James Bond and his silly little Walther PPK

James Bond is a famous fictional spy, created by Ian Fleming, himself an actual spy during and just after WW2. The events of From Russia With Love were based on an actual mission he did. The James Bond movies tend to repeat many of the stories with slightly different changes. As you get older, you notice this. When you're a teenage boy its just a really awesome spy series. James Bond uses a particular gun in most of the films, a Walther PPK in 7.62 mm. It holds 6 shots and is easily concealled. It is worth pointing out, now, that 7.62mm is a soviet union cartridge that was long ago discarded because it rarely killed people fast enough to be of use. Its really puny. 7.62mm is .30 caliber, and that's very small diameter. Its also a small cartridge so its not very fast so it makes a small hole and a small wound. In a pistol, you can't get much velocity so you want a LARGE hole to the blood comes out faster and the person you're shooting stops doing whatever terrible thing they were doing to you, making them stop. In a modern firearm, the smallest caliber you'd even consider using for self defense is a .380 caliber, aka 9x17 Browning. It is even chambered in a PPK looking pistol suitable for concealled carry.

Pistol Cartridges

A .32 ACP, which is BIGGER than the Bond caliber

Bond rarely uses one of these, in .380 caliber

Most self defense experts only recommend these puny calibers in cases where the woman is so physically weak she can't shoot a 9x19mm NATO aka 9mm Parabellum, a round that has been in use since 1876 if memory serves. It remains in service all over the world.

Browning/Colt 1911 pistol

Just over 100 years ago, John Browning was tasked with inventing a sidearm (pistol) that would fire the new .45 ACP (automatic cartridge, pistol), meant to be powerful enough to making a charging cavalry horse stumble. Tanks and trucks hadn't been invented yet. The 1911 automatic pistol is rumored to have been invented to put down charging Filipinos because the service issue .38 Specials were worthless in the occupation of Manila following the Spanish American War. This is important because a 38 Special is largely the same power as a 9x19mm NATO. The upgraded version of that round, slightly longer and much faster, is the .357 Magnum, which is famous. It is also infamous for blowing through the target and hitting whomever is behind them, often up to 100 yards away, inside a house, possibly reading their magazine while on the toilet.

.357 Magnum revolver

Modern Special Operations .45 caliber pistol

In the real world, military troops who actually expect to use pistols in combat tend to shoot "hot" 45's in +P+ loads at magnum velocities. Or they will use Sub-machine guns in a pistol caliber such as 9mm, .45 ACP or even 10mm, which is superior to both, having the hitting power of a .45 ACP +P+ load, but the reach of a 9mm. So long as US troops are dealing with mad arabs hopped up on drugs and wrapped in armor and explosives, we will need such firearms and men willing to use them. Its not very nice, but life rarely is.




Glock makes a reliable 10mm pistol, which is a last defense against polar bears, the worlds largest land predator. You may have heard the polar bear is dying out from climate change. That is a lie. They were here before the ice age, and adapted to the ice. They are going back to their land hunting in places where the ice has melted. They are perfectly happy taking down caribou or going after seals on land. That is no problem at all. They also poke their heads into human quonset huts and eat anybody that happens to be around. Environmentalists do not talk about that tendency because it will interrupt their fund raising, and global warming is all about money, not science. And James Bond films are all very flashy and fun, but they aren't realistic. I think it is a good thing that the films have been cleaned up and remastered in high definition because they look great and sound wonderful and they're part of Western European cinema. They aren't realistic, but they do make boys all very excited and make "p-too p-too!" noises while rolling around behind bushes. Bond movies are fun. In the real world, when a villain gives a speech, its generally about raising taxes and you call them politicians.