The First Bond Gun
The first chapter of “Casino Royale” takes us through the inner schemes of the MI6 espionage engine. It’s a glimpse through the lens of a casino-weary James Bond, who is preparing himself for the coming days and returning to his hotel room.
Bond enters his room, gun drawn. He then tosses it aside after confirming his quarters are secure.
That gun goes unnamed, but it was likely his Beretta with the skeleton grip. Regardless, at the conclusion of the chapter, the first gun officially named in the Bond canon is the Colt Police Positive:
“His last action was to slip his right hand under the pillow until it rested under the butt of the .38 Colt Police Positive with the sawn barrel. Then he slept, and with the warmth and humour of his eyes extinguished, his features relapsed into a taciturn mask, ironical, brutal, and cold.”
An Innovative Design
The Colt Police Positive is a gorgeous revolver that’s rather small by today’s standards. Due to its popularity at the time of production, many examples can be found at reasonable prices.
The revolver was dubbed the “Positive” for its all-new positive lock, which prevented the firing pin from striking a primer unless the trigger was pulled. This solved a drop-safety issue with previous Colt revolvers. Introduced in 1907, it went on to be one of the most prolific Colt firearms of the 20th century.
Colt continued to produce the design, under one moniker or another, with light modifications through 1995. Roughly 750,000 total units were made.
Related Review: Colt Detective Special revolver in .38 Spl
IAN FLEMING, THE OSS, AND A COLT POLICE POSITIVE
It makes sense that Ian Fleming would include this revolver in his fictional world so early on. In 1941, he reportedly was gifted one by “Wild Bill” Donovan. Many know that Fleming had an espionage background, but his contributions to the current landscape are often neglected.
Fleming founded his own commando unit, 30 Assault Unit, or 30AU, during World War II. The group focused on capturing enemy documents prior to Allied advances, with the goal to prevent the burning of critical information.
Knowing this, Donovan asked Fleming for assistance and recommendations in the founding of the Office of Strategic Services, the WWII precursor to the CIA. This Police Positive, reportedly engraved with “For Special Services,” may well be the inspiration for Bond’s first firearm.
COLLECTING THE FIRST BOND GUN
In my quest to build a Bond firearms collection, I have secured two wonderful examples from the Guns.com Certified Used section.
Related: New Book Explores World of James Bond’s Guns
The first is a 1960s Police Positive Special chambered in .38 Special. I intended to cut down the barrel to produce a Fleming-accurate handgun, only to discover that this revolver seems to be factory unfired. It has a clean breech face and unblemished cylinder.
The second is a far earlier model and is rather worn. It’s a perfect period-correct piece to modify with a trimmed barrel in celebration of the world of Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
Summary
The Colt Police Positive’s journey with Bond ended with Chapter 1, but its brief entry is core to the world of Bond.
That introductory chapter so effectively captures the 007 world of high-stakes danger and glamour, no matter how tiring or dreary. Anyone who questions the danger Bond faced need only look to the end of this chapter, where the character’s last motion before falling asleep is to grasp a revolver under his pillow.
