List of James Bond firearms

The following is a list of firearms used by James Bond in the novel, film, and video game adventures.

Novels

Ian Fleming

When Ian Fleming wrote the first of the James Bond novels, "Casino Royale", he had no idea the direction in which the stories would go, let alone how many he would eventually write. So when he introduced Bond as using a Beretta 418 in a flat chamois leather holster he probably didn't think too much about it. He had used a .25 ACP Beretta during the Second World War when he was in Naval Intelligence and felt it was an appropriate side arm for a secret agent on an undercover mission.

Shortly before the publication of "From Russia with Love" in 1956, Fleming received a fan letter from a Geoffrey Boothroyd. Boothroyd was an author and gun collector. Boothroyd told Fleming that he really admired the Bond novels apart from the hero's choice of weapon. He felt that the Beretta 418 was "a lady's gun" with no real stopping power. [ 'Bond's unsung heroes' The Sunday Telegraph, Seven (supplement) 2008-05-18 retrieved 2008-05-19] He also objected to the choice of holster. Boothroyd proposed that Bond should use a revolver like the Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight. It had no external hammer, so it would not catch on Bond's clothes. The Smith & Wesson could be kept in a Berns-Martin triple draw holster held in place with a spring clip which would decrease Bond's draw time. Boothroyd also had bad words about the suppressor Bond occasionally used, saying that they were rarely silent and reduced the power of a gun.

Fleming replied, thanked the Boothroyd for his letter, and made a few points. He felt that Bond ought to have an automatic pistol; perhaps Boothroyd could recommend one? He agreed that the Beretta 418 lacked power, but pointed out that Bond had used more powerful weapons when the need required, such as the Colt Army Special he uses in "Moonraker". Fleming also said that he had seen a silenced Sten gun during the war and the weapon had hardly made a whisper.

Bond's "Colt Army Special .45", the pistol Flemming describes Bond having under the dash in his car, is also a misnomer. Colt did, indeed, produce a double action revolver in the early years of the twentieth century that was given the nomenclature "Army Special." However, the revolver was built on what Colt called its .41 caliber frame, first introduced in 1888 as the "New Army and Navy." A smokeless powder version was released in the early 1900s, now called the Army Special, a nomenclature continued until Colt released the Official Police model in the late 1920s. Army Specials were typically chambered for .38 Special or .32-20 Winchester, but never for .45. That large caliber was restricted to Colt's New Service, first released in 1905, and the Colt Shooting Master, issued in the 1930s. However, Fleming most likely implied that this gun was a Colt M1911 pistol [http://www.ajb007.co.uk/articles/handguns-of-james-bond//] .

Boothroyd recommended the Walther PPK 7.65 mm as being the best choice for an automatic of that size, with its ammunition available everywhere. He suggested, however, that 007 ought to have a revolver for long-range work. Fleming asked Boothroyd if he could lend his illustrator Richard Chopping one of his guns to be painted for the cover of "From Russia with Love". Boothroyd lent Chopping a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver that had the trigger guard removed for faster firing.

Fleming had Bond's Beretta caught in his holster at the end of "From Russia with Love", an event that almost costs the secret agent his life. In the next novel, "Dr. No", a certain Major Boothroyd recommends that Bond switch guns. Bond is issued a Walther PPK but is told to carry it in a Berns-Martin triple draw holster, which is designed only to carry revolvers. This mistake was possibly due to an error in Fleming's notes, transposing the Walther PPK for the Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight. However, Fleming lore says that Fleming had bought such a holster and had it sent to Jamaica, making this error all the more puzzling. It has been argued over the years that Q-branch could have modified this legendary holster to accommodate automatics, but this is unlikely- the design of the holster was centered around the cylinder of a revolver, where the spring clip would "grip" the pistol.

Raymond Benson

When James Bond expert Raymond Benson was asked to take over writing the series, he briefly gave Bond back his Walther PPK. Benson also brought the series in line with the films and concurrently replaced Bond's PPK with the Walther P99 in the film novelisation "Tomorrow Never Dies".

Non-EON films

Video Games

Note: The names of several firearms have been changed in the video games.

References

External links

* [http://www.longmountain.com/movieguns/007-SeanConnery Sean Connery's main guns]
* [http://www.longmountain.com/movieguns/007-RogerMoore Roger Moore's main gun]
* [http://www.longmountain.com/movieguns/007-TimothyDalton Timothy Dalton's main gun]
* [http://www.longmountain.com/movieguns/007-dieanotherday/piercebrosnan Pierce Brosnan's main guns]