Gun-nuttery for fiction

[Mirai Gen]

So, I was thinking about starting up a project based in modern times but I have no idea how to put together enough facts about guns to make it seem realistic. I'm trying to put kind of a Metal Gear Solid spin on it with having all the guns named and identified and details talked about them, but I don't know shit about them. Is there some sort of site dedicated to this or is Wikipedia my best bet?

[Toastburner B]

Wikipedia is alright, but it is not every ideal. You can spend quite some time looking around until you find a gun that works for you.

Something that has worked for me in the past is picking the brain of someone in the military. I've got a friend in the National Guard, and he has given me tips and ideas for a number of projects. Of course, his knowledge is limited to what the US Army uses, but it was better than nothing.

[Azisien]

If the remnant d20 Modern forums are still around, post your questions there. A couple Navy SEALS and gun range owners used to post there, and they knew everything about anything gun-related in more detail then you could want.

[Krylo]

Hit up some gun manufacturer sites, go to the library and pull out some books on guns and gun creation, etc.

Basically just research it like anything else.

I've only ever needed to find out about certain classes of guns, as opposed to every gun ever, but there was a time when I wanted to know what semi-automatic hand gun had the best (ridiculous) stopping power, so I looked that up, and muzzle velocities, and different calibers as separate searches through google to get my answer. (I ended up using a Glock 21 with 45 ACP rounds).

The benefit of this route is that you actually end up learning a lot of stuff about what causes greater muzzle velocities/better stopping power, etc. which would allow you, as a writer of fiction, to introduce realistic 'new' guns if you were so inclined.

I've forgotten most of that as I only needed to name one gun, but I remember there being a lot of information on how/why different bullets work differently even in the same guns, etc.

[PyrosNine]

In terms of accuracy, you will have some trouble. You just need enough to push the idea of realism by using enough detail, say, how much ammo, how the bullet is fed, gun weight and appearance, and then try to avoid actions that require more precise description. Probably don't even need all of that, maybe only four of them.

You want people who know nothing about guns to believe in your knowledge or in the plausibility of the gun, and for people who do know something about guns not to begrudge you for whenever you fail to meet reality.

For instance, you don't want to say that you pulled out a sniper rifle and fired off three shots in succession, but then pull the bolt to reload for the next three shots. This is both nondescriptive and has gunatics scratching their heads as to what wonder-gun you're packing.

You don't want to describe the sniper rifle's function, where it was made, what it looks like, what you've modified it to look like, how fast and frequently it can shoot, it's clip size, it's working conditions in various environments, and then trip up by killing somebody by ricocheting the shot or shooting through 3 walls of solid concrete with uberbullets, because then that one slip up will be more egregious and will feel like nails on a chalkboard.

If you're going to make guns, it's best to pull from the archetypical guns as seen in Metal Gear Solid, just grab the basics of their use and how they appear to work, and don't go on in detail about how great they are, just that your characters use them.

If you end up wanting a gun to do something the gun can't, but you think is really cool or important for story purposes, just go and say the gun is custom, and/or lampshade it's apparent impossibility.

[Geminex]

I ended up using a Glock 21 with 45 ACP rounds

Standard 45 or hollow-point? Cause I thought hollow point was better than ACP in terms of stopping power.

As for the fiction...
Yeah, I guess try to get help from some professionals. Wikipedia can be useful, and I'm sure there're enthusiast's forums, but it's difficult otherwise. I could help a bit, I've always been fairly interested, but not much. So probably try to talk to people who've actually used some of these weapons.

[Mirai Gen]

If you're going to make guns, it's best to pull from the archetypical guns as seen in Metal Gear Solid, just grab the basics of their use and how they appear to work, and don't go on in detail about how great they are, just that your characters use them.
This is pretty much what I was planning, yeah.

Library it is then.

[Krylo]

Standard 45 or hollow-point? Cause I thought hollow point was better than ACP in terms of stopping power.ACP stands for Automatic Colt Pistol. It's named that because it was one of/the first .45 round for semi-automatic combat pistols. Might be the only, as well, but don't quote me on that one.

You can get hollow point ACP.

Edit: Wikipedia on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_ACP).

I went through a lot of gun nut forums and manufacturer sites to settle on the specific model, however. Picked a Glock 21, because you can literally pour sand through a Glock and still have it fire reliably.

[MFD]

Yeah, just remember to conserve detail. While you should know everything about the gun, sometimes your reader only needs to know certain things, like clip size, fire rate, what type of bullets.

Unless you're Tom Clancy. Then knock yourself out with chapters describing the cool helicopter Jack Ryan is flying in this week.

[Mirai Gen]

I hate Tom Clancy so that's not what I'm gonna do. I'm definitely going to keep a 'just enough' level of knowledge whenever I get around to this thang.