When buying a firearm there are several things to consider. These are the things that I will discuss in the following pages. However, you should keep in mind that this information provided comes from my own experiences and has proven reliable to me because of differences in personal habits and lifestyles. Not all of this information will be accurate for all users. Also the points that I bring up may not be in the order of importance that you would put them in. With that said, let’s get down to the fun part.

--Dredd (08-03-60/02:19:45)

Of primary importance to me is stopping power. This is the be all and end all for me. I cannot count the number of times that the only reason I have survived is because the people I have hit have stayed down.

-----Good point. I see these fraggers running around with holdout pistols getting thermselves geeked. You might as well be usiing a fragging peashooter. Maybe if you thrust the holdout forward hard enough while firing you might be able to chip the horn of the troll that you're aiming at before he kills you.-----

--Desperado (08-03-60/03:54:37)

When looking at stopping power you also have to look at its ammo capacity because you are not always going to hit your target. The guns that I have seen with sufficient stopping power and ammunition are: the Ruger Thunderbolt (an incredibly difficult weapon to get hold of unless you pry it from the hand of a dead LS officer), Second, the Colt Manhunter (often overlooked by people for the Predator II, the Manhunter has a larger clip, the same stopping power and its easier to hide), the Ares Predator II (tough, rugged, and intimidating despite the previous comment).

-----Nameless and I have forever argued about which pistol is actually better. I prefer the Ares Predator II. The reason why is that it works better for heavily cybered individuals who need the advantages of intergal smartgun linkage. When you look at the price and compare the two, the Manhunter is cheaper, but doesn't come with any link stuff. The Predator does, and it's only a hundred nuyen and change more. If you're stuck in the stone age or however, and refuse to have the headware installed for a smartlink the Manhunter may be a good thing to look into. On a side note, for some reason I find the name Predator more intimidating.-----

--Dredd (08-03-60/03:56:48)

Also there is another type of stopping power that is often more effective and has fewer legal repercussions: non-lethal stopping power. Namely from two sources chemical and stun technologies. Under chemical stopping power is Narcoject as the primary leader in the field. The largest benefit of using Narcoject is that for the most part it ignores ballistic armor (the needles tend to just push on through). Also you can load narcoject with almost any chemical you want. For the stun technology side the best weapon I have seen is the Yamaha Pulsar, a particularly nasty little weapon. It not only ignores most armor just like other stun weapons but its effects are more severe and it doesn’t have those inconvenient wires attached to it. Most any stun weapon works incredibly well against anything short of a bull or the largest of trolls. The only real drawback to stun technology is it has a limited range, usually only fifteen meters or so.

-----Stun technology and narcoject? Not in the Barrens my friend. Hit a ghoul or some of the other nasty para-critters running around with a narcoject or a stun baton and they'll friggin laugh at ya'.-----

--Lucas (08-03-60/04:57:07)

-----Well, depends on the critter. Ghouls are just as succeptible to the chems inside of the narcoject rounds, it's just that their skin is tougher than the average metahuman's. Vampires and Nosferatu though, don't bother. Dead things take most chemicals in stride.-----

--Dredd (08-03-60/04:26:15)

-----Well, let's face it, a bodyguard deals with people, not paras. If someone wants protection from or elimination of a para-critter, they can run to Dredd. Stopping people bent on killing my quarry is what I do.-----

--Nameless (08-03-60/04:48:09)

Another issue when buying firearms is reliability. For the most part reliability is a matter of how you care for your guns. The companies that make guns for law enforcement agencies and military contracts run their designs through long series’ of tests. If they provide crap to their buyers there will be no return customers to give them more money. It’s a simple equation if you think about it, but no amount of testing will keep your weapons going if you don’t take care of them.

-----Yeah, the tests they run, they run 'em on us. They filter prototypes onto the streets and watch us kill each other. Some of the Johnsons prefer to test with gangs, as gangs can be monitored and tracked easily. then they use the data that their street informers gather on the performance of their weapons and take' em back to the drawing board.-----

--Watcher (08-03-60/05:12:03)

-----You forgot Watcher, gangs are also easier to kill aren't they. You killed mine. Just remember, you may die in one of your corporate "tests" sometime.-----

--Chica (08-03-60/05:54:02)

As for ammo capacity most handguns carry only 15-16 rounds, so in this capacity its not so much how many bullets you carry its what kind of bullets you carry. Among the best of all ammunitions are APDS, or Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot, and super-explosive round which while dangerous to carry at times are quite good for opening doors and opening doors in people. The least useful ammo type I have encountered is the flechette round for the simple fact that the only unarmored people are civilians and there is very little use in shooting them. However I did here a rumor that someone was trying to Dicote flechette rounds, but I have been unable to get any information as to success or failure.

-----No go on Dikote(TM) enhancemet to flechette rounds. they're too brittle.-----

--Andy (08-03-60/06:12:53)

As for Legality I am not even going to get into this because any handgun worth carrying is pretty much illegal. However if you can get a permit for your weapon get one and make sure you have it on you at all times. Getting a permit requires that you be able to give a good reason to carry it in the name of business. Simply claiming you want it for self-defense will get you laughed at and nothing more. You have to have a legitimate reason for carrying it such as verifiable employment as a courier or a bodyguard or some other similar type of employment.

-----Permits? We don't need no steeeenking permits!-----

--Alamo (08-03-60/06:45:12)

Add-ons are another fun topic, and one of no small importance when the drek hits the fan. This is by far the most expansive of the topics I am writing about. All add-ons are useful when used in the right situation. Many a time, I have seen people with recoil compensators on handguns, and that is not what they are meant for. The damn things do nothing but ruin your chances of hiding your weapon when you put them on pistols. I use a stolen Ruger Thunderbolt, a gun with a cyclic rate of 1500 rounds a second and I don’t use any add-ons.

-----Then again, the Ruger Thunderbolt is known in many circles as "The Hand of God". Good luck ever finding one though. I've been looking for one ever since I stopped working for the Star and even my few remaining contacts in the Star can't get their hands on one for me.-----

--Dredd (08-03-60/07:12:57)

-----Next time you cap a Star just take one of 'em.-----

--Diablo (08-03-60/07:21:14)

-----Call me a metahuman being, drekhead, but I find the practice of killing the cops WRONG. They're just trying to do their job, just like us. No need to get the Star ACTIVELY looking for you by killing officers. Just stun 'em if you can. Use non-lethal force when dealing with the Star. You'll live longer.-----

--Dredd (08-03-60/07:30:12)

-----Hey, they're trying to kill us though. I say an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth.-----

--Jerome (08-03-60/09:12:39)

You will rarely, if ever, fire a pistol so fast that you need to have any kind of recoil compensation. Use them on full auto weapons only. One of the best add-ons you can get for a pistol is a good silencer. If you are trying to be silent in your actions it does no good to keep a man from crying out by shooting him with a gun that makes more noise than he ever could. I know, I know, you’re thinking, "Well, if you were a pro you wouldn’t have to shoot anyone". That’s bulldrek, you should always plan for the worst event. That way you will be prepared when something does go wrong. Another good one is the ultrasound sight. This little baby cuts right through smoke, fog, invisibility, you name it. Nothing helps more than being able to find an enemy you otherwise would never have been able to see. Besides, there are few things more precious than the look on a mage’s face when you are able to pick out his invisible form moving across the room and put a bullet through him.