11 Movie Mistakes Only Smug Nerds Would Ever Notice

6. Magnums - Too Powerful For One Hand

Hollywood lies about guns all the time. In reality, a gunshot will not blow you off your feet, you won't be able to hide behind a table to protect yourself, and automatic gunfire is remarkably difficult to dodge: but movies have never cared about those devastating accuracies, because they would lead to most action movie stars ending up dead within the first act.

Arguably the most devastating, and mythology-destroying revelation from the world of gun science is the fact that some guns, such as the iconic .45 calibre Magnum that Dirty Harry favours, is so powerful that it cannot be held and fired with one hand. The resulting kick-back would be enough to snap even the burly, macho wrists of Clint Eastwood, and would probably fire the bullet straight up into the air, rather than with the devastating accuracy Callahan always seemed to manage.

So, all of those posters and screengrabs you've seen from Dirty Harry movies lack the authentic touch of a perpetual sling and arm cast, which would have been pretty game-changing for the longevity and legacy of the character. Well almost all of them...