SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 13 Dirty Harry is now outgunned: Smith & Wesson has introduced its biggest handgun ever, a .50-caliber Magnum.
THE FIVE-SHOT REVOLVER with an 8½-inch barrel weighs about 4½ pounds - roughly a pound more than the big black .44 Magnum boasted by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. It fires a new .50-caliber cartridge that the company said produces nearly three times the muzzle energy of the .44 - or enough stopping power to bring down a charging bear.
The primary market for it is hunting big game, spokesman Ken Jorgensen said.
Smith & Wesson would not give production or sales estimates.
Steve Comus, publications director of the Safari Club International said he expects Smith & Wesson would sell several thousand of them to sportsmen interested in handgun hunting - and create a buzz for the company.
Its not a plinking (target shooting) gun, and its not for beginners, said Comus, who tested a prototype.
Comus described the recoil as substantial even when compared with that of other big caliber guns. Still, he called it a very manageable weapon with the stopping power of a powerful rifle.