Editorial: Guns in books

So, you want to be a paperback writer?  Great!

I've got a little something for all the writers out there.  If you've been to the range in the last month or follow my blog, I'm not going to say anything new.  Go cut the grass or have drink with friends.  Nothing here for you.  But if you’re a writer, established with publishing houses or just trying to get noticed, this is for you.  Sit back and let's have some fun.

Firearms are often misused by your characters.  Sometimes it's how you are driving your story, but when they make a glaring mistake, you go down a notch with those of us who know better.

From the amazing team of Preston and Child we read, "-popped the clip from the gun." That tells us the character has a semiautomatic handgun.  Clip is the wrong term, it should be magazine, but it’s a tiny "oops" and we'll ignore it.  Especially in light of this: "Empty.  That left him only two shots in the chamber…thirteen rounds wasted."

Two semi-auto barrels, one chamber per barrel

Chambers are what hold the cartridge.  With semi-autos the chamber is the back of the barrel.  One barrel, one chamber, period.  You can't have two cartridges in a single chamber.  Unless your character is shooting a double barrel handgun, and I know of only one modern one.  The character has one in the magazine and one in the chamber.

A little .22 magnum revolver with 5 chambers

Revolvers are a little different.  Here you could have anywhere, depending on the brand, from 5 to 8 chambers.  Each chamber rotates in front of a forcing cone that is the back end of the barrel before it fires.  Remember Dirty Harry? "Did I fire five or six times…"  Yeah, that’s the idea. 

Another author, I won't bother with name, has a character feeling in the dark  for a dropped Glock and when found, checks to make sure the safety is off.  Glocks don't have that kind of safety.  In fact, the only safety on a Glock is a little lever built into the trigger that blocks the firing pint from striking the cartridge or round if dropped.  Your finger on the trigger automatically deactivates it.  If you need a safety to build drama, use a Berretta 92F.  It has a decocker and safety built in to one lever.  After you deactivate the decocker/safety, you could thumb cock the gun.  I also suggest a Sig Sauer.  They have so many variations of the same gun you can find one that fits your needs.

Guns come in different calibers.  That’s the diameter of the bullet and barrel bore.  A small handgun could be a .380, not typically a .38.  A .38 is a larger cartridge typically written as .38 special or abbreviated, spl.   A .380 should be a .380 ACP for Automatic Colt Pistol, regardless of the gun.

The left is a .380 ACP while the right is a .38 spl.  Not interchangeable..

Same cartridges.  The .380 ACP is 0.356 inch in diameter while the .38 spl is 0.357 inch.  More differences    Both are hollow points. 

I don't know anyone who would carry a .25 ACP pistol as their primary weapon.  It is such an underperforming round, and chances are you'll only make your target angry.  I'd carry a small .22 long rifle rimfire before I'd carry a .25 ACP.  Editors shouldn't let writers arm their characters with .25 ACP.  Google it if you don't believe me.

No cop would leave home, much less the station without checking that their handgun is loaded.  They don't get out of the car and then load their guns.  A semi-auto with an empty chamber is an unloaded gun.  If you want to drive the suspense, have them check the magazine and reinsert it in the gun.

Does your character carry a spare magazine or reloads?  That’s your call.  I know a national trainer who typically leaves home without a reload.  I know others that never leave home without a spare gun and reloads.  Up to you.

Look, it's your story.  There are going to be plot holes and things that are unusual.  Making basic handgun mistakes discredits you and weakens the necessary suspension of disbelief.