I'm not a handgun expert at all but I've caught a few of these, like the guy who racked the slide on his revolver. The author who really impressed me, although not with his handgun knowledge, was Tom Clancy. I was in the anti-submarine warfare business in the 1970s and some of what he wrote in Red October I only knew from classified sources.

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bombcar 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Didn’t he piece rumors and made intelligent guesses so well that the government freaked out wondering where the leak was?

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lukan 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Possible he had a real source?

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djeastm 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Possibly, but I can't imagine a writer taking that kind of chance at the height of the Cold War just for verisimilitude.

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lukan 6 hours ago | parent [-]

I mean, the way I imagine it is he chatted with one ore more guys and after a while he got bits here and there he was technically not supposed to have, not enough of its own, but with imagination enough to get the rough picture of how it worked and got very close. But I don't think conscious braking of classified information happened. More carelessness I guess.

	▲	bombcar 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That's what I've heard - intelligent research, combined with unclassified facts gleaned from conversations at coffeeshops and bars, led to a pretty accurate picture.

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Simulacra 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I seem to recall reading that is basically what he did. He had good sources, he was an excellent writer, and a world class researcher.

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dvh 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Chuck Norris can rack the slide on his revolver

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waltwalther 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Church Norris can spin the cylinder on his Glock.

	▲	short_sells_poo 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Chuck Norris can play a game of Russian Roulette with a loaded semi-auto handgun and win. Repeatedly.

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kibibu 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Until it came to anything vaguely to do with computing or electronics, which turned into basically magic

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fractallyte 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Precedent: A 1944 science fiction story accurately described an atomic bomb – so much so that it prompted a visit from the FBI to the NY office of Astounding Science Fiction. Definitely a point of pride for editor John W Campbell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_(science_fiction_stor...

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Simulacra 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's a rumor that Reagan very seriously asked his admirals repeatedly if it was true. I know he "couldn't put it down."

Tangentaly related observation, but Reagan may have been the only president to really pay attention to movies and entertainment for inspiration of future events, and possibilities. It was said that he had a similar reaction to War Games, and took it very seriously