Picked up this little Beretta off a local gunboard.



The 418 was James Bond's first carry gun, before he was told to carry the Walther in .32.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

Yup. There was also a version with a longer grip safety. I think Fleming had Bond tape the grip area to depress the grip safety, although he said it also made the gun thinner.

He may have had the armourer pin the grip safety closed, and just used the presumably black tape for thinness, although I doubt it'd have mattered.

Actually, Ian Fleming just said ".25 Beretta", so it could have been a Model 950, which was on the market by the time the first Bond novel appeared in 1953. And it had no troublesome grip safety. But I lean toward the Model 418, as Bond had been carrying the gun for years.

You may be interested to know that an OSS agent operating in Spain during WW II used her.25 Beretta to kill a gypsy armed with a knife. She married the Count of Ramonones and wrote several books about her experiences, which extended to service in the CIA in postwar years. Look for the first book as, "The Spy Wore Red", by Aline, Countess of Ramonones. She probably had the Model 318.

Yes, for a decade and a half when he was forced to start carrying the PPK. See Dr. No (copyright 1958), where Bond states, in Chapter 2, "I've used the .25 Beretta for fifteen years." Since the middle of World War II. So was this a 418 or 318? It sure wasn't a Jetfire.

(I have no idea why I actually care about this. )

You also need the 'skeletonized grip' and the Berns-Martin shoulder holster, IIRC.

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

Ian Fleming had very little knowledge of firearms and he may have just said "A Beretta 25" and had no idea as to what he was talking about. A Major Boothroyd wrote to Fleming and offered to assist him with his firearms. He was referred to as "armorer".

Geoffrey Boothroyd was very real, and he wrote probably the best book I've ever seen as a basic introuduction to handguns. ("The Handgun", Crown Publishers)

Boothroyd wrote to Fleming, offering some suggestions. Fleming got confused at one point about the Centennial vs. the Model 27 with a barrel length sufficient to let the .357 replace the .45 Colt that Bond carried in his car.

Boothroyd had in mind partly that the .38 ammo in the Centennial Airweight would also work in the M-27. And HE knew that the Berns-Martin holster woudn't work with the PPK. Fleming didn't initially realize that.

Fleming later bought a Centennial on a trip to NYC, and he was shown with it on some paperback covers. He also owned several other handguns, including a New Service .45, a Colt Official Police .38 that was a gift from Maj. Gen. Bill Donovan (who founded the OSS ), and a Ruger MK I .22 target pistol.

Boothroyd and Fleming became friends and "shot it out" with empty guns on a TV show. Boothroyd used a Super Blackhawk, I think.

I wrote to both men after reading Boothroyd's article on their relationship in, Sports Ill. about April of 1962 or '63. I think it may have been April 19, 1962, if you can check for that issue. Your library may have it on film and it is well worth reading.

I had replies from both, and still have Boothroyd's letter, which I may auction or leave to my children. I'm trying to evaluate the probable value. (If I sell, it won't be on a gun board or E-Bay, likely via Sotheby's or Christie's.)

Fleming's secretary replied, as he was then away. Boothroyd told me that some fans actually suggested that Bond carry such ridiculous choices as cap and ball Remingtons!

I came to read the Bond books very early, in my teens, and enjoyed the major article on Fleming in, "Life", which pictured him with some of his guns.

I have read most of what has been published about the matter, and am appalled at some of what has appeared on the Net.

I'd have to re-read, "Dr. No", which I have, to see how long Bond had carried the .25. It may well have been a Model 318. I don't think Fleming knew. He carried a Baby Browning .25 as a Royal Naval intelligence officer. Concealment was a prime factor in that choice, I'm sure. But he knew about Colt and Beretta .25's, too. He wasn't as ignorant of guns as some infer, although hardly an authority. Indeed, he evidently thought that an "excessive" interest in guns was unhealthy, as described in, "The Man With the Golden Gun". See the comments from his fictional Secret Service shrink.

The Major Boothroyd of the book and the movie was fictional, but Geoffrey's last name was used to honor him for his help. The actor in the film wasn't him, nor did he look much like him. The real Boothroyd was a TV scriptwriter and arms enthusiast and author. He was among the best known UK gun writers, and his byline appeared in many British titles as well as in, "Guns" and other American titles. His books are worth reading. His knowledge base extended from the beginnings of firearms to modern times. He felt that the S&W M-60 was the logical Bond gun after it appeared. But Fleming was dead by then.

Great post and some good history there,Texas Star. At one point in one of the movies one of the bad guys told Bond that his 7.65 (.32) pistol was a "real stopper."
Apparently Fleming really didn't know much about guns,if he actually wrote that in the book.

They brought the Astin Martin to Atlanta to one of the new malls during the premier of one of the movies and picked my sister to sit in it and get her picture taken.
They said that the ejection seat,machine guns,etc.were actually working specimens. They may have been just getting her stirred up and excited,I don't know.

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Blessed be the Lord,my Rock

Stu-

I think the movie had the Boothroyd character (not the real Boothroyd) say that the PPK had a delivery "like a brickbat through a plate glass window."

My recollection of the book was that the armourer described the Centennial and said that it held only five shots, but by the time they were fired, someone would be dead.

Both statements are hyperbole of the sort used to stimulate readers/movie audiences.Jack Higgins goes to even greater lengths in describing the potency of Colt .25's in his recent books about Gen. Chas. Ferguson and the Prime Minister's private expediency team. I'm thinking seriously of suggesting to him that he tone it down to real levels. Ditto on the PPK's used by his characters. Too much drama just detracts from the authenticity of the books.

BTW, the best desciption of a real police style gunfight is in David Lindsey's, "Spiral," where Houston PD Sgt. Stuart Haydon used his Beretta to kill his partner's murderer. Or, so I think. I tried to write a better one in a book that I'm doing, but he nailed it pretty well. Lindsey and I were at the same university at the same time, but didn't meet until years after. He is a heck of a wordsmith. His best books are superb; the rest good. Alas, his gun data is sparse. For some reason, he now writes as Paul Harper.

Shaken not Stirred??? Hell: I thought you were talking about Martini's. LOL.

Thanks Texas Star,I'll get that one.I've got more time for reading now.

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Blessed be the Lord,my Rock

Shot the gun last night, it ran great and actually handles pretty well since it is not as tiny as some .25s. Trigger was not bad. The sights are absolutely tiny but they are there. Does anyone know if Fleming ever described what he meant by "Skeletonized Grips"?

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

If I recall correctly, Bond's Beretta also had a 'sawn' barrel. I always wondered what could have been sawn.

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Pete.

Yes, here is a Beretta set up to match Fleming's description:

Bond sawed of the front sight from several of his guns. See
The Handguns of Ian Fleming’s James Bond

I find it hard to believe that Flemming didn't know firearms. During WW2 he was with MI-5. (Don't think MI-6 came along till after the war.)

MI-5 is domestic, like our FBI. Fleming was an aide to the head of Naval Intelligence, not MI-6.

He once had Bond describe himself as "strictly a chocolate sailor", meaning that he drank cocoa (the Royal Navy drink, more than tea), but was an intelligence agent, not a line officer on ships or in the Fleet Air Arm.

I think his postwar service probably was meant to be in the Secret Intelligence Service, likely MI-6 then. It was headed (in the books) by retired Admiral Sir Miles Messervy (M), who had probably known Bond during the war,too.

I think the "sawn barrel", like on the Colt .38 in,"Casino Royale" just meant a short barrel. Fleming may not have realized that Colt supplied the Detective Special that way; that the barrel wasn't shortened. Or, he may have just been trying to be dramatic. He was probably describing guns that he'd seen used in his wartime Intelligence job. I'm sure that he learned more about guns later, although he never became really expert.

I think it is telling of his view of firearms that he criticized Harold L. Peterson's view that the gun had had the greatest effect on civilizations. Fleming suggested that the printing press was a better item for having had that impact. Actually, I agree, but what the printing press inspired, the gun often carried out, as in the American Revolution.

Note that the Bond guns link above lists the Sports Ill. article as being in the March 10, 1962 issue.

Well, my memory was close... It may be the last pro-gun article in that publication.

In the novel The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga says of Bond's PPK, "Yeah, that's a stopper all right." This from a man carrying a .45 Colt.

I strongly suspect Fleming thought the 7.65mm PPK took the 7.65mm Luger cartridge, which at least in terms of muzzle energy far outclassed the .455 Webley, which Fleming had probably grown up thinking of as the ultimate manstopper.

Texas Star, you state"Geoffrey Boothroyd was very real, and he wrote probably the best book I've ever seen as a basic introuduction to handguns. ("The Handgun", Crown Publishers)" I have had that book for many years. I look at it whenever I see a pistol I want to know more about. Can you tell us any more about Geoffrey Boothroyd, Did he write any other gun books? Is he still alive? How old? Thank you, Waldo.