
“May I suggest that Mr. Bond be armed with a revolver?” (1956) - smacktoward
https://lettersofnote.com/2011/06/01/may-i-suggest-that-mr-bond-be-armed-with-a-revolver/
======
RandomBacon
Interesting. Revolvers would be good for a spy as they don't eject shell
casings, however they are quite loud, which led me to ponder: are there
suppressors for revolvers?

I did a quick search, and the first result was very interesting!

[https://www.guns.com/news/2019/08/08/gun-question-can-you-
pu...](https://www.guns.com/news/2019/08/08/gun-question-can-you-put-a-
silencer-on-a-revolver)

Edit: more interesting pictures
[https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/06/15/why-cant-
revo...](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/06/15/why-cant-revolvers-be-
suppressed-or-can-they/)

~~~
SamPatt
Suppressors don't make any weapon quiet enough to be useful for hiding the
sound of firing up close, as movies portray spies doing.

It's more about protecting your own hearing.

~~~
avhon1
There are exceptions to every generalization, and this exception is pretty
cool. The Welrod MkIIA is a semiautomatic pistol, designed for covert
operations and assassinations, that is genuinely movie-quiet.

Ian McCollum (Forgotten Weapons) has an excellent video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12AjvEsaHg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12AjvEsaHg)

"When it's properly set up, this is as close as you get to an actual `silent
gun`. You can, by all accounts, be within about 15 feet of this thing and not
recognize that a firearm has discharged."

~~~
topspin
A modern equivalent based on an M&P 9mm:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljJ2jPTa1c&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljJ2jPTa1c&feature=youtu.be&t=455)

It is Hollywood quiet.

~~~
IshKebab
You can't really tell volume from a youtube video for obvious reasons.

~~~
quickthrowman
You can’t tell the SPL from a YouTube video but you can clearly tell the
silencer reduces the attack and sustain of the gunshot noise by a substantial
degree. It also doesn’t echo as much.

------
caconym_
This is wonderful.

Details matter in fiction. It's a delicate balance to weave it in without
obsessing over it to the detriment of other elements, but you need that
texture to anchor the consumer's perspective in a place that seems real.

Lots of modern media fail miserably at this, e.g. many of the recent films by
J.J. Abrams. I guess it's harder when the product is designed by a committee
of people who don't really care in the same kind of way that Mr. Fleming
clearly did.

~~~
ztjio
If you haven't read the original novels, they are an absolute treat. Very
refreshing. There is great detail, but, almost never more than you absolutely
need. It is used to set the pace, so, in the slower moments there will be some
fluff details. Ultimately it makes for short novels, really novellas by
today's standard. And frankly I love them all the more for that. It's easy to
finish one in a single sitting.

~~~
jetrink
That sounds like exactly the type of escapism that I need right now. Are the
novels meant to be read in order? If not, do you have one or two that would be
good to start with?

~~~
dewy
They are in order, and Bond evolves based on his experiences in previous
books. I would start with the first, Casino Royale and go from there. Bond of
the novels is a more complex and less hero-worshipable character than his
movie equivalent. My personal favourite is On His Majesty's Secret Service - I
also loved the short story A Quantum of Solace (which has nothing to do with
the movie of the same name).

And while I personally enjoy the novels, I will say that some of them have not
stood up to the test of time as well as others, and now read as very dated.
Not discouraging you from reading them, just be forewarned!

~~~
logical_proof
OHMSS is also my favorite. Out of curiosity which would you say have not aged
well? Dr. No has some issues racially as I recall but not that I can think of
as outright offensive. I ask because I want to know what I have missed
(sometimes the blinders are up and you don’t see what you should).

------
chriselles
Interesting read.

The Walther PP series was a good future focused “fashionista” choice for Bond
in film.

But I do think for the Bond character from the book, as well as the reality of
the 50’s-60’s period, a small revolver would haves suited for both close range
discrete carry self-defence, as well as offensive assassination.

From a more gritty/realistic viewpoint, targeted killings in a number of
places around the world in the period often relied on revolvers due to their
simplicity and reliability.

Ammunition failure was more common then, revolvers allowed the user the
ability to sequence thru a stoppage/misfire.

Close combat stoppage drills then for semi-automatic pistols were not nearly
as refined as today.

~~~
pps43
Revolvers may look simple, but they have lots of small internal parts. More
than a typical semi-auto.

And they are not reliable in practice. Especially considering that most semi-
auto malfunctions can be cleared in a second with tap-rack, but revolver
malfunction tend to lock it up for good.

~~~
Merad
> And they are not reliable in practice.

I'm curious what you mean by this. I agree that when a revolver experiences a
mechanical malfunction it's usually serious and the gun is probably done until
a gunsmith takes it apart. But that type of malfunction is _extremely_ rare.

~~~
pps43
Not rare. I shoot USPSA and Steel Challenge and have seen all kinds of
revolver malfunctions in matches. Cylinder binding because bullets walked out
under recoil, broken firing pin, cylinder falling out on the ground, timing
issues (chamber not aligned with bore axis), broken springs, etc.

Most are catastrophic, meaning that competitors cannot fix them on the clock,
and if they don't have a spare gun they cannot finish the match either.

~~~
zepto
People rarely use stock, unmodified revolvers for steel challenge or USPSA,
and they rarely shoot factory ammunition. Almost all of the modifications are
about intentionally trading reliability for speed.

I don’t dispute what you’ve seen but I don’t think it’s representative of what
would be used for self defense or combat.

------
gravitas
The article has an update pointing at a BBC article with a video interview:
"Time Out - The Guns of James Bond" [https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/time-out--
the-guns-of-james-bo...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/time-out--the-guns-of-
james-bond)

The video above can't be played in my country (BBC restrictions), I found a
copy of it on Youtube:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJuEs3aMvOk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJuEs3aMvOk)

------
linksnapzz
IIRC, in the later (non-Fleming) books, MI6 forces Bond to trade his PPK for
an HK VP70 after a critical misfire.

Also, in the same book, it is revealed that Bond keeps a Smith & Wesson Model
29 .44 Magnum revolver(!) in the glove box of his modified Saab 900(!!)

~~~
namdnay
I had a Saab 900 turbo, I loved it! Now I can say I drove a Bond Car

~~~
semi-extrinsic
The 900 turbo was a genuine cool car back then. Among famous owners you find
tennis legend and fashion icon Bjorn Borg (left in this picture):

[https://images.svd.se/v2/images/272d7d06-9b1e-4825-a13e-1f26...](https://images.svd.se/v2/images/272d7d06-9b1e-4825-a13e-1f2646047e81?fit=crop&h=427&q=80&upscale=true&w=640&s=3933bb3bb8c3972eed99b3c6338ad3f5d8465c4f)

~~~
mongol
As well as Ingemar Stenmark...

------
quelltext
What surprised me most is that he presented himself as the biographer of James
Bond, as if he were real. I wasn't aware of that history.

~~~
ztjio
It's a writer's technique somewhat similar to method actors who take on the
character's persona as their own for the duration of a play or filming. It's
almost like attempting to evoke in yourself a synthetic form of dissociative
identity disorder to allow a "real" personality to live and grown
independently of you while you interact with and guide it towards the outcome
you're hoping for.

Pretty much as far from "kill your darlings" as one can get, tbh.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _Pretty much as far from "kill your darlings" as one can get, tbh._

Forking your own thinking process to have a secondary personality execute in
parallel sounds as close to "killing your darlings" as possible, given that
personality would presumably have their own favorite expressions and tropes.

------
ak39
At first read, I really thought Ian Fleming was being sarcastic in his letter!

------
ebg13
It would have been nice if they'd included the original letter and not just
the first paragraph of it.

~~~
avhon1
The article starts with a scan of the entire letter. You need to enable
javascript for the image to load.

~~~
sapphire_tomb
No, the article starts with a scan of the reply.

------
Rebelgecko
It's adorable that Ian Fleming responds as if James Bond is a real person

~~~
dfcowell
I’ve found this to be a common trait amongst most authors I reach out to when
commenting on the specifics of their work.

~~~
quelltext
Really? Often they say things like "he prefers...", etc. in some sense
speaking for their character not hypothetically but as if they were close to a
real person that "does" things rather than "would do".

However pretending to be personally acquainted with the character is a step
higher, I feel. How common is that?

------
exabrial
The ppk is an amazingly reliable firearm. Because it's a blowback design, it's
very immune to limp wrist failures, in contrast to most semi-automatic pistols
that delay ejection until chamber pressures go down. This limits you to .38ACP
but the trade-off is increased reliability while maintaining a small package.
These firearms can also be miniaturized, for instance, my Bersa Thunder cc
fits into my front pocket and is quite a nice EDC (we have constitutional
concealed carry in Kansas).

~~~
sithadmin
>This limits you to .38ACP

FWIW, I don't think PPKs have ever been chambered for .38ACP; most PPKs these
days are chambered in .380 Auto, though there are older variants chambered for
.32ACP, a modern variant chambered for .22LR, and a few other oddball variants
that use other cartridges.

~~~
exabrial
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't .380 Auto and .380 ACP the exact same
round?

~~~
User23
It looks like you are correct. But not to be confused with the .38 Auto![1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.380_ACP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.380_ACP)

------
cafard
There was something I read--probably via HN--some years ago that suggested
that the PPK wasn't that satisfactory an arm.

~~~
mellavora
I can hit bullseyes at 25m with mine fairly reliably. The first trigger pull
is a bit hard (if it isn't cocked), but after that it is smooth. Reliable way
to safely lower the trigger is also a bonus. Quality and finish are as good as
any of my pythons. Field stripping is super easy, the trigger guard is a lever
which lets you just pull the slide right off.

What's not to love?

------
RickJWagner
Perhaps Bond could spend a day or two with Dirty Harry. Calahan could show him
a thing or two about revolvers.

------
rbanffy
If a spy needs to be armed, they already failed.

~~~
touktouk
Would that mean that any assassination done with a weapon is a failure?

~~~
brazzy
No, it would mean that spies don't do assassinations.

The primary job of a spy is to gather classified information, ideally without
anyone noticing. Dead bodies tend to be noticed.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
Actually, in all the Bond movies, I don't recall him ever having a mission to
spy per your definition. Spies are typically used in situations between
countries and many of Bonds foes clearly weren't countries, e.g., Goldfinger,
Dr. No, Drax. They were just super criminals without allegiance to any
country. The closest classic spy movie I recall was From Russia With Love but
even that involved SPECTRE more than Russian.

