MI6 agent 007 was spoiled for choice when it came to sophisticated, over-the-top gadgets and a collection of beautiful automobiles, but he was also given access to an arsenal of powerful weapons that would aid his world-saving adventures. From trusty sidearms to foreign assault rifles, James Bond would utilize whatever weapon necessary to complete his mission for Queen and country. His enemies also sported a few of their own.
With so many 007 films to date, it's hard — but not impossible — to narrow down a list of the absolute coolest weapons. Some of them are real-world items available for purchase, while others are pure make-believe, just for the sake of suspending reality for a few hours, in exchange for some action-packed fun.
Updated on October 21st, 2021 by Derek Draven: With the recent release of No Time To Die, 007 has come full circle from his early days, beginning with Dr. No. Over the years, Bond movies have featured some of the coolest weapons around, and it's high time to go back and take a look at some more of the greats. Whether it's Bond wielding them, or another character, the weapons themselves have become iconic among the 007 fan community.
Where future Bond films will go from here remains to be seen, but it's a surefire bet that they'll deal with a mixture of state-of-the-art weapons technology, and a few classic throwbacks for good measure.
Bond utilized a lot of lethal weapons for his final stint as 007 in No Time To Die, but one of the best of the bunch was undoubtedly the ARX-160 A3. The gun itself is an assault rifle that fires 5.56x45mm NATO rounds and is designed to be compact and easy to carry around.
The ARX has multiple fire modes, weighs about 6.5 lbs, and can be equipped with a grenade launcher on the underside for maximum damage output. The magazine can be used as a grip to fire the grenade launcher while keeping the finger in close proximity to the primary trigger mechanism.
Dr. No was the first 007 film, and by coincidence, the first time Bond was given his trademark Walther PPK sidearm. It didn't happen immediately. Rather, 007 was chided by M, who believed his 9mm Beretta was ready to be put out go pasture. After failing to convince M of his skill with the Beretta, Major Boothroyd (who would later be referred to by "Q," his alias) introduces Bond to the Walther PPK. The actual model used in the film was the original PP, rather than its PPK variant.
First manufactured in 1935, the PP (or police pistol) was a double-action pistol used extensively by German police and the Luftwaffe during WWII, before being picked up by several countries around the world for domestic production. The popular PPK variant stands for "Polizeipistole Kriminal," or "detective police pistol."
It may not seem like a particularly daunting rifle, but the AR-7 Explorer did pack quite a wallop. It was featured in a key scene in the second Bond film, From Russia With Love, and was given to 007 by Q in order to assassinate Krilencu, a Bulgarian assassin in the service of Rosa Klebb.
The Explorer was understated in terms of size and could be disassembled for easy transport. It fires .22 rounds, weighs an astonishingly light 2.75 lbs, and can even float in water. It was designed mostly for hunters to take down small game, such as partridge, but at the right range, it could be lethal.
Bond got into quite the underwater tussle with SPECTRE forces in 1965's Thunderball, but his trusty Walther would do him no good in such an environment. Instead, he brandished the Spear Gun, one of the few lethal weapons that can be used in an underwater setting. It would also make a comeback in several future Bond films.
A massive number of spearguns are available for purchase, even on Amazon. Regularly used for spearfishing, the weapon is nevertheless dangerous against humans. They come in two forms - pneumatic or rubber-banded, and they're lethal in the right hands.
Few weapons in the 007 franchise are as iconic and memorable as the Golden Gun, wielded by the villainous Scaramanga (played by the excellent Christopher Lee) in The Man With The Golden Gun. Obviously, this is not a weapon based on a real-world model, but a prop used for dramatic effect.
The gun itself is a combination of unrelated everyday items which Scaramanga used to assemble the full weapon. These include a cigarette case, a pen, and a cufflink to form the trigger. It fired a single golden bullet at a time, which is unrealistic due to an increased weight that would require an active propellant.
For Your Eyes Only might originally have been seen as one of the lesser Bond films in the eyes of critics, but it clearly had its moments, particularly when it came to weaponry. This crossbow was wielded by Melina Havelock, the half Greek, half British daughter of two secret service agents murdered by Hector Gonzalez. She ends up shooting him with the Barnett Crossbow, just as he dives into his swimming pool. She actually wields two models in the film, the first being the Commando model.
Essentially a hunting bow, this weapon was widely regarded as one of the finest on the market at the time. It utilized a mag-alloy body and featured top-notch craftsmanship, an excellent firing mechanism, and reduced string wear. It is still a sought-after commodity within the hunting enthusiast community.
1979's Moonraker was more excessive than any Bond movie that had come before it, with 007 going into space to stop a villain from enacting a worldwide genocide. True to form, the advanced technology present in the film also extended to weaponry - most notably laser guns.
Like the Golden Gun, these were nothing more than props for filming, but the Laser Guns were built on the foundation of a real-world weapon - the IMI Uzi. The prop designers didn't use the actual weapon, however. They used a toy variant sold in stores, which was a natural method of reducing costs.
These days, the concept of an under-the-table gun is something of a cliché, but it did make for some excellent Bond moments back in the day. The villainous Stromberg has his own table gun used to off anyone who dares to cross him at his dining table, which apparently happens quite a lot.
It isn't known exactly what type of gun it is, but closer inspection reveals that it's probably a speargun of some sort, modified to fire an explosive round from its perspex tube design. Whatever the case, it didn't do much for Stromberg, who suffered one of the most hilarious, and best deaths in a 007 film.
1989's Licence To Kill saw Bond go rogue to take down a drug lord who harmed two of his closest friends. With his 00 status and license to kill revoked, it was up to him to take matters into his own hands. Thankfully, Q wasn't about to let that happen.
He gave Bond a gun disguised as a camera, which fired .220 high-velocity rounds which were well-suited for assassination jobs. The gun was unique in that it was registered to Bond's specific fingerprint ID, meaning no one else would be capable of operating it.
James Bond made a stunning return in 1995 with the massive hit Goldeneye, starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role. The first weapon audiences saw him wield was a grappling gun used for his descent into the bowels of a Soviet chemical weapons factory. Though not an offensive weapon, it did feature a built-in cutting laser, which could be lethal.
The grappling gun was a prop made out of a WGP Ranger Paintball gun with its muzzle sawed off and replaced by a short barrel. A rope spindle was attached to the back of a gun and topped off with the laser emitter to create the full effect.
Valentin Zukovsky went out with a bang in The World Is Not Enough by using his clever cane gun to free Bond from his chair manacles, to attack Elektra King's men. It was a fitting end to a Bond foe who ended up becoming his friend when the chips were down.
The gun was a single-shot firearm concealed in the base of the cane, with a hammer and trigger mechanism at the tip. These types of weapons are not make-believe. In fact, many cane, walking stick, and umbrella guns are available for purchase in the U.S., provided someone has a conceal and carry permit.
If overkill were a gun, the Dueller Prismatic would take the crown. This weapon was first introduced in 2015's Spectre, wielded by Dave Bautista's character Hinx. This Italian pistol sports a unique double-barrel design based on the popular M1911 pistol, which first saw service in WWI.
In essence, the Dueller is two M1911's in one, complete with two separate magazines housed on a base. It was designed with stopping power in mind, without having to resort to a more lethal round. The internal parts come in pairs and are rigged to allow one trigger to fire both barrels simultaneously.
Several pen jokes would pop up during the course of the 007 franchise, thanks to this weapon. First unveiled in the rival 007 film Never Say Never Again, this weapon was designed by the gadget maker Q to fire a single explosive round concealed within a normal-looking fountain pen.
In truth, this weapon isn't too far removed from the kind developed by various intelligence agencies around the world, most notably the CIA's popular exploding cigar, which was once used (allegedly) in an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro.
The PPK served Bond throughout his colorful career, but it would eventually get replaced by the successor model - the PP9. First introduced in the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies, the PP9 would see action in later Brosnan-era 007 films, as well as the Daniel Craig movies.
Like its predecessor, the PP9 has been used by police forces in several European countries. It fires 9x19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W rounds, features an ambidextrous slide release system, and a tool-less field strip design.
It's hard to see Bond wielding guns from the Civil War era, but he does just that in Skyfall during a meeting with the notorious Raoul Silva. The scene featured Bond forced to shoot a shot glass off of someone's head, which is no small feat, even for someone of his skill level.
These pistols are most commonly associated with the gentleman's pistol duels of the old days. They fired 0.38 caliber ammo in single shots, meaning they needed to be manually reloaded each time. They are considered artistic relics of a bygone era when firearms were just gaining ground.
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