What kind of S&W did Roy Schieder/Chief Brody use in Jaws 1 & 2?

Doug.38PR

Moderator
What kind of S&W revolver did Roy Schieder use in the first two Jaws movies? It looked like a S&W M-15, didn't think I saw the underlug of the M-19 but it was hard to tell. Wouldn't it take a magnum bullet to penetrate a great white shark skin? Or could a strong enough +P round or armor piercing round do it?
 
Plain old ball/LRN/LSWC would have penetrated without much trouble -- shark skin isn't all that thick, IIRC; and the scales are TINY, like sandpaper. Now, just how much damage it would have done once it penetrated is another matter.

BTW -- Way back when, I was fishing offshore when I caught a shark -- about a 100 lb'er -- and my father shot it when brought alongside of the boat -- it was a .357 Mag Blackhawk, loaded with .38 Spl JHP's IIRC. Anyway, the bullet easily completely penetrated the shark all the way through, and just happened to clip the wire leader on the way through -- bye bye shark, it was gone.

Point is: sharks aren't very resistant to bullets. No bones, scales are miniscule.
 
I think you're correct, Doug - - -

Best I recall, the chief was using the S&W Combat Masterpiece - - The Model 15, if made post-1957.

Only shark I ever saw shot, I hit it in the head with a .45 ACP 230 FMJ, It was a rather small shark, and the bullet went right through the head. It was on a line at the time, so I got to examine the result at close quarters.

Best,
Johnny
 
There is a fascinating photograph of Hemingway sitting in the back of his fishing boat with his shark gun: a Thompson sub-machine gun. Too bad I can't reproduce it here.
 
Bluetrain:

I seem to recall reading this book on the "Fishing Hall of Shame" that related an incident pertaining to Hemingway, where he was fishing, caught a shark (IIRC Mako), was about to shoot it when it flopped just right and hit the gun. He dropped the gun and it discharged, hitting him in the leg. It was titled something like "Shark Shoots Man". I've got that book around here somewhere, I'll have to look it up.
 
Last edited:
I recall Chief Brody's gun being a Model 15.

Elmer Keith wrote about shooting sharks with his .44 magnum. He said that HPs would blow up on the water bu hard cast lead slugs would penetrate the fish 2-3 feet below the water. Mythbusters recently did a show about shooting into water and even the .50 BMG didn't penetrate but a couple of feet so maybe Elmer's sharks were actually on the surface and he only thought they were submerged.
 
all these storys of shooting sharks in the water reminds me of a scene in the movie Armed and Dangerous where John Candy catches and kills a shark with a hook, line and Detective Special :D
 
Back
Top