant gun than the .800 Nitro Express (that one throws a piece of lead more than 3/4 of an inch in cross section). A .220 Swift round leaves the muzzle at about twice what your average deer rifle will do, but can also blow itself apart from internal forces before ever getting to the target. It’s been years since I paid much attention to this stuff, and the experts don’t get more than three sentences in before they’re tied up in arcane mathematical arguments with each other, but I would like to see an opinion from somebody who’s studied the other “This is a …, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off.” contenders before I form an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/11 "2003-02-14T04:19:53Z")
I started a thread on this subject recenty, this may contain some of the answers: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156501](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=156501) ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/12 "2003-02-14T04:22:12Z")
The rounds must be pretty pricey. A good practice session would put a dent in the billfold. But, I suppose if you have $900 to spend on a hip howitzer, a few bucks per bullet wouldn’t bother ya. ---
**Author:** ![senor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@senor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senor)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/13 "2003-02-14T08:52:20Z")
Was that gun designed to kill individuals or shoot airplanes out of the sky? Also, does Wesson, of Smith &… also make cooking oil? I wonder these things. SENOR ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/14 "2003-02-14T09:14:13Z")
I like the “recoil tamed” features of that canno - err pistol. You’d have to be a large Walking Game Animal - or at least practiced in firing prodigious firearms - to handle it. “How about I blow a hole in your Humvee, punk?” ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/15 "2003-02-14T10:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > **Echo23TC, I hear ya, but that’s why we need an expert. They say it’s the most powerful “production” handgun in the world, but strangely enough there have been a lot of folks working on wierd and wonderful custom stuff for a long time.** Some of my favorites are the nuts who build a pistol around the .50cal BMG round. No, not the puny-by-comparison .50 Action Express round that the IMI Desert Eagle fires, but the .50 caliber Browning round fired by the M2 Heavy Machine Gun and Barrett’s Anti-Material Sniper Rifles. The cartridge, minus the bullet, is about 3 3/4ths inches long, so that’s a lot of powder packed behind the half inch wide bullet. Of course, with the barrel length being pistol sized, you’re not getting full use of all that power, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/16 "2003-02-14T10:57:11Z")
**I’d** use it for home defense. The elephant over the street has been eyeing me suspiciously. Seriously, why bother making pistols this big? What’s wrong with rifles? ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/17 "2003-02-14T11:03:13Z")
What’s wrong with rifles? In some jurisdictions, different laws apply for handguns vs. longarms. But of course the real reason for making a pistol of this magnitude: some guys have small dicks. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/18 "2003-02-14T11:12:24Z")
Why Dirty Harry anyways? Didn’t he carry a big Ol’ S&W .38 like Indiana Jones? This gun needs an on-screen hero! Who is it?! ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/19 "2003-02-14T11:17:43Z")
Dagnabbit! Callahan did carry a .44 Magnum - the “most powerful gun in the world” Harry Callahan (courtest imdb): I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. 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? Well, do ya punk? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972/20 "2003-02-14T12:43:10Z")
Clint Eastowood’s character in **City Heat** carried a weapon at least that big: [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087062](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087062) The joke was (this was a Blake Edwards film) that Burt Reynolds pulled out a Magnum, and Clint Eastwood pulls out an even _bigger_ piece. And this was a couple of _years_ before **Crocodile**"That’s not a knife. _That’s_ a Knife! **Dundee**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-is-this-dirty-harrys-new-sidearm/154972.md?page=2)