Since I didn't see anything about it, I'm going to include some gunfight tips since I absolutely adore firearms.
- Volume is a tricky thing, guns are louder than most visual media like games and TV depict, but not as loud as many authors I've read put it. Depending on the weapon, consider it something akin to a firecracker and other pyrotechnics, it's the same sized explosions.
- To expand on volume, sticking a silencer on your gun isn't enough to make it silent, you'll only make it quiet enough you won't need hearing protection to shoot. For practical stealth use, a character should use subsonic ammo to eliminate the whipcrack sound of a passing bullet (also reduces sound of the bullet leaving the barrel), and for close range a bolt action firearm is best as the ejecting cases can sometimes let some gas escape rather loudly or just make noise from cycling the action. Two good case studies on silent guns are the Russian Stetchkin revolver and the British Welrod.
- There is no such thing as shooting to disable, even something as weak as a .22LR will at LEAST take months to fully heal from, and a higher end round will likely cause lifelong damage if survived.
- Gunfights are one thing where adrenaline can be helpful, while a gunshot wound is very long lasting, the immediate effects are often mitigated by adrenaline, meaning it can take a few shots to put someone on the ground depending on their endurance. However, this won't last long; Pain and blood loss will ruin you, and if the bullet hits a vital organ you're finished.
- Headshots are tricky and unreliable, the skull has been known to stop some weaker cartridges and the head is both very mobile and a small target. Ideally, one should aim for the heart, as a shot there WILL kill very quickly, and shots that nearly miss the heart are likely to as well.
- Caliber is not the end all be all, 9mm is a bullet width, case length is arguably more important as it tells you how much gunpowder there is. 9x19 is the normal 9mm pistol round, but 9x18 is standard in Russia. In addition, 9x21 is a rare high power pistol round, and 9x39 is used in certain Russian assault rifles and even a sniper rifle model.
- the AR-15 isn't an assault rifle, it's a semi auto target shooting rifle and isn't very combat effective. Give your character an M4 instead if you want something military, but do know even in the US it's rare to legally own a full auto.
- If you want to write stories featuring heavy use of firearms, learn your terminology! Magazines and clips are not the same thing, semi auto is not a machinegun, and assault rifles are actually a very specific weapon type with a very specific role, to name a few things I see authors get wrong.
- If your character is a professional, make sure they treat their guns with respect. Guns are NOT toys! Make sure they're careful where they point the gun, keep their fingers off the trigger, and if the gun has a manual safety make sure they use it. Holding a gun in your waistband is a good way to shoot yourself by mistake, and a bullet in the foot is still dangerous.
- Last note on calibers since the terminology is very confusing, there are two measurement forms. Many American cartridges are written like .22, .223, .308, .50, etc. This is in inches, .50 cal is half an inch. They often put a specific set of letters after this to specify what type if a few have that measurement, like how .22LR is the main .22 caliber. The rest of the world uses millimeters, so .223 becomes 5.56, and it can be expanded with case length to make 5.56x45. The famous .50 cal sits at 12.7mm bullet diameter.
-Shotguns are close range relative to other guns, buckshot can be accurate at 70 meters, and a high quality slug (shells that fire single bullets) can reach out to 300. Shotguns can use shot (multiple projectiles at once) because they lack rifling (a spiral pattern inside the barrel that puts spin on the bullet, this would cause major issues with shot), this also means they're less accurate when firing slugs compared to rifles, which is the main reason they're short range. Some specialized slugs have rifling on the projectile, and some shotguns can have rifling, and are called slug guns.
- The individual projectiles from a standard 00 buckshot shell should be treated like individual pistol bullets, any one of them is enough to kill an unarmored target, and there's usually 8 in total per shell.
- Shotguns use an older style of caliber measurement called gauge, where smaller numbers mean bigger barrel width. To explain it simply, 12 gauge is the most common, and means that a spherical lead slug would weigh a 12th of a pound. 20 gauge is popular with weaker shooters, since shotguns kick hard enough to cause real injuries if you're not ready for it (my first time with a 12ga was very painful and the bruise lasted nearly a month).
- Gonna close off with body armor, it's very complicated but to explain very simply: body armor exists to keep you alive, not keep you fighting. Body armor usually is only good for one or two shots before it breaks, and YOU will break sooner, the bruises and bone breakage from being shot with a higher power bullet can actually be more lethal than if it went through, and soft armor vests (made of light and flexible materials instead of giant steel or ceramic plates) are usually only good for pistol bullets, a rifle will usually penetrate. Shotguns are typically ineffective against armor as their projectiles lack the shape and velocity needed to penetrate.
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