May I suggest that Mr. Bond be armed with a revolver?

[Br]

The old auto vs. revolver discussions indeed go way back.

Letters of Note has a great exchange between a firearms expert & Ian Fleming discussing which weapons would best suit 007.

I have, by now, got rather fond of Mr. James Bond. I like most of the things about him, with the exception of his rather deplorable taste in firearms. In particular, I dislike a man who comes into contact with all sorts of formidable people using a .25 Beretta. This sort of gun is really a lady's gun, and not a really nice lady at that. If Mr. Bond has to use a light gun he would be better off with a .22 rim fire; the lead bullet would cause more shocking effect than the jacketed type of the .25.

Its worth a read.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/06/may-i-suggest-that-mr-bond-be-armed.html

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Old news. That was an excerpt from Maj Geoffrey Boothroyd to Ian Fleming in the early 60's, I believe. Fleming considered it, but insisted the Bond gun be able to be fitted with a silencer, pretty much excluding the revolver. Yet, Bond got upgraded to the PPK, and Fleming compromised with the inclusion of a Centennial S&W .38 as a backup gun (Boothroyd originally recommended a S&W .38 Centennial with a S&W Model 27 8 3/8" for long range, etc). Not exactly what Boothroyd wanted, but the Centennial made it into the book with the PPK.

 

[Br]

Old News. That was an excerpt from Maj Geoffrey Boothroyd to Ian Fleming in the early 60's, I believe.

Very old, May of 1956 to be exact! I still like seeing the original scanned letter.

 

[Rembrandt]

Mr Bond (Roger Moore) did use a revolver in "Live & Let Die".....kinda remember it being a stainless 8" 629 against the Voodoo guy.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

You're right. Every Bond fan should learn some of the history. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

VooDoo guy Geoffry Holder as Baron Samedi

 

[Haxby]

It's too bad British revolvers were all so bloody ugly. Hardly the sort of thing you would carry under a dinner jacket.

 

[pockets]

Actually.....Bond DID have a revolver in nearly every book.
In Casino Royale (book #1) chapter 1: "His last action [before going to sleep] was to slip his right hand under the pillow until it rested under the butt of the .38 Colt Police Positive with the sawn barrel."
In 'Casino Royale' (and subsequent books) Bond had a Beretta 418 in a shoulder holster, a .45 in the Bentley's glove-box, and a .38 with a 'sawn barrel' he kept under his pillow at night. In fact, I think the .38 is the first gun mentioned in the 007 series....Chapter 1, book 1.

When he was finally issued the .32 PPK in book #6, he was also issued a .38 S&W Airweight;
""That's settled then." M's voice was final. "And what about something bigger?"
"There's only one gun for that, sir," said Major Boothroyd stolidly. "Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight. Revolver. •38 calibre. Hammerless, so it won't catch in clothing. Overall length of six and a half inches and it only weighs thirteen ounces. To keep down the weight, the cylinder holds only five cartridges. But by the time they're gone," Major Boothroyd allowed himself a wintry smile, "somebody's been killed. Fires the -38 S & W Special. Very accurate cartridge indeed. With standard loading it has a .muzzle velocity of eight hundred and sixty feet per second and muzzle energy of two hundred and sixty foot-pounds. There are various barrel lengths, three and a half inch, five inch…"

.

 

[Jeb21]

Muzzle energy of 290lbs for a 38 special. That is a bit high I think. Still a very need read. Thanks

 

[pockets]

Muzzle energy of 290lbs for a 38 special. That is a bit high I think.

I just quote 'em ..... Mr. Fleming wrote it.

.

 

[mustang_steve]

250 is more accurate...38spl and 7.62x38mmR are very closely matched for muzzle energy in factory loads.

 

[pockets]

If you read it more carefully, you will see that Ian Fleming wrote; "two hundred and sixty (260) foot-pounds".

Anyway, my point wasn't how accurate Mr. Flemming's .38 Special ballistics knowledge was. My point is that James Bond 007 did indeed have a revolver (in addition to the Beretta, the PPK, and other guns) in pretty much every book written by Mr. Fleming.
Remember, the original 007 books were written from 1952 through 1964 (when Fleming died).
Great books, quick and fun to read. Better than the movies in many ways.
.

 

[Checkman]

Good thread.

 

[toivo]

Mr. Boothroyd speaks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuO34MDezzU

(He's not a major; Fleming created a character called Major Boothroyd in honor of the real Mr. Boothroyd.)

 

[Ron James]

And , for what it's worth, James Bonds PPK would not have been a Walther , but rather a French Manurhin ( which also made the post war Walther PP's and PPK's. This is the gun the British Secret service purchased . You're right the original James Bond books were easy to read and fun. Alas, Mr. Fleming was not a gun person, he made several mistakes , but to his credit, only a gun person would catch.

 

[David E]

In "Live and Let Die," Roger Moore used a Ruger stainless Redhawk with 7 1/2" barrel, carried in a Bianchi X-2000 shoulder holster.

 

[dtvburns]

I never saw that letter before, thanks for posting.

 

[m3mackenzie]

Bond used a revolver in the book version of doctor no.

 

[VA27]

IIRC, Bond had a Colt 45 under the dash of the Bentley Blower he drove while in London. Somehow I got the impression it was a New Service rather than a SAA...but I read the books in the early sixties and my memory may be faulty.

Google Bentley blower. What a tough and magnificent looking car!

 

[Derry 1946]

IMFDb shows Connery with a DS.

 

[Ron James]

You know, I don't think the book clarifies the subject, but I was always under the impression the .Colt .45 under the dash of the Bentley was a Colt 1911. 1911's would have been very common in England at the time, not so much the other two weapons mentioned.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I believe the matter of the Colt .45 in the Bentley will always be the choice of the reader (referenced in the books, not the movies), so it will depend on what YOU prefer, auto or revolver. It might even be a SAA! That is the cool thing about books....a little just might get left to our imaginations.

 

[Ron James]

In any case, he lost it when he totaled the Bentley, ( in the book. Moonraker )

 

[leadcounsel]

I never cared for James Bond. I always thought he was a tool, the villians were dumb, and everything was so far-fetched you'd just roll your eyes.

And Bond was always so poor at things that he was supposedly good at - martial arts were just silly looking, he fired from the hip on every occassion, and he rarely seemed to pick up the bad guys weapons, but instead would cast them aside... *really?*

I liked the Austin Powers spoof, which I think drilled the point home on how nonsense the Bond series always were.

 

[wow6599]

In "Live and Let Die," Roger Moore used a Ruger stainless Redhawk with 7 1/2" barrel, carried in a Bianchi X-2000 shoulder holster.

Ruger hadn't come-out with the Redhawk yet.........it was a Model 29.