Very rare Walther LP3

[candleman]

I was chatting to a guy in a shop today about old Walther air pistols, and he reckoned that Walther did a limited edition version of the LP53, in a special James Bond presentation case
I've searched and cannot find anything about this pistol.
Does anyone have any knowledge of it.

[CHJF177]

I've never heard of such an item.
I suppose it's possible Walther jumped on the bandwagon
following it's 'accidental' use in film publicity material.
If it was produced and in limited numbers it may not have reached these shores?

Chris.

[candleman]

I see there is a cased deluxe version, but this guy reckoned there was an LP3 that had special 007 embossed grips and came in a case lined with a signed photo of Connery posing with the pistol.
What a find that would be

[Rickenbacker]

The guy probably saw >>this<< and at some point became confused.

[candleman]

The guy probably saw >>this<< and at some point became confused.

Unlikely, because it was a conversation on this very subject that bought the gun up.
I didn't know anything about why the LP53 was used in the famous Sean Connery picture till he told me.

[Garvin]

A lot of sellers of LP53s include 007 paraphernalia to bump up interest (and maybe the price!), so your guy probably saw one like this, in the deluxe Walther case, and drew the wrong conclusion. No reason why someone couldn't put together a package such as you describe. But I don't think Walther ever did.

[gingernut]

Sounds like a good yarn to pass the time on a rainy day in a gunshop.
Nothing wrong with that.
But be aware that you will hear many such tales if you frequent these places.

I'm off to find some 007 stuff to put in my Walther Box.

[Mark D]

Would be rarer than a LP52 !! -

[Garvin]

Would be rarer than a LP52 !! -

Nah, they're everywhere. Got one right here.

[Leonardj]

I've never seen nor heard of anything as described by the OP in my travels.

I have, however, heard several tall tails related to the "Bond LP53".

The best one that I witnessed in person was around 25 or more years ago at a local gun show. A seller had a fairly clean example of an LP53 with a 5 digit serial number, ending in "007". The seller had a pic of "Bond" holding an LP53, which was included with the gun. The price tag on the package was $2500.00 CDN.

The story went like this:
Walther withheld all the LP53s that had serial numbers ending in "007", and these were all sent to the film studios where the Bond movies were being made. All of these "007" guns were held, and used by "Bond" at some point in time, and this one in particular was the one used for the photo shoot with Connery. The seller further claimed that a "friend of a friend" was the prop-master, and had snuck this one "007" LP53 out of the studios and sold it to settle a gambling debt to the fellow now trying to sell the gun. The seller went on to tell me that I would never again see another LP53 with "007" as the last three digits in the serial number. I thanked the fellow for sharing the incredible provenance of his LP53, and moved along.......LOL.

Imagine my surprise when about ten years after passing on the incredible deal described above, when I stumbled upon an LP53 in a local gun shop, with a 5 digit serial number, ending in "007", and for a reasonable, realistic price. This one came home with me, and it remains in my collection to this day.

[candleman]

I've still got my LP53 I bought brand new back in the day.
I think I only put about 30 or so pellets through it before buying an LP2, and it's remained "in the sock drawer" ever since.
So you can imagine, it's still as new.
I still have it in the original box, with extra sight bits and pieces and the wooden cocking handle thing that goes in the barrel, but I lost the instruction book and cleaning rod.
If anyone has any of those knocking around please let me know.
It's be nice to have the complete set again, now that these pistols have become somewhat collectable.

[CHJF177]

I bought mine brand new in 1963 and still have it complete.
Used but not heavily and in very very good condition.

Cost me £15! twice the price of a Senior at that time and was about 3 weeks earnings!

Everybody thought I was extravagantly mad to spend that on an air pistol!

That was of course at a time when airguns were regarded as little more than toys and not to be taken that
seriously.

Chris.