Upgrade Bond's Walther?
rebenton
Birmingham ALPosts: 276MI6 Agent
In the novel Dr. No, we see Bond receive the Walther PPK as a replacement for his Beretta. In Bond 24, is it finally time for Bond to have to give up the PPK because it is old and outdated for something along the lines of the new Walther PPS .40? I know the PPK has become iconic in a sense, and that they tried with the P99, but I'd like to hear thoughts about this.
Comments
1. GoldenEye 2. Goldfinger 3. Skyfall 4. OHMSS 5. TWINE
I've always wondered why they didn't go with the Walther P5compact it is awesome. Great lines like the PPK but chambered in 9mm and still reasonably small for an agent of Bond's stature to carry.
I would like him to use a 7.92mm x 24mm VBR.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
Well, there you go
Bond could perhaps carry a good knife as a back up weapon should he be disarmed. That's what many people do in the real world. A bit nasty, but it works.
I never actually pay much attention to the gun during a shoot out anyways though.
Just like how Moonraker's wrist dart gun wasn't in FYEO and how GE's grenade pen wasn't in TND etc.
I like the idea of 007 carrying a small knife.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
As a handgun enthusiast though, I'm torn between wanting to see him using something modern and updated and even custom, and also wanting him to keep the PPK. Everytime I pick up and handle a PPK, I think - Yeah, that's why it's still relevant as a concealed carry sidearm, even today.
It worked well in Skyfall. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that Eve carried one as well. It should be Bond's personal choice, not on general issue to all and any field operatives.
on the original and there are others more powerful, but they're just ugly compared
to the old Walther. It may not have the stopping power of a lot of weapons
and is harder to become accurate with (though I'm sure Q Branch could probably
lighten the trigger pull so it's easier to shoot), but in some strange way it looks
better with a tux than those ugly square Glocks. Also, it's more rounded/smaller
profile makes it easier to conceal. I also keep in mind that though Bond has a license
to kill, he is still a spy, not Dirty Harry. Despite what they've show throughout the series, he only packs it as a defensive backup weapon that he might need in very close quarter conflicts (as he did in the courtroom scene in SF). Granted, it wasn't very effective on the train in the beginning of the film against his adversaries firepower, but those type of situations are supposed to be the type of extreme
firefights he wouldn't normally be caught in. Strangely, because he's Bond - had
he not be shot, he probably would have overcome the bad guy (as he said he could
have). The Walther is just a great looking piece for him to use when he can't use
his fists or a knife.
What updated PPK's in the other films? The only updated PPK was the signature version in Skyfall. In the other films in which he used a PPK, it was the regular German ULM made version. Did you mean the P99?
As to being a hard gun to become accurate with, well this is far from the truth. The PPK's most redeeming feature is its ability to allow the user to shoot accurately and acquire the target quickly after each discharge. The ergonomics are superb. This is why it has been so successful for so many decades and has seen service in some of the worlds most elite units. Maybe you are confusing the excellent German made version with the US made Interarms and S&W versions, which always fall short of the original somehow. They never shoot as well, but the German made PPK is a superlative engineering marvel. The tolerences are so tight compared to other pistols.
I think Bond should carry a ASP (not a snake ) a telescopic baton,
i think the U.S secret service still carry them, nothing beats that sound
of a baton cracking open ,during deployment ,it would look visualy good in the films aswell
The 16" ASP baton (called the Concealable Operations Baton when first released and carried by Gardner's Bond) is an excellent defensive and offensive weapon. In fact it's a much better weapon than a knife as it gives more options. And that sound as you flick it open...
Well that was alluded to in CR. He had the PPK originally in the PTS, then he was issued the P99 in the DBS glovebox (albeit he had the P99 in his casual clothes post PTS). We can only assume the UMP came from the DBS too. Great combo.
PS: The US Secert Service currently uses Sig Sauer P229's, the ASP was dropped after the company making it went under sometime in the mid 1990's if I remember right.
Earlier than that. Mid to late Eighties. But the ASP was never standard issue to the US Secret Service, and saw only limited use in clandestine organisations (CIA) due to the cost. The Sig P228 was used by the Secret Service from the Nineties until it was replaced.
The use of the PPS in Carte Blanche is excellent. Deaver did a sterling job in arming Bond and getting the tactics and usage spot on. Something that was always lacking in the Bond novels up to that point. Before that, only Gardner came close, but only in the early novels.
I fired the German made PPK once and remember it had a pretty heavy trigger pull like the .38 S&W snubnose I used to own. Those heavy pulls always made it a bit
more difficult for me to be as accurate as I wanted, but maybe my memory is foggy...
unless the ASP company sold out to another firm , we used ASP well into 2006
when i left ,my son who is a MET officer has a identical model (not ASP) but
i was only using ASP as a description rather than make as its the only make i have used
@ always shaken Thank you for correcting me, again I was only going off information I read somewhere online some time in the past.
As for upgrading Bond's Walther if the choice was mine to make I would either re-introduce the P99 and have Bond use it when he expected a serious firefight to occur and keep the PPK as a conceled carry/back up gun, or have him use the PPS.
EDIT: Just released that always shaken is talking about the baton, while I'm talking about the pistol
Could it be possible that you are talking about the telescopic baton and not the ASP modified S&W M39 9mm pistol?
-Mr Arlington Beech
as was unaware that ASP made side arms us old fashioned English bobbies
do not carry fire arms as a rule ,we are /were armed with ,baton ,cs gas, and handcuffs,
and radio if you are a met officer you would be lucky and have a whistle,
i know when talking to people who ive met around the world
they are suprised that British police are not routinley armed,
but again many applogise because this thread started off on the issue of side arms
and i tagged on because someone mentioned Bond should have a knife
so i wasnt intentionly trying too hijack the origanal thread sorry everbody
Ilike your thinking Howardb,didnt Clint Eastwood ,as a US secret service agent beat the cr*p out of a guy
in one of his films with a baton ??