The main character is a former recon marine who fought in 'Nam. I've never met a recon Marine but I do know an old Green Beret. The guy's skinny, about 5' 8'', smokes, speaks Spanish, doesn't take crap from people, never talks about combat, speaks quietly and intelligently, religious, a bit detached, and is courteous to strangers and respectful toward aquaintences. I wasn't alive when he was in his 30's (same age as my character) so I don't know how special forces soldiers act when they get out of their 20's.
Usually out of breath, tired, have knees and other parts that hurt, and otherwise PO'd I have read books written by such men and other men who interviewed them, so I understand some counter-guerilla tactics and a little bit about contact drills (when ambushed fire lots of full auto in enemies direction, form a line on the ground
Ha! Neberhatchee, GI., each man falls back one after the other to a new line
Samee-same as before - neberhatchee, GI. Mostly get your ass back while looking for who needs to be carried, who is supposed to be on the radio calling for extraction, etc., rinse, repeat.) I also understand some guerilla tactics (travel very light, quietly, and fast at night and ambush, ambush, ambush!
RECON means reconoiter - see what's about. NOT light up the countryside with claymores, frags and full auto muzzle flash. Be creepycrawling.) What I need are some ideas as to how such a character would act. Thats why I'd like to PM excerpts to our resident Force Recon Marine if he ever shows up this year, C&S Daddy, (I'm not sure if he went to 'Nam although he is the right age so it stands to reason) and to Uncle Bubba if he's willing, since he actually went through combat and survived. They are the guys who know how a Marine thinks
Oxymoron!. I don't expect them to talk aout their experiences. No one should. I would simply be happy if they would give me some insights into my characters thoughts and constructive criticism. I know I've been pretty uncivilized to Bubba and this doesn't make up for it but I would send him a free copy if it ever prints. I know I'm ramblin' cause I'm a sleep deprived maniac
Typical bush Marine status - add scared & being shot at & you're 99% there, but please bear with me.
Question 1) Anybody have any idea how many or how few M3 subguns were in public hands in 1980 (when the story takes place.) I've seen plenty of PPShs, Karl Gustavs, Stens, and MP 40's on Youtube but I've seen precious few M3s. My character is a now a civvie and has 2 he inherited. They play an important role.
How much money you got to spend = how many you might could get. Better question is what are your sources?Question 2) What was pistol suppressor tech like in '80? The really high end stuff. Did they have multiple steel baffles that you could seperate and clean. If my memory is correct the original Maxim design looked like what I'm describing. Could you fit one on a 1911 and still fire it semiauto (this isn't so important, the real killers will be the integrally suppressed M3s)?
Prolly about the same as today, but I'm no expert.Question 3) Is there a cold chance in hell a genius smith could copy a Browning Hi Power with a trigger job and the mag disconnect taken out just using hand tools and parts he created himself (the steel's top quality though)? Illiterate Pakistanis seem to do just that with CZ 75s. I am aware that the HP has a weird *expletive deleted*ss extremely complicated trigger mechanism.
You mean tweak a gun for Sh*ts & giggles? Sure!Question 4) Could a determined man get two CETMEs or two civvie G3 thingys with the flimsy folding stocks in or before 80'. FALS could work although it would be better if the battle rifle was something an illeterate monkey could bang together. It has to use a long range cartridge since some fighting will take place in mountains. Big *expletive deleted*ss mountains with 400 meters between stands of pines in some places. The tops are so high you'd almost need oxygen. Nothing grows up there.
Where are these mountains where nothing grows?Question 5) Did mec tec or anyone else make those 25 round Browning HP mags in or before '80? (I do realize he could have them custom made.)
No info known.Question 6) Were full autos and cans legal in Colorado in '80? I know they are now.
Your folks are "extralegal - who cates what was allowed? Question Can maples grow at 10k feet? The highest I've been is 3000 at most.
Need to check, but do not recall maples being native to anything that high.Question 9) Can bees even survive that high?
Define "survive". How long, what activity expected, what temps?Question 10) Are badgers even half as tough as I think they are? It's my understanding that they're products of an unholy union between miniature grizzlies and Army tanks.
You talking American or African badger? Or are you confusing it with a Marten/Wolverine?Question 11) Is it possible for a complete babe of a woman to spend her later teenage years around men who trust her, would follow her anywhere, and whom she helps in combat on a daily basis without getting pregnant. (she leads a small unit of guerillas). I don't know why I even asked this. I can work around it if I have to.
Yes, but only if she rides a unicorn. How are you planning to explain how she aquired the characteristics you list or got exposed to the guys mentioned. Step away from the comic book rack.I realize that these are trivial issues but if rectified they would make the story seem more real. Lack of sleep can make one go completely nuts
How much sleep deprivation yu claiming here, fella? What you been chewing to deal with it (how much & for how long?). Here for your viewing pleasure are excerpts from a chapter where our Marine exposes a babe and the villagers to firearms for the first time (its a goddamn fanstasy story!)
Quote
He then offered to show the woman the guns (he had a feeling she wouldn’t panic when she heard the loud noise.) She accepted. He took the suppressed M3 and the Browning to the edge of the crowd and faced the thick woods
You ever been in "thick woods"?to the west. He then had a young man set some pieces of firewood on the branches of trees
What for, if them woods was already thick?. He also had the teen set up some of his paper targets
Who's paper targets? And why did whomever it was have paper targets anyhoo?. He made sure no one was downrange
Yeah, 4 rules & all that, but who cares if he's at the edge of "thick woods"?. Then he said the guns were sort of like crossbows
No he di'nt!. He got behind the beautiful woman to instruct her with his hands as well as his words
step away from the romance novels, fella!.
“Put the stock on the part of your shoulder that doesn’t move and pull it in tight. Good. That will help later when you shoot something with more recoil. Line up that ring and post over that piece of maple. Don’t put your finger on the switch
Da switch! Da switch! call it a trigger, fer gawd's sake, OK? until you’re ready to fire. Always remember that. Here.” He cocked the bolt.
Did he perform any of the other functioning steps of the bolt? “Give it a short squeeze when you’re ready.”
Did your daddy teach you to jerk either trigger? Sorry, that might not be fair, but it's what you are saying he said to do. POP!
The target went down.
The woman grinned, “This is better than magic, my kid sister could do this!”
If they know about something "better than magic" they probably do not believe in magic. Think about it. She proceeded to knock down all the other targets. She shot the next 3 mags quickly, taking advantage of the full auto feature (the M3 has a low rate of fire, a short squeeze will produce one shot; a longer squeeze a burst.) She hit almost every target with the first burst.
Why aint she getting any hot brass down her front? We know she's wearing the type of blouse that exposes he from the snow-white shoulers to the tawny firmness of her heaving globes. He then showed her how to properly cock and hold the Browning pistol.
“Grip the slide with the palm of your hand. Good. Now push the bottom part downrange. Perfect. Remember to keep your finger off the switch
We discussed this already.until you’re ready to fire. Now stretch your arms out straight, keep them as rigid as you can. Don’t forget to grip the pistol tight. Whatever you do don’t allow your wrists or arms to move, that’ll keep the action from cycling again after you shoot.”
So she's got the slide in the palm of her hand and pushing the mag well downrange - like she even knows where "downrange" is. There are going to be lots of hurting body parts when that sucker goes boom, including possibly the front of her head. Are you sure you know which is the bisiness end of anything? “This is going to be very loud, so wear my earplugs. Everyone else, stand back and cover your ears. Fire when ready.”
EARPLUGS, sweet mother of little baby jeebus! And how is she going to get them on while holding the slide in the palm of her hand? CRAACK!
Almost everyone in the crowd screeched and fell to the ground. The woman stood with her mouth open, never lowering the pistol. Then she fired again and hit her target, then again, and again. She soon emptied the mag of all 13 rounds and asked for another one, and another, and another. By then everyone in the crowd who wasn’t a warrior had ran
"run" = past tense of verb "to run" - I run, you run, he/she/it runs, we run, you (all y'all) run, they run, I ran, you ran, he/she/it ran, we ran, you (all y'all) ran, they ran. We'll get to the past plueperfect another day. In the mean time, look up the joke about getting scrod in Boston. to their homes and locked the doors. They
Who they? You just said they all ran home and locked the doors? Why did our hero let all the warriors come with to the edge of town if they all (hero, babe, warriors) were already there at the edge of twon where the thick woods began? went to the edge of town and he showed her how to use a suppressed M1911. She liked it a lot.
Then he introduced her to the CETME carbine. The loud noise and recoil startled her at first, but she was soon hitting targets left and right.
Thought center was the preferred point of impact, but OK, it's your fantasy. She went through five mags before asking to see the K frame revolver.
“Be careful with this one. It kicks a lot.”
She fired off the six shots slowly, then asked for another clip
A K-frame that takles a clip? WTF?!? I say again, WTF?!!!!!?, and another, and another, firing each one faster than the others that came before it.
“You like the trigger?”
“Huh?”
“The switch.”
You fixed this already, right? “Yeah.”
Antonio was proud of the great job his father had done lightening and smoothing out the pull.
“You see that old arthritic dog sleeping in front of that wood pile?”
“I’m not blind.”
“Is he yours?”
“Yes. He’s stone deaf and toothless.”
“What are you planning to do with him?”
“We usually behead sick animals. It kills them pretty quickly.”
primitive mountain people who behead sick, aged, no-longer-useful animals & do not eat them? Tewll me another one, daddy! “That pistol you’re holding will kill faster than any sword or axe. If you trust me aim it at his head and fire.”
She looked into Tony’s eyes, took aim at the dog, and fired.
BANG!
The dog never thought another thought or breathed another breath again.
The dog had to die to show the people the awesome
merely "awesome"? Not colossally, momumentally, death-dealing?power af the gun. They'd never seen anything like it. The woman is a powerful sorceress
Bull! You said she knew of something better than magic. Make up my mind already! who's used to the unusual.
1) If she's a sorceress she is not used to the unusual, and 2) if she's used to it it obviously is no longer unusual. The warriors I mentioned were members of her own unit. I may have exagerated the limp wrist thing. I've never fired an automatic pistol. The wheelgun mentioned is a .357 he carried on his right hip in case of grizzly attacks.
Antonio's father was a genius of a Sicilian gunsmith who modified and slicked up almost every gun mentioned before his death. Dang, I feel a bit calmer now. I should sleep. I've been up almost 24 hours.
You did this with only 24 hours of no sleep? You gotta get better than that - I do not consider it worty mentioning until I get to between 60 & 72, and then merely ramp up the coffee intake. At 72 we start praising the sheer genius of organic chemistry. stay safe.
PM me if I've been to harsh.
skidmark
screw it. Do not trust spellcheck if upi have fat fingers. I claim a pass on spelling today.