Gun gaffes in novels?

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bruce in West Oz

New member
OK, Stephen King is my favourite author, but he knows jack-sh*t about guns (Sorry, Mr King).

In The Regulators, written as Richard Bachman, the characters are talking about a spent projectile they've discovered.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>There were no concentric rings stamped into the base, no sign of a firing point (no bright nick left by the firing pin of the gun which had thrown it, for that matter), no manufacturer's name, no caliber stamp.[/quote]

On the projectile?????

In another story (and I'm damned if I can find it), he talks about a "pump action double-barrelled shotgun".

Anyone got any to add??

B
 
Adam Hall, one of the best espionage writers and usually very accurate, blew it in The Tango Briefing. Quiller borrows a revolver from his pilot to give to the girl running the radio at the safe house. While showing it to her, he says "this is the safety catch". A classic mistake -- when's the last time you saw a safety catch on a revolver?

BTW, Quiller never carries a gun. If you're caught by the opposition, it's a dead giveaway and blows your chances of talking your way out. He relies, instead, on his advanced black belt in Shotokan Karate.
 
I think the most accurate writer when it comes to the issue of gun knowlede, was the late Louis L'Amour. He really did his research on guns and also on towns in the old west that no longer exist. If he said that there was a town with that particular name and location, then you can bet your bottom dollar that it is accurate. :cool:
 
"when's the last time you saw a safety catch on a revolver?"

A few months ago. The Heritage Arms SA .22 has a safety. No kidding.
 
My hobby, spotting these!
W.E.B. Griffin has a WWII operative carrying an S&W Chief's Special that wasn't introduced until the mid-50's, and has his Marine hero armed with a 'mini-Fairbairn commando dagger' Ever see one of those?
In a recent Stephen J. Cannel novel, the originator of the A-Team (motto: Mini-14's are JUST SO COOL!) has his copchick armed with a 'Glock .25'.
Tom Clancy is really vague on the nomenclature of Specop weaponry in Rainbow Six, as another poster mentioned.
Jack Higgins novels invariably have the hero armed with a .32 auto with attached 'Carswell silencer', which is kept in a pocket. Deep pockets in those Limey suits!
In the Bond books, Ian Fleming originally armed 007 with a '.25 Beretta with sawn barrel and taped skeleton grip'. Later, 'Q' takes the .25 away and gives him a PPK .32, which has power '...like a brick through a plate glass window.' Wow, I want one of those!
As for movies in which people are held up and shot with uncocked SA's and 1911's, let's not go there!
Best and most accurate description of firearms and usage: Donald Hamilton, in his Matt Helm series. The books are wonderful, nothing like the trashy movies made using the same character, but played as a 'Brooklyn Bond' by, of all people, Dean Martin. Hamilton was a real gunny, and knew rifles and handguns and their usage. Never caught him in a gaffe.
 
Robert Ludlum in one of his novels (Russian and American agent forced togther by espionage conspiracy - The Materese Circle or something I think).

The American's preferred carry weapon was a Browning Grade IV in 7mm Mag! That must be one hell of a belly band, eh?
 
Actually several revolvers have had manual safeties; Webley Fosbery is one, several Spanish revolvers had them and the Bodeo-type Italian revolvers had a safety lever. Basically they were more commonly seen on early twenieth-century European revolvers than anywhere else.
 
Bruce, I'm working on a comprehensive list of Mr. King's gun fu... uh, screwups. Quite a project, is that. :D

"It's a little like a German Mauser, but it lacks the normal markings and the slide is different." Mausers have slides?

"If anyone got in her way, that person was going to eat an ounce or so of lead." Yikes! What the hell is she carrying?!

And then there's the Dark Tower series. Holy JMB, I could rant for days on that one...
 
David L Robbins' "War of the Rats" which takes place during the seige of Stalingrad. The story revolves around a sniper duel, pitting the best German sniper vs the best Russian sniper (obviously).

They continually speak of pressing their eyes tightly against the scope while in shooting position and never get whacked by the scope.

He refers to the Mosin projectiles as "lead", not copper washed steel.

Lots of others and I think the guy is a closet communist.

[This message has been edited by Destructo6 (edited July 19, 2000).]
 
Stephen King, in "Thinner." He describes AK-47 ammo (7.62x39) as having "140 grains of powder" or some other such nonsense.

Tony Hillerman, in Dance Hall of the Dead, has Lt. Leaphorn check the safety catch on his revolver. He has had his other main character, Jim Chee, do the same thing in other novels.

------------------
Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Coinneach:
Bruce, I'm working on a comprehensive list of Mr. King's gun fu... uh, screwups. Quite a project, is that. :D

"It's a little like a German Mauser, but it lacks the normal markings and the slide is different." Mausers have slides?

"If anyone got in her way, that person was going to eat an ounce or so of lead." Yikes! What the hell is she carrying?!

And then there's the Dark Tower series. Holy JMB, I could rant for days on that one...[/quote]


The Mauser HSC has a slide. So do the many, many Mauser pocket pistols...


------------------
Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
There is an outfit who offers a manual safety mod on SW revolvers. I have the name somewhere else - something like Murita if I recall.

I doubt that Leaphorn would have one though.

It's not just guns, though, see when they talk about any expert field.
 
Robert Ludlum had his hero in The Rhinemann Exchange armed with a silenced Beretta revolver. Complete with droppable clip. :rolleyes:

LawDog
 
Even Demo Dick makes one every now and then. I remember him writing about being in Tokyo (In Green Cell I think) and his buddy on the Tokyo police force loaning him a Glock.. Dick then proceded to ... release the safety.. :D :D Ya think he was making fun of them????

Bubba
 
I agree that Ludlum's the worst. It's bad enough to make factual errors, but to try and weave utter BS into the heart of the plot just ruins it for me. For example, he described someone having been shot 7 times in the back w/ a .357mag as he was running from the shooter. He also had US security guards armed with .30 cal submachine guns. Don't bother telling me that PPSh's are .30's; I already know, but it's a cinch ol' Bob doesn't. In the above mentioned "Grade IV Browning" incident, the authorities are able to determine make and finish grade of a rifle by inspecting the bullet dug out of a corpse????? I quit him.
 
Ludlum, in The Bourne Identity, mentions a semi-automatic .357 magnum. I don't believe there was one back in the days that novel was written. If I'm incorrect, I'd like to know.
 
As Jack Flash had in the "gun whoppers" thread, from some crime novel:

"Silently, he slipped the safety off his Glock revolver . . . "
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by fal308:
Actually several revolvers have had manual safeties; Webley Fosbery is one, several Spanish revolvers had them and the Bodeo-type Italian revolvers had a safety lever. Basically they were more commonly seen on early twenieth-century European revolvers than anywhere else. [/quote]

I figured I'd get people digging out the odd historical exceptions, but IIRC, the book says it's a .38 Smith & Wesson.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top