Over the weekend one of the movie channels on cable have been running a James Bond Marathon. After seeing almost every Bond movie at least 4 or 5 times over, I get a chuckle on how corney some of the battle/fight scenes really are. Back in the 60's when I went to the movie houses to see the originals, I thought what a man.........

Today, I feel much more comfortable with my wife carrying her PPK, knowing that she can knock down a bad guy at 50 yards with out aiming, just because 007 did it.

Remember what M said when he took Bond's manstopper Berreta 25 from him and gave him a .32 PPK "It has a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window...the American CIA Swear by them."

I guess 007 used special bullets designed by Q to make a 32 ACP have that much knockdown.

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The Last Standing Knight

Ian Fleming was a great spy novel writer, I read most of them before I saw the movies, but he had no clue about most weapons. Then Al Broccoli and Hollywood fudged it up even worse.

Sean Connery was the best, then Roger Moore.......not much interest since.

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Sure you did

Geoffrey Boothroyd gave Fleming excellent gun advice, but he took only some of it.

However, Fleming did buy an S&W Centennial on a visit to New York, and included it in some scenes of, "Dr. No." (The book.)

As a Naval Intelligence agent, Fleming carried a .25 Browning, but I don't know if it was the original one like the Colt, or the Baby Browning. He was very concerned about being able to hide a gun on the agent's person.

Boothroyd told me in a personal letter that Fleming got all sorts of outrageous gun advice from readers. One flake actually suggested arming Bond with a brace of cap and ball Remington .44's!

Does anyone else here remember the, "Life" article on Fleming and his books? About 1960-62. In it, Fleming was shown with some of his own guns. They included a Ruger MK I .22, a Colt New Service .45 with 5.5-inch barrel, and (I think) the Centennial. He also had a Colt Official Police .38 that he was given by OSS director Gen. Wm. Donovan. It was in .38 Special and had a four inch barrel.

Ian Fleming was one of the few mystery/thriller writers who had any experience at all with guns. Donald Hamilton (the Matt Helm books) is probably easily the best known for real life gun and hunting experience. However, John Sandford does hunt, or has. His gun info in his "Prey" series is usually sound.

Jack Higgins errs some, although the endpaper profile of him on book jackets says that he's a "marksman". In his current book, he said that the 9mm Beretta was used by US forces in Vietnam, and that the Colt .25 firing hollowpoint bullets is a formidable item. He has featured those Colt .25's in several books, always exaggerating their potency. I think I may write to him about that and other gun issues.He lives in the Channel Islands, which were not subject to the British gun ban of 1997, and may really own a gun or two. But he doesn't always get things right in his thrillers. To get by, he sometimes just names a gun brand, not a specific model. But the knowledgeable reader can usually figure out what the gun might be. The exception is when someone has a "Ceska". I don't know if that means a CZ-75, a CZ-50, a CZ-82, etc.

On the other hand, Higgins (real name is Dr. Harry Patterson) is a veteran of service with the Blues and Royals, the Royal Horse Guards Regiment. So, when he had British officers carrying Smith & Wesson revolvers or Browning 9mm's, he knew his stuff. And his latest book is his best in several years. Not bad for an author well into his 70's!

T-Star

Bond, James Bond. Shaken not stirred