One mistake in non-fiction blog posts: not including a label or title for the pictures.
Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
31–40 of 122 posts
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#32[flagged]
Dogs kill about 30-50 people in the U.S. every year. Intimate partner gun violence alone leads to about 700 women being killed every year. So by your logic, if you’re a woman and your partner has a gun, and is walking towards you and you can’t clearly tell that they don’t have a gun on them, “they just want to give you a kiss before leaving home” isn’t an argument. They’re vermin that can kill you and you’re absolute…
Yes, that sounds appropriate and proportional to me, given the massive danger posed to (mostly) women by mostly (men) regarding domestic violence.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not a deep-in-the-weeds expert, but if I had to put together an "obvious long rifle mistakes in fiction" article, it’d probably be: * People pumping shotguns after every round, or unnecessarily cycling the bolt after every round * Wrong action type for the gun * Wrong shotgun ammo for the context * Wrong safety type for the gun (most long guns have safeties, but they are operated in a variety of ways) * Magazine…
How about accounting for Coriolis "force" in addition to drop and wind when shooting ULR 5,000 yards? Have you seen that in a film? Is it actually a thing, can you ignore it?
Surprisingly, Coriolis at extreme ranges (like 5000 feet) can be relevant enough to be corrected for, but how much and in what direction depends which way you're shooting and where on the planet you are. There's a fun calculator here: https://codingace.net/physics/coriolis_effect_shooting.html
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#34I guess my pet peeve of "firing an arrow" is also a gun mistake of sorts. It can be found in many fantasy books. A bow is not a gun, there's no gunpowder involved. If a commander orders his archers to "fire" what should they do, set their bows on fire?
What's the correct term? Loose? I'm sure I've heard that before.
I know nothing about arrows except to identify the pointy end.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#35I guess my pet peeve of "firing an arrow" is also a gun mistake of sorts. It can be found in many fantasy books. A bow is not a gun, there's no gunpowder involved. If a commander orders his archers to "fire" what should they do, set their bows on fire?
Dip their arrow heads in the fire braziers so the tar / pitch starts to burn, ready for the coming "pull" and "loose" commands?
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#36I guess my pet peeve of "firing an arrow" is also a gun mistake of sorts. It can be found in many fantasy books. A bow is not a gun, there's no gunpowder involved. If a commander orders his archers to "fire" what should they do, set their bows on fire?
And what about archer companies doing "volley fire" ? As in what looks like 99% of Hollywood movies.
https://acoup.blog/2025/05/02/collections-why-archers-didnt-...
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#37One thing I have noticed messed up in a lot of fiction (written/tv/movies/etc) is how loud guns actually are. Scenes of multiple people without any hearing protection emptying their guns that doesn't have any kind of supressors/silencer multiple times in a closed space (usually a single room) and then just casually chatting with each 5 seconds later.
In general the sounds of guns are very bad in most movies/tv shows (Heat from 1995 comes closest for me).
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#38The first complaint is "heard the snick of the revolvers safety."
I assume a lot of writers get their misinformation from Hollywood sound effects and the countless other gun related liberties.
Like the terminator asking for a phased plasma rifle in a 40W range. Everyone knows those weren't available until 1997.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#39[flagged]
I am a dog owner, and I agree that a loose and aggressive dog is a liability to humanity and you are making everyone a favor if you kill it even if you could have escaped (e.g. you manage to get into your car in time). If it was attacking you, it could be a child (or another dog, too) next time. I would say that even a loose, non aggressive dog of a breed that is very statistically likely to mangle people (e.g. Bully…
I think there should be mandatory courses the owner needs to take to own these breeds (and pass the exam with satisfactory marks), loose or not if one slip of a leash can lead to a kid getting mangled then it's not safe for the owner to walk even a leashed untrained dog.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
How about accounting for Coriolis "force" in addition to drop and wind when shooting ULR 5,000 yards? Have you seen that in a film? Is it actually a thing, can you ignore it?
Surprisingly, Coriolis at extreme ranges (like 5000 feet) can be relevant enough to be corrected for, but how much and in what direction depends which way you're shooting and where on the planet you are. There's a fun calculator here: https://codingace.net/physics/coriolis_effect_shooting.html
It's ignored in practice when firing long guns at 5,000 yards.
The minuscule effect is overwhelmingly dominated by everything else. Heavier, longer range shells from naval guns, yes - rifles, no.
* Opinion of a ULR shooter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP7IKshdiiY
* Range Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7owwTz7Z0OE