Okay, i checked out the jack reacher novels and while there was gunplay, boy was there stinky gun info.
First off, not gun related. A MP gets more hand to hand etc combat training than special forces, rangers, force recon, delta force, etc etc? Because maybe you have to arrest those guys? yea, I don't buy that. Going so over the top with bragging about your credentials just makes a book seem less realistic to me. He would have been fine saying that as an MP, often having to subdue people, they had the opportunity to go to a lot of same training classes as elite group X.
for starters, wth? a desert eagle? turns out the gun was just cover for something else the deceased former detective left behind, but still, to me the DE is not a 'professionals' weapon. For a handgun it is too big for a handgun's only purpose, to be kept close at and handy. If you are going to keep a Deagle in your car, just in case, might as well toss a rifle in there. And no, I don't think jack reacher could consistantly stick one in his waistband and just walk around. Desert eagle = okay for movies because it is very visual. Desert eagle = okay for fun shooting at the range. I don't even think much of the Deagle for hunting or hunter backup. I think a standard 44 mag revolver is easier to shoot well thanks to the wonderful single action mode, is less clunky, and you can get one with a shorter barrel for backup, or a longer barrel for hunting...and not supercrazylong like some of the deagle add on barrels. Seems to me a truely professional shooter would choose a handgun in 45 acp, 10mm, 45 super and either go with a relatively standard sized handgun, be that a glock 20 (15 shots of 10mm!) a doublestack 1911 in 45 super, hell, a good old GI standard 1911 would be great too. You want something 'unusual' so it stands out because that is important for the story line? Mateba revolver in 44. Hell, a dan wesson with a bunch of barrels would stand out too.
Second, this town was apparently filled with magic shotguns err deathwands. People were on a hill, with some innocents in the middle, Reacher feared taht if the bad guy shot at him with the shotgun, the spread would kill all the innocent people in the middle. A ton of other supershotgun spread taking out roomfulls of people and knocking over schoolbusses and turning kids into communists.
Now, the whole plot was terribly full of wholes, because this supposed great method only before done on small scall so no one suspects it, has been done on all scales, and acedemics expert on it wouldn't 'forget' about it because of scale, and the easiest security feature to detect, which has been around for quite some time, is deigned SPECIFICALLY to defeat this technique.
For a few more details that would be spoilers, highlight below to read.
Okay the thing is a counterfitting ring. Rather than counterfit bills out of country and ship them in, they are gathering $1.00 to wash and reprint as $100s. Been done a thousand times. There is a metal strip in a bill with the denomination printed on it, and has been for a long time end.
Finally, I read the 'add' for the next book in the series. Apparently Jack Reacher is the one who decided that the USA military should go with beretta 92 as the standard sidearm over glock, even as a wet behind the ears newbie with zero knowledge of logistics, no medical knowledge in would pattern, not a gunsmith nor a ballistics expert, etc etc. Plus his reasoning makes no sense. Supposedly the beretta is more powerful, and to him that is important. WHAT?!?!? If power is important, then he should argue 'stick with the 45!' Further, how often to MPs shoot people? And if there is giong to be trouble, whip out that M-16 or shotgun, this is military police after all, both sides are going to have better than average skill and tools available. i sure as hell wouldn't want to carry just a handgun.
Further, he misses the oppurtunity to actually argue from the MP perspective that the beretta is better. The MP is about controlling our own troops, not killing the enemy. Hence they are going to have a greater need than any other troop type to hold a gun on someone and desire to NOT fire it, or to stop firing before a person is dead. Here's where a safty and a decocker can come in handy. Further, in the struggle for a gun, a safty being on is just one more step the opponent must overcome before he shoots you with your own gun, and an MP is much more likely to be in such a situation than a standard infantryman, tank commander, sniper, or whoever.
This guy seems like he knows just enough about guns, or takes the time to dig up just enough info about guns, to impress himself and his editor/publisher, but not actually accomplish a darned thing.
First off, not gun related. A MP gets more hand to hand etc combat training than special forces, rangers, force recon, delta force, etc etc? Because maybe you have to arrest those guys? yea, I don't buy that. Going so over the top with bragging about your credentials just makes a book seem less realistic to me. He would have been fine saying that as an MP, often having to subdue people, they had the opportunity to go to a lot of same training classes as elite group X.
for starters, wth? a desert eagle? turns out the gun was just cover for something else the deceased former detective left behind, but still, to me the DE is not a 'professionals' weapon. For a handgun it is too big for a handgun's only purpose, to be kept close at and handy. If you are going to keep a Deagle in your car, just in case, might as well toss a rifle in there. And no, I don't think jack reacher could consistantly stick one in his waistband and just walk around. Desert eagle = okay for movies because it is very visual. Desert eagle = okay for fun shooting at the range. I don't even think much of the Deagle for hunting or hunter backup. I think a standard 44 mag revolver is easier to shoot well thanks to the wonderful single action mode, is less clunky, and you can get one with a shorter barrel for backup, or a longer barrel for hunting...and not supercrazylong like some of the deagle add on barrels. Seems to me a truely professional shooter would choose a handgun in 45 acp, 10mm, 45 super and either go with a relatively standard sized handgun, be that a glock 20 (15 shots of 10mm!) a doublestack 1911 in 45 super, hell, a good old GI standard 1911 would be great too. You want something 'unusual' so it stands out because that is important for the story line? Mateba revolver in 44. Hell, a dan wesson with a bunch of barrels would stand out too.
Second, this town was apparently filled with magic shotguns err deathwands. People were on a hill, with some innocents in the middle, Reacher feared taht if the bad guy shot at him with the shotgun, the spread would kill all the innocent people in the middle. A ton of other supershotgun spread taking out roomfulls of people and knocking over schoolbusses and turning kids into communists.
Now, the whole plot was terribly full of wholes, because this supposed great method only before done on small scall so no one suspects it, has been done on all scales, and acedemics expert on it wouldn't 'forget' about it because of scale, and the easiest security feature to detect, which has been around for quite some time, is deigned SPECIFICALLY to defeat this technique.
For a few more details that would be spoilers, highlight below to read.
Okay the thing is a counterfitting ring. Rather than counterfit bills out of country and ship them in, they are gathering $1.00 to wash and reprint as $100s. Been done a thousand times. There is a metal strip in a bill with the denomination printed on it, and has been for a long time end.
Finally, I read the 'add' for the next book in the series. Apparently Jack Reacher is the one who decided that the USA military should go with beretta 92 as the standard sidearm over glock, even as a wet behind the ears newbie with zero knowledge of logistics, no medical knowledge in would pattern, not a gunsmith nor a ballistics expert, etc etc. Plus his reasoning makes no sense. Supposedly the beretta is more powerful, and to him that is important. WHAT?!?!? If power is important, then he should argue 'stick with the 45!' Further, how often to MPs shoot people? And if there is giong to be trouble, whip out that M-16 or shotgun, this is military police after all, both sides are going to have better than average skill and tools available. i sure as hell wouldn't want to carry just a handgun.
Further, he misses the oppurtunity to actually argue from the MP perspective that the beretta is better. The MP is about controlling our own troops, not killing the enemy. Hence they are going to have a greater need than any other troop type to hold a gun on someone and desire to NOT fire it, or to stop firing before a person is dead. Here's where a safty and a decocker can come in handy. Further, in the struggle for a gun, a safty being on is just one more step the opponent must overcome before he shoots you with your own gun, and an MP is much more likely to be in such a situation than a standard infantryman, tank commander, sniper, or whoever.
This guy seems like he knows just enough about guns, or takes the time to dig up just enough info about guns, to impress himself and his editor/publisher, but not actually accomplish a darned thing.