Im a freelance writer working...

Question
I'm a freelance writer working on my second mystery. This one involves a handgun, and I need some help. Here's what I'm looking for: a pistol, maybe around 9mm or similar caliber, that is semi automatic, autoloading, does not eject shells, is reasonably sized (can fit in an average toolbox or bait box) is easily disassembled into many small parts, and will accept a silencer. Any help here on the make and model would be appreciated, I can do further research once I've narrowed the field. Thanks...

Answer
Rob,

The gun you describe simply does not exist. All autoloading pistols are semiautomatic and all do eject empty cases after being fired. The way all autoloading pistols works is as follows:

1: A magazine is inserted.
2: The action is cycled, removing the top round from the magazine and placing it in the chamber.
3: The trigger is pressed, firing the round.
4: As the bullet leaves the barrel, inertia forces the barrel and slide backwards against the tension of a spring.
5: Lugs stop the barrel's rearward travel allowing the slide to continue backwards.
6: The extractor, which is attached to the slide, grips the rim of the empty case, pulling it backwards out of the barrel.
7: the rearward motion of the slide continues, slamming the empty case against the ejector, which flings the empty case out of the gun through an ejection port in the slide.
8: As the rearward motion reaches it's farthest point, the spring reverses the slide's motion, pushing it forward.
9: As the slide travels back forward it pushes the top round in the magazine forward into the rear of the barrel, called the "breech" or "chamber."
10: The forward motion of the slide ceases and the gun locks into its firing position, called "battery."

All autoloading, semi-automatic pistols function along these lines. Furthermore, they all break down to the same basic parts: the frame (which includes the grip, trigger, trigger guard, and slide rails), the slide assembly (which contains the firing pin, front and rear sights and extractor) and the barrel and the recoil spring (and spring guide rod if the gun has one).

The frame is the largest part as it must be solid and strong enough to handle the blast and is therefore fairly large. The slide tends to be the heaviest part as even if the frame is plastic or aluminum, the slide tends to be steel. The barrel, recoil spring and guide rod would be the smallest parts, along with the takedown lever, if it comes separate during disassembly (as with 1911-style pistols and S&W automatics).

All semiauto autoloaders can accept a silencer with some modifications. H&K USP pistols are available with an optional threaded barrel for silencers although silencers are illegal. "Silencers" is a misnomer (actually, when they were legal, "Silencer" was a brand name for what were called "supressors.") as they only quiet the gun, not utterly silence it.

So, it sounds as though for your narritive you need a way so that empty cases aren't left lying around after a shooting and the gun needs to be suppressed. These are kinda mutually exclusive. Revolvers DO NOT eject empty cases automatically, but don't disassemble much at all (you can remove the grips and cylinder, but this doesn't make the gun any smaller over all), and cannot accept a supressor since gas and noise escapes not only out the barrel but from the gap between the cylinder and barrel.

One option is to have your character wear a glove that I've seen advertised in numerous gun magazines. The right-hand glove comes with a small net attached that's positioned so that it will catch the cases as they're ejected from a pistol. The gloves were designed for people who reload their own ammo, so they don't have to scrounge around on the ground looking for their brass after shooting.

Another option would be to have your character use some sort of derringer. Derringers are typically tiny, single-shot pistols often chambered for serious calibers, 9mm and up. Derringers can be fitted with suppressors since there's no cylinder-barrel-gap for gas to escape from. They also do not eject empty cases as they're not self-loading and don't have magazines. To load a derringer the gun is typically broken in half on a hinge and a shell is placed in the breech. Many derringers use two or even four barrels to give shooters more shots between reloading. The gun is then snapped back together, cocked and fired.

Many compaines produce derringers, those made by Downsizer Corp., Bond Arms and American Derringer being among the most popular. A talented gunsmith would be required to get these guns to accept a suppressor since most guns for the US market aren't designed with suppressors in mind since they've been basically illegal since 1968.

For small autoloaders, some of the best are made by Glock, particularly the models 26 (9mm), 27 (.40 S&W) and 30 (.45 ACP). The S&W Chief's Special pistols are also very small and available in real calibers (9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.). The S&W Sigma series models SW380 and SW9 are small, particularly the SW380 in .380 ACP, although the .380 ACP is kind of a pip-squeak cartridge. All these automatics eject spent cases.

Well, I hope I've been of some help. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kyle