Should the film Bond hold and fire a gun with two hands or one?
osris
Posts: 558MI6 Agent
The Connery and Lazenby era had them holding and firing a gun with one hand. Later Bonds used the two-hand grip of law-enforcement officers. I know that that latter is more realistic, but I think it ruins the look of Bond—if that makes sense. Technically, it is possible to aim and fire a gun using one hand, and that the two-hand grip has just become the preferred choice these days—almost out of convention—both by law-enforcement officer and filmmakers.
Comments
Accurate or recommended, but it did look cool.
The armies of minions just fall over and go to sleep anyway, Bond doesn't need to aim for that to happen.
when CraigBond shot down Blofeld's helicopter from a kilometre away, how many hands was he using?
Yes, Moore seemed to pull this off better than the others after him—especially in the gun barrel sequence used before LALD and TMWTGG. For some reason, Moore’s use of the two-hand grip doesn’t make him look like a TV detectives from the 1980s onwards.
This is what I had in mind about Connery’s use of a gun.
Does anyone know when the two-hand grip first came to be used by the police, CIA etc? According to the following it came in in the 1950s:
"One handed methods were the norm before Jack Weaver started grabbing his shooting hand in the 1950's. Prior to that the training doctrines emphasized using the off hand for balance and discouraged shooters from grabbing the handgun with both hands. I guess on the theory that it would mess up one's aim. But you will sometimes see a "teacup" grip or wrist-grab being used in old photos.
Use what works for you. Doctrine tends to become dogma, and suddenly we're all being screamed at to use the same kind of holsters and the stances that the champion shooters use. Life is not an IDPA match, and most of us are not championship shooters. More importantly, real life shooters use a wide variety of handguns some of which simply don't work as well with the techniques developed for standard 1911's or target revolvers. I use a very difference presentation and stance for a big single action magnum than a small double action, and a different one still for semis.
For example, if you can deliver accurate, fast fire using a one handed stance go for it. It minimizes the target area for an opponent, so there's some real tactical merit to the old dueling stance. The way things work in the shooting world, I suspect in a few years it will be the new tacti-cool stance. Jack Bauer will start doing it or something"
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/history-behind-two-handed-shooting.493772/
Since the 1990s we've had the sideways grip, which thankfully Bond had avoided. I think it looks ridiculous but apparently prevents the gun obscuring the actor's face.
I used to work with someone who was formerly a gun-shop owner and he told me the PPK was a very accurate gun but so small and light that it was very difficult to aim successfully, which I guess would make a two-handed grip more practical.
You will find Connery using F/S styles.
http://www.pointshooting.com/faschap.htm
Just my opinion but I'd prefer to see bond using the centre axis relock style more, as seen in John Wick and even Denzel Washington used a variation of this with his six shooter in magnificent 7
I can’t recall Brosnan or Craig using a one-hand grip when reconnoitering a building, though. They always use the two-hand grip, like the police do.
Can't really recall Brosnan, but dc has to in the pts of CR, in the hotel de Las lunas in qoss and the pts, skyfall and Spectre. however he does use the traditional two handed a lot more.
Yes, I recall Connery using this method in the target practice scene in Q’s department in NSNA.
Just googled Pierce Brosnan Walther and it shows him using both one and two handed shooting, including of course his gunbarrel, for which I think Moore is the only one who did the two-handed grip in his two gunbarrels. Of all the Bonds, I think he's the biggest ham when it comes to his shooting poses...but don't get me wrong, I'm a big Brozzer fan! It's just that I think he approached his gunplay and fist fights in the most cinematic way possible.
Good point.
Off topic: I could never get over Brosnan’s dress sense as Bond. I agree with the person who once described his Bond as “Bond as dandy”. I think that’s what ruined his Bond for me—irrational as that sounds and is.
Use whatever style is best for the situation.
The training of that time believed that spending valuable time lining up your sights on the target was not the best thing to do and instead used the low at the hip stance to be able to let off rounds quickly at the entire body of your enemy, not only a particular area you would have to aim at precisely. This is also where the double tap technique comes into practice, and you can see Connery do that too I believe. Firing two quick rounds from a low one handed stance was believed to be the quickest and most effective way to stop an enemy at that time although the training does state that where possible and where time permits, a properly executed two handed aim is always most accurate.
There's a video on YouTube here covering all of the different pistol firing techniques of the allies in WW2 although stances very close to Connerys appear throughout.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jP7J-JNSUu4
Fairbairn and Sykes' theory was that shooting first is very important. Even if you miss there's a good chance your shot will push your oponent to shoot too early too, hopefully firing many unaimed shots. That's when you have to take aimed shots at him.
DC uses one hand when the need arises, ie when storming through the embassy in the CR pts, but both later in the pts when he needs an accurate couple of shots. For me DC's two handed stance is a bit wrong and he holds the pistol to far in front of him.
But then again, it's Moore's Bond and I'm talking about such stuff.