FLEMING TO BOOTHROYD
31st May, 1956
I really am most grateful for your splendid letter of May 23rd.
You have entirely convinced me, and I propose, perhaps not in the next volume of James Bond’s memoirs but in the subsequent one, to change his weapons in accordance with your instructions.
Since I am not in the habit of stealing another man’s expertise, I shall ask you in due course to accept remuneration for your most valuable technical aid.
Incidentally, can you suggest where I can see a .38 Airweight in London? Who would have one?
As a matter of interest, how do you come to know so much about these things? I was delighted with the photographs and greatly impressed by them. If ever there is talk of making films of some of James Bond’s adventures in due course, I shall suggest to the company concerned that they might like to consult you on some technical aspects. But they may not take my advice, so please do not set too much store by this suggestion.
From the style of your writing it occurs to me that you may have written books or articles on these subjects. Is that so?
Bond has always admitted to me that the .25 Beretta was not a stopping gun, and he places much more reliance on his accuracy with it than in any particular qualities of the gun itself. As you know, one gets used to a gun and it may take some time for him to settle down with the Smith & Wesson. But I think M. should advise him to make a change; as also in the case of the .357 Magnum.
He also agrees to give a fair trial to the Berns Martin holster, but he is inclined to favour something a little more casual and less bulky. The well-worn chamois leather pouch under his left arm has become almost part of his clothes, and he will be loath to make a change, though, here again, M. may intervene.
At the present moment Bond is particularly anxious for expertise on the weapons likely to be carried by Russian agents, and I wonder if you have any information on this.
As Bond’s biographer I am most anxious to see that he lives as long as possible and I shall be most grateful for any further technical advices you might like to pass on to him.
Again, with very sincere thanks for your extremely helpful and workmanlike letter.
BOOTHROYD TO FLEMING
1st June, 1956
I was truly delighted to receive your charming letter. This is the first time I have had either the inclination or the temerity to write to the author of any books that pass through my hands; quite frankly in many cases the rest of the material is not worth backing up by correct and authentic ‘gun dope.’ You have, incidentally, enslaved the rest of my household, people staying up to all hours of the night in an endeavour to finish a book before some other interested party swipes it.
If I am to be considered for the post of Bond’s ballistic man I should give you my terms of reference. Age 31, English, unmarried. Employed by I.C.I. Ltd. as Technical Rep in Scotland. Member of the following Rifle Clubs: N.R.A., Gt. Britain, English Twenty Club, National Rifle Association of America, non-resident member. St. Rollox Rifle Club, West of Scotland Rifle Club, Muzzle Loading Association of Gt. Britain. I shoot with shotgun and rifle, target, clay pigeon, deer, but, to my deep regret, no big game. (I cherish a dream that one day a large tiger or lion will escape from the zoo or a travelling circus and I can bag it in Argyle St., or Princes St., Edinburgh.) I do both muzzle loading and breech loading shooting, load my own shotgun and pistol ammunition. Shoot with pistol mainly target and collect arms of various sorts. My present collection numbers about 45, not as many as some collections go but all of mine go off and have been fired by me. Shooting and gun lore is a jolly queer thing, most people stick to their own field, rather like stamp collectors who specialise in British Colonials. Such people shoot only with the rifle and often only .303 or only .22. There are certain rather odd types like myself who have a go at the lot, including Archery. It’s a most fascinating study if one has the time, and before long it’s given up and you collect old Bentleys or it becomes an obsession. We all have a pet aspect of our hobby, and mine is this business of ‘draw and shoot’, or the gun lore of close-combat weapons. On reflection it is pretty stupid as it’s most unlikely that I shall ever do this sort of thing in earnest but it has the pleasant advantage of not having very many fish in the pond and however you look at it you are an authority. In Scotland I have the space to do this sort of thing, and have two friends who are not 150 miles away to talk to. I seem to have taken up a lot of space on this, must want to impress you!
I have written one thing on Scottish pistols, but tore it up after reading a really superb effort by an American. He had access to a lot more weapons and anyway, no use kidding myself, he knew how to write or the magazine re-wrote it for him. Since then I’ve found a new thing for an article which will be written before the end of the year and sent to America. This will be on the firm of Dickson in Edinburgh, who are old established gun makers. Lots of pictures of ye olde craftsmen at the bench, the more pictures the less writing. I have also given one or two lectures on firearms to the T.A., Home Guard and the Police. Occasionally we are able to give demonstrations of some of the things we talk about but as some of the tricks require an expenditure of about 10,000 rounds of ammunition one cannot afford to become an expert trick shot.
Now to the work. I doubt very much if you will be able to see a S. & W. Airweight model in England, at least in a shop. I therefore enclose S. & W. latest catalog, which shows current models. Perhaps you would let me have this back, as I have to send it off to another chap who is going to S. America and he wants to buy a gun when he gets there. The only people in London who may have S. & W. new-model pistols will be Thomas Bland and Sons, William IVth St., Strand. Current demand for pistols in this country is restricted to folks going off to Kenya, Malaya, etc. The few that know anything about pistols for close up work will probably buy modified guns from Cogswell and Harrison. This type is a cut-down S. & W. .38 Military & Police Model generally similar to the photo enclosed. You have seen this gun of mine and were quite interested. You may retain this print if you wish. (I had to learn photography as well, this is an improvement over earlier work.) I’m sorry I can’t help regarding an actual inspection of a new-model S. & W. The only people who may have one are Americans in this country or James Bond.
Re holsters. A letter to S.D. Myres Saddle Co., 5030 Alameda Blvd., P.O. Box 1501, El Paso, Texas, will bring you their current holster catalog. The Berns Martin people live in Calhoun City, Mississippi, and a note to Jack Martin, who is a first-class chap and a true gunslinger, will bring you illustrations of his work. Bond’s chamois leather pouch will be ideal for carrying a gun, but God help him if he has to get it out in a hurry. The soft leather will snag and foul on the projecting parts of the gun and he will still be struggling to get the gun out when the other fellow is counting the holes in Bond’s tummy. Bond has a good point when he mentions accuracy. It’s no good shooting at a man with the biggest gun one can hold – if you miss him. The thing about the larger calibres is, however, that when you hit someone with a man stopping bullet they are out of the game and won’t lie on the floor still popping off at you.
Regarding weapons carried by Russian agents. I have had little experience of using weapons from behind the Iron Curtain or of meeting people who use them. I did once meet a Polish officer who was some sort of undercover man and cloak-and-dagger merchant and he used an American Colt Automatic in .38 cal. I would suggest that a member of SMERSH would in all probability make his choice from the following and use for preference either a Luger with an 8”, 10”, 12” or 16” barrel with detachable shoulder stock for assassination work from a medium distance, say across a street. A short-barrel 9mm. Luger (Model 08), 4” barrel, might be carried for personal protection, although it is rather large to carry about. In the same class as the Luger and having equal availability to someone employed by SMERSH would be the Polish Radon P.35. This takes the standard Luger cartridge and also the more powerful black bulleted machine pistol 9mm round. It cl
osely resembles the Colt Model 1911, or perhaps more so the Colt 9mm Commander. Another choice would be the Swedish 9mm Lahti. This is a strong and very well-made pistol strongly reminiscent of the Luger. It weighs 42 ozs loaded as compared with 32 ozs for the short barrel Luger.
The Russian Tokarev pistol Model 30 appears to be the standard side arm of the Soviets, and once again is a close copy of John Browning’s basic pistol, calibre 7.62 Russian or 7.63 Mauser and designed in the 1930s. This pistol looks like the Belgian Browning auto pistol made by Fabrique Nationale, Liege, except that it has an external hammer. There is no manual safety, and if the gun is carried loaded at full cock, obvious safety hazards exist. Carried at half-cock the gun undoubtedly would be safer, but the hammer design is such that cocking the hammer is not an easy job and the first shot would be a slow one from the draw.
In this same general class would be the Walther P.38, which was used by the German army as a replacement for the Luger. Evidence is that the pistol is not quite as good as it might be, this being probably due to production difficulties met with during the war. This also takes the 9mm cartridge. One of the advantages of the Walther is that it can be used double action, i.e., there is no need to cock the hammer for the first shot provided the barrel has a cartridge ‘up the spout’. After the first shot the gun operates as does the normal auto pistol.
For carrying on the person the following arms could be chosen: Walther PPK 7.65 mm, Mauser HSc 7.65 mm or the Walther PPK in 7.65 mm cal., Sauer Model 35 in 7.65-mm calibre.
The above represent a class of weapons similar to the Beretta but of rather better quality.
All of the above were tested for accuracy, endurance, by the US Army Ordnance Corps in 1948. Also included were the Jap. Nambu and the American Colt 1911 A1 Auto. In accuracy the Nambu came first, followed by the Russian Tokarev, the Sauer being third. Colonel F.S. Allen, USAF, who wrote an article on the findings of the O.C. tests, concluded by saying that for an emergency defence weapon he would have a .38 Special lightweight S.W., a decision which I heartily agree with.
I hope that when the SMERSH operative, armed perhaps with one of the guns mentioned above, meets Bond, your friend will be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of Anglo-American cooperation, a competent English pistol man behind a truly lethal .38 Special.
The above should give some idea of the type of weapon likely to be carried by SMERSH men, the Russians being rather similar to ourselves where firearms are concerned, they do not hesitate to use foreign weapons if they are better than those produced by themselves. An instance of this was their use of the Finnish Suomi light machine gun during the last war. In brief, one could be safe in arming an agent of SMERSH with the Tokarev, Radon, or Luger in that order. Pocket weapons would be either German Mauser or Walthers.
Please convey warmest regards to Mr. Bond and assure him of my closest interest in his activities and very willing cooperation in his ‘gun needs’ for as long as he wishes. Instead of remuneration, an introduction to Solitaire would more than adequately compensate me for the little trouble I have taken. Between you and me, I quite enjoy it.
FLEMING TO BOOTHROYD
22nd June, 1956
I have been away in Vienna, and seeing a man about a flying saucer in Paris, and I have only just had your letter of June 1st with enclosures.
Thank you again most sincerely for taking all this trouble, and also for sending me the very interesting information on your own career and hobbies. You certainly seem to lead a full life!
I am intrigued by your mention of archery. I have long thought Bond could do a lot of damage with a short steel bow and the appropriate arrows. What do you think of this suggestion, and do you know someone who would instruct me on weapons, ranges and so forth?
I am returning the Smith & Wesson catalogue and, since I am off to New York at the end of July, I propose to purchase a Centennial Airweight.
Would this not, in any case, be the best weapon for Bond? There is no hammer to catch in his clothes.
I am vastly intrigued by your own M. & P. model and by the way you have beautified it. Bond will certainly adopt your two-thirds trigger guard. I don’t intend to go too deeply into the holster problem and I intend to accept your expertise in the matter of the Berns Martin holster.
Only one basic problem remains in changing Bond’s weapon, and that is the matter of a silencer. It would have to be an extremely bulky affair to silence a .38 of any make and I simply can’t see one fitted to the Centennial. Have you any views?
As a matter of fact, a change of Bond’s weapons is very appropriate. In his next adventure, which deals with an intricate plot by SMERSH to kill Bond, he finally gets into really bad trouble through the Beretta, with silencer, sticking in his waistband.
It is too late now to save him from the consequences of ill-equipment, but in the book that follows, if I have the energy and ingenuity to write one, I shall start off with a chapter devoted entirely to his re-equipment along all the lines you suggest.
But in this chapter the matter of a silencer will have to be overcome and, in fact, in his latest adventure which I mention above he could hardly have used an unsilenced .38 in the room at the Ritz Hotel in Paris where he wrestles fruitlessly with his snarled gun.
Turning to foreign weapons, have you by any chance got the article by Colonel Allen on the findings of the O.C. tests, or could you tell me where it appeared? It sounds most useful to my purposes.
Once again, please accept my very warm thanks for your kindness in taking Bond’s armoury in hand and sorting it out. As a small recompense for your trouble I am sending you a shiny and rather expensive book on Odd Weapons which has just appeared and which perhaps you do not possess. It is not exactly on your beat, but it may entertain.
As requested, Boothroyd supplied Fleming with Colonel Allen’s analysis of handguns but without the last page, which he had lost and summarised thus: ‘He concludes by giving his personal choice of side arms as being for lethality a handloaded .44 Special, target shooting a .22 Colt Auto Woodsman and for an emergency defence weapon a lightweight .38 Special, either Colt or Smith & Wesson.’
As to killing people with a bow and arrow, Boothroyd’s choice of consultant was Slazenger.1 When Fleming went to America, Boothroyd was happy to recommend several gun merchants but if time was short he should visit a New York store called Abercrombie and Fitch.
BOOTHROYD TO FLEMING
29th June, 1956
Your letter of the 22nd June and a most satisfactory package were waiting for me on my return to Glasgow last Monday. The promised book ‘Firearms Curiosa’ arrived safely and I am most delighted with it. I have a similar book called ‘Hand Cannon to Automatic’ which was given to me some years ago dealing with the rather more exotic type of firearm. Your gift is far more comprehensive and gives actual photographs of the various pieces instead of the line drawings which illustrate my other book. Incidentally, it arrived just in time, a chap turning up the day after it arrived with a small ‘squeeze’ pistol that he wished identifying and I was able to retain my ‘expert’ rating by giving him all the details on what turned out to be a Gaulois pistol, very rare, very strange.
I do not feel competent to give authoritative information on hunting bows and arrows, I have had a go at rabbits with them and hope one day to kill a stag in the approved manner. [. . .] I understand that some Commando units were issued with bows and arrows during the late War and from my own experience I should not like to be in the way of a hunting arrow propelled by a bow of more than moderate weight. [. . .]
Silencers. These I do not like. The only excuse for using one is on a .22 rifle using low-velocity ammunition, i.e., below the speed of sound. With apologies, I think you will find that silencers are more often found in fiction than in real life. An effective silencer on an auto pistol would be very ponderous and would spoil the balance of the gun, and to silence a revolver would be even more difficult due to the gas escape between the cylinder and the barrel. Personally I c
an’t at this stage see how one would fit a silencer to a Beretta unless a special barrel were made for it, as the silencer has to be screwed on to the barrel projecting in front of the slide on the Beretta.
This business of using guns in houses or hotels is a very strange one. So few people are familiar with what a gun sounds like that I would have very little hesitation in firing one in any well constructed building. This remark is only regarding the noise or nuisance value. I would not fire a pistol in a room without some thoughts on the matter, as bullets have a bad habit of bouncing off things and coming home to roost. I have fired .455 blanks at home on several occasions even in the middle of the night without any enquiries being made, the last time was at Christmas when I blew out the candles on the Christmas cake with a pistol and blanks. To conclude, if possible don’t have anything to do with silencers.
FLEMING TO BOOTHROYD
12th July, 1956
Thank you very much indeed for the two magazine articles. These are extremely informative and valuable and I can see a splendid chapter of stolen expertese [sic] coming out of all your help.
I shall be almost ashamed of writing the chapter without saying that this comes to you by courtesy of Mr. Boothroyd.
I sympathise with you about not liking silencers, but the trouble is that there are occasions when they are essential to Bond’s work. But they are clumsy things and only partially effective, though our Secret Services developed some very good ones during the war, in which the bullet passed through rubber baffles. I have tried a Sten silenced with one of these and all one could hear was the click of the machinery.
I rather like the picture of you going through life firing bullets “in any well-constructed building”! But I agree with you that one could probably get away with a single shot in a hotel bedroom. Your Christmas trick would, of course, be helped by its association in a listener’s mind with cracker-pulling.
The Man with the Golden Typewriter Page 15
