Bond - taking the pistol

By Katharine MacColl

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THE truth behind the famous image of 007 clutching his Walther PPK is finally out - the man with the golden gun was really holding an air pistol.

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But on the day of the shoot, the props department forgot to bring Bond's Walther PPK and a fake was used instead.

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Photographer David Hurn, who owned the air pistol, has decided to put it up for sale, 32 years after the filming.

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The gun, which is up for sale at Christie's in London on 14 February, is expected to fetch at least �5,000 when it is auctioned alongside other Bond memorabilia, including his 1965 silver Aston Martin.

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The six-cylinder, four-litre DB5 is expected to reach �150,000, The JB 007 number plate�could make �4,500 and the ivory-coloured biki Ursula Andress wore when she famously stepped from the sea at the beginning of Dr No could fetch up to �55,000.