Let’s look at guns first.
The gun is the most common weapon used in novels. What’s the least? A little known African weapon known as the Chunta. I’ve seen it in only one novel.
Guns fall into three types
- Pistol
- Rifle
- Automatic.
Pistols and rifles can fire one time, for each time you press the trigger. An automatic weapon fires continuously as long as you hold the trigger.
A pistol you hold in your hands. A rifle you hold in your arms. Automatic weapons technically are rifles, but very large ones.
Pistols are very difficult to aim and fire. Obviously, the closer you are, the more accurately you can shoot. In recent years, the greatest advantage that has arisen in pistol shooting is not a technical one, but rather, a change in how it’s held.
Marine Sniper Carlos Hathcock came up with a way to hold a pistol that allowed for far greater accuracy. The way one held a pistol prior to Hathcock was a simple two hand grip, one handed, or a modified version known as the teacup. Hathcock literally changed the way you hold a pistol so that one thumb is pointed directly at the target, and the support thumb (the aiming one) is beneath the main gripping thumb, both hands pressed together. The gun now is trapped between the hands.
If you took a rifle that uses pistol ammo and compared it at 50 yards, the rifle will have more accurate shots. This is because it’s a). heavier and b). has the longer point of aim (spot between sights). What’s lined up in pistol sights can reveal the slightest deviations in rifle sights.
Essentially, the gun is loaded with self contained cartridges, and has a striking-piercing pin called the firing pin. A blasting cap is positioned at the end of the cartridge. As the pin pierces the blasting cap and the gunpowder casing, the cap ignites, and sets fire to the gunpowder. The gunpowder detonates, and pushes a burst of expanding gas. The cartridge casing forces the explosion forward, popping the bullet free. The barrel of the gun forces the bullet to travel in a straight line.
Once you get a pistol bullet past 50 yards, the bullet loses velocity and begins to drop. lighter gunpowder grains can cause this drop to begin prior to 50 yards, but 50 is the average distance. You have to start using “windage” at distances of 50 yards – adding a slight upward cant to the barrel to compensate for the drop. Modern ammunition is designed to reduce the drop in velocity. A 9mm bullet now usually is firing at supersonic speed, and drops less than the German parabellum round of World War II.
To aim a pistol or rifle, you must carefully align the sights, grip the weapon tightly, take aim, use proper trigger control, and squeeze the trigger. Most weapons have a safety that prevents them from firing.
Be advised, the sights in the picture above are slightly to the left. At 25 yards, that shot will probably miss. The handgun in the picture is a Russian Tokharev. They’re supposed to be very fun to shoot.
The Glock 17 is the most popular handgun in the world, with two separate safeties – a drop safety and a trigger safety. PLEASE do not make the common fiction mistake with a Glock handgun of someone dropping it and the gun discharging. It’s impossible, unless the drop safety breaks – and usually the drop safety breaking would prevent the gun from firing anyway!
The picture below is of a Glock 21 – slightly larger than a Glock 17, but essentially identical in appearance.
The Glock does not use a safety the way most guns do – Police worldwide need a gun they can draw and instantly fire. The trigger safety on a Glock is on the trigger, to prevent something from snagging the trigger and firing it. However, there’s nothing – nothing – to prevent something from snagging the trigger a little higher up and firing.
The famous competitor in modern days to the Glock is the 1911 style handgun. It has a grip safety and a lever safety. You can engage the lever safety to on, and pull the trigger – nothing happens. Take the lever off and – nothing happens. The 1911 must be GRIPPED to fire. It is extremely difficult to use a Hathcock grip on a traditional 1911, and you’d have to have small hands to do it. Some manufacturers actually manufacture a hybrid 1911 that permits use of a Hathcock grip. Most 1911 shooters fire the 1911 one-handed, or using the “teacup”.
I have a love hate relationship with my 1911. I love it, and hate to shoot anything else! But there’s a difference- I can shoot 10,000 rounds out of a Glock 17 and be a little tired. I can shoot 10,000 rounds out of a 1911 and feel beaten up.
Bullets come in many different calibers. 22, 38, .380, 9mm, 357 magnum, .40, .44 magnum and .45 ACP are the most common calibers.
A word about the Magnums. A ..357 Magnum is a big bullet. The .44 Magnum is bigger. There is a .50 cal Smith And Wesson, but it’s meant for Grizzly Bears.
Not a whole lot of difference in size between a .44 Magum and a .50 caliber. A coroner describes the bullet wound from a .357 Magnum as “pretty memorable.”
Here’s the exercise I insist on for every writer. If you’re going to write any kind of novel where a gun goes off, go get shooting lessons. One lesson is usually around $60, and it often includes a gun rental. Don’t do the beginner thing and shoot a .22. Instead, rent a Glock 17 and shoot the 9mm. Learn how to handle a gun with some minimal recoil, just to keep things real.
You might suddenly find you’ve got a new hobby. Shooting pistols is indeed very fun. I’d love to own my own firing range, and be able to to in every week and shoot for the fun of it. My version of Willie Wonka would be a lifetime supply of .45 ACP ammo.
But the major issue is this – I want you to experience a gun in your hand. You CANNOT write a good scene in a novel about shooting a gun unless you’ve done it. You want to shoot a gun you feel move in your hand when you squeeze that trigger. Now once you’re home, write up the emotions you felt. Were you scared? You should have been. Handling a firearm wrong is criminal, stupid, and in many states a misdemeanor. If you discharge it while handling it wrong, it’s now a felony. You should have been a little scared. You should have sweated, and felt a chill at the same time. It’s common – that’s fear.
Okay, now you have fodder for that scene of the innocent person, pushed too far, picking up a loaded gun for the first time. MAKE the reader dwell in that. Imagine shooting that thing without hearing protection and glasses. Write that in the scene.
And don’t make the mistake of having a small woman fire a .357 magnum or a .44 magnum. You shot a Glock, which has minimal recoil. Try shooting a Magnum some time – it’s ugly until you get used to a pistol hammering at you. That’s where proper grip and stance comes in – and some barbell lifting to strengthen your wrists.
