What kind of gun did Charles Bronsen use in Death Wish?

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Doug.38PR

Moderator
Been years since I've seen that movie, but what kind of gun did Charles Bronsen use in Death Wish? I remember it being a small Colt with a long barrel like a Police Positive.
Interesting movie. I remember me and my dad watching it years ago when I was in high school or something. Remember thinking how the police were acting like HE was the criminal (remember the criminals always came to HIM to try to attack him or someone else, he would just be able to shoot them and prevent it). Remember thinking that if the police would spend all the energy trying to catch the the real criminals that they did trying to catch him things wouldn't be half as bad. But of course that is what the whole story of the movie is about like a lot of 70s movies were from Clint Eastwood to Charles Bronsen, the legal system protected criminals and persecuted good guys.
 
I think it was an AutoMag or a Wildey pistol.

In one of the movies, Charles Bronson asked the bad guy, "Do you believe in Jesus...?"
BG: ( nods head )
Bronson: "...Good. 'cuz your about to Him..." :D

Here's one picture of it:
deathwish3.jpg
 
In the original, when he visit's a texan customer who give's him the gun as a gift. I remeber that it being mentioned it was .32 and had a 3" barrel.
 
He got into big, ultra powerful guns in the later movies.

In the first one, he had an antique gun of some kind. I kind of have it in mind that it is a black powder pistol, but don't really remember it that well.

Damn ... going to have to see that movie again.
 
Colt made a number of .32 Caliber revolvers up to WW-II that were similar to what Bronson had in the movie. Without getting the exact name or a close inspection of the gun, it would be difficult to tell which model he was carrying. A 3" barrel would narrow it down considerably.

The .32 caliber revolvers were;
New Pocket
Pocket Postive
New Police
Police Positive
Police Positive Special
Courier
Cobra

My best guess is that it was a Pocket Positive or a Police Positive.
 
Yep in the first movie Chuck caused all that mayhem with a 32 Colt revolver. Goes to show that it aint' the gun but the man using it. :D
 
High Planes Drifter
Wasn't it a Wildey in .475? Remember, he had it shipped to him. When he opened the box he said : Ah, Mr. Wildey is here.
Click to expand...

Yep. That was Death Wish 3. The first Death Wish, the one in which he used the Colt .32 revolver, was released in 1974. DW3 was released in either 86 or 86. I believe they made at least four or perhaps five of those movies.
 
Charles Bronson was in another movie called "Death Hunt" in which he portrayed a Canadian outlaw and fugitive named Albert Johnson. Although there are the usual number of Hollywood inaccuracies and whatnot, it this movie they at least got his primary weapon correct, which was a Savage 99.

In real life, Albert Johnson also used a sawed-off .22 Winchester rifle, in the movie a sawed-off shotgun. In the movie a Colt single-action but he didn't have one in real life as far as I have been able to determine.

Another difference was that his pursuer, Constable Millen (a sergeant in the movie) was actually killed by Johnson. And finally, Johnson did not get away and he was the mad trapper (a different character in the movie). Several other aspects of the incident were somewhat accurately depicted, such as the dynamiting of his cabin, from which he managed to escape.
 
Yeah but Death Hunt is still a great movie. I consider it one of Bronson's best. Up there with The Great Escape and The Magnificant Seven.
 
In the movie , he did use a 32 cal revolver. ( Used to know the modle but forget as i get older.) However, it was also filmed a la 70's western style. i.e. A single, unaimed shot fired at a bad guy would drop him like a stone. I'm doubting that is the case in most .32 S&W cartridge shootings. It's a pretty lame cartridge by most balistic standards. :rolleyes: Somebody must have figured this out by the time he got to his "willaby" auto-mag.
 
Billca is right. It was a .32 Colt, but I think the barrel may have been 4". The first time I saw the movie I remember being a little shocked that the gift would have been a .32 instead of a .38 or .45. I mean it DID come from a westerner! :eek:
 
I'll dissent.

It's been a while since I saw the movie, but I recall the gun being a collectible S&W .32 Hand Ejector type revolver with a nickel finish and pearl grips.

I very distinctly remember it wasn't a Colt model like a Police Positive.

I'll have to see the movie again.
 
I think the movie maybe on tonight on AMC. I'll have to check if I can catch it in time. They may reshow it later tonight too.
 
The movie was on, I just finished watching it.

In the final scene, Vincent Gardenia's cop character is in the hospital room waving the gun around.

It appeared to me that it was a Colt based on the fact that it didn't have a front ejector rod lug as do the vast majority of all S&W .32s.
 
Jeff 111 -- you left out "Telefon" with Donald Pleasance and Jill (Mrs. Bronson) Ireland. And how many here knew that the actor Donald Pleasance was a British POW during WW-II?

The .32 S&W Long (or Colt New Police if you're a Colt fan) is quite anemic by today's standards. But it is still capable of killing someone with a well placed shot. Most of you probably don't remember that the K-32 Masterpiece used to be "The" target revolver at pistol matches before about 1950.
 
It was DEFINATELY a COLT. The movie is on right now. I saw him unwrap it and take it out of the box. The mayor just said .32 caliber pistol. The gun when he unwrapped had the gate holding the cylinder closed, the shroudless and free exjector rod and the small size of a nickle plated Police Positive.

I forgot just how good this movie is. Makes red state people (arizona) sensible and good and New York polititans and detectives to be self righteous and arrogant. Gun control is frowned upon. Interestingly they keep refering to him as a vigilante, however he is not going after the criminals (in this movie, not the sequels) the criminals are always approaching and attacking him or attacking someone else, he is not hunting them down. He walks through life normally (with a gun in his pocket :cool: ). But because he shoots them and survives with a gun the police devote more resources into finding him than the real criminals. Blue state thinking for ya.:D
 
Haven't seen it in a while, but I was never fond of the Deathwish series. They do pale in comparison to the classics he did in the 60s like the aforementioned The Great Escape and The Magnificant Seven. Not to forget Once Upon A Time I n The West and The Dirty Dozen. My favorite Bronson movie from the 70s was Mr. Majestyk.
 
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