What if they're not mistakes at all, just creative choices?
Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
81–90 of 122 posts
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#82Somehow this almost inspired me to write some fiction just for the sole purpose of including some real howlers of this kind, that the average reader wouldn't notice. I wonder how many you could squeeze into one scene.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#83I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the "magic unlimited magazine" yet, especially with fully-automatic weapons. It's distracting to watch the hero shoot and shoot and shoot and never reload.
Big props to the John Wick franchise for making reloading* a first-class part of their gun-fu choreography.
* ...and badass one-handed press checks that no-one should ever do IRL.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#84[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…
As a fellow dog owner I feel obligated to point out that not all barking is aggressive.
People not used to dogs often seem to think it is, and I'd hate for people to start shooting dogs just because they bark. Dogs bark, it's what they do.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#85I 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?
In reverse, "point blank" is an archery term indicating the distance where, with your bow fully drawn, the point of the arrow can be sighted directly on the target. (Closer and you have to bring the point down, farther and you have to bring the point above the target.)
It seems that "point blank" has come to mean simply, "a shot you can't miss".
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#86Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is very tiring to hold back the shot in a position like that. In real life you just wouldn’t do that. And in general your archers know their range and will/should start shooting as soon as they have a target in range without any orders. The volley fire thing is from black powder musket/rifle days. Basically volleys were used so you can actually seen what you are shooting at (aim) and manuever (hard to move while r…
If most archers start shooting as soon as targets enter the range, and if their individual ranges are clustered around the average, wouldn't that result in a relatively high density of shooting when the distance to a moving group of targets coincides with their average range? Some movies actually provide a plausible-sounding explanation for the volley fire thing. A dude in charge commands everyone to wait until the u…
The opponent has usually seen bows before too and has a rough idea of their range.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#88One of the things about fiction is that it gets almost everything wrong. It isn’t just guns. It’s professions like spies and snipers, cars, boats, planes, programming/hacking, radios, technology, etc. And those are just the areas that I personally know they get wrong, because I know more than the average person in those areas. Some people judge fiction way too harshly for inconsequential but inaccurate details which…
A modern author who's fairly good in this regard is Andy Weir; the main thing is you have to do a ton of research while writing and have trusted sources (I think Clancy had many) to rely on when mulling over the details. The tough thing is, once you get "above average" in terms of accuracy, those of us who like to be a little more pedantic will grade on a curve!
So hand-wavy is the correct answer.
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#89I 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?
This is a good example of movies using inaccurate depictions that audiences will easily understand instead of accurate depictions that may confuse them. Just think of it as a translation.
Alas, and a missed opportunity for education…
Re: Gun Mistakes in Fiction Writing: Handgun Edition
#90Earlier 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
(And what planet you're on.)