If you're writing guns in a story, most often, it's going to be a handgun. They are the most common type of firearm used for self-defense. But what if you have never so much as touched a firearm in real life? How are you going to write your MC’s weapon without it turning into cringe?
People that know firearms will know the difference between a story that is knowledgeable and well-researched, versus one that is written by someone ignorant of the subject. Even people with a passing knowledge will be able to spot something off. It will discredit you as a writer, and you don’t want that!
The good news is I am here to help. I was raised around guns. I was Uzis and AK-47s before I could drive. I have handled just about everything you can think of, either as a civilian shooter, or while in the military. I will give you everything you need to know to make your MC a straight shooter!
Let’s start with the basics.
Handguns
A handgun is defined as a short-barreled firearm, designed to be used with one hand (hence the name). The two most popular types of modern handgun are revolvers and semiautomatic pistols.
Revolvers
A revolver uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers. Each chamber holds a single cartridge (a cartridge is the combination of bullet, powder charge, case, and primer). When the hammer (the pointy thing at the top) is cocked back, the cylinder rotates, aligning one of the chambers with the firing mechanism and the barrel (the tube where the bullet flies out). Pictured above is my Ruger Redhawk revolver.
Here is a view of a revolver from the front. As you can see, each chamber holds one round. In this case, you can see down the barrel where one round is lined up to fire.
There are two basic types of revolvers. Single action, and Double action.
Single action revolvers must have the hammer cocked back manually each time you fire it. You cock the hammer with your thumb, the cylinder rotates, you aim, pull the trigger, and the round is fired. Then you repeat the process. Think cowboys and Western movies. The Colt Single-Action Army revolver below is a typical single action revolver.
Repeatedly pulling the trigger on a single action does absolutely nothing. You have to cock the hammer each time.
Some single actions are modified to be "fanned", meaning you hold the trigger down and repeatedly slap the hammer back. You can shoot fast this way, but unless you are a professional trick shooter, you probably won't hit shit.
Single actions are slow to reload. You half-cock the hammer, rotate the cylinder by hand, extract the spent cases, and reload new cartridges one by one via the reloading gate. Your other option is to carry a second cylinder and completely remove the old cylinder and install a new cylinder full of fresh cartridges. Slow.
Old West gunfighters, such as John Wesley Hardin solved the issue by carrying a whole bunch of guns. In modern times, this is referred to as “the New York Reload”. Load new rounds? Fuhgettaboutit! Grab another gun!
Double action revolvers can be fired simply by pulling the trigger over and over. Most modern revolvers are double action. My Ruger Redhawk at the top of the article is a double action, .44 magnum revolver.
When firing double action, you simply aim and squeeze the trigger. The act of pulling the trigger also cocks the hammer back and releases it at the top of the pull. It takes more strength to fire double action. Trigger pull is around 12-17 lbs depending on the gun. A single action pull is more like 3-1/2 lbs. The good news is you can also fire a double action revolver in single action mode if you want to.
Firing a double action revolver in single action is smart if you want more accuracy. My .44 has a long trigger pull and bucks like a Brahma bull, so a crisp single action break is nice for accuracy. If you’re writing a character that has one, you can illustrate this by having him cock the hammer first to aim at something far away.
Double action revolvers are quick to reload compared to their single action cousins.. The cylinder swings out on a hinge, an extractor rod pushes all the spent cases out, and you can drop in all new ones via a speedloader or one by one. Here is a Smith and Wesson .357 with two speedloaders.
You know that Mickey Spillane thing where they load the cylinder, spin it, and then slap it into place? Guys who shoot revolvers and know what they are doing NEVER do that. It will fuck up the lock work of your weapon. Sure, spin it if you want, then close it gently into place. Revolvers are tough and reliable but they aren't impervious to abuse.
Semiautomatic Pistols
Semiautos are the world’s most commonly used handgun. Pictured below are a Springfield 1911 clone (top left) and a Glock 21 (bottom right). Both are .45 caliber semiautomatic pistols, though in function, they are somewhat different!
"Semiautomatic" means the gun goes bang one time for each pull of the trigger, and then automatically loads the next round. In terms of what you get for your effort, it's no different than a double action revolver. One squeeze, one bang.
The difference is both their appearance and the mechanical means to get the "one squeeze to one bang" rate of fire. They also are fed via removable magazines versus a fixed cylinder.
All semiautos have the same basic function. You load the cartridges into the magazine (basically a spring-loaded, little box that holds the rounds). A spring keeps pressure on them. You insert the magazine into the magazine well, which is usually inside the grip of the pistol. The Glock above has a magazine already inserted. The spare magazine is below it.
You charge the pistol by pulling back the slide and releasing it, a nice, quick SNAP. Another way is to lock the slide back, using the slide stop, insert the magazine, and then press down the slide stop to release the slide. The spring slaps the slide shut, chambering a round.
When the slide closes, a round is peeled off the top of the stack in the magazine and pushed into the chamber. The pistol is now ready to fire. Squeezing the trigger at any time will fire a round.
When a round is fired, the powder explosion throws the bullet out of the barrel. As we know in physics, every action has an equal but opposite reaction. The same force, through one mechanism or another, throws the bolt and slide back. An extractor grabs the rim of the spent cartridge case and throws it out. When the slide is pushed all the way back, it readies the pistol to fire again, by either cocking the hammer or resetting the striker (more on strikers later).
The spring throws the slide and bolt forward again. Another round is peeled off the stack in the magazine and loaded into battery. Once again, the pistol is ready to fire. You can continue to do this as long as there are more rounds in the magazine.
When the last round is fired, typically, the slide will lock back into the open position. This allows you to drop the empty magazine, insert a new one, and press the slide stop to close the action. Once again, you are ready to fire. It makes reloading fast!
Above is a picture of a 1911 clone and some of its parts. Check it out. See the safety lever there, on the right, below the hammer? Clicking that up, prevents the hammer from falling, so no bang. What's not labeled is the piece right below that; the one that looks like a tail sticking out. That is a second safety, called a grip safety. If your hand isn't on the grip, holding it down, the pistol will not fire. You see that on 1911s but very few other pistols. Cool, huh?
Types of Semiauto
There are three basic types of semiautomatic pistol. You have single action, double action, and striker-fired.
As in revolvers, a single action automatic can only be fired if you cock the hammer back first. As mentioned above, racking the slide does this automatically. With a single action auto, however, should you choose to carry with a round in the chamber and the hammer down, you can't fire it unless you cock the hammer first. Not many people carry this way anymore. It makes the pistol more awkward to deploy.
Most people actually carry them with a full magazine, a round in the chamber, and the hammer cocked. In this case, the thumb safety is engaged, preventing the pistol from firing. Upon drawing the pistol from the holster, you drop the safety. The benefit here is a quick, easy single-action trigger pull every time, which is good for accuracy.
A few people do carry with the chamber empty and rack the slide as they draw. The downside to this, is if you are already engaged in a conflict, and don't have two hands free, you're screwed. You basically have a small club and not a gun. This is particularly true in drawing from concealment, like a holster in your waistband.
Once you fire the first round, the slide action automatically recocks the hammer every shot, so there is no need to keep cocking it, like a single action revolver.
Popular single action autos are the Colt 1911 and its clones, and the Browning Hi-Power. As the name designates, the 1911 pistol has been around since the year 1911. This makes the famous single action, semiautomatic .45 more than 100 years old! The first semiautomatic pistol was patented in 1891.
Double action semiautos can be fired with the hammer down, just like a double action revolver. When you squeeze the trigger, it also pushes the hammer back and then drops it at the top of the pull. Most people carry double action autos with a full magazine, a round in the chamber and the hammer down.
As with revolvers, the first double action pull is a longer, heavier break. For every round thereafter, the movement of the slide will have cocked the hammer. This means all following shots will be lighter, single action pulls. The Sig Sauer p239 below is a double action semiautomatic pistol.
Important for writers: Some double action autos have safeties and some do not. Some have a de-cocking lever, which allows the shooter to drop the hammer without firing a round. Let's say you fire 3 or 4 rounds and want to holster the weapon, but you do not want to leave the hammer cocked. You engage the de-cocker and drop the hammer. Now you are back in double-action mode with a round in the chamber. Some pistols do not have this, so look it up, before you write about it.
The third type is the striker-fired semiauto. These pistols do not have an external hammer. Instead, there is an internal spring, which activates a striker pin that strikes the primer of the cartridge and fires the bullet. Striker-fired pistols are relatively new, and are now the most popular type of handgun on the market. The Glock 17 below is one of the world's most popular striker-fired pistols. As you see, there is no external hammer to cock. If there is a cartridge in the chamber, it is ready to fire.
The benefit to a striker-fired pistol is that you get a fast, light, consistent trigger pull every time. The break is similar to a single action pull in feel. Striker-fired pistols, like the Glock line, are very user friendly and therefore popular with new shooters as well as experienced ones.
As with a double-action pistol, some striker fired pistols have safeties and some do not. A Glock pistol, like the one above, has no active safety. Instead they placed a passive safety on the trigger. Your finger presses it down automatically when you place it on the trigger. You can't click it on and off. Movies and writings screw this up all the time. If your character has a Glock, the only way to make it safe is to keep your finger off the trigger and place it in the holster.
Some people do not like having a pistol with no active safety and a round in the chamber, ready to fire. Because of this, some choose to carry their striker-fired pistol with an empty chamber, and rack the slide when they draw. As with other automatics, you still have the problem of needing two free hands and more time to deploy the pistol.
TLDR. How do I write it?
The good news is, unless you are writing a very “weapon-centric” type of story, You won’t need 90% of this information. Readers who know will understand if you write, “He saw the black grip of a small semiautomatic pistol sticking out of the man’s waistband.” Or “She drew a large, nickel-plated revolver and aimed it at him”. This is simple and much more descriptive than “He had a gun in his pants.”
Knowing what you do, however, you can now be confident writing, “He drew a Glock 17 from his shoulder rig” or “She cocked the hammer of the old single action revolver, and took aim”. It adds a nice dimension to otherwise bland writing.
Where this stuff really comes in handy is when your character has to use his or her weapon. “She fired the last round from her Glock. The slide locked back. She swapped magazines and dropped the slide as she took cover. The last rounds blasting from her partner’s revolver made her ears ring. She took a breath, rose and fired to cover him, while he fished for a speedloader.”
Now the reader can really see what the character is doing! Also, you won’t make noob mistakes like, “He lowered his Glock and put the safety switch on.” (No active safety, remember?) Instead you can say something cool, like. “He dropped the thumb safety as he drew his 1911”.
Here’s a list of things that will earn you bonus points with readers, as well as some common mistakes to avoid.
Bonus Points
These things will make gun savvy readers go “Hey, cool!”
Capabilities. Know what a certain weapon can do. Can a ballistic vest stop it? A lot of people don’t know a car door will not effectively stop bullets. How far away can you hit a target? How hard does it kick when you shoot it?. A .22 is less effective, but can put a lot of rounds on target fast, due to low recoil. A .44 magnum hits like a ton of bricks, but very slow to get back on target.
Survivability. Most people don’t know that seven out of eight people shot with a handgun survive. Now you do! What really happens if you get shot in the leg? Hint: You won’t be getting up and spin kicking anyone. Firing a handgun indoors is LOUD. After the first shot, kiss your hearing goodbye, at least temporarily.
Silencers- Real silencers don’t make that Hollywood “blip” noise when you shoot them. They just reduce the noise by around 20 decibels or so. Great if you have to shoot indoors and don’t want to go deaf. With some mods, the right caliber, and right subsonic ammo, you can get a pistol pretty quiet, but reliability and effectiveness is reduced.
Realistic scenarios. Most gunfights, between citizens, or involving police happen at a distance of three to five yards. That’s scary close! They last about three seconds and they are over. They also miss. A lot! Why? Stress. Lack of time needed to aim properly. One person trying to escape. Better training can improve your odds, but if your MC fires five rounds and four go into the walls, that’s normal and realistic.
Combat reload. Having your MC reload on occasion is more realistic. A combat reload is when you fire most of the magazine, but leave the last one in the chamber when you swap mags. That way, if someone jumps on you while you’re going for your spare mag, you still have a shot. You also don’t have to release the slide to chamber the first round. It’s already in there. In my book Hunters of Gehenna, the character T-Bone does this with a pump-action shotgun.
Signature weapon. Learn the hell out of your MC’s (or villain’s) favorite handgun. Go to a range, rent one, and shoot it. Find out what cool stuff you can do to customize it. In my novel Babylon Creek, which takes place in the 1880s, the MC uses twin Colt 1877 Thunderer revolvers. Besides having a cool name, the 1877 was one of the first successful double action revolvers. Unlike other characters in the story, he doesn’t need to cock the hammer every time so he’s super fast.
Common Mistakes
These are a few basic things that will keep you out of hot water with your readers.
A magazine is not a “clip”. The two words are not interchangeable. Clips are used by very specific types of weapons, such as the M-1 Garand, that have a fixed, internal magazine. Removable magazines, however, are common to most semiautomatic pistols. Google “How to load the M-1 Garand”, and you will see what I mean.
Bullets do not fly out of the barrel still in the cartridge case. Yes, people do depict this occasionally. It’s cringe.
Revolvers do not have safeties. This is the epitome of derp. Some semiautos don’t either. Know it before you write it.
Dramatic gun cocking. Don’t do it. Maybe if it’s a single-action revolver, because you have to cock it to shoot it. I have seriously seen a character cock the same weapon three times before firing it. It’s dumb. Also, if your character has a single action semiauto like a 1911 and repeatedly pulls the trigger on an empty chamber, it doesn’t go click, click, click. Gotta cock that hammer, remember? If you need someone to be frantically trying to fire an empty gun, use a double action auto or revolver.
Endless magazines. There is a limit to how many rounds a magazine will hold. There are also a lot of options in magazine capacity. I own several Glock mags that hold 30 rounds. It is highly unlikely you will see this with a 1911. They usually hold seven, plus one in the chamber. Custom and aftermarket mags that hold more do exist, however. Just know the difference.
Thirty-shot revolver. They usually hold five or six. That’s all. Make ‘em count. Some specific models can hold more. Mention this if you write it. If your MC is a revolver-wielding badass, have him quickly reload using a speedloader. Look on YouTube for “Jerry Miculek 12 shots 3 seconds”. He uses a specially tuned revolver. He fires six shots, reloads, and fires six more, putting them all on target in under three seconds.
Revolvers do not self-eject spent cases. I have seriously seen a show where a guy is firing a revolver, and the camera pans to spent cartridge cases hitting the ground as he fired. Tactical face-palm.
A semiauto is not a machinegun. A semiauto: One squeeze, one bang. A machinegun will continue to spit out rounds as long as you hold the trigger down. Some assault rifles can do both. Know the difference.
I could really go on all day with this stuff, but the point is to just take it easy and write what you know or have researched. If all the reader needs to know is “black semiauto” or “chrome revolver” then it’s all good. If you need to know more, just refer back to this article, or do a Google search. There are thousands of YouTube videos of people handling various weapons.
Good luck, and happy writing.
If you liked this piece, please follow Clinton A. Love on Twitter @AuthorOfGehenna.