The Guns Of James Bond

"As Bond's biographer I am most anxious to see that he lives as long as possible and I shall be most grateful for any further technical advices you might like me to pass on to him.

"Again, with very sincere thanks for your extremely helpful and workmanlike letter."

BOOTHROYD TO FLEMING, 1ST JUNE

"I was truly delighted to receive your charming letter. This is the first time I have had either the inclination or the temerity to write to the author of any books that pass through my hands; quite frankly, in many cases the rest of the material is not worth backing up by correct and authentic 'gun dope.' You have, incidentally, enslaved the rest of my household, people staying up to all hours of the night in an endeavour to finish a book before some other interested party swipes it.

"If I am to be considered for the post of Bond's ballistic man I should give you my terms of reference. Age 31, English, unmarried. Member of the following Rifle Clubs: N.R.A., Gt. Britain, English Twenty Club, National Rifle Association of America (nonresident member), West of Scotland Rifle Club, Muzzle Loaders Association of Gt. Britain. I shoot with shotgun and rifle—target, clay pigeon, deer but, to my deep regret, no big game. (I cherish a dream that one day a large tiger or lion will escape from the zoo or a travelling circus and I can bag it in Argyle St., Glasgow, or Princes St., Edinburgh.) I do both muzzle-loading and breech-loading shooting, load my own shotgun and pistol ammunition. Shoot with pistol, mainly target, and collect arms of various sorts. My present collection numbers about 45, not as many as in some collections, but all of mine go off and have been fired by me. Shooting and gun lore is a jolly queer thing; most people stick to their own field, rather like stamp collectors who specialise in British Colonials. Such people shoot only with the rifle and often only .303, or only .22. There are certain rather odd types like myself who have a go at the lot, including archery. It's a most fascinating study if one has the time, and before long it's either given up and you collect old Bentleys or it becomes an obsession. We all have a pet aspect of our hobby, and mine at present is this business of 'draw and shoot,' or the gun lore of close-combat weapons. On reflection it is pretty stupid, as it's most unlikely that I shall ever do this sort of thing in earnest, but it has the pleasant advantage of not having, very many fish in the pond and however you look at it you are an authority. In Scotland I have the space to do this sort of thing, and have two friends who are not 150 miles away to talk to. I seem to have taken up a lot of space on this—must want to impress you!

"Now to the work. The S & W Airweight model is not common in England, at least in a shop. I therefore enclose S & W's latest catalogue, which shows current models. Perhaps you would let me have this back, as I have to send it off to another chap who is going to S. America and he wants to buy a gun when he gets there. The only people in London who may have S & W new-model pistols will be Thomas Bland and Sons, William IVth St., Strand, and Cogs-well and Harrison. Current demand for pistols in this country is restricted to folks going off to Kenya, Malaya, etc.

"Some people have bought modified guns from Cogswell and Harrison. This type is a cut-down S & W .38 Special Military & Police Model. I'm sorry I can't help regarding an actual inspection of a new-model S & W. The only people who may have one are Americans in this country or James Bond.

"Re holsters. A letter to S. D. Myres Saddle Co., 5030 Alameda Blvd., El Paso, Texas, will bring you their current holster catalogue. The Berns-Martin people live in Calhoun City, Mississippi, and a note to Jack Martin, who is a first-class chap and a true gunslinger, will bring you illustrations of his work. Bond's chamois leather pouch will be ideal for carrying a gun, but God help him if he has to get it out in a hurry. The soft leather will snag and foul on the projecting parts of the gun and he will still be struggling to get the gun out when the other fellow is counting the holes in Bond's tummy. Bond has a good point when he mentions accuracy. It's no good shooting at a man with the biggest gun one can hold—if you miss him. The thing about the larger calibres is, however, that when you hit someone with a man-stopping bullet they are out of the game and won't lie on the floor still popping off at you.

"Regarding weapons carried by Russian agents. I have had little experience of using weapons from behind the Iron Curtain or of meeting people who use them. I did once meet a Polish officer who was some sort of undercover man and cloak-and-dagger merchant and he used an American Colt automatic in .38 cal. I would suggest that a member of SMERSH [Fleming's name for the Soviet secret police] would in all probability make his choice from the following, and use either a Luger with an 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch or 16-inch barrel with detachable shoulder stock or a Mauser 7.63 automatic with shoulder stock for assassination work from a medium distance, say across a street. A short-barrel 9-mm. Luger (Model 08), 4-inch barrel, might be carried for personal protection, although it is rather large to carry about. In the same class as the Luger and having equal availability to someone employed by SMERSH would be the Polish Radom Model 35. This takes the standard Luger cartridge and also the more powerful black-bulleted machine pistol 9-mm. round. It closely resembles the Colt Model 1911, or perhaps more so the Colt 9-mm. Commander. Another choice would be the Swedish 9-mm. Lahti. This is a strong and very well-made pistol strongly reminiscent of the Luger. It weighs 44 ounces loaded as compared with 34 ounces for the short-barrel Luger.

"The Russian Tokarev pistol Model 30 appears to be the standard sidearm of the Soviets, and once again is a close copy of John Browning's basic pistol. Calibre 7.62 Russian or 7.63 Mauser and designed in the 1930s. This pistol looks like the Belgian Browning auto pistol made by Fabrique Nationale, Li�ge, except that it has an external hammer. There is no manual safety, and if the gun is carried loaded at full cock, obvious safety hazards exist. Carried at half-cock the gun undoubtedly would be safer, but the hammer design is such that cocking the hammer is not an easy job and the first shot would be a slow one from the draw.