The Literary Bond's Beretta And The Effectiveness Of The .25 round.
Marker
Posts: 66MI6 Agent
Firstly, I hope I'm posting in the right place!
Here's a well made video on the subject of Bond's (favourite?) sidearm which I'm sure many of you may have already seen but, for those who haven't.
As we know, there's been lots of discussion about the effectiveness of the little .25 round. In the following video, it's put to the test in an unusual way. Make your own mind up if you'd be confident of being on the wrong end of a .25 bullet.
Author of 'An Ungentlemanly Act' and 'Execution of Duty'. The WW2 espionage series starring Harry Flynn.
Comments
It’s a landmark video made by a long standing and respected member here. Giving the original 418 some love.
I wondered if the person responsible might be a member of the forum.
Further to the effectiveness of the .25, back in the day for lot's of gangsters (I'm speaking about actual gangsters, not the faux 'rap' variety) the little .25 pocket pistol was the weapon of choice. Easy to conceal and effective within the ranges they may have to use them. They would even carry .22 pistols.
Author of 'An Ungentlemanly Act' and 'Execution of Duty'. The WW2 espionage series starring Harry Flynn.
In the right hands a .22 can be very effective. Mossad proved that to be true. Fleming himself carried a .25 Browning during the war. Although I’m pretty sure he wasn’t as lethal with it as Mossad was 30 years later with their Beretta 71’s. Even today those smaller calibre sidearms are carried more frequently by deep cover agents than their larger 9mm counterparts. The Walther TPH in .22 has an extensive history with real spies moreso than the PPK or larger calibre semi autos.
Here's another interesting video which compares to .25 and .22 rounds as fired from the type of pocket pistol Fleming's Bond was familiar with. I think it's safe to say that Bond would have been equipped with the best ammunition available at that time. Given the circumstances and close quarters action that he could expected to be engaged in, the criticism of Bond's little Beretta may be exaggerated?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4KlRVa0h8
Author of 'An Ungentlemanly Act' and 'Execution of Duty'. The WW2 espionage series starring Harry Flynn.
On the criticism, I'd hazard not. While the round can be effective, and while I do occasionally carry my 418 (with the grip panels on) the .25 ACP is the most diminutive of the centerfire cartridges. That does give it a significant improvement over the rimfired .22LR cartridge, which is more prone to malfunctions, but does not in any way negate the relatively light power of the round.
Now Boothroyd's criticisms are a different animal, recall he was not interested in the PPK for Bond at all, he was instead an avid reader of American firearm magazines and shootists. These authors were strong proponents of the revolver, and the .38 Special cartridge as well. It is this significantly larger round that Boothroyd was promoting, not the slightly larger, 7.65mm (.32ACP).
To Boothroyd's credit on the criticisms, Beretta's own marketing materials for the 418 highlighted a female hand with painted nails holding the sidearm, which may have very well contributed to the claims of it being suited for a woman.
All this to say, it is a rather semantic debate, and I find more pleasure in understanding the "why" behind the claims rather than the aggressive study of ballistics charts, at least in this instance!