Novelist Seeking Gun Assistance

[walesdave]

Wow! Thank you so much for the startlingly quick and obviously knowing answers.

Your asking a bunch of boring gun nerds questions about their favourite subject.....prepare to be inundated with answers to questions you didn't ask, opinions, in-depth technical details, gripes about nothing to do with you, complaints and any other sort of reply you can think of!

My main gripe....characters (maily film and TV) that feel the need to keep checking their chamber is loaded or re-cocking their firearm EVERY FIVE SECONDS! I swear most tv cops guns must be empty as they keep racking the slide.

[bnz41]

Evening,

BNz41, the firing pin is the bit sticking out on the left, yes?

Yes

A point if I may they are not weapons they are guns or firearms here in the UK anyway.

[Chapuis]

While I am not a great reader of fiction I always enjoyed the detail that Fredrick Forsyth went to in his books. Unfortunately when he gets it wrong he can really get it wrong. Years ago I started reading his book "The Fourth Protocol". I read it all the way through up until the last but one chapter and was enjoying it until he gave the Russian agent a Sako Tri-Ace pistol and that totally spoiled it for me and I couldn't read any more.
The Sako Tri-Ace is a pure target pistol with a five shot magazine in either .22lr, .22 short or .32 Smith & Wesson long (Wadcutter only). A totally unsuitable pistol for anything other than Olympic style target shooting events. It doesn't even have a safety catch if I remember right. I used to own one way back in the day.

He's not the only author to make such mistakes. Geoffery Boothroyd the well known gun writer told how he wrote to Ian Fleming after Fleming issued James Bond with a puny .25acp pistol in his first book. Apparently Fleming appreciated his advice so much that he consulted Boothroyd before arming Bond in his later books and would refer to Boothroyd as Q in the books.

[1066]

He's not the only author to make such mistakes. Geoffery Boothroyd the well known gun writer told how he wrote to Ian Fleming after Fleming issued James Bond with a puny .25acp pistol in his first book. Apparently Fleming appreciated his advice so much that he consulted Boothroyd before arming Bond in his later books and would refer to Boothroyd as Q in the books.

As well as Sean Connery holding a LP53 airpistol in all the Dr No film posters. :)

[Sim G]

SimG, may I ask why it would not be a serious weapon. I'm thinking of 10-15 feet; it would kill, right?

The FN 1910 is a fine pistol, from the design genius that was John M Browning. And FN was an excellent manufacturer and not in the same ilk as the plethora of Belgian manufacturers churning out cheap versions of successful designs of the time.

And as 1066 stated, calibre wise, it was well down there even in its day. .32 ACP ball ammunition gives results that keep it off the bottom spot in terms of "stopping power", is that the .25 ACP is woeful! (According to Marshall and Sanow's work into the effectiveness of handgun ammunition) and yes, it has accounted for countless deaths and yes, three to five yards, even in .32, given it's a decent shot, center mass or head, it will kill. That above study gives it a "one shot stop" on an adversary, just under 50% of the time.

But as was also said above, small .32 and .380 cal pistols of the first half of the 20th century were as much badges of office for a man in uniform, or for that "just in case", for the gent around town. And as your novel is set in the early 60s, that FN 1910 is already a 50 year old design!

Even though Browning was a genius, the ergonomics compared to the guns of your protagonists time we're far beyond 1910. The FN had tiny sights, a short, slim grip, an awkward safety a magazine of 7 rounds and an awkward, small heel of butt magazine release. In terms of pockets pistols, the Beretta 70, even though in the same calibre had better sights, a grip you could hold. A better magazine release with one round more and an open top slide design that aided reliability no end. It was a massive improvement on the European pocket pistols, despite that Walther had the PP family, Mauser the HSc and Sauer the 38H.

But a man who needs a gun as a tool and knows what has to be done with that tool, would not choose a 50 year old obsolete design, to my mind.

[Sim G]

As well as Sean Connery holding a LP53 airpistol in all the Dr No film posters. :)

I thought that was to do with the photographer forgetting to bring the PPK and his assistant who lived round the corner said he had a Walther at home, which turned out to be the LP53...

[Chapuis]

As well as Sean Connery holding a LP53 airpistol in all the Dr No film posters. :)

I thought that was to do with the photographer forgetting to bring the PPK and his assistant who lived round the corner said he had a Walther at home, which turned out to be the LP53...

+1
That's the story I heard too.

[bradaz11]

my view on a gun jamming or misfiring would be that a .22 is the most likely to misfire, the rimfire priming isn't always 100%, plus if its not fully seated, it can misfire, like for example if you operated the breech by hand and closed it slowly.
as 1066 says, most semi autos are likely to fire on the 1st shot unless it is broken somehow, its the 2nd shot that might not feed or the 1st not eject fully.
also, factory centre fire ammo is on the whole these days, very reliable, not sure if that was the case in the 60's.
why is the guy carrying the gun? is he a hired killer, or is it more self defence? is it something cheap he needs, or is he a high end guy? that would probably have an impact on the gun choice.

[Chapuis]

In the 60s much of Europe would probably still have been awash with ex military firearms so the choice for the author is wide open.

[bnz41]

If the person in the story needs to have a FN pistol then the only choice would be a FN Browning High Power in 9mmx19 as these had been manufactured since the late 30's.