List of James Bond firearms
The following is a list of firearms used by Agent 007, Bond girls, Bond allies, and Bond villains in the James Bond novel, film, and video game adventures.
Novels[edit]
Ian Fleming[edit]
When Ian Fleming wrote the first of the James Bond novels, Casino Royale, he had no idea in which direction the stories would go, least of all how many he would eventually write. When he introduced Bond as using a .25 ACP caliber Beretta in a flat chamois leather holster, he is commonly believed to have given little thought to it. Fleming had been issued a .25 ACP Baby Browning during the Second World War when he was in Naval Intelligence and felt it was an appropriate side arm for an intelligence officer on an undercover mission.
In an interview published posthumously in the December 1964 issue of Playboy magazine, Fleming admitted that he was not an expert in the field of firearms, and "Quite honestly, the whole question of expertise in these matters bores me. Obviously, I want to know the facts. If a Gaylord holster is better than a Berns-Martin, I want to know about it, but there is where my interest rather ends." The reference would be to the holsters of Chic Gaylord, a well-known holster maker of the period who in fact DID make shoulder holsters to suit Fleming's choice of pistol for Bond, the Walther PPK.[1]
Shortly before the publication of From Russia, with Love in 1956, Fleming received a fan letter from an author and gun collector, Geoffrey Boothroyd. He told Fleming that he admired the Bond novels apart from the hero's choice of weapon. Boothroyd felt the Beretta was "a lady's gun" with no real stopping power.[2] 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 said the suppressors Bond occasionally used were rarely silent and actually reduced the gun's stopping power.
Fleming thanked Boothroyd for his letter and accepted his recommendations of the Centennial revolver and Berns-Martin holster to suit, but made a few points of his own in his reply. He felt that Bond ought to have an automatic instead of a revolver and persisted in wanting a silencer to be fitted. Fleming agreed that the Beretta lacked power, but pointed out that Bond had used more powerful weapons when necessary, such as the Colt M1911 .45 cal auto pistol 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. As a counterpoint, Boothroyd pointed out that silencers are ineffective on revolvers.
Ultimately Boothroyd recommended the Walther PPK 7.65 mm as being the best choice for an automatic of that size, with its ammunition available everywhere—but did so in the context of Fleming's request for pistols to suit the European adversaries that Bond faced. Quite apart from the issue of which pistols Bond would carry, 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 and other modifications popular during the era including a shortened barrel.
Fleming had Bond's Beretta caught in his trousers 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 Major Boothroyd recommends that Bond switch guns. Major Boothroyd chose the Walther PPK 7.65mm. Bond keeps his Walther PPK automatic in a Berns-Martin triple-draw shoulder holster, which was a split-front spring-retention holster adaptable only to revolvers.[3] The design of the holster was centered around the cylinder of a revolver, where the spring clip would "grip" the pistol.[4] and as a result of this error by Fleming, the company's brochures of the period were marked "no shoulder holster made for automatics.".[5] From these letters between Fleming and Boothroyd, in which Fleming commits to Boothroyd that Bond will be issued with the Centennial and suitably matching Berns-Martin holster by the appearance of what was to be the Dr. No novel, but insists on Bond having a silencer, it appears on the evidence that Fleming switched to an automatic for Bond to retain the silencer capability for him, and declined to revisit the matter of holsters.
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Casino Royale | 1953 |
|
Live And Let Die | 1954 |
|
Moonraker | 1955 |
|
Diamonds Are Forever | 1956 |
|
From Russia, with Love | 1957 |
|
Dr. No | 1958 |
|
Goldfinger | 1959 |
|
For Your Eyes Only | 1960 | |
"From a View to a Kill" |
| |
"For Your Eyes Only" |
| |
"Quantum of Solace" |
| |
"Risico" |
| |
"The Hildebrand Rarity" |
| |
Thunderball | 1961 |
|
The Spy Who Loved Me | 1962 |
|
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | 1963 |
|
You Only Live Twice | 1964 |
|
The Man With The Golden Gun | 1965 |
|
Octopussy and The Living Daylights | 1966 | |
"Octopussy" |
| |
"The Property of a Lady" |
| |
"The Living Daylights" |
| |
"007 in New York" |
|
Kingsley Amis[edit]
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Colonel Sun | 1968 |
|
John Gardner[edit]
On 20 March 1974 an attempt was made to kidnap HRH The Princess Anne. The Walther PPK of the police officer protecting her jammed and was subsequently withdrawn from service. When John Gardner was asked to write a new series of James Bond continuation novels, one of the first things he decided was to update Bond's trusty Walther PPK. Gardner devoted two pages in his first James Bond novel Licence Renewed to the debate over whether to use a revolver or an automatic, and what make and model, before finally settling on an older FN M1903 in 9 mm Browning Long (9x20mmSR). Even Bond himself admits that it is an old gun. The original hardback cover illustration by Richard Chopping shows the FN pistol.
After criticism from fans for choosing an old gun, Gardner replaced the gun three more times, eventually sticking to the ASP 9 mm for the rest of the series. As he intended to downplay the gadgets in his books, Gardner compensated by bringing to the series a colorful arsenal of weapons from around the world.
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Licence Renewed | 1981 |
|
For Special Services | 1982 |
|
Icebreaker | 1983 |
|
Role of Honour | 1984 |
|
Nobody Lives Forever | 1986 |
|
No Deals, Mr. Bond | 1987 |
|
Scorpius | 1988 |
|
Win, Lose or Die | 1989 |
|
Licence to Kill | 1989 |
|
Brokenclaw | 1990 |
|
The Man from Barbarossa | 1991 |
|
Death is Forever | 1992 |
|
Never Send Flowers | 1993 |
|
SeaFire | 1994 |
|
GoldenEye | 1995 |
|
COLD | 1996 |
|
Raymond Benson[edit]
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 novelization Tomorrow Never Dies. However, in some following books Bond would use both weapons: the PPK for concealment, and the P99 for situations that did not require a concealed weapon.
Novel | Year | Firearms | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Blast from the Past (short story) | 1997 | Walther PPK; Browning 9mm Cheryl Haven's weapon; Uzi carried by Adolf. | |
Zero Minus Ten | 1997 | Walther PPK | |
Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
Unlike the film, where Bond finds the gun in the field, Bond is officially issued the P99 by Q-Branch. |
The Facts of Death | 1998 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
Bond uses both, dependent on the situation. This would be the case for the remainder of the Benson novels. |
"Midsummer Night's Doom" (short story) | 1999 | Walther P99 | |
"Live at Five" (short story) | 1999 | Walther P99 | |
The World Is Not Enough | 1999 | Walther PPK | Bond does not use the P99 in this novel, despite being his weapon of choice in the movie. |
High Time to Kill | 1999 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
|
Doubleshot | 2000 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
|
Never Dream of Dying | 2001 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
|
The Man with the Red Tattoo | 2002 | Walther PPK Walther P99 |
|
Die Another Day | 2002 | Walther P99 |
Young Bond/Charlie Higson[edit]
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
SilverFin | 2005 | |
Blood Fever | 2006 |
|
Double or Die | 2007 |
Also unnamed pistols picked up from the sailors |
Hurricane Gold | 2007 |
|
By Royal Command | 2008 |
|
- ↑ The Apache is a combination of a revolver, knife, and a knuckle duster that was used by the Apache gang in 19th century Paris.
Sebastian Faulks[edit]
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Devil May Care | 2008 | Walther PPK, Bond's main gun. |
Jeffery Deaver[edit]
Carte Blanche is the first Bond novel to have a contemporary setting since The Man With the Red Tattoo in 2002.In the novel, Bond is with a new, secret agency called the Overseas Development Group, who protect the Realm by any means. Bond is issued with a Walther PPS in .40 S&W.
Novel | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Carte Blanche | 2011 | Walther PPS .40 S&W Bond's main gun.
9mm Beretta, used by Niall Dunne. Winchester .270 rifle, used by Bond. Colt 1911 .45 ACP, used by Gregory Lamb. Colt Python .357 Magnum, used by Bond. Bushmaster ACR .233 Rem assault rifle, used by Green Way guards. |
Films[edit]
Eon Productions films[edit]
The scene from the novel Dr. No is replayed more-or-less verbatim in the 1962 film, ensuring the Walther PPK a place in cultural history. Bond shows a great deal more fidelity to his side arm in the films than in the novels, even going so far as to take on an international arms dealer and hi-tech arms enthusiastic Brad Whitaker armed only with an eight-shot, 7.65 mm semi-automatic. One notable difference between the novels and the films in relation to the PPK, is the lack of the "spur" on the magazine. The spur provides better grip on the weapon. In some of the films, the magazine used is a non-spur magazine. The PPK in the novels was noted to possess the spur, and never noted otherwise.
During the 1963 production of From Russia with Love, photographer David Hurn was commissioned to photograph the actors of the film in their costume. When the theatrical property Walther PPK did not turn up for the shoot, Hurn volunteered his own Walther LP 53 air pistol and said he would airbrush out the long barrel; the airbrushed stills appearing in a US "JAMES BOND IS BACK" poster. However, Renato Fratini a film poster artist saw the original stills of the weapon and used it in his U.K. posters with the weapon appearing in several more film posters up to The Man With the Golden Gun. On 14 February 2001, Hurn had his LP 53 (serial number 054159) in its original presentation case and letter of provenance auctioned off at Christie's where the weapon fetched in excess of US$435,000.[7][8]
A link to the Internet Movie Firearms Database's category that shows all of the guns used in every James Bond film to date is found here. http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/James_Bond
From Tomorrow Never Dies to Casino Royale, Bond used a Walther P99. However, in Quantum of Solace he reverted back to his Walther PPK (possibly a tribute to the classic Bond films). In Skyfall, Bond starts the film out with the PPK, but he is later issued an upgrade by Q in the form of a Walther PPK/S 9mm Short with an optical palm reader coded to Bond's palmprint so only he can fire the weapon.
Film Title | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Dr. No | 1962 |
|
From Russia with Love | 1963 |
|
Goldfinger | 1964 |
|
Thunderball | 1965 |
|
You Only Live Twice | 1967 |
|
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | 1969 |
|
Diamonds Are Forever | 1971 |
|
Live and Let Die | 1973 |
|
The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 |
|
The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 |
|
Moonraker | 1979 |
|
For Your Eyes Only | 1981 |
|
Octopussy | 1983 |
|
A View to a Kill | 1985 |
|
The Living Daylights | 1987 |
|
Licence to Kill | 1989 |
|
GoldenEye | 1995 |
|
Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 |
|
The World Is Not Enough | 1999 |
|
Die Another Day | 2002 |
|
Casino Royale | 2006 |
|
Quantum of Solace | 2008 |
|
Skyfall | 2012 |
|
Non-Eon films[edit]
Title | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Never Say Never Again | 1983 |
|
Casino Royale | 1967 |
|
Video games[edit]
Note: The names of several firearms have been changed in the video games. In Quantum of Solace, most firearms are named after Bond films, for example, the FRWL is named after From Russia with Love and the V-TAK 31 is named after A View to a Kill.
Game Title | Year | Firearms |
---|---|---|
Goldeneye 007 | 1997 |
|
The World Is Not Enough | 2000 |
|
Agent Under Fire | 2001 |
|
Nightfire | 2002 |
|
Everything or Nothing | 2004 |
|
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent | 2004 |
|
From Russia with Love | 2005 |
|
Quantum of Solace | 2008 |
|
GoldenEye 007 | 2010 |
|
Blood Stone 007 | 2010 |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Gaylord, Chic (1960). Handgunner's Guide. New York: Bramhall House. p. 176. LCCN 60009121. Search this book on
- ↑ 'Bond's unsung heroes' The Sunday Telegraph, Seven (supplement) 18 May 2008 retrieved 2008-05-19
- ↑ Cooper, Jeff (1961). The Complete Book of Modern Handgunning. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. p. 262. LCCN 61015332. Search this book on
- ↑ Berns-Martin. holster catalogue. Elberton, Georgia: Berns-Martin. p. 4. Search this book on
- ↑ Berns-Martin (1966). 1966 price list. Elberton, Georgia: Berns-Martin. Search this book on
- ↑ http://www.militarniwroclaw.pl/pl/strony/1030.html
- ↑ http://www.spybusters.com
- ↑ The Side Arms of James Bond, 007: From The Walther PPK to the P99 : The Original Prop Blog – Jason DeBord's TV and Movie Prop Memorabilia Resource
- ↑ Dr. No - imfdb :. guns in movies :. movie guns :. the internet movie firearms database
- ↑ Dr. No - imfdb :. guns in movies :. movie guns :. the internet movie firearms database
- ↑ Fieldsports Britain. "Fieldsports Britain - Bowhunting, bucks and James Bond's rifle". fieldsportschannel.tv. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "The World Is Not Enough - IGN". Ps2.ign.com. 2001-04-27. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/5320024/Bonds-unsung-heroes-Geoffrey-Boothroyd-the-real-Q.html
- http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Dr._No#Beretta_M1934
External links[edit]
- Sean Connery's main guns
- Roger Moore's main gun
- Timothy Dalton's main gun
- Pierce Brosnan's main guns
- Detailed movie firearms wiki that includes all the guns featured in the Bond films
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