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Convincing Ian Fleming to swap Bond's gun

First broadcast: 17 September 1964

A fan letter from pistol expert Geoffrey Boothroyd to Ian Fleming was the start of an exchange that would see James Bond forfeiting his precious Beretta in favour of something a little more robust.

Boothroyd guides us through the firepower options available to the jobbing secret agent, explains why the Beretta, a 'ladies' pistol', had to go and illustrates why its replacement, the Walther PPK, was a much more suitable choice for Fleming's Bond.

Some edits have been made to this clip for copyright reasons.

Release date:

Duration:

17 minutes

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