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Lee Child is a Brit living in NYC and he writes one of the best mystery novels around. I am now reading "Without Fail" and he makes a major gun blunder. He thinks leaving 4 loaded magazines for a long time will set the springs so they won't work. There is an addy to E-mail him so my question is, Has anyone here ever corrected a major error by telling the author and received a response?

Maybe he actually left out the fact that they were left sitting in a big pool of water?

Fact or fiction, it is probably part of the story that works with the rest, so I doubt you will get them to change anything even on a reprint of the book. Doesn't hurt to let them know the facts for future writing though.

Thanks Keith B. Bet we have seen each other in one of the two gunshops in Plano. I once worked at Bullet Trap and later at Lone Star when I first retired.

Thats actually a small blunder compared to some of the others you see in media today. Bullets that curve 90 degrees in mid flight, revolvers that shoot 20 rounds between reloading, etc...

fannypacker wrote:He thinks leaving 4 loaded magazines for a long time will set the springs so they won't work.

Lots of people believe that. I think it used to be commonly accepted as "fact" among people who supposedly knew guns. Experts today say no, but some people won't change their minds. Either this author is one of those people or he got his information from someone who is. Explaining the error of his ways probably won't accomplish much.

Back over 40 years ago when I was in the Marine Corps, I was taught to not load to the max unless you were going on patrol. Since I was inside a fenced area all the time, I only loaded to the max when I was on gaurd duty. About 75% full was the recomendation at the time if not on patrol or gaurd duty. It was felt that long term storage could weaken the spring and it could jam. I still followed this logic and leave out 1 or 2 rounds just in case the new expects might be wrong. I would rather have a gun that I know will shoot 10 rounds then one that might jam because the spring is weak and I have 12 rounds in the magazine.

fannypacker wrote:Thanks Keith B. Bet we have seen each other in one of the two gunshops in Plano. I once worked at Bullet Trap and later at Lone Star when I first retired.

Good possibibility.

beerplug wrote:Back over 40 years ago when I was in the Marine Corps, I was taught to not load to the max unless you were going on patrol. Since I was inside a fenced area all the time, I only loaded to the max when I was on gaurd duty. About 75% full was the recomendation at the time if not on patrol or gaurd duty. It was felt that long term storage could weaken the spring and it could jam. I still followed this logic and leave out 1 or 2 rounds just in case the new expects might be wrong. I would rather have a gun that I know will shoot 10 rounds then one that might jam because the spring is weak and I have 12 rounds in the magazine.

I was taught the same at PI. It stuck in my noggin for the longest time and I never doubted the "rule" due to the lackluster quality of some of the magazines I was issued over the years.
Today I know that I bought and maintain my NEW magazines and don't sweat over it anymore. But when you are in a Military environment and are issued hand-me-downs that have been through who-knows-how-many people, you tend to lose faith in the quality of the magazine.

fannypacker wrote:Lee Child is a Brit living in NYC

You answered it yourself. Decent books, quick reads. But I snicker everytime he talks about guns. In one book he clicks off the safety on a Glock. In another, a crate full of Mossberg shotguns won't work since they were shipped with the safeties engaged. Lee Child = not a gun guy.

The only mag I've ever had who's spring weakened was the original short mag for my M1 Carbine. By the time my dad handed it off to me, it was already 40 years old. A few years after that, the mag wouldn't feed the last round because the spring was too weak. My dad always kept it loaded, as did I. The 30 round mag still works but I don't keep it loaded anymore.

Of course, that mag was at least 50 years old when it failed. I'm sure metallurgy has improved somewhat.