Do you feel lucky, punk . . . giant Magnum makes gun-slinger's day

The Irish Independent ^ | February 15, 2003 | James Doran

[MadIvan]

DIRTY Harry has a new gun - and it is the biggest, most powerful revolver in the world.

Its .50 calibre bullets are capable of stopping a charging bear dead in its tracks.

The gun, made by Smith & Wesson, dwarfs the .44 calibre Magnum previously known as the most powerful revolver and used by Clint Eastwood in the 'Dirty Harry' films.

The new gun weighs 4lb and is 15in long, with almost double the firepower of most assault rifles on the American market.

The enormous revolver costs $989, holds five bullets, and, with a force of 2,600lb per square foot, is capable of blasting through bricks and the engine block of most cars.

Despite the gun's almost impractical size and weight Smith & Wesson has received a much larger response from America's gun lovers than it imagined.

"The initial reaction has been even stronger than we anticipated so we are ramping up production to meet demand," Bob Scott, Smith & Wesson's chairman, said.

The company claims that the huge gun is designed with big game hunters in mind, who could use the gun as a sidearm to protect against wild animals. The anti-gun lobby disagrees.

"This gun is not being made for hunters. It is being made for bored, white gun enthusiasts who want to make a bigger hole in whatever it is they are shooting at," Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington think tank, said.

Mr Sugarmann believes that the gun is designed to revive flagging sales of handguns. In California, sales of handguns have fallen by 160,000 to 170,000 a year in 10 years.

[Ches]

Buy a good ol 45/75

I would think a .444 Marlin would be a good round. Sorta a .44 mag on steroids.

[Lion Den Dan]

I want a 3 inch round but version. Not in Titanium though.

[Titanites]

As are the bullets from a .22. It's all about shot placement.

Sounds like the talk of someone who hasn't seen one of our Alaskan brown bears up close.

[jordan8]

Liberalism is American Naziism
White people are its victims
The Democratic party is its political front

It is being made for bored, white gun enthusiasts who want to make a bigger hole in whatever it is they are shooting at
They always bring it down to race, don't they? Organized gun control isn't about getting guns out of the hands of criminals, that would be just a hoped-for side benefit. It is about taking guns out of the hands of all those white males before even the densest among them tumble to the slow-motion holocaust the radical left has been perpetrating against them since the 1960's and decide to do something about it.

[11B3]

Try this one for ANYTHING:

[Mulder]

In California, sales of handguns have fallen by 160,000 to 170,000 a year in 10 years.

I sort of doubt that. A more accurate statement would be "sales of handguns reported to the state have fallen by 160,000 to 170,000 a year in 10 years."

Sugarwuss, like most do-gooder liberals simply fail to realize that many Americans simply choose to ignore the law when it infringes upon their God-given Rights.

[Teacher317]

new management re-making their good name with a solid first step.

Good for you, S&W!

[martian_22]

I hear it's going to be new and improved with 65% more evil!

Somebody used the think tank for a septic tank IMO.

[RipSawyer]

As are the bullets from a .22. It's all about shot placement.

"Sounds like the talk of someone who hasn't seen one of our Alaskan brown bears up close."

First one must convince the bear to stand still so the shot can be placed through the eye into the brain cavity. Are you saying the bear won't willingly cooperate? My father used to have a trick of whistling to make a cottontail rabbit stop momentarily so he could shoot it with a .22, surely this would work with a thousand pound Kodiak charging at full speed. Wouldn't it?

[DrNo]

"This gun is not being made for hunters. It is being made for bored, white gun enthusiasts who want to make a bigger hole in whatever it is they are shooting at," Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington think tank, said.

Hey, I resemble that remark! I resemble it very much!

[DrNo]

I'll wait for a "snubbie" version, so I can carry it concealed!

[RipSawyer]

I want a shot caller 2000!!!!!

[Fester Chugabrew]

"Do you feel lucky, punk?"

Which Eastwood movie has this line? We'd like to rent the video.

Thanks.

[Inyo-Mono]

I doubt it too. Can't remember the source, but I recall reading that more handguns are sold in California each year than any other state.

[RipSawyer]

"My father used to have a trick of whistling to make a cottontail rabbit stop momentarily so he could shoot it with a .22, surely this would work with a thousand pound Kodiak charging at full speed. Wouldn't it?"

Any particular song?

Song of the South, like in Br'er Rabbit?

Actually, one should whistle "Feelings", I am told that huge brown bears are a sucker for Streisand.