Didn’t want you writer folks to miss out on this article by Massad Ayoob over at GunDigest.com, The Dangerous Myth of Hierarchy of Lethality. Ayoob, one of the world’s foremost authorities on firearms and self-defense, details the situations where a firearm is not the most deadly weapon on the scene. Although his article his aimed at the gun crowd, there’s plenty in here to think about for writing. Continue reading
All Gun Articles
What is an AR-15?
Image via Colt
I was enjoying a novel the other day until a character switched an AR-15 (pictured above) into fully automatic mode and started blasting away at bad guys. Thing is, AR-15s don’t have a full-auto mode. It’s time to clear the waters, because this is only one of the misconceptions. Continue reading
Pumps vs. Charging Handles
Not every shotgun or rifle uses a pump, right? Right. So what’s that thingy (for lack of a better term for now) worked back and forth that’s sort of like a pump when characters use fully automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns? Continue reading
How to Load Submachine and Machine Guns
Dear Ben,
As an Australian writer working on his first novel, I need information from time to time on the step-by-step procedures involved in loading, cocking, aiming and shooting certain firearms, such as when to flick off the safety lever, and so on.
Is there a writer’s guide available in hard copy that will tell me, step by step, how to prepare to shoot most rifles, shotguns, sub-machine guns and handguns – including notable exceptions to the rule so I don’t make a mistake in my book? This would be very handy in my line of work.
In the meantime, can you tell me, please, how to prepare an L1A1 self-loading rifle (SLR) and an Uzi sub-machine gun for firing? Continue reading
David Morrell to Write Foreword to Writer’s Digest Book
I can now make it official: David Morrell, the author of First Blood and creator of Rambo, will be writing the foreword to my Writer’s Digest book, The Writer’s Guide to Weapons: A Practical Reference for Using Firearms and Knives in Fiction. Continue reading
The Writer's Guide to Weapons 