Chris Grall
Trigger Guard
A Writer’s Guide to Firearms
Multi-award-winner.
Don’t be gun-shy!
Guns are featured in almost every form of fiction, and firearms aficionados love to call out mistakes. Fear not: You don’t have to be a gun pro to write gun prose.
The Writer’s Dossier 10/29/2024 – The Chris Grall interview
DOSSIER: With your book TRIGGER GUARD, you break down all the details about how writers should write about their characters using guns. Have you ever had a writer contact you about a weapon you know nothing about? Like, oh, I don’t know, a nuclear warhead or a Star Wars blaster?
GRALL: This happens all the time. It is impossible to know everything about every gun. In fact, when I was researching for Trigger Guard I came across all kinds of crazy stuff I’d never heard of. Some of it even made its way into the book. I find it best to be familiar with how a certain class of firearm operates, rather than know all the guns. Because, those wily gun makers will trip you up with a crazy feature or configuration. I could go on and on about that, but I won’t bore you with crazy details. I have three examples of writer interactions that fit your question.
The Pfeifer Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Revolver
A writer asked me what I knew about this ridiculous “handgun” used to hunt large, dangerous game in Africa. It’s big – 22 inches long, and heavy – 13 pounds. At the time, I didn’t know anything about the gun, but a little research informed me that it operates in the same manner as the Colt Peacemaker. Once I knew that, it was all good.
Find me a gun
I was once asked to find a gun that met certain criteria as a plot point. The gun had to be something Hemingway could have owned and there had to be some confusion as to what ammunition it used. The type of gun was left for me to decide. After a bit of poking about on the webs I settled on the FN Model 1910 pistol. (Fun fact: This is the gun Gavrilo Princip used to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand and kick off WW1.) Period gun = check. The FN 1910 can be chambered in a number of calibers including .380 ACP, which was also known as 9mm Short, or 9mm Kurz.
9mm is 9mm, right? Wrong!
The common 9mm round we all know today is 19 millimeters long. The 9mm Short is 17 millimeters long. Thus, “normal” 9mm ammo won’t fit in the FN 1910. Ammo confusion = check. That was a fun little project.
Make me a gun
When Scott Sigler first started writing his book The Crypt, he needed a gun that could be fired in space without flipping the shooter off into the void. I looked at existing technology and compiled a list of features I want to incorporate, then designed the gun. (Fortunately, I didn’t actually need to build one.) I used a mashup of the RPG-7, H&K G11, and the FN P90. The result is the RR-36 Zero G Recoilless Rifle. It fires 20mm caseless ammunition electronically and compensates for recoil by having a backblast opening.
So, yeah. I get unusual requests from time to time.
He’s got some wild stories
DOSSIER: Having served in the U.S. Army Special Forces, you’ve worked with some pretty intense and interesting people throughout the years. Is there a story about how you saw someone handling weapons that made you cringe?
GRALL: Oh, man. I could tell you stories that would turn your hair white. They all revolve around negligent or accidental discharges. This happens when a person either doesn’t know the condition of their firearm or uses an incorrect procedure while operating it. I’ve been a witness to one AD and three NDs. Fortunately, nobody was injured in any of them, but it was really close on two of them.
Then there was the time I almost shot a teammate. We were doing a CQB (Close quarters battle) live fire exercise in what I like to call a house of cards. Basically, it’s a bunch of temporary plywood walls set up on a firing range. I was a breacher for that operation. My job was to go to any locked door and use a shotgun to blast the lock. Well, the rooms weren’t set up perfectly – house of cards, right. We had team guys in one room and the rest of us were moving rapidly through the adjacent hallway.
It turns out that the door I shotgunned was set slightly back from the room next door and one of our guys was standing on the other side of the wall in the corner. Nobody saw the overlap during setup. I shotgunned the door and we did our work. The guy on the other side of the wall felt a breeze against his leg. None of my shot hit him, but it was really close.
Don’t shoot me, bro!
DOSSIER: When and where do you like to write and what environment works best? We’re picturing you sitting at a large table with your laptop surrounded by crates of rifles and handguns. You can admit it—it’s either a dark basement or a cabin deep in the woods with a strong Ted Kaczynski vibe, isn’t it? What song is playing in the background?
GRALL: Ha! You are correct on the first try. My office is in the basement and my “arsenal” is in the closet. (All my firearms are stored properly.) Your unasked question is, “Arsenal, how many guns do you have?” I have eight… that you know of. 😉 I have two single action semi-auto pistols – one was my retirement gift, a Beretta 92fs – double to single action pistol, a Glock 19 – to cover striker fired pistols, a hammerless revolver, a standard .38 revolver, a pump shotgun, and an AR15. It’s not an excessive number when you think about it. Originally, when I retired from the Army, I was going to open up my own training business. You can’t show up to training and say, “Hey, can I borrow one of your guns to show you something?”
Then there’s the fact that if I’m going to give advice on a firearm, I should be proficient in its class. I have owned lever- and bolt-action guns in the past, but I didn’t see the need to keep them around.
But yeah, when I was writing Trigger Guard, there were a few (unloaded) guns on my desk.
As for environment, I prefer silence. I’ll listen to music before and during a writing session to get me in a mood, but as soon as I’m ready, the music goes off and I let the story take over. The best time for me to write is either in the morning after puppy activities – they crash out til noon, or after dinner – when they crash out again. But god forbid a truck starts backing up close to the house. My little guy Zeus HATES the ‘beep-beep-beep monster”.
Night time writing is also good because I can have a little word juice (whiskey) to help lubricate the word machine.
Call him out
DOSSIER: Former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan took some heat from advising Keanu Reeves in gun play for John Wick 3. Have you ever had someone call you out for something you advised on, or have you had an author ask you for advice only from them to go on to ignore it?
GRALL: I’ve been called out a couple times on firearms stuff. I don’t mind, in fact I kind of enjoy it. If someone challenges me, and the conversation is colegial, then one or all parties might learn something they hadn’t known before. I’m always willing to listen, but I will defend my point, and if we reach an impasse… Well, that’s just life, isn’t it. However, I will not engage in hateful or belittling correspondence. There’s no place for it in my life.
Have authors ignored my advice, sure. That doesn’t bother me. It is their story after all. The only thing I can do is give reasons for or against a subject based on my knowledge and experience. It’s up to the writer to use my advice as they see fit.
Signed copies are available
DOSSIER: Do you have any breaking news or special announcement you’d like to disclose in your Dossier?
GRALL: I finally cracked the code on providing signed copies of Trigger Guard to those who are interested. The procedure is outlined on my pinned post on Twitter. (I refuse to call it x) Just search for @Dtn8or and you’ll find it. I’m also thinking about a weekly post called Firearm Friday. I’m taking requests for topics. It’s going to be a weekly blog because I’ve got other fiction projects in mind. And for those, you’ll just have to wait.
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