“There’s only one gun for that, sir,’ said Major Boothroyd stolidly. ‘Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight. Revolver. .38 calibre. Hammerless, so it won’t catch in clothing. Overall length of six and a half inches and it only weighs thirteen ounces. To keep down the weight, the cylinder holds only five cartridges. But by the time they’re gone,’ Major Boothroyd allowed himself a wintry smile, ‘somebody’s been killed. Fires the .38 S & W Special. Very accurate cartridge indeed. With standard loading it has a muzzle velocity of eight hundred and sixty feet per second and muzzle energy of two hundred and sixty foot-pounds. There are various barrel lengths, three and a half inch, five inch…”
Excerpt From: Fleming, Ian. “Doctor No.” Penguin Books Ltd (UK), 2009-07-19T11:22:25.
Interesting opinion given that the PP dates from 1929! And of course the simplified PPK was a favourite of the Gestapo.
It was also one of the first double-action semi-automatic pistol, making it popular with police forces the world over in the years after WWII, including (at least according to one source) the CIA
MAJ BOOTHROYD Walther PPK. 7.65mm with a delivery like a brick through a plate-glass window. Takes a Brausch silencer, with little reduction in muzzle velocity. The American CIA swear by them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.