Dream A Little Bigger, Darling - the Inception Fic Writer's Guide to Firearms, Pt 2

[chn_breathmint]

I'm very surprised and happy at the warm reception I got from fans, after posting Pt 1 of the tutorial. Unfortunately I suspect people may not be as happy this time around, as I'm going to touch on topics that are not for the delicate of sensibilities. This one has less picspam, but I think you'll all be thankful for it. I will put more gun

Comments

[ilovetakahana]

*raises hand*

what if you're a crazy writer who likes her characters to carry around a Mare's Leg? I mean, I saw Zoe's in Firefly and instantly decided it was cool. I've already gathered that shotguns are crap in open areas but very good in enclosed ones, so does this gun not merit a mention in the shotgun category?

Also, sheesh, good thing I switched Ariadne's sidearm [yes, I want her to have one, if nothing else the boys would eventually insist on it] to an H&K M&P [cf my Sherlock fic]. Desert Eagles = crap = NOTED. Not gonna do it any more *looks down guiltily*

[chn_breathmint]

That's not a problem. It's eccentric but cool. Later on I'll link to a clip from a movie where one of the characters wreaks utter havoc with a pump-action shotgun.

I was just thinking of the most generic examples of the guns I could, as I can't possibly list them all.

- Mel

[swamp_ariadne]

yup generic is best, particularly for the projections. my take on the whole militarized subconscious is that the trainees would only be undergoing dreamshare training and not any RL ones so to arm their projections they need only the basics. as for the main characters though, agree that they can use whatever rare gun fits the character as long as it is reasonable that the character actually knows the weapon. i always thought that arthur was military (too stick in the mud to be anything but a regulations guy) so yeah, i'd buy he knows the FN-SCAR. didn't know that the L was discontinued though. it kinda dates him i think then.

[heronymus_waat]

One of my favourite trivia bits is that a pump-action shotgun does not actually need a trigger-pull to fire off a round other than the first one. So you can actually unload all six (or eight, if it's a long barrel) shots with one pull, and then just racking the slide.

Or at least, you could do, pre-2000, with say a Mossberg 590. Post 2000, they changed the trigger mechanism so that this no longer works; something about the LEOs getting all soggy and hard to light about it.

[chn_breathmint]

Magazine and clip difference explained in edit.

- Mel

[faeryqueen07]

I just want to say, you are amazing for taking the time out to do this. I have very little knowledge on this topic, but what I do have, I gleaned not from movies but from the internet. The misconception about silencers has been a pet peeve of mine. Thank you for clarifying that. The descriptions of the different types of wounds is awesome as well.

Tell your friends they are greatly appreciated, as are you!

[chn_breathmint]

Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to buy some drinks when I'm in their necks of the woods some time.

- Mel

[tooursavior]

I know nothing about firearms, forgive me... what about sawn-off shotguns? They sure look cool, but are they actually decent, are they that much different from ordinary shotguns... etc?

[ilovetakahana]

The Mare's Leg, which I mention in my comment, is another iteration of the idea of the "short" shotgun. This was Zoe's sidearm in Firefly/Serenity. My major resource for this gun is here. Click on the individual pages to read the article.

[chn_breathmint]

Section on sawn-off shotguns appended.

[bauble]

This is very helpful, thanks!

[chn_breathmint]

You're welcome.

- Mel