Ballistic Basics: A writer's primer on firearms and the forensics that track them Review
So you're writing a contemporary or historical mystery, or a romantic suspense thriller, or an urban fantasy, and your hero's packing but you don't know beans about guns. And your heroine's a ballistics technician in the city's Anti-Lycan Policing Organization (ALPO) and she's going to make the positive ballistics identification on the silver bullet that took down the head of the Wolverine gang, but you've got the same problem there. And you don't want to depend on CSI Paranormal, because you don't trust them to get the details right, much less real.
Tremble no more, because this primer's for you. In this compact, easy-to-understand guide, an experienced mystery writer and target shooter takes you step by step through the mysteries of firearms and the ballistics that track them. You'll learn the theory behind forensic ballistics, the timeline of firearms and forensics development dating back to the 10th century, the different categories of firearms, and what's involved in a ballistics examination. It's topped off with some examples of real-life historical crimes, showing how forensics technology advanced since 1912.
But there's more here than boring old facts. How does it feel to grab a large-caliber pistol and fire it in self-defense for the first time? What can a criminal do to camouflage a murder weapon? And how can a detective track a weapon so camouflaged? Which is best for a long-range firefight, a rifle, pistol, or shotgun? For a close-in, darkened room? What can a determined beginning shooter do to improve her wrist strength?
There's a lot involved in firearms and ballistics. But with this handy primer in your Kindle, you'll be armed and ready to write before you can say "submachine gun."
Oh, and did I mention it's illustrated?
Length: 95 pages
*****
(excerpt)
9th century:Gunpowder
was invented in China by alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality,
which is ironic considering it's often used by murderers as an elixir of death.
10th century: The first firearm
was invented in China, too, as part of the ongoing defense against the
encroaching Mongol hordes along the northern Chinese border. (They built the
Great Wall of China for the same reason, starting around 50 BC and continuing
for more than twelve centuries.) These early weapons were crude but generally
effective, such as the fire-spear, a bamboo pipe filled with shrapnel and
gunpowder, used as a sort of combination flamethrower and grenade launcher.
12th century: The Chinese proved under attack to be quick learners.
Before the end of the century, they'd altered the gunpowder mix to turn it from
a raw explosive to an explosive propellant. They'd also changed their shrapnel
bits to solid cannonballs, and instead of mounting bamboo pipes on the ends of
spears, they invented the metal barrel. Thus was created the first cannon, and
the invention spread through the Middle East to Europe, ironically driven
mainly by the Mongols after they overran China.
14th century: Early artillery arrived in the Middle East, brought
by invading Mongols. Those guys got around. Read more...
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