The Way of the Gun
Iconic characters from crime fiction’s most popular writers reflect on the tools of their trade photographs by BARTHOLOMEW COOKE
JOE PIKE, Businessman
GUN: KIMBER CUSTOM II MODEL 1911 .45 ACP
“The best semiautomatic combat pistol made. The lowered ejector port, full-length guide rail, beveled magazine well and superb tolerances give outstanding out-of-the-box accuracy and reliability. The big .45 ACP bullet is heavy and slow, but that’s what you want. A lighter, faster bullet will punch through a man, carrying its energy with it. A .45 hollowpoint flattens and dumps its energy into the target like a truck T-boning a Prius. You don’t need to double-tap with the .45. One shot will knock a big man off his feet. LAPD SWAT uses the Kimber. USMC Special Operations Command (Force Recon) uses it. I use it. That’s all you need to know.”
WRITER: ROBERT CRAIS
JOSEPH RIZZO, NYPD Detective Sergeant
GUN: COLT COBRA REVOLVER
“Any gun you can carry for twenty-six years and never have to fire, that’s a goddamned good gun. A guy keeps a gun that good.”
WRITER: LOU MANFREDO
KAREN SISCO, U.S. Marshal
GUN: SIG SAUER .38
“Karen was five-nine in the medium heels she wore with her black Chanel suit. Her marshal’s star and ID were in her handbag...Her pistol, a Sig Sauer .38, was in the trunk...The Sig Sauer was her favorite, her evening-wear piece.”
WRITER: ELMORE LEONARD
ERIN MCKENNA, Singer-Songwriter
GUN: THE COWBOY DEFENDER
“My husband gave me the gun as a gift; very small and cute, so far as guns go. I only used it once—against a really bad man. It was him or me. I fired one barrel, and it killed him where he stood. Pure luck. Luck, and that Cowboy Defender, is why I’m still alive to make music. Maybe I’ll write a song about that gun someday.”
WRITER: T. JEFFERSON PARKER
KATHY MALLORY, NYPD Detective
GUN: SMITH & WESSON .357 REVOLVER
“In response to his smile—way too smug—her blazer was slowly drawn open as her hands came to rest on her hips, every woman’s wordless way of saying, You’re dead meat. And to back up that—suggestion—a large revolver, a .357 Smith & Wesson, was now on public display in her shoulder holster. Playtime was over.”
WRITER: CAROL O'CONNELL
HARRY BOSCH, LAPD Detective
GUN: GLOCK MODEL 27
“I fear the jam. You never want to use your gun, but when the time comes it’s usually not going to be a one-shot deal. You fire and keep firing until the target goes down. If you get a jam, you can’t fire, and it might be you who goes down. So, yeah, I fear the jam. When the time comes, if it comes, it won’t jam, and at the end of that day I’ll get home.”
WRITER: MICHAEL CONNELLY
BOB LEE SWAGGER, Retired USMC Sniper
GUN: COLT AMERICAN CLASSIC 1911 .45 AUTOMATIC
“When I look at the 1911-style .45 automatic, I see my father. Earl Swagger was a WWII Marine and an Arkansas peace officer. Like the gun, he was all steel. Like the gun, he was blunt, practical, deadly. Like the gun, he worked in bad weather, clean or dirty. Like the gun, he needed little attention, no maintenance and little lubrication. Like the gun, he never failed. Like the gun, all his attributes added up to one thing, and I hope it is treasured still: duty.”
WRITER: STEPHEN HUNTER
Categories: Accessories / Books / Celebrities / Crime Lab / Feature Story
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Colt Cobra revolver; aka, Detective Special (as noted on barrel) Sig Sauer .38; aka .380 / 9mm KURZ.
Oh yea; "You don't need to double tap with the .45..." Yes you do.
Posted by: McMeany, M. D. | 04/01/2012 at 07:14 PM
PPS. To bad you didn't mention the NYPD reload(s) aka multiple .38s' scattered 'round the body for when times got rough ...
Posted by: McMeany, M. D. | 04/01/2012 at 07:20 PM
Interesting, but Joe Pike is wrong USMC do not use Kimber. According to theMarine Corps Times Jan 5 2011:
Kimber America of Elmsford, N.Y., is widely considered a player in the 1911 civilian and law enforcement market but decided against submitting samples to the Corps in the fall, company officials said. They cited time restraints and other competing business priorities.
So there you go. Good gun though.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/01/marine-marsoc-pistol-45cal-012511w/
Posted by: tony.bulmer@yahoo.co.uk | 04/03/2012 at 01:23 PM
The '357' pictured above appears to be a S&W Model 10 with a bull barrel and it's a .38 Special, not .357 magnum.
Here is a 357: http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoYASyH1PDCoAATSJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dmodel%2B19%2Bsmith%2Band%2Bwesson%26fr%3Dmoz35%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D35&w=1024&h=768&imgurl=www.army-discount.com%2FImages%2FArmes_feu%2FPoing%2FSmith_Wesson%2FSW_Mod_19-4.JPG&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.army-discount.com%2FImages%2FArmes_feu%2FPoing%2FS%26amp%3BW_19_4.html&size=77.3+KB&name=Smith+%26amp%3BWesson+-+Model+19-4&p=model+19+smith+and+wesson&oid=d0481f4b656036054cfbba8380570577&fr2=piv-web&fr=moz35&tt=Smith%2B%2526amp%253BWesson%2B-%2BModel%2B19-4&b=31&ni=168&no=35&tab=organic&ts=&sigr=125q9sv6h&sigb=13fjhg3k3&sigi=129toftep&.crumb=hGFLL4iljFd
Posted by: Joseph L Cooke | 04/05/2012 at 09:29 AM
Although Robert Crais favours the Kimber .45, one of his characters (Joe Pike) has a special fondness for the Colt Python .357 revolver, described by one firearms writer as the best all-around handgun ever made.
Posted by: Ted Schrecker | 04/10/2012 at 03:24 PM
Tony may have fired a little too quick.
See ICQB Pistol section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEU%28SOC%29_pistol
Posted by: Jim | 04/10/2012 at 03:32 PM
The same gun as the model 10 is the model 67 and it looks just the same.
Posted by: dan | 04/10/2012 at 03:40 PM
Whatever the handgun, you are lucky in the US to beable to own one. Here in the UK ALL handguns are banned by law except for military and police use, the citizen does not have the right to bear arms in the UK. That seems to be the reason for so many murders here, we cant defend
Posted by: David McGuire | 04/11/2012 at 09:58 AM
Pike never said the Marine Corps used the 1911 - current issue for the Marine Corps is the Baretta 92F. Pike said Marine Corps FORCE RECON uses the Kimber (Desert Warrior) 1911 - designed specifically for them by Kimber.
Posted by: Gunny2012 | 04/12/2012 at 07:50 PM
Disgusting. Damn guns and damn the US gun culture. Damn the crime fiction that uses guns as props.
Los Angeles
Posted by: Carl Goss | 05/01/2012 at 08:26 PM