PPK or P99?
EDOG51
EnglandPosts: 29MI6 Agent
I noticed at the start of CR they gone with bond using the P99 the in QofS they went back to the PPK. I personally like the traditional side of them using the old PPK, any thoughts?
Comments
Butt for a spy the PPK should be big enough.
Bond can't always walk with a big envelope in his hands..:))
-{ Jan
" Sono Topolino, e tu chi saresti? ".
http://www.facebook.com/agent00univex
The P99 is a good weapon (and I've used both) but if Bond wanted something to significantly outgun the PPK the P99 in 9mm doesn't seem enough somehow. Yes it takes twice the rounds and 9mm is a bit more powerful. But if Bond wants a high-capacity, more powerful weapon then .40,.45, .357sig or 10mm would better suit the bill and in my opinion Glocks, H&Ks and Sigs are superior to the build quality of the newer Walthers.
But talk of handguns aside, whilst serving in the army I once wanted to carry a Browning 9mm for part of my task on an operation and put in a request to draw one. The RM simply looked at me and said, "Listen dickhead - the day you need a pistol is the day you wished to God you had a rifle..." Enough said I think.
http://apbateman.com
In other words, he should use the P99 when he expects combat and consealment isn't really a big problem.
Thunderpussy - it's a bit of a pointless task to argue about what guns are best really. When all is said and done, it's down to the user. Yes, there is a lot more tech now, and yes it's a progressive line in a gun's manufacture, though a far slower progression than a hundred years ago. Weapons went from blackpowder, flintlock to percussion, to paperpatch bullets to the bullets we know today. From single shot to revolver to semi-automatic pistol in such a short period of time. In the past hundred years it's changed very little and a pistol today is no more accurate than a hundred years ago. I have used a Steyr 1917 in 9mm and a Colt .45 1911 and they were as accurate as a straight out of the box Glock 19. A semi-auto pistol from a hundred years ago also cycles its rate of fire as fast as a weapon today (with the obvious exception of full-auto modes). The ammunition is the same (new calibres have popped up recently)but largely a calibre back in Fleming's day is the same power now.
The main changes in the past thirty years are weight of the weapon (lighter now), the fabrication of materials (polymer and plastics)and thanks to wider plastic grips and double-stacked magazines capacity is more. Though not always signifantly. For example a 9mm HP35 Browning carried 13 rds in 1935 and yes, exactly the same today - and many modern firearms are made with magazine capacity far less.
The good news for Bond fans is that the PPK is a classic in that it is still in use by many goverments (including our own military for clandestine operations, close protection and pilots etc)and will be fifty years from now. It isn't broken and doesn't need fixing.
http://apbateman.com
Actually, I'd say that with recent cartidge and round development, that the PPK is potentially more powerful now if used with certain rounds. I wouldn't like to get shot in the face with one.
Indeed there have been many improvements in ammunition development, but most standard practise and law enforcement rounds remain unchanged. A good home-loader would tweek a powder grain and bullet, but only ever to their own requirements. Most semi-auto pistols use a load to approximately 80% of a weapon's proof-grading for safe cycling. So there can always be improvements. But the 7.65mm round is a little cracker. There is no real reason to improve power over original 50's design. It has a good flat tragectory, so why improve on power, and a heavier round to compensate? You would be left with a round with the tragectory of a rainbow. Close-up and it will spin out very high and be off target, and at distance it will hammer down fast and low. Better to go up to 9mm short or .380, or up to 9mm. Use 80% of a cartridge's capability or change calibres altogether.
http://apbateman.com
I was talking more about the round itself, like black talons, silvertips and even the Glaser. Back then these things did not exist so internal damage was not so great or noticeable to the recipient. Penetration though is still an issue with the lower calibre rounds and I have seen a 7.65 literally bounce off an RAF greatcoat that was hung loose. A 9mm round certainly does not produce those results. All given, I'd rather go out with the PPS in pmm with longer barrel and greater accuracy and rate of fire than with a PPK. But then it's all down to the individual user. Bond might not be able to hit a barn door with a PPS. For the weight ratio, magazine capacity, accuracy, acquisition time, trigger reset time and reliability, there are much better options than the PPK now, much, much, much better options. They just don't look as good
I enjoyed owning and using my old PPK as much as anything else I owned or borrowed. But then again, on a range anything that goes bang is great. But yes, Bond could do much better than the old PPK and yes, the alternatives are too numerous to mention. I did like seeing him with the PPK though.
http://apbateman.com
Yes, I seem to remember Bond alternated between PKK and P99 in "The facts of Death".