Beretta 950 Jetfire

The Beretta 950 Jetfire pistol is used in James Bond films by several Bond women and once by 007 himself.

In the 1989 movie Licence to Kill, James Bond (Timothy Dalton) receives a stainless steel Beretta 950 Jetfire pistol from Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell) to check the hotel room, after having been informed about the arrival of his mysterious 'uncle', who turns out to be Q (Desmond Llewelyn). Pam herself carries a second 950 Jetfire as well. She uses it at the drug factory when threatening Prof. Joe Butcher (Wayne Newton) with it.

The small pistol - designed for self-defence duties - is carried by some other women in the Bond movies, pointing it quite regularly at Bond, who is usually not too impressed.

Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) carries a black Beretta 950 in Thunderball (1965) when she and her henchmen capture James Bond.

Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) has a black Beretta in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) where it is visible during the shower scene at The Peninsula in Hong Kong. The weapon in the film and promotional photos does seem slightly different from the original Beretta 950, perhaps it's a prop weapon. Especially the front of the barrel and the location of the front sight seem different from the 950 Jetfire.

Another (prop?) Beretta 950 Jetfire is also carried by Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), most notably during the confrontation with Jaws (Richard Kiel) at the Egyptian temple. Her gun also has the different barrel and front sight as in The Man With The Golden Gun. And Amasova's pistol is also different from the others in that it's a steel version with a mother of pearl or white grip.

The Beretta 950 Jetfire pistol was built by the Italian Beretta company from 1952 - 2003, first in Italy, and since the 1970s also in the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s they were also produced in Brazil.

Technical Details:
Type: Single Action
Caliber: .25 ACP
Overall length: 120 mm
Barrel length: 60 mm
Weight: 280 g
Capacity: 9 rounds

Beretta weapons have been part of Bond since the beginning. Ian Fleming has James Bond carry a small Beretta 418 ("a very flat .25 Beretta automatic with a skeleton grip") in the very first novel Casino Royale and the four following novels. Eventually in the novel Dr. No, he switches to the Walther PPK. This switch from Beretta to Walther is also shown in the movie Dr. No.

With thanks to Robert Scheidemann; some 950 Jetfire photos courtesy of Shopusa