The Guns of Brannigan’s Blackhearts (So Far)

Realized that I could have done this for Fury in the Gulf, but didn’t.  So, with the release of Burmese Crossfire now less than two weeks away, here’s a little gratuitous gun porn covering both of the first two novels in the Brannigan’s Blackhearts series. Chinese Type 03 Commander Esfandiari’s troops in Fury in the Gulf use Chinese Type 03 rifles.  The ones they use are the export variant, chambered in 5.56. Russian Makarov Both the Iranians and the Blackhearts use 9mm Makarovs for sidearms on Khadarkh. AK-12 The Blackhearts go ashore with top-of-the-line Russian AK-12s, in 5.45. (As shown on the cover.) PKP Pecheneg Curtis, being Mr. Machinegunner, carries a PKP Pecheneg on Khadarkh, in 7.62×54. Type 88 The North Korean advisors in Burma carry Type 88 rifles, an indigenous North Korean AK variant. Type 73 light machine gun The Nork advisors also have a couple Type 73s, another indigenous North Korean design. Type 56 The Kokang Army uses various AK clones, the most common of which is the Chinese Type 56. HK G3 Since it is commonly used by the Burmese Army, the Blackhearts go in with HK G3s. Rheinmetall MG3 With a bit more numbers, two of

Another Article, and Another Review

My latest is up on Breach-Bang-Clear, concerning weapons being, in the words of Sam in Ronin, “A toolbox.”  Knowing your tools means that firearms aren’t like the latest iPhone.  (Of course, the Facebook comments on B-B-C’s page have already gone off the rails…never read the FB comments!) The NRA recently decided to disallow revolvers and 1911s from their “Carry Guard” classes. They have since reversed that decision, probably after millions of gun owners took to the internet to tell them it was stupid). This decision seems to have once again highlighted the differing opinions in the firearms community about what is and is not an “obsolete” firearm. I almost said, “reignited the debate,” but who are we kidding? It’s never stopped. Read the rest on Breach-Bang-Clear. Also, a fellow denizen of the “Men’s Adventure Paperbacks of the ’70s and ’80s” Group on Facebook, Greg Hatcher, has read and reviewed Lex Talionis.  It is an excellent review. “I’m not much of a joiner, usually, but I do belong to an online community that is devoted to reading and collecting the men’s adventure paperbacks that dominated drugstore spinner racks in the sixties and seventies. It happens that many of us write the

“Do-Something-ism” and Societal Childishness

“Do-Something-ism” and Societal Childishness

“Jack,” Trent said, “When I was fourteen I was a man.  Had to be.  Well, it looks like your father dying has made you a man, too. “I’m giving you this Sharps.  She’s an old gun, but she shoots straight.  I’m not giving this gun to a boy, but to a man, and a man doesn’t ever use a gun unless he has to.  He never wastes lead shooting carelessly.  He shoots only when he has to, and when he can see what it is he’s shootin’ at. “This gun is a present with no strings attached except that any man who takes up a gun accepts responsibility for what he does with it.  Use it to hunt game, for target practice, or in defense of your home or those you love. “Keep it loaded always.  A gun’s no good to a man when it’s empty, and if it is settin’ around, people aren’t liable to handle it carelessly.  They’ll say, ‘That’s Jack Moffit’s gun, and it’s always loaded.’  It is the guns people think are unloaded that cause accidents.” Louis L’Amour, The Mountain Valley War This isn’t just about guns or the current uproar over the reaction to the