Although a powerful weapon, Bond never used the Colt Magnum

The engraved Colt Python .357 Magnum was specially made for the author and presented to him by the Colt Company.

It was accompanied by a letter from the firearms company and a copy of the 1959 Bond novel Goldfinger.

A Colt was used by villain Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, but 007 shunned the Colt in favour a gun which could be hidden under a dinner jacket.

The auctioned gun, which is still in working condition, is engraved with the words: "Presented To Ian Fleming By Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co".

Fleming was a journalist and banker, before working in Naval Intelligence during World War II, where he rose to the rank of Commander and was right-hand man to spymaster Admiral John Godfrey.

After the war, he went to Jamaica for a naval conference and fell in love with the island, where he wrote the Bond novels at his home, Goldeneye.