Actually, this is really a review of Stephen Hunter’s entire series of sniper novels starring Bob the Nailer.
In a nutshell: go read them, they’re awesome.
The first of these, Point of Impact, remains simply the best American novel about a shooter. That’s not just because it’s so accurate, in a way that only gun geeks can appreciate. It’s also the best-written. Hunter didn’t win a Pulitzer for movie criticism for nothing — the man can write!
But the book also shows his love of firearms and the men who use them for their proper purpose. It captures the gun culture well, with lots of little touches that let you know Hunter not merely researched his material, he’s done it. And like all of Hunter’s novels, even the most anal gun nut will be hard-pressed to find an error. I especially appreciate that, considering that Robert Parker’s persistent writing about a “.12 gauge” shotgun sets my teeth on edge every time I read it. None of that sort of thing in Hunter’s stuff.
It’s also a rip-roaring action read. The only false notes are the mildly cartoony villains (including a man named Schreck. I’ve never confirmed it, but given Hunter’s movie-critic background, I’d be willing to bet he named his character well aware of the infamous “Max Schreck” of Nosferatu — or at least that Schreck is German for terror.)
For more — a lot more, including the upcoming movie (woohoo!) — go read Jerry the Geek’s masterful writeup.
The second book about Bob, Black Light, is almost as good overall, with a stunning sequence with a Mini-14 on an Arkansas mountain road that will have you on the edge of your chair.
The third book, Time to Hunt, is a fantastic sniper-vs.-sniper tale, equal to if not better in many ways than the superb Stalingrad sniper novel War of the Rats.
Hunter followed these books with others about Bob’s father, Earl. Also well worth it is what I think is Hunter’s best novel of all, Dirty White Boys,which also is chock-full of completely accurate gun details. It also ties in with Black Light.
Anyway, if you like guns and good tales well told, you owe it to yourself to read Point of Impact before the movie comes out, and the rest of Hunter’s stuff as well.
Did you know that Mark Walberg is a convicted felon? I wonder how he gets a pass with all the weapons he has carried in the movies he’s done.
Buried in the garage somewhere is an old issue of Guns or American Handgunner, can’t remember which, that includes a really good writeup on the company in Hollywood that supplies almost all of the guns used in the movies — Stembridge Gun Rentals. It revealed that an awful lot of what appear to be real guns in the movies are often well-done rubber or plastic fakes (although Stembridge has plenty of real guns, too).
Also, here in California I believe there’s an exemption to either the transfer laws or the loaded-carry laws (or both) in the Penal Code someplace that applies when shooting a movie.
Finally, as far as the Federal ban on transfer, I would imagine you would be hard-pressed to find a US Attorney interested in prosecuting that sort of case, especially where the transfer was only a “temporary loan” for purposes of shooting a film and not an actual sale.