Need help with handguns please?

Question

Hi there, I am writing a short story about a hitman in modern-day Europe. I need to equip him with a handgun (as his tactic is to shoot people from short-range, no more than say ten feet) but know nothing about handguns; would a revolver or a magazine-fed pistol be better?

The way I see it is that a pistol can be silenced, but is more prone to jamming and ejected shell casings are difficult to retrieve (evidence for police).

With a revolver it is a simpler design and the shell casings stay in the gun but it is noisy?

Thanks for all serious answers- I am actually writing a story so please no stupid comments about me planning an assassination of my own. Cheers!

PS, This question is in this category as it is the closest I could find to a shooting category.

Answer 1

This isn't the kind of question I normally answer, but you piqued my interest since I too dabble in writing, so here goes.

One, the first mistake in any bad writing is to write a story you know nothing about. I'm not saying you can't be successful, but you admit to not knowing anything about guns (and I presume you don't know any hitmen), yet you've decided on a story that has a hit man that kills people with a handgun at extremely short range. Do you, as a person, see a logical reason for him to take such risk? Do you even see the risks that I'm referring to? Now, as a writer, do you see a reason to overcome those risks and do it anyway?

Two, revolvers generally cannot be suppressed (silenced), because of the gap between the revolving cylinder and the barrel. There is a rumor that the CIA had specially built revolvers for their agents afield in the 50's and 60's, that was built in such a way that the supressor covered the entire revolver, from gap to muzzle. I've never seen one, and I imagine with enough funds and time, anything is possible. Your character may have enough of both, or the right connections to have obtained such a thing, perhaps?

Pistols are easily suppressed, but there can be issues in functionality. Research suppressors online. Keep in mind some calibers are naturally subsonic, and others would have to be re-loaded in order to become subsonic. Firing a supersonic bullet out of a suppressed gun is pointless as the bullet will still break the sound barrier and produce an audible 'crack.'

I should add that a "silenced" pistol is not totally silent, as the noise is simply reduced a great deal. Not unlike a muffler on a car. You still hear the car, you just doen't hear it as loudly, and you don't hear it blocks away. People within a certain distance, say between thirty to a hundred feet depending upon the quality of suppressor and ambient noise, would still hear the pistol's action, and the suppressed sound of the gun being fired.

As for leaving casings at the scene, that might be a problem, it might not. It would depend upon the situation, the person being "hit" and the client that is paying for the hit.

Tom Clancy wrote a novel in which one of his characters used a specially modified suppressed weapon. The character had taken a bag of some sort and attached it to the framed of the pistol, around the ejection port, so that it would catch the ejected shell casings. I've obviously never tried it, but it seems that such a thing may work, even if only for a few rounds.

To be honest, it is far more important that the character himself be believable than his gun, or his choice of gun. For example, is this a "professional" hitman, or a wannabe gangsta? Is he a rookie or a well experienced hitman? Is he doing the job to "look" like a hit--sending a message--or to "look" like a random act of violence, or merely an accident?

Is the character neat, or sloppy (this certainly helps with the idea that he is professional or not), does he care that any casings are left behind, or more importantly, does his client care that he leaves evidence behind?

A great movie (over the top, but fun and enjoyable) that explored the world of hitmen was "Grosse Point Blank." If you haven't seen it, rent it. If you have seen it, watch it again. It will give you a small glimpse of the way a hitman would have to think, act and feel (or not feel). Besides, it was quite funny. From there, you can build your character logically.

Good luck.

Answer 2

For many years, Israel's Mossad assassins used a modified and silenced Beretta Model 950 Minx in .22 Short.

The pistols have been modified to be manual repeaters, meaning that for a second shot, the slide had to be retracted. Since the M-950 is a blowback operated pistol, it would need an extractor added. The reason the pistols are modified to be manual repeaters is the fact that otherwise, there would be lots of noise coming from the breech of the pistol when it opened to eject the fired cartridge.

.22 Long Rifle pistols are not used because the bullets would be traveling faster than the speed of sound and would produce a very loud "CRACK."

The .22 Short is a perfect cartridge for the scenario you discussed. It is quiet, even in an unsilenced firearm. It is potent enough for very close range head shots. And the pistols that chamber the cartridge are generally of vest pocket size. While a silenced .22 Short is fine for under ten foot head shots, it will be pretty well worthless for a long range (beyond 10 yards) shoot-out. It would be a good idea to give your assassin a second, more powerful firearm for such events. My preference would be for a Smith & Wesson Model 686 with a 4" barrel, and loaded with 125 gr. Federal Premium ammunition. However, something along the lines of a SIG P-226 ( 9mmP), a SIG P-220 ( .45 ACP) or a Browning Hi-Power (9mmP) would also be good choices.

These are just some suggestions and some info I've gleaned from a lifetime of being a Gun Crank, and sometime writer. I suggest you learn a bit about firearms if you are going to write about them. Nothing offends a gun crank more than for an author writing about guns in his novel to get the details wrong. If you can find an indoor (or outdoor) shooting range that has rental guns, you would do well to go there as often as you can afford and try as many different firearms as you can. The staff and veteran customers will be glad to talk and share knowledge, opinions, and experiences.

Good Luck,
Doc Hudson

Answer 3

I agree with David. A silenced .22 pistol would be the way to go. They are small, compact, make far less noise than say a 9mm or .45 and since you would be close, a shot or two to the head would not be a problem. With a proper silencer which is legal in much of the U.S., provided you are willing to pay the cost, the shot would be even quieter than the gun cycling the action.

Also, shell case ejection wouldn't be that big of an issue. If you are going to shoot someone in the head from 10 feet with a .22, the bullet is already in there which you could not recover and would be the main piece of forensic evidence. The shell casing would be largely inconsequential. If you really wanted to defy forensic evidence, have your assassin either scratch up the inside of the barrel of the weapon when he is done or at least destroy the crown or muzzle end of it so any type of ballistic analysis would be next to impossible if the weapon was found. On that note, he could also use a 1 time replacement barrel to do the assassination, destroy it, then switch the old barrel back. Same result!

There is also the question of ammunition though with a .22 it wouldn't be as big of a problem. You have subsonic and supersonic rounds meaning it goes slower or faster than the speed of sound respectively. A subsonic round will be quieter because it will not make a mini sonic boom as it travels through the air.

Hope this helps and don't try this at home!

Answer 4

A revolver cannot be "suppressed" as too much gas and sound escapes between the cylinder and forcing cone area. A pistol isn't really "silenced" either, it is "suppressed" which means that the sound is reduced, but not truly silenced. The real pistol used as an assassins gun is a .22 pistol, with suppressor, but, they add a "catch" that keeps the bolt from going back and ejecting the spent cartridge. This does two things, it keeps the brass from being discovered at the scene, and, it keeps the pistol quieter by not letting the bolt cycle open and closed, that would produce the sound of the bolt slamming forward, as well as allowing a small amount of noise to exit thru the chamber as well. If the "assassin" felt he needed more than one shot, he could bypass the "catch" and allow the pistol to cycle like normal and eject the spent brass and chamber another round. An old pistol I saw that was used by a certain U.S. agency with 3 initials, was a "colt woodsman" model in .22LR with a silencer, and had the catch assembly installed. Again, it doesn't completley silence the firearm, just quiets it enough that a person nearby wouldn't recognize it as a gunshot.Hope this helped

Answer 5

In terms of jamming, a modern pistol (mag fed) wouldn't really have any problems, provided you choose a reliable make. If he's a decent hitman, he'd only need one or two shots, so finding the casings wouldn't take too long.

A revolver wouldn't be much noisier than a pistol, but yes, the casing stays in the gun.

I can't comment on silencers as I never had any need for them.

As for respected makes, Smith & Wesson (revolver), Sig-Sauer, Walther are all pretty good. You wouldn't need anything bigger than a 9mm or a .38 if he's going to be in close range. A .22 would make a small hole, but not a great deal more.

Good luck with the story

Answer 6

The 9mm has the advantage of carrying capacity and will penetrate deeply. The .45ACP has more "knock down" power because it is a bigger bullet. You sacrifice carrying capacity, but you get a more powerful round. The .45 is a better man stopper. For something in the middle, you might consider a .40 (I have a Glock). I have read mixed reviews about the Sigma, I am glad that you enjoy yours. I would suggest sticking with the 9mm. It is much cheaper to shoot and you can continue to learn. The .45 is more expensive. I would suggest a Colt 1911 style .45. It is a classic. The Colts are expensive, but you can go with a similar style pistol from Kimber or some other brand. Ruger also make a decent .45 EDIT: H is right. I own many guns. I just wouldn't trade in my 9mm for a .45. Keep the 9 as it is cheaper to shoot at the range. Also, use defense loads for home defense to prevent overpenetration.

Answer 7

I am always amazed at how many people are running around in books and movies with a silenced ppk or the like. As an average joe schmoe citizen I would have no idea where or how to buy or obtain a silencer. Just to pass a thought on to you for your edification, if you want to strive for realism, how about something simple. You said no more that 10 feet? Anybody can buy a taser or something that is totally quiet and yadda without a lot of hassle; and they look like a cell phone on the belt, etc. How about the hero drops the bad guy with a taser and then sticks an ice pick in his ear while pretending to render assistance? Leaves no external trace and most times is not picked up during an autopsy. With all the hype about terrorists and the like in the here and now traveling in europe and obtaining a gun would be be a real headache. I have a friend who is retired after many years working for an unnamed government agency who demonstrated to me how simple it was to kill a human with a rolled up magazine; for up close and personal it makes sense. Just a suggestion or two.

Answer 8

Your type of gun is one point but you miss the other critical point for your story which would be the type of ammunition. If your killer users supersonic ammunition then silencing the gun is impractical, he/she needs to use subsonic ammunition. Also as you will be using a small caliber sub-sonic round you will need to use either hollow point, dum-dum or crosscut bullets to ensure enough damage is caused by the rounds.

Personally in your story I would opt for a silenced .22 semi automatic firing sub-sonic hollow point ammunition. Cheap, effective and commercially available.

Going for the semi automatic gives your gunman the contingency plan in case anything goes wrong of having 2-3 times the number of shots available as well as faster reload times.

Retrieving a bullet casing is a simple task especially as your killer will be working at short range and presumably waiting for a moment when there will be no witnesses.

Anyway as long as there are no prints what does it matter if they retrieve the casing or not? They will already have the bullet which would give away the caliber and if your killer has any sense he will dispose of each gun after use anyway.

Just some thoughts, hope they help.

Answer 9

A revolver would be best in that you do not have shell casing at the scene. Something small would not make as much noise as a large caliber. The results would still be fatal is you were close enough to have a good shot at a vital spot. He could load his own bullets so they did not have a large powder load for quieter shots, and the lead could be explosive or hollow point for more damage. The revolver can not be silenced like an auto, but with the lighter load and small size it would be about the same. If he could get close enough to touch his victim then the victim's clothes would help muffle the sound.

Answer 10

.22 target or plinking pistol with a silencer. These have been very popular for drug dealers and other organized criminals. 60 Minutes had a story back in the 1990s about Florida mobsters hit by an FBI sting involving Ruger Mark II pistols with silencers. They bought them from undercover FBI agents ("OOPS!").
Guns and ammo are frequently stolen so tracing by the feds or police is useless. So it does not matter if casings are left behind. Criminals leave casings behind all the time.