Holy cow. I just took a look at my master list of poems, because I hadn't updated it in a while and wanted to get a sense of where I was.
So far, I've written a hundred and forty-one poems. Wowsers.
I honestly didn't know if I'd make it this far. But I sure ain't stopping now. I'm still not guaranteeing that I'll pull off a poem every day for a year, but I've been pleasantly surprised so far.
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Posted by: A large duck (
 burger_eater) Posted at: May 30th, 2009 05:20 pm (UTC)
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Heh. By April, I would have been writing haikus about resenting myself for biting off more than I could chew.
Can I ask an OT gun question? (Notice here that I'm not waiting for an answer before posting it--because I'm a jerk that way) Does a modern pistol have smoke come out of the barrel after it's been fired? If so, for how long?
Thanks.
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Posted by: David Hines (
hradzka) Posted at: May 30th, 2009 07:27 pm (UTC)
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Does a modern pistol have smoke come out of the barrel after it's been fired? If so, for how long?
You don't mean when it's fired, but afterwards -- ie, "he lowered his smoking pistol," right? The answer is, usually not so much as you'd notice. My guess is that it depends on how much shooting you've been doing, because on the occasions I notice it, it's because I've been shooting heavily and the gun barrel is hot and there's a fair amount of residue in the barrel to burn and give off smoke. How visible it is depends on the light, too.
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Posted by: A large duck (
burger_eater) Posted at: May 31st, 2009 02:17 pm (UTC)
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He doesn't actually lower a smoking pistol. The protag hears a single shot in the next room, runs in and finds a bunch of guys standing over a body with guns in their hands. He knows who fired by body language, but I wasn't sure if there'd be this other evidence, too.
But it sounds like "No."
Thank you.
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Posted by: David Hines (
hradzka) Posted at: May 31st, 2009 11:28 pm (UTC)
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What would you say if I told you that you don't need a smoking gun, because there is a gimmick that will get you the exact same effect you're looking for, will make your protagonist look like a bad-ass action hero for spotting it, and will make your gun nut readers happy?
Give the guys with guns Sigs. Sig Sauer P220 or P226, to be precise; pick the model that suits their characters and is most cool to you. This will let you use the following gimmick: the only guy with a hammer back is the guy who fired.
Here's why it works: the Sig P220 and Sig P226 are double-action/single-action handguns. (There are plenty of others; if you want to send me a PM about generally who these guys are, I'll suggest make and model that'd fit their profession.) In a single-action gun, pulling the trigger does not cock the hammer. Take the Colt 1911 and clones, for example; if your 1911 is not cocked and you pull the trigger, nothing will happen. So if you're starting with a 1911 that's not cocked, you have to cock it, then pull the trigger, in order to fire; then the action cycles, and that cocks your hammer for the next shot. So pros carry the 1911 cocked, with the safety on.
The P220 and P226 work differently. You can carry them with the hammer down. The first trigger pull will cock and fire the gun, and the cycling action will cock it for the next shot. This means that the first trigger pull, which is double-action, is going to be a longer and heavier pull than the rest of your shots, which will be single-action.
The uptake of this is: assuming the guys with guns are carrying with hammers down and have not fired any shots previous to this, when your protagonist enters the room after the gunshot he will see multiple guys holding uncocked guns and one guy whose hammer is cocked. This will let him know instantly who fired.
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Posted by: A large duck (
burger_eater) Posted at: June 1st, 2009 05:28 am (UTC)
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This is very interesting. Thank you!
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Posted by: trinfaneb (
trinfaneb) Posted at: May 30th, 2009 06:39 pm (UTC)
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Kudos! I don't know how you do it. Sometimes I couldn't maintain a one poem a week schedule when I was a member of a poetry group :) I haven't commented on many of the poems, but I'm also impressed at the general quality and creativity they contain.
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 |
