The Real Guns of James Bond

by Michael Satterfield

In the world of James Bond, there is a lot of fantasy like the laser rifles in Moonraker, Cigarette Darts from You Only Live Twice, or the Ski Pole Gun from The Spy Who Loved Me. But while Bond is always counting on Q Branch for some interesting tech, here are the real-world weapons used by Bond through the years. 

Now, this list doesn't include any weapons he picked up along the way, it is only firearms from the books and films that he was issued for his Mission by Q or an allied agency from Dr. No - Specter. 

Beretta 418

The Beretta 418 James Bond's first firearm, however, it was replaced in Dr. No by the Walther PPK after Bond had a mishap in the previous book From Russia, With Love caused by the silencer of the Beretta getting stuck in his waistband, not allowing him to draw his weapon. In the film adaptation Bond has his Beretta M1934 taken away and replaced by the PPK. The change by Ian Fleming was the result of a fan letter in 1957 from Geoffrey Boothroyd who called the Beretta "a lady's gun" and suggested several alternatives, one of which was the Walther. Fleming thanked Boothroyd by naming the MI6 armorer in Dr. No after him.

Production: 1919-1958

Walther LP Model 53

The Walther LP Model 53 Air Pistol was famously used by Sean Connery for publicity photos for the film From Russia, With Love. The story goes that Connery had shown up for the photo shoot, yet someone had forgotten to bring the PPK, by a stroke of luck the photographer, David Hurn, had a Walther air pistol so that was used as the stand-in for the missing PPK. The photos proved to be so iconic that in addition to being used for From Russia, With Love they went on to promote Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967).  The gun used in photoshoot sold at Christie’s London in 2010 for a world record $437,000.

Walther PPK

The Walther PPK is the gun most associated with Bond, thanks to being the primary weapon used by Bond for all films between 1962-1997. The PPK was also featured in the promotional materials for Daniel Craig's first Bond film in 2006, Casino Royale. In 2008's Quantum of Solace the PPK was back as Bond's primary weapon, and in Skyfall, he would be issued a modified PPK/S.

Production: 1929–Present

AR7-Sniper Rifle

The AR7 survival rifle was issued to Bond in From Russia, With Love (1963), however, Bond never uses it, instead, his Istanbul contact Ali Kerim Bey fires at the shot taking out the enemy agent who was responsible for the bombing again Kerim's office. In Goldfinger (1964) Tilly Masterson is seen twice using a scoped Armalite AR-7 rifle to try to shoot Goldfinger.

Production: 1959-Present

Sterling L2A3 Sub-Machinegun

The Sterling L2A3 made its first appearance in On Her Majesties Secret Service (1969) and was used by Bond in the assault on Ernst Stavro Blofeld's mountaintop clinic, Piz Gloria. The Sterling was again used by Bond in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, in the battle for control of the Nuclear Submarine swallowing ship known as the Liparus.

Production: 1944-Present

Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum Revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 29, was used by Roger Moore in 1973's Live or Let Die. When he charges in and rescues Bond Girl Solitare from Dr. Kananga. The Model 29 was even used in the promotional materials for the film instead of Bond's standard PPK, leaving some to that say the studio used the .44 to help promote the film to American audiences by trading on the popularity of recent films like Dirty Harry.

Production: 1955-Present

Walther P5

In 1983 two James Bond films were released, the official Roger Moore film Octopussy and the Warner Brothers produced Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery, the latter being a remake of 1965's Thunderball. In both 1983 movies, Bond ditched the PPK as his primary weapon (it does make an appearance in Octopussy) for the more modern Walther P5.

Production: 1977-1993

Czech SA.25 Submachine Gun

Never Say Never Again opens with Sean Connery attempting to rescue a hostage in a training exercise set in what looks like Central America. Bond is seen carrying the Czech SA.25 as he enters the building looking for the hostage. 

Production: 1948-Present

MAC-10

Bond, Felix Leiter, and a team of US Navy SEALs use MAC-10s as they attempt to take the Tears of Allah in Never Say Never Again (1983). 

Production: 1970-2009 (Including Derivatives)

Walther WA2000

The Walther WA 2000 is used by Timothy Dalton in the 1987 film The Living Daylights to shoot the sniper rifle out of the hands of Bond Girl Kara Milovy when he does he quips "I must have scared the living daylights out of her." The WA 2000 is a rare gun today with top examples fetching over $75,000.

Production: 1982-1988

Sterling AR180

The Sterling AR180 (AR18) appears in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), in a heavily modified form in the opening scenes of the film where Pierce Brosnan is infiltrating an illegal arms dealer convention. AR180 was an interesting choice by producers but was likely selected since it was the British variant.

Production: 1969-1985

Walther P99

The Walther P99 was used by Bond in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies and was Bond's primary until 2008's Quantum of Solace. This was the first primary handgun used by Bond that was not in the original books, in the film Bond picks out the P99 from Bond Girl and Chinese agent Wai Lin's hidden armory in Saigon remarking that he has been trying to get Q to replace his Walther PPK with the P99. The P99 was also featured in a number of James Bond video games and was featured in the bulk of the marketing materials for the film. 

Production: 1997-Present

H&K MP5K

The H&K MP5K makes an appearance in Tomorrow Never Dies, during the final battle on Elliot Carver's stealth ship. The MP5K and it's variants is the most popular submachine gun in the world, so it is not surprising that it would end up in Bond's arsenal at some point. 

Production: 1966-Present

Smith & Wesson Model 10 HB

Bond's unauthorized trip to Cuba in Die Another Day (2002) means he doesn't have a Q Branch issued weapon. His contact in Cuba, Raoul, manager of a cigar factory and a British sleeper agent gives Bond the Smith & Wesson Model 10 HB so he can track down Zao at the island clinic. Bond uses this gun in the confrontation and chase scene with Zao.

Production: 1899-Present

Accuracy International AW sniper rifle

The Accuracy International AW sniper rifle is used by Bond in Die Another Day in an attempted assassination of Colonel Moon/Gustav Graves before he enters the plane in North Korea. When he can't make the shot at the airbase, Jinx and Bond sneak on board the plane to confront Graves and stop his Icarus superweapon. 

Production: 1988-Present

H&K UMP-9

In one of the most important scenes in Casino Royale (2006), Bond appears over Mr. White at the end of the film with an H&K UMP-9 resting on his shoulder. The UMP-9 made other appearances in the film as it was used by some of the bad guys in the Venice shootout.

Production: 1999-Present

Anderson Wheeler Express Double Rifle

In Skyfall (2012) Bond returns home to find his family gun room is empty after his presumed death. With the exception of his father's rifle, an Anderson Wheeler Double Rifle chambered in .500. The gun has his father's initials on it AB (Andrew Bond) and James uses the gun to mount a defense against Raoul Silva and his men.

Production: Unknown-Present

Glock 17 FAB Defense KPOS Glock to Carbine Conversion

The opening scenes of Specter (2015) finds Bond in Mexico City on a mission where he is using a highly modified Glock 17, which (in the film) is also equipped with a laser microphone for listening in to bad guys. The FAB Defense Carbon Conversion is a commercially available kit and is often used by law enforcement to create a compact carbon.

Production: 1982-Present

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