That is a nice 418 you've got there. Look forward to a range report.
I guess I never reported back.
The gun fires quite well. I put a couple of boxes through her. I had a couple of failures, but it is hard to say if it was the ammo or the gun. It is possible that the springs are weak from old age. It is also possible that it was ammo related. All in all she preformed well.
Using the distance it was intended for (Belly gun) up to 21 feet or so it was quite accurate. Point of aim= Point of impact. Moving out to 15 to 25 yards it became noticeably more difficult to maintain a tight grouping. I account for that in two ways. One the .25 round itself and two the tiny sights on the gun. My old eyes (50+) just can see those tiny sights well.
I am still looking for a 50's vintage PPK to round out my Bond gun collection.
Interesting discussion. There seems to be some controversy about which Beretta it was. They guy over at the Beretta forum have argued this for sometime. Their argument centers on 318 vs 418. It matters none to me as I found Mr. Steele's excellent article http://jamesbond.ajb007.co.uk/handguns-of-james-bond/, to be all I need as a reference point.
Well this is probably like flogging a dead horse but ....
The Beretta 318 is little different than the 418, same basic pistol but the 418 is the post-war version. Since Bond acquired his Moonraker/Diamonds are Forever Beretta during the time the 418 was being made, and it was described as "shiney new" we can be pretty certain it was a 418, unless "M" had some NOS pistols available.
While I still don't think Fleming was writing about the actual Beretta I'd agree the it would have to be the 418. Fleming onwed a .25 Browning,Serial number 257024,(I don't know whether it was the M1905 or Baby model)and there were some of used by British operatives during the war as hideout guns. Bond
gets into more gunfights with that little Beretta that he does with the PPK, and never carries a spare magazine, plus he trains with a Colt Detective Special(there were some supplied to the British during the war,but that's another topic), and he comes out
on top...
That's what I thought until recently. but it seems,according to Wikipedia and other sources, it was introduced in 1931. http://www.fn-browning.com/fn.htm
I'd thought for years it was a postwar gun. Back in the sixties, Browning offered it, the .380(M1910) and the Hi-Power either individually or as a threesome. It was the first .25 I ever fired. I do think Fleming most likely had the earlier M1905 version since his
gun was #257024,and 1,008,000 M1905s were made between 1919 and 1940, whereas only 50,147 of the Baby were made from
1931-1940 when the Germans overran the FN plant.
Fleming's Browning .25 may be in the U.S. as it ,his Colt Official Police(#718128) and his .22 Ruger Target(#196902) were bought in 1967 from Holland & Holland by R.Q.Sutherland and R.L. Wilson,authors of The Book of Colt Firearms. I have no idea where any of them are now.
Regards,
Tecolote
LiamNow where was I? Let me see...Posts: 50MI6 Agent
Great article indeed! I take it you wrote this, 7289? Congrats, fine work!
Only one thing, why do we presume the 'long-barrel Colt 45' from FAVTAK is necessarily Bond's own gun from his car? I somehow didn't get the impression Bond was with his Bentley in Vienna. It would probably make more sense if Bond had 'burrowed' a regular Colt 1911 automatic, just as he did with the motorbike and uniform. In my imagination Bond's lack of training with the gun was why he bungled the job at the clearing on the last pages.
I used to think of Bond's own long-barrel Colt as a revolver, so he had not to worry about red-hot spent brass in his car. On the other hand, if Bond held the steering wheel with his left and shot with his right hand outside the driver's side window, then the casings should hopefully land somewhere on the road.
But that's just a minor point, really fantastic article there, 7289!
Comments
I guess I never reported back.
The gun fires quite well. I put a couple of boxes through her. I had a couple of failures, but it is hard to say if it was the ammo or the gun. It is possible that the springs are weak from old age. It is also possible that it was ammo related. All in all she preformed well.
Using the distance it was intended for (Belly gun) up to 21 feet or so it was quite accurate. Point of aim= Point of impact. Moving out to 15 to 25 yards it became noticeably more difficult to maintain a tight grouping. I account for that in two ways. One the .25 round itself and two the tiny sights on the gun. My old eyes (50+) just can see those tiny sights well.
I am still looking for a 50's vintage PPK to round out my Bond gun collection.
Interesting discussion. There seems to be some controversy about which Beretta it was. They guy over at the Beretta forum have argued this for sometime. Their argument centers on 318 vs 418. It matters none to me as I found Mr. Steele's excellent article http://jamesbond.ajb007.co.uk/handguns-of-james-bond/, to be all I need as a reference point.
Warmest regards from the states,
Dave
The Beretta 318 is little different than the 418, same basic pistol but the 418 is the post-war version. Since Bond acquired his Moonraker/Diamonds are Forever Beretta during the time the 418 was being made, and it was described as "shiney new" we can be pretty certain it was a 418, unless "M" had some NOS pistols available.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
gets into more gunfights with that little Beretta that he does with the PPK, and never carries a spare magazine, plus he trains with a Colt Detective Special(there were some supplied to the British during the war,but that's another topic), and he comes out
on top...
Regards,
Tecolote
Fleming describes his .25 Browning as "personally" owned, I doubt it was issued by Navel Intelligence.
I.F. also purchased a F/S knife with his name etched on the blade.
Seems to me he armed himself.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
http://www.fn-browning.com/fn.htm
I'd thought for years it was a postwar gun. Back in the sixties, Browning offered it, the .380(M1910) and the Hi-Power either individually or as a threesome. It was the first .25 I ever fired. I do think Fleming most likely had the earlier M1905 version since his
gun was #257024,and 1,008,000 M1905s were made between 1919 and 1940, whereas only 50,147 of the Baby were made from
1931-1940 when the Germans overran the FN plant.
Fleming's Browning .25 may be in the U.S. as it ,his Colt Official Police(#718128) and his .22 Ruger Target(#196902) were bought in 1967 from Holland & Holland by R.Q.Sutherland and R.L. Wilson,authors of The Book of Colt Firearms. I have no idea where any of them are now.
Regards,
Tecolote
Great article indeed! I take it you wrote this, 7289? Congrats, fine work!
Only one thing, why do we presume the 'long-barrel Colt 45' from FAVTAK is necessarily Bond's own gun from his car? I somehow didn't get the impression Bond was with his Bentley in Vienna. It would probably make more sense if Bond had 'burrowed' a regular Colt 1911 automatic, just as he did with the motorbike and uniform. In my imagination Bond's lack of training with the gun was why he bungled the job at the clearing on the last pages.
I used to think of Bond's own long-barrel Colt as a revolver, so he had not to worry about red-hot spent brass in his car. On the other hand, if Bond held the steering wheel with his left and shot with his right hand outside the driver's side window, then the casings should hopefully land somewhere on the road.
But that's just a minor point, really fantastic article there, 7289!
Wilde