Check this out

[Grumpy]

Boothroyd`s details re how the holster should be worn and used is almost comic - and
" "4) Bang! You're dead."
really is hilarious.
Interestingly the original hardback cover artwork of one of the James Bond novels features a gun very similar to that owned and described by Boothroyd - a S&W snubby with the front of the trigger-guard cut-away.
GREAT - I`ve found it :
http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/literary ... _love.php3

[Grumpy]

Boothroyds gun must have served as the model for that artwork - the barrel has plainly been cut-down ( `H & WESSON` ) it has target sights and the front of the trigger guard has been cut away.
It`s great when details like that can be correlated - good stuff TC.

[timmy]

I have to chuckle: cutting away the trigger guards of DA revolvers has always impressed me as horribly barbarian and in bad taste, and the mental picture of a spy wielding a Super Blackhawk is hilarious - almost as good as Rambo shooting down the Soviet helicopter with his bow and bomb arrow.

[Grumpy]

It`s always struck me as horribly dangerous - ramming the revolver back into it`s holster could easily be suicidal ..... especially with a `tuned trigger`. Geoffrey Boothroyd does come across as being rather enthusiastically juvenile. All very silly but great fun - it`s making me smile anyway. `Bang, you`re dead`. lol

[xl_target]

From this paragraph, from TC's extremely interesting find, concerning correspondence between Boothroyd and Ian Fleming, it appears that Fleming might have done more than just sit behind a desk during his Naval Intelligence days.

With the C.I.D.'s deadly efficiency, the visit resulted in a matter of hours, and it was fortunate that I not only had an alibi for the night in question but also a firearms certificate covering a .25 Browning automatic which I had occasionally carried during the war on Naval Intelligence duties and a Colt Official Police .38 Special revolver which was presented to me as a memento of our friendship by General "Wild Bill" Donovan, head of the American Secret Services known as O.S.S., with whom I had had frequent and close association in wartime.

A couple of observations, the way Fleming talks about Bond's soft holster, it's obvious he was not a regular user of a holster. Drawing and reholstering from anything but a rigid holster is asking for trouble, especially when the gun is pointing at your armpit (shudder) like Burns-Martin's lightnin' holster. Holsters have come a really long ways since those days. While I'm a big fan of leather, I must admit that Kydex has really revolutionized the industry.

As far as the cut trigger guard and the "snubbied" revolver, it was the rage at one time. Some guy posted a few articles on that in one of the gun rags and next thing you know, everyone was copying it. Pretty soon, you could get the snub nose revolvers from the factory but no manufacturer was stupid enough to offer one with a cut trigger guard. Now, by itself, a cut trigger guard is not inherently dangerous to someone who is used to keeping his fingers off the trigger. This is more so when paired with a rigid holster. However, let a novice get a hold of the same rig and you'd better keep a bucket of spackle on hand to patch holes in walls and a bucket and mop for the blood.

Once again, TC. that article was a great find. Enjoyed reading it tremendously.
I will agree with Grumpy about the rather juvenile enthusiasm of Boothroyd but it was still a good read.

[Grumpy]

Fleming was posted abroad late in WWII but he was deliberately kept well away from the frontline and never saw any form of combat service. -

[timmy]

I agree, XL, the read was great. I don't find myself sharing Fleming's enthusiasm for Boothroyd's expertise, however.

I agree, cutting away the trigger guard was the rage at one time, but in my own opinion, it was "bubba" then and it's "bubba" now.

This point makes me wonder about how many fads of today will be looked at in the same light!

What I found particularly interesting was Flemings shifting to 3rd person and back through the correspondence. It seems as if he really got into the character he was creating.

[TC]

From this paragraph, from TC's extremely interesting find, concerning correspondence between Boothroyd and Ian Fleming, it appears that Fleming might have done more than just sit behind a desk during his Naval Intelligence days.

With the C.I.D.'s deadly efficiency, the visit resulted in a matter of hours, and it was fortunate that I not only had an alibi for the night in question but also a firearms certificate covering a .25 Browning automatic which I had occasionally carried during the war on Naval Intelligence duties and a Colt Official Police .38 Special revolver which was presented to me as a memento of our friendship by General "Wild Bill" Donovan, head of the American Secret Services known as O.S.S., with whom I had had frequent and close association in wartime.

Once again, TC. that article was a great find. Enjoyed reading it tremendously.
I will agree with Grumpy about the rather juvenile enthusiasm of Boothroyd but it was still a good read.

Thank you XL.
So Fleming did use a .25 Browning and was certainly not a clerk as often assumed if he had the head of OSS eager enough to spare a Colt as memento of their friendship.
Fishing out this article was my pleasure entirely since James Bond has been one of my favourite works of fiction. But it is the man's crave for sartorial, gastronomic and sexual pleasure that caught my attention more than his proficiency with any kind of weapon. I would rather leave that to Jason Bourne


TC

[TC]

Boothroyds gun must have served as the model for that artwork - the barrel has plainly been cut-down ( `H & WESSON` ) it has target sights and the front of the trigger guard has been cut away.
It`s great when details like that can be correlated - good stuff TC.

Thank you Grumpy,
As I have explained to XL.. the pleasure was entirely mine. Seems you have really enjoyed the article.



TC

[manubrar67]

Nice collector edition...