Boomware

Gun stuff for writers — skip if you aren’t into such.

The hottest trends in handguns these days are polymer, striker-fired pistols, from itty-bitty to full-size, with red or green dot sights, with suppressors. 

The newest mini-dot sights have long battery lives, are more reliable, and ubiquitous enough so that police forces are allowing them for their officers, and the Marines now allow pistol-qualifications using them. Welcome to the future.

For those who don’t know what these are, they are small electronic devices that replace a gun’s rear sight — they can be mounted on pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns, and there are a few hunting cross- and target-bows out there with ‘em, too.

When the device is lit, and one holds up a gun to point at a target, a tiny, bright dot, usually red, sometimes green, appears to be floating in the air over the firearm. Properly dialed-in, when the dot is superimposed over a target, that’s where the bullet goes. Unlike a laser, which can be seen on a target, or on a foggy or dusty night, nobody sees the floating dot, save the shooter.

The advantages are that most shooters can pick up the dot easier than traditional notch-and-post iron sights, and thus shoot faster. For shooters who have problems with their dominant eyes, the dots can be more readily seen, because both eyes can be kept open and focused on the target rather than the sights, which is what usually happens if the target shoots back. The lizard brain focuses on the danger, that’s its job.

The disadvantages are that anything run on a battery can die at a bad time, the electronics can fritz, and at longer distances, traditional sights are usually more accurate. I have had a few of these, and currently one on a rifle. I like it, it works well, but I wouldn’t want one on a carry gun. In a situation where somebody tries to kill me up close and personal? I will use my hardware like a spetsdöd — point it like my finger. 

Old school isn’t always less useful than new school.

Suppressors, which cut down on the sound of the shot, are lately the rage because the feds dropped their fees, which were a couple hundred bucks, and made getting paper for them easier. Better known by their misnomer, “silencers,” while they do drop the decibel level some, people who expect to hear that quiet little thwip! from the movies or TV are going to be seriously disappointed. You still hear bang! no matter what the caliber, and you’ll still need hearing protection on anything louder that a .22 LR. You won’t be sneaking up on some ne’er-do-well ninja at night, using your .308 rifle to take them out silently. That shot is gonna be audible way down the block, and the other ninjas will hear it, hide, and sneak up on you, instead.

A bit quieter is an advantage if you are a spy or assassin. The disadvantage here is that a suppressor works by absorbing muzzle blast, and this cuts down on the velocity of the bullet, making it less effective. Also, they work best on closed-bolt or -block actions. Less so on semi-automatic pistols or rifles, and not really much at all on revolvers. The biggest reason these are selling so well? An imagined cool-factor, out at the end of your Tupperware™ nine or your ridiculously over-outfitted Rube Goldberg black rifle. (James Bond had a silencer on his original carry pistol, a Beretta .25 ACP, which would have effectively turned it into a two-pump Benjamin air-pistol suitable for knocking off slow mice, and he got it caught in his pants once when he drew it, and shot himself in the leg. Not so cool, eh, Mister Bond?)

The other trend is that revolvers are making a comeback, for those who follow the KISS-principle, and who aren’t worried they need fifteen rounds and three spare mags in case the Chinese Army comes around the corner. Older tech than semi-autos, the best of these still work just fine. Once upon a time, I qualified to use the local combat range by shooting an IPSC match using a five-shot, snub-nose M-60 Chief in .38 Special, and outshot more than a couple guys blasting away with match-grade raceguns. Hardware is seldom the limiting factor in close-range shooting.

Revolvers usually hold five or six cartridges, sometimes seven or eight, and there are some in smaller calibers that will hold ten. The advantages are that they are simple to operate, generally more reliable, and they don’t throw incriminating empties all over the lawn for the po-lice to find.

The disadvantages are that they hold less ammunition, and are harder to carry concealed because they are thicker due to the cylinders, and sometimes less accurate than pistols.

What your good guy or bad guy carries will depend on what it is needed for, and how good the operator is.