Writer Research: Homemade Silencer?

Question
Hi there:

    I am a writer, with several published works of horror/suspense to my name (www.james-newman.com, www.myspace.com/newmanjames) . . . I knowing *nothing whatsoever* about firearms, so I was wondering if you might be able to help me with a few quick questions?

    I have a character who wakes up in the middle of the night to find a hitman standing over him.  Said hitman is *not* a professional, so he has a gun with a crappy homemade silencer on the end of the barrel.  After several missed shots, the silencer starts to fall apart (it's PVC pipe held on my sloppy strands of duct tape that start to loosen when the barrel heats up, spilling the steel wool and washers inside) . . . does this sound correct?
    Also, what kind of gun would you recommend this inexperienced assassin use?  Right now, I've mentioned that it's a .38, but does this sound right for a gun that would awaken my character when he hears the hammer click back, and for a gun that would be possible (and practical) to fit with a homemade silencer like I've described?


    Thank you so very much, sir, for your time.  I also appreciate any further advice and/or ideas you can give me for this scenario.  Again, I know nothing about guns, so any suggestions are very welcome!


    Thanks again,


    James Newman


Answer
Mr. Newman,

Your basic premise is correct. Even a quality-made suppressor (the proper name) such as those by GemTech or SureFire will only last so long. But some of what you've described would stretch credulity. I can't imagine how anyone could miss someone whom he is standing over, since it would not require aiming, only pointing and shooting.

Except for the ones in movies, guns are generally absolutely silent before they go bang (the exception is a single action cowboy revolver, which even a lame contractor would not use), so I'd suggest your character be woken up by something else, even it if is just a sense of someone in the room.

A ".38" generally refers to a .38 Special, which is a revolver. Again, Hollywood would lead you to believe that you can put suppressors on revolvers, but you can't. The gas leaking out by the cylinder face would render the the suppressor completely ineffective.

You need a semi-automatic pistol for a suppressor to work. One that is modified for a suppressor generally will hold the slide closed to minimize noise, and so would be single shot affair or would have to be cycled manually. Although there is a .38 Super caliber for autos, this is a specialty caliber, and guns chambered in it tend to be of quite high quality.

As I know *nothing* about writing novels, please forgive me if I take a stab at what would be credible and you can see if it's useful: A 9mm Lorcin pistol (an absolute piece of garbage) modified to keep the slide closed. It would still work at close range on a still target, but if your "victim" woke up an moved, and your contractor missed, he would have to unlock the slide to be able to fire again (after that he could fire normally), but at this point the combination of the gun being highly inaccurate, highly susceptible to malfunction, and the suppressor falling apart could conceivably induce the contractor to give it up.

Hope this helps.