Golden Gun

The Golden Gun used by Scaramanga in the movie The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) consisted of customised everyday objects, so it could be smuggled and put together. The single-shot, 4.2mm weapon consisted of a golden cufflink (the trigger), a Colibri Molectric 88 gas lighter (bullet chamber), a golden Waterman fountain pen (the barrel) and a cigarette case (the handle).

The gun is owned by assassin Francisco Scaramanga (played by Christopher Lee), who charges one million dollar per shot. Scaramanga uses golden bullets, strengthened with nickel, which were stored in Scaramanga's golden bullet belt.

Scaramanga uses the gun in the film to kill agent 002 Bill Fairbanks in Beirut, hitman Rodney during a deadly game on his island, scientist Gibson (the creator of the Solex Agitator) in Hong Kong, and business partner Hai Fat in Fat's office. Scaramanga fails to kill James Bond (Roger Moore) with the gun.

The movie prop is credited at the end of the movies as "Golden Gun made by Colibri Lighters, London, U.K." but there are different stories about who actually created the gun. According to one story, the props were fabricated by special effects expert John Stears (who made Scaramanga's "flying car" for the movie) from parts manufactured by Colibri and Waterman (the pen).

Another story, put forth by the film's art director Peter Lamont, states that "Lamont himself designed the weapon and built a prototype from balsa wood with a real gold Waterman pen as the barrel, then approached Colibri to make a final version. This was apparently constructed in a very rushed manner, and was made from cigarette lighter parts which were held together by magnets; this prototype was rejected due to its tendency to fall apart while being handled. Lamont says he then approached a London silversmith firm by the name of "Rose" to make the three screen-used props from silver, plated with 18-carat gold. Colibri were later contracted to manufacture a number of additional, high-quality Golden Guns for PR use; according to Lamont, no Colibri-built Golden Gun was ever used in the movie itself." (source: IMFDB, Original Prop)

Three Golden Gun props were made for the movie: a solid piece, one that could be fired with a cap and one that could be assembled and disassembled, although Christopher Lee said that the process "was extremely difficult." On 10 October 2008, it was discovered that one of the golden guns used in the film, which is estimated to be worth around £80,000, was missing (suspected stolen) from Elstree Props, a company based at Hertfordshire studios.

Two official prop replicas of the golden gun were released: the first by SD Studios and the more recent Factory Entertainment version.

SD Studios Ltd Golden Gun

SD Studios Ltd created a golden gun replica in the 1990s. Two versions were made, the first generation and an improved 'second generation' version. The gun was made from gold plated brass, could be taken apart and came in a wooden box with a 007-engraved bullet. The limited edition SD Studios guns were sold for $675, and numbered between 1 - 7500, although only about 700 were made, making them currently very sought after and expensive.

Update: there is curently (January 2023) a S.D. Studios Golden Gun on offer in the For Sale section.

Factory Entertainment Golden Gun

In 2011, Factory Entertainment created an officially licensed replica of the Golden Gun and 007-engraved bullet. A 1000 pieces were made of the 'standard' Golden Gun Limited Edition model ($479), and 400 pieces of The Golden Gun Dual Signature Edition, which came with signatures of Roger Moore and Christopher Lee (sold for $649). All guns are currently sold out and can fetch high prices, if you can even find them, on eBay.

In 2019, a new Factory Entertainment Golden Gun will be released. This is based on the the same gun that was released in 2011, but with a new black wooden case.

Unofficial replicas

An unofficial, but quite realistic and working prop replica was created by Bond fan Quartermaster Mick who made a bullet belt and golden gun with a real Waterman pen, Colibri lighter and custom made parts, see the video here.

Other unofficial replicas are offered on eBay, but those are 3D printed and not metal or gold plated.

Scaramanga is not the only Bond villain to use a golden gun. Auric Goldfinger, known for his love of gold, uses a golden revolver when plundering Fort Knox in the movie Goldfinger (1964).

In the original novel The Man With The Golden Gun, Scaramanga uses a golden revolver, but the weapon can't be taken apart as in the film.