James Bond: The Spy Who Loved Me, Walther PPK
replica movie prop weapon
The PPK first entered service in 1931, as an evolution of Walther’s popular Polizeipistole, or PP. The PPK stood for Polizeipistol Kurz, or “short police pistol,” and was expressly meant for use by plainclothes policemen and detectives.
It was a reliable and compact automatic pistol at a time when there were few designs that were either, and became an instant success. The handgun saw widespread use with German police and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), and indeed it was with a PPK that Adolf Hitler shot himself in 1945.
The PPK found its way into Bond’s hands based on a bit of fan correspondence. Geoffrey Boothroyd first wrote to Ian Fleming in 1956, shortly before the publication of From "Russia With Love".
He told Fleming that he loved the novels, but hated Bond’s choice of weapons and the Beretta .25 in particular, (an easily concealed pocket pistol with the drawback of shooting a very light round), a “lady’s gun”, Boothroyd informed Fleming.
Fleming had initially assigned Bond the .25 pistol on the basis of his own espionage work during the Second World War, but Boothroyd suggested that the PPK would be a better choice. It was only slightly larger, packed more of a wallop, and the ammunition for it was in widespread use.This was one of several firearms criticisms that resulted in Boothroyd becoming the basis for the armourer, the character who developed into the much loved "Q" of the movies.
Guns have changed a lot since Ian Fleming wrote "Dr. No". The Walther P99 is only 10 mm longer than the original PP, 25 mm longer than the PPK, and yet uses a more powerful round and carries more ammunition than either of them. However, it is still a Walther semi-automatic that sits in Bond’s shoulder holster, and the legacy of that fine German pistol-maker continues.
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