Questions

[Pointy Sextant]

As of now in my research I've come across both the FN Five-Seven and the HK UCP. These pistols seem tailor made for my exact writing purposes based on my reading of their capabilities so far. Is this an accurate judgment? If so, then the weapons of the gun runners are my next question.

Primarily I would like to shy away from the usual Russian and Israeli firearms used by gangsters for my exotic gunrunners. I've found the Singaporean weapons to be interesting, as well as the latest generation firearms from Fabrique Nationale like the FN 2000. Seeing as these are all military weapons, how vast a conspiracy would I need to create to properly equip a small organiation of criminals and mercenaries with the latest military equipment from these divergent sources?

I'm also curious as to the small arms qualities of the XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System. Not just its qualities as a simple grenade launcher, but as a varied munitions launcher and material delivery system.

I am also curious as to the material density, hardness, and flexibility required to resist the safe firing of a 9mm parabellum round. The concept of an actual gun capable of passing through airport scanning intrigues me, and it seems to me that you would have to build the entire assembly from an exotic polymer or ceramic as well as the bullets. What interests me is whether or not the construction of such a weapon is actually possible considering the fact that no one seems to have done it yet, and I really can't be the first person to come up with the idea along these lines.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Pointy Sextant

As of now in my research I've come across both the FN Five-Seven and the HK UCP. These pistols seem tailor made for my exact writing purposes based on my reading of their capabilities so far. Is this an accurate judgment? If so, then the weapons of the gun runners are my next question.

I would avoid having them use the H&K UCP, because it's not in production yet (to the best of my knowledge).

Originally Posted by Pointy Sextant

Primarily I would like to shy away from the usual Russian and Israeli firearms used by gangsters for my exotic gunrunners. I've found the Singaporean weapons to be interesting, as well as the latest generation firearms from Fabrique Nationale like the FN 2000. Seeing as these are all military weapons, how vast a conspiracy would I need to create to properly equip a small organiation of criminals and mercenaries with the latest military equipment from these divergent sources?

I don't think you'd need much of a "conspiracy" at all. The FN Five-Seven and semi-automatic versions of the F2000 rifle and P90 submachine gun can be purchased at gun stores in the U.S. (the FS2000s and PS90s could possibly be converted to full-auto, assuming your gunrunners had well-trained armorers able to do the conversion work for them).

There are already drug cartels in Mexico whose gunmen have acquired these weapons by having cousins or girlfriends in Texas buy them and then smuggle them across the border. When I was an intern at Stratfor, in fact, I did some research on this as part of an article that was published in one of the Mexico security briefs.

[Pointy Sextant]

Originally Posted by MT2008

I would avoid having them use the H&K UCP, because it's not in production yet (to the best of my knowledge).

I'm willing to place this in the future a few years, I was already planning on including the XM25.

Originally Posted by MT2008

I don't think you'd need much of a "conspiracy" at all. The FN Five-Seven and semi-automatic versions of the F2000 rifle and P90 submachine gun can be purchased at gun stores in the U.S. (the FS2000s and PS90s could possibly be converted to full-auto, assuming your gunrunners had well-trained armorers able to do the conversion work for them).

There are already drug cartels in Mexico whose gunmen have acquired these weapons by having cousins or girlfriends in Texas buy them and then smuggle them across the border. When I was an intern at Stratfor, in fact, I did some research on this as part of an article that was published in one of the Mexico security briefs.

But what about the availability of the Singaporean weapons? And for clarities sake, the assassin and the gang of gunrunners of mercenaries are two separate groups. The assassin is not someone I'm worried about explaining getting firearms to, but I want to be realistic about how I put the weapons in the hands of the syndicate.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Pointy Sextant

I'm willing to place this in the future a few years, I was already planning on including the XM25.

Fair enough, although personally, I'm of the opinion that the 4.6x30mm is basically shit compared to the 5.7x28mm used by FN's weapons. Part of the reason the UCP is so far behind schedule is because of the relatively disappointing reception that the MP7 has received, and the reason for that is because many LE departments think the 4.6x30 is a joke.

I'm also doubtful the XM25 will ever go into production, let alone be adopted. Certainly not in a few years. H&K has a terrible track record when it comes to U.S. military contracts. Chances are, the XM25 is going to go the way of nearly every weapon that H&K has submitted to the DoD for testing...to the grave.

Originally Posted by Pointy Sextant

But what about the availability of the Singaporean weapons?

Which ones do you mean specifically? I'm guessing the SAR-21 and Ultimax machine gun? Well, the simplest answer is...there are always corrupt military and law enforcement officers willing to line their pockets by selling weaponry. Especially in an authoritarian country like Singapore.

Then there's the fact that Singapore has sold small arms to governments that are currently engaged in wars or which would not be likely to do a good job accounting for weapons. For instance, the Sri Lankan Army is currently engaged in a war with the rebel Tamil Tiger (LTTE) organization, though they seem to be close to winning. The SLA's special forces use Singaporean weapons in minor numbers, including the SAR-21 and Ultimax.

If I were writing your book, I would say it's possible that the LTTE could have captured some of these weapons from the SLA, and kept them in their arms caches. The fact that the Sri Lankan Civil War is drawing to a close (as we speak) means that a few years in the future, the LTTE could be demobilizing and participating in a peace process to gain legitimacy as a political party in Sri Lanka. Seeing as the organization has 10,000+ fighters, that's a lot of weaponry they'd have left over. So conceivably, certain Tigers might sell some of the LTTE's weapons stocks on the black market. Including the SAR-21s and Ultimax LMGs.

But whatever. I'm not a novelist.

[Pointy Sextant]

Well this thread has been very helpful so far but I have two further questions.

I am well aware that a "stealth" pistol or firearm, meaning one that can evade metal detectors, does not exist. Even if you were to make a fire arm entirely out of plastics, the bullets would show up. And even those firearms made of plastics in existence are so dense that they do show up on image scanners. However, my I wonder if an extremely hard ceramic could be used not just for the body and mechanics of the gun, but also for the bullets. However this raises a few questions. Would standard gunpowder show up on these scans, would a useful ceramic or light but sturdy plastic show up on these scans, and would it be possible to make a bullet of any use?

My second question is related to the Rohrbaugh-R9s Stealth. I like it as a concealable weapon, but for my purposes it would be less useful without a silencer. However I can not determine if a silencer for the Rohrbaugh-R9s Stealth exists or if it would be appropriate considering the nature of the gun. If the Rohrbaugh-R9s Stealth is not appropriate for a silencer, then I would be interested in a similar handgun, not necessarily chambered in 9mm, that would be appropriate for a silencer and would be easily concealed.

[k9870]

Walther ppk or sig p230/232

[Gunmaster45]

Perhaps a Glock 26? If you put a G19 barrel on it and use a threading drill, you could adapt it for a suppressor I suppose. Not super exotic, but still a decent pocket gun none-the-less. A good suppressor adds 3-4" to the barrel though, so I'd assume the person would have to thread it on after drawing it?

I was writing a screenplay at one point (which I haven't worked on in awhile, I think I'm going to start over) and I wanted one of the killers to use a Shansi Type 17 with a barrel adapted for a suppressor. Wierd guns like that fascinate me and I like seeing something rare on the screen.

Personally I don't like the PPK pistols because I got some serious slide bite the last time I shot one. I figure a P230/232 would do the same so I'd avoid both myself.