Above is the weapon that was made famous by the Dirty Harry movie series staring Clint Eastwood.

One of his best remembered movie 'lines' was:

"I know what you're thinking: Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?... Well, do ya' punk?"

That may have been true when the first movie was released (1971), but since then, there is more than one handgun/cartridge combo that has been produced to claim that title. The Ruger .480 (1315 ft/lb) and the Casull .454 (1900 ft/lb) far exceed the .44 Mag with a paultry 900 ft/lb of muzzle energy. (Although I'm sure some gun nut has 'hot loaded' the .44 for more 'stopping power'.)

Fast forward to 2003...

Faced with lagging sales (S&W suffered from a major boycott by the gun nuts because they voluntarily added an integral 'trigger lock' to their new models), they decided to up the anté and give the gun nuts a new 'hardon' to play with...

According to S&W:

"[The '500' is the] Most Powerful Production Revolver in the World Today [using the] Massive 500 S&W Magnum® Cartridge [with] 2600 ft/lb [of] Muzzle Energy."

Which makes it (actual quote... we're NOT making this up):

Now THAT should cheer up the gun nuts. Over 4½ pounds of 'meat' to swing... simply orgasmic!

Of course, if 8+ inches isn't enough, S&W also offers the 'Hunter' version with a 10½ inch barrel. Ooo... wee, that'll impress yer' sister!