"AP-Springfield, Mass - Dirty Harry now is outgunned: Smith & Wesson has introduced its biggest handgun ever, a .50-caliber Magnum.

The five-shot revolver with an 8 1/2-inch barrel weighs about 4 1/2 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. In fact, company spokesman Ken Jorgensen maintained it is intended primarily for big game hunters" (Firearms, The Daily Progress, February 14, 2003).