guns and bullets and clips, oh my...

[Toni McGee Causey]

I've been shooting a 9mm Glock, and have very little hands on experience with other guns, save my 410 shotgun and a 22 rifle and pistol. I haven't purchased the Glock yet, though (I've gone to the firing range a few times and practice with theirs, now that my son has moved and taken his with him--I used his a lot and liked it) (he's a cop)... and I've decided I need to go back to the range and tone up. (I used to be a pretty decent shot with the 9mm, but am slowly getting slack-ass lazy.) I've also decided that maybe I need to expand my gun knowledge to other models.

What's your favorite gun and why? (Or if you hate them, your criminals' or your protags' favorites, and why?)

What are common mistakes made in fiction / common terminology mistakes which drive you batty?

[Harry Hunsicker]

Other than the issue with guns that don't have safetys like revolvers and Glocks, I would have to say my pet peeve is characters who fire cannons at the bad guy yet are not affected by the muzzle blast or recoil.

If I had to pick just one from each category to own, it would go something like this:

SEMI AUTO PISTOL: A Glock in 9mm or .40 caliber. The gun was designed for police carry and to be as safe as a double action revolver.

REVOLVER: Five-inch Smith & Wesson Model 27. Good enough for Skeeter Skelton, good enough for me.

SHOTGUN: Benelli Super Black Eagle. Kicks like a pissed off ex-wife, but virtually indestructible.

RIFLE: AR-15. The civilian version of the US Army's standard battle rifle.

PLINKER: Ruger 10-22. Bang bang bang. Death to the beer can!

[Anthony Rainone]

The AR-15 is a nice rifle. For shotguns however, I like the Remington 870.

[Tony Burton]

Yep, the 870 is a good, reliable pump. The military uses them and a similar model by Mossberg (model number escapes me at the moment.) I have two 870s. One is a standard, 26-inch barrel with interchangeable choke tubes and the other is a deer-hunter's model with the short barrel. Besides hunting deer, it's great for home defense because it's easy to maneuver with the shorter barrel and as it is designated for deer hunting instead of upland game birds, you can legally take out the limiting plug to allow more rounds. My wife is not a pistolero, but I figure with the short-barrelled 870, she can do a lot of damage even if she's a little shakey with the sights.

For plinking beer cans, I have a Ruger Mark II Target with the bull barrel. Fun gun.

[David Terrenoire]

I once owned a plethora of handguns, but I'm now down to a Browning Buckmark .22 and my Government Issue .45. The 1911 is my favorite pistol, beautifully designed by the legendary John Browning. It's rugged, never had a single malfunction when shooting FMJ ball ammo, and it's the perfect point and shoot pistol.

If I were to buy another pistol I'd look hard at a Glock 40 cal. or the H&K .45. But I only hit the range two or three times a year so it's not really worth it. I do compete in a rather casual shoot with about 25 graduates of the military academies, making me the only enlisted man in the group.

Of the guns I used to own, my favorites were a CZ 9 mm, a Makarov 9, a Walther .32, and a S&W .357. I like wheel guns but don't own one right now.

For research I shot all sorts of automatic weapons at Quantico's range. Hoo-uh. My favorite was the H&K MP5. Sweet.

My Spec Ops nephew gave me an M1 last year, but I haven't shot it yet. Maybe this summer.

Stuff that makes me crazy? Cliches like the bad guy pulling the trigger on an empty gun so we hear the click click click. That's particularly irksome when it's a single-action pistol. Shooting a Mach 10 with one hand. Firing a handgun from the hip and hitting a bad guy 60 yards away. All that.

And as you might guess, the writers in my writing group refer to me as the gun guy.

[Bill Cameron]

But. But. But. Clint Eastwood killed Lee Van Cleef from about that far away at the end of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

[Stephen Blackmoore]

I've never much liked the feel of the Glock, though it's a fantastic and reliable gun. I prefer the Sig-Sauer P-228, though some of their earlier models have really stupid design features. Revolvers are fun, just from the standpoint of watching stuff happen when you pull the trigger. They've got such a clockwork feel to them.

My favorite, though, is a specific 9mm Browning High-Power. My dad bought one off a guy in the Sierras for a hundred bucks and a 6-pack of Coors back in the 60's. I really don't want to know why he wanted to get rid of it so badly.

Aside from just being comfortable and reliable (there's an embarrassing moment when the wrong ammo, 9mm short, was fired through it once) it's got a bit of disturbing history attached. It was built for the Nazis before the Belgians started sabotaging their own factories, so it has swastikas stamped into the frame.

I've always wondered what that gun's been through and what it's been used for.

[David Terrenoire]

I have a friend who loves the High Power and owns several. One is a .40 that he calls his Higher Power.

My brother-in-law owns a PPK his father liberated that is inscribed to a Dr. in the SS. He recently Googled the good doctor's name and found out he was one of the prime architects and implementers of the Final Solution. He's dead now. Fuck him. The Nazi, not my brother-in-law.

[David Terrenoire]

Stephen, here's an update: This is the guy who owned my brother-in-law's PPK. A real sweetheart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Kammler

[Robert Fate]

Toni - First of all I was just kidding when I said those things to you at LLC. And, besides that, after writing the books I do, you have to know, I appreciate a girl with a gun. But, you know who you should ask about gun questions? Shane Gericke - he has a wealth of know how on that subject. Best to you, kiddo. Robert Fate

[Toni McGee Causey]

(cracking up)

I'll definitely go bug Shane next time.

[Sunnie Gill]

I know, I know, I know the difference between a magazine and a clip.
A magazine is one of those things you see in supermarkets that feature inane trivia about celebrities written in breathless prose.. There's always a crisis.

A clip is something to hold loose papers together or keep your hair in place. Right?

Ok, so you've guessed the sum total of my gun knowledge is zero.

I come from a country where not many people own guns. A handful of hunters and farmers are about it.

So as someone who has never held, let alone owned a gun I'm interested in learning why you gun owners own guns?

[Tony Burton]

- I grew up with guns. Shot my first BB-gun when I was six years old, shot my first .22 rifle (single-shot, bolt action) when I was seven.
- I grew up in the country, where hunting is a common practice, and so is killing the fox or raccoon that's raiding your goodies. (Although in the last few years, it's the coyote that's killing your cat or dog or chickens...)
- I was in the military for over 12 years, and they sort of permeated my blood, you know?
- I enjoy shooting. It's a physical/mental challenge. Personally, I can't understand why anyone would enjoy playing golf, playing rugby or rock climbing, but I don't think they're crazy if they do. Maybe ruggers, though.
- As someone who HAS been required to face someone down with a handgun in a situation where I was far away from law enforcement and in danger of my life, I am glad to have them around. I have a CC permit, and am never far from my own weapons.

And to be lighthearted about it: I'm a guy, and guns go BOOM. Do I really need another reason???