Walther 's , Bond 007 and the Photographic target shooter

[Jimny4x4]

Was just watching the BBC 4 documentary on photography and film .
Some will know of the story already but it was nice to see the actual photographer tell his story .
Many know the iconic image of Sean Connery with the Walther ( airpistol ) .
The photographer who took the image was quite famous and was hired for the publicity stills - and still alive he explained how it came about .
With Connery and the entourage having flown into town to his studio , the stills team had forgotten 'the gun' .
As it happened the photographer was a keen target shooter and hurriedly rushed to get his own Walther airpistol .
The idea he said was that nobody on set would know the difference and they didn't .
Then afterwards the plan was to edit the barrel off in post production after he submitted the stills to the production company .
Instructions were relayed , but nobody bothered .
Hence why we all know the image today .

[gingernut]

I recall that pistol was sold at auction for £147000.
Luckily I have two.

[gingernut]

Silly me -£277000

[Garvin]

Thanks for this confirmation of the story 'from the horse's mouth'.

I find it hilarious that we airgunners know the world's most iconic fictional assassin is holding an air pistol that struggles to propel a .177 inch pellet at about 350 fps on a good day.

It would hardly put most Bond villains off their stride, let alone kill them. Unless it fired a dart dipped in curare, I suppose.

The photographer has pulled the ultimate trick on an ignorant public that thinks 'oh my God, it's a gun-shaped object, Run!' And he got clean away with it.

I'm not sure a 'break barrel PPK' would have taken us long to work out either, if they had bothered to shorten the barrel in post-production.

[Muskett]

They kept up the tradition when Roger Moor holds a FWB 65 in the Live and Let Die and Man With a Golden Gun poster.

There is a harpoon wire throwing Webley???

And Octopussy has a BSA Scorpion.

[micky2]

Was just watching the BBC 4 documentary on photography and film .
Some will know of the story already but it was nice to see the actual photographer tell his the story .
Many know the iconic image of Sean Connery with the Walther ( airpistol ) .
The photographer who took the image was quite famous and was hired for the publicity stills - and still alive he explained how it came about .
With Connery and the entourage having flown into town to his studio , the stills team had forgotten 'the gun' .
As it happened the photographer was a keen target shooter and hurriedly rushed to get his own Walther airpistol .
The idea he said was that nobody on set would know the difference and they didn't .
Then afterwards the plan was to edit the barrel off in post production after he submitted the stills to the production company .
Instructions were relayed , but nobody bothered .
Hence why we all know the image today .

lf it was he who sold the pistol it must have been his most productive shoot (pardon the pun), he ever did.

[Muskett]

I forget the details but I think the actual pistol had passed through a couple of hands. Don't quote me but there is a bit of mist over the actual pistol's provenance that made the premium price. I suspect the highest premium was way over the odds to such an extent its unlikely to match it again. Not sure where it is now. It has its own legend now.

I shoot mine every once in a while. Worth every penny of the £160 I paid. Same with the 65 which are really lovely to shoot. The two are as different as the Bonds; ones a bit robust to shoot and the other a bit smooth.

[cinedux]

beats me how those girls flicked their Scorpions around!

[Garvin]

They kept up the tradition when Roger Moor holds a FWB 65 in the Live and Let Die and Man With a Golden Gun poster.

Not sure what it was but it doesn't look like a Feinwerkbau 65

Movie poster
FWB 65

[clarky]

Thanks for this confirmation of the story 'from the horse's mouth'.

I find it hilarious that we airgunners know the world's most iconic fictional assassin is holding an air pistol that struggles to propel a .177 inch pellet at about 350 fps on a good day.

It would hardly put most Bond villains off their stride, let alone kill them. Unless it fired a dart dipped in curare, I suppose.

The photographer has pulled the ultimate trick on an ignorant public that thinks 'oh my God, it's a gun-shaped object, Run!' And he got clean away with it.

I'm not sure a 'break barrel PPK' would have taken us long to work out either, if they had bothered to shorten the barrel in post-production.

Try 440 fps on a good day provided the tight barrel is considered and the correct pellets chosen....
Tuned i run mine upper 400 s....with one straying 500 fps....they are not hard to tune...
Still think it looked too long for the picture ....but hey ho ....no one seemed to notice too much ..

[IanSea]

Not sure what it was but it doesn't look like a Feinwerkbau 65

Movie poster
FWB 65

It's definitely not an air pistol. It's a semi auto pistol of some sort, possibly a Walter target pistol. You can see the exposed hammer and the grooves on the slide

[Jimny4x4]

Try 440 fps on a good day provided the tight barrel is considered and the correct pellets chosen....
Tuned i run mine upper 400 s....with one straying 500 fps....they are not hard to tune...
Still think it looked too long for the picture ....but hey ho ....no one seemed to notice too much ..

Thats what the photographer thought - he wanted the image trimmed ie the gun retouched - old style with a brish and ink ( its what you did back then when there was no Photoshop ) . But somehow the instruction was never carried out hence the overlong barrel image we all know today .