So it made me happy to discover that there was a sequel: The Eagle Has Flown
. And that it was a good read, too; fast-paced and filled with plenty of buckles getting swashed and derring being done. And I heartily approve of the ending.(From a gun nut perspective, you just have to grin and bear it when a load of birdshot from a fowling piece sends someone flying over a balcony railing, "silencers" make guns whisper-quiet, or a S&W Victory Model gets stuffed in an ankle holster.)
It's not just movies, in my experience, Tam.
ReplyDeleteI was chatting in a forum with a group of people I consider intelligent and knowledgeable about firearms who were making the blanket claim that suppressors would allow one to shoot without hearing protection at all.
Even after linking a video I had taken of me firing a 9mm AR with integral suppressor firing subsonic ammo where you can clearly hear each shot, the only response was "well, the suppressor must not be working".
*shrug*
I guess I expect it from Hollywood, that's the difference...
Great movie despite the technical lapses.
ReplyDeleteThick ankles, those. Very like a tree, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteStranger
Tam, thank you for your use of the language. You can "piffle" (as Dorothy Sayers called it in the Lord Peter books) with the best of them. "...[B]uckles getting swashed and derring being done," is irresistible. And that's just the side dish. Your blog is like, "Here's a big helping of substance, oh and a bunch of other yummy stuff too!" Anyway, thanks.
ReplyDeleteMore wandering the bookstores and libraries for you, you didn't know about The Eagle has Flown? What other joys you may have missed? I thought he was worth bringing back, but real life doesn't allow it, aren't authors great?
ReplyDeleteWas reading a book just this week where the author allowed as how adding a suppressor to a SMG increased it's effective range by at least 75 meters...
ReplyDeleteJack Higgins is fun, although his firearms knowledge is kind of "British". He's getting better though. Some of his later books are obviously thrown together for the bucks, but generally always a fair to fun read.
ReplyDeleteWell, dammit, if I'd known you hadn't known about it, I would have told you long ago. Would have even loaned you the paperback when you were still in K Town.
ReplyDelete( Also, hope you're well. Been away for a while. -- B )
Studley Constable would make a good skirmish game -- well-led Fallschirmjäger against execrably led (Bobby Shaftoe) Rangers. Even so, the Rangers couldn't have the numerical advantage they enjoyed in the book -- their firepower advantage was ridiculous enough, with a couple of Ma Deuces and a White scout car.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Those were really good books. Glad I read them both several times.
ReplyDeleteDavid --
ReplyDeleteIf he was talking about a .45ACP MAC-10 with the wood stock, he may well have been correct. {grin}
Adding the suppressor DOES make them remarkeably more effective at longer ranges. . . partially be reducing felt recoil, partially becuase they're just easier to hang on to when you're not stuck with the stupid luggage strap.
It ain't that the suppressor makes the GUN awesomely more accurate -- in this case, it makes the gun easier to handle.