I've seen that cover, but didn't realize that Richard Chopping was the artist. He also drew the modified S&W .38-200 owned by Geoffrey Boothroyd on the hardcover edition of, From Russia, With Love. I don't know if this Second Model F-S was Fleming's. He def. owned a First Model, the nickeled one with S-shaped guard. I've seen a photo of his very knife.

He had to borrow Boothroyd's gun and this caused some trouble when the cops came looking for all .38 owners after a murder and Boothroyd had to admit he'd loaned the gun to Chopping, who had no Firearms License. It got sorted out and the murderer was someone else, of course.

Boothroyd owned about 100 guns, all legal, despite the legal red tape then.

Fleming owned at least 4-5 handguns. One was a Colt Official Police given to him by Gen. Bill Donovan of the OSS. Several of his guns appeared in a ,Life magazine feature on him. I don't know if he later bought the Centennial with which he posed on some book jackets. Oddly, he owned neither gun he had Bond use, the Beretta .25 and the Walther PPK. He did have a Colt New Service with 5.5 inch bbl., and it may have been like the "long barreled Colt .45" that Bond kept under the dash of his Bentley.