How do you like to read about guns?

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Pond James Pond

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I recently wrote about the Jack Reacher books, and I'd say the same about certain popular books from the early 2000s later dramatised with Mr Hanks. I read it too in the Larsson novels

Basically, I don't personally like it when the author does too much spec dropping.

For me it sounds cheap, rather than knowledgeable. I prefer to allude to the knowledge rather than document it. And, it can mean that the bookm becomes dated if the suggested top-tier gear at the time of publication is out of favour within 5 years, especially when writing about computers etc.

For example, rather than "He eased his Glock 17 fullsize service pistol with 17rd mag and unwieldy grip angle from its holster." (;)), I prefer, he eased his 9mm Glock service pistol from its holster". Instead of "she racked the 9x19mm pressed steel Sten gun." I'd like to read "She racked her 9mm Sten". 1911A1 better than Standard issue Colt .45 etc.....

What about you? Less is more, or the more spec dropping the better?
 
Keeping it simple makes for better reading.
And helps disguise the gun ignorance of most authors.
Which also makes for better reading.
 
I find it interesting when books that include characters from countries other than the US reference the model/caliber of the weapon they use. Sometimes they reference guns I’m not familiar with, so it’s interesting to do a little research.
 
In most contexts, too many details have negative effects. In your above examples I can see how unnecessary details would detract the reader from the action. But then there are times when the details are important. On Netflix is a program called Shooter. In later episodes is an emphasis on a particular rifle. The viewer wants to know why it's special.
 
It depends on context and tone for me.

If I were reading a book about a hunter, a couple sentences or a paragraph describing his gun wouldn't be out of the question. "Dad never went anywhere in the woods without his trusted .30-06. A Winchester Model 70, he'd bought it years ago when he found it in a pawn shop and fell in love with the checkered walnut and the deep, black pool of blued finish on the metal. These days the checkering was worn a little smoother and the bluing a little less glossy from the years of use that had stolen its youth but given it a different kind of life." Here the description is important as a characteristic.

Descriptions in very vague terms can work, too where the item itself is less important and fewer attributes are necessary to get a message across. A line about his "department issued .357 revolver" might be all the information that's required
 
I am reading a book now that I think would be the epitome of the irritation you are talking about. It's 'Run' by Douglas E. Winter and I WILL finish it but, IMhO, it's bad.

The 'Sheriff Bo Tully Mysteries' by the famous outdoor writer Patrick F. McManus are just the opposite. He effortlessly drops in gun details and it seens neither inappropriate nor strained. (The Bo Tully books are humorous...I think they are incredibly good.)

I think guns are the new 'sexy' and authors are including gun details to 'interest' their readers. Without a decent amount of gun knowledge this sometimes doesn't work out.

Authors like Lee Child, IMhO, simply don't care and include obvious lies about gun laws and gun details that are simply incorrect.

The 'Monster Hunters' books by Larry Correia might include too much gun detail for a lot of readers but Larry Correia knows what he is talking about. I like his books. He puts in a lot of 'action' but doesn't neglect the plot. He is also a fearless and incredibly articulate proponent of gun rights.

Lastly I suspect some authors are deliberately making goofy gun mistakes just to wind us up...but that's tinfoil hat territory.

Run: (but don't bother with this book)
https://www.amazon.com/Run-Douglas-...4340&sr=8-1&keywords=run+by+douglas+e+winter'

'The Blight Way': The first Sheriff Bo Tully book (five stars!!!)
https://www.amazon.com/Blight-Way-S...qid=1499204498&sr=1-1&keywords=the+blight+way

Monster Hunter International: A very good book, series.
https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunt...&sr=1-1&keywords=monster+hunter+international

A superb article about 'gun control' by Larry Correia
http://monsterhunternation.com/2012/12/20/an-opinion-on-gun-control/
 
Seems the less the author knows about firearms, the more he/she pontificates about details - almost always incorrectly.
 
I like:
True, first hand stories
Short, like American Rifleman "Armed Citizen"
Stupid criminals with guns (who don't win)

The best are the YouTube Gun Channels that are usually shot in first person
 
"...author does too much spec dropping..." Every fictional novel does the same thing. Then goes on to have the hero do some miraculous thing that defies physics with the thing.
Novels are not marketed to people who shoot and study firearms. They're marketed to armchair warriors who wouldn't know a 1911 from a pea shooter. The rest of us read 'em for entertainment. Oh and Mack Bolan would be in his late 60's early 70's now. snicker.
"...her 9mm Sten..." All of 'em were 9mm and don't get "racked". Open bolt firing.
 
The best "gun book," I ever read was written by a guy that ran for office as a Democrat. The book Unintended Consequences by John Ross is a classic. It is raw, rough and yes, some content is pornographic, and is not acceptable to our snowflake millennials.

I met John Ross back in the late 1980's and purchased a Class 3, NFA registered H&R, (rewat) M16-A1 full auto rifle from him. I paid $1,000 plus the Transfer tax and borrowed the money from a credit union. I was laughed at, and told I was stupid. Twenty years later I sold the gun for $21,000.

Go to ebay and you can buy the book at bargain prices. A signed hard copy can be had for a couple of hundred dollars.
 
Oh and Mack Bolan would be in his late 60's early 70's now. snicker.
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Yes. When he unleashes Big Thunder now it has quite a different meaning. I had the first original ten books of that series back in the day - liked the 444 Marlin he used as his "sniper rifle" and how the sheriff shrugged off the "midnight sale" when he acquired it.
 
Authors like Lee Child, IMhO, simply don't care and include obvious lies about gun laws and gun details that are simply incorrect.
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I came into the thread to namedrop him, irks me

heck it irks me on tv to the point that I stop watching certain shows
 
How do you manage to then read books that don't mention them outside those two media?!
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I'm one of those odd ducks that still likes to shelf-browse in book stores and even the Sam's Club's book isle - they often have intriguing books about firearms.
 
Thought about this thread while reading a booking the other day. Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein. Several times throughout the book, handguns are referred to as ".45 Automatics" or used as in "strap a .45 on your hip". The characters also make an improvised binary compound for clearing lumber. To set it off, it is said "In the stockpiles were two lovely ladies' rifles. .22 rimfire magnums with telescopic sights".

Both examples clearly put in mind the necessary picture without unnecessary details
 
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