Jim's gun in Czechoslovakia
Some questions have been asked about this scene in the 1979 TTSS series so I created this post to clarify. When in Czechoslovakia Jim receives a real Czech CZ 50 pistol from a contact in the shop. It is given to him in a toy gun box.
He then goes into the bathroom to check it over. Whilst doing this he wraps an elastic band around the handgrip, some shooting experts claim this improves grip (in slippery conditions).
In what might be an Easter Egg to the novel Jim holds the gun in a style Smiley describes in the book:
“There was a piece of Circus folklore which demanded that he should lay his index finger along the barrel and pull the trigger with his second. But when he tried it the sensation was ridiculous and he forgot about it.”
Hope this helps!