MGS 2's tranquilizer pistol doesn't use compressed air, it uses gunpowder. However, it uses much less than a bullet-firing pistol was, so it doesn't have enough power to cycle the semiautomatic action.
The way a semiautomatic works is by using the bullet's own recoil to push the action back, and if there isn't enough powder in the cartridge, it won't work. I go shooting with a semiautomatic shotgun, and certain types of ammo don't have enough gunpowder in them to work the action.
A gun firing a dart logically wouldn't have the same amount of force behind it as one firing a bullet.
The following edit was reversed due to Russian silent weapons being still louder than Hollywood Silencer. I agree, but being in the Real Life section, it is called "aversion" in the specific sense:
1. Russian silent weapons of the piston-cartridge variety (such as PSS) are practically Hollywood Silencers thanks to a incredibly rare design which really grants them almost-silent qualities.
2. Aversion in the fictional sections should be «guns that are louder than Hollywood Silencer» in fiction. In the Real Life section, though, opposites are listed - i.e. guns that almost answer the (unrealistic) trope.
If editors are convinced that this edit doesn't belong to Hollywood Silencer page, I think that it shoud be listed in Useful Notes on Silencers — because as far as I know, this is one of the best implementations in RL and thus quite relevant to Hollywood Silencer misconception.
Following is the reverted edit, for future reference.
- This Troper begs to differ and summons the all-powerful Reds With Rockets. The SovietRussian designers had developed both pistol and sniper rifle that are almost completely silent. They're just completely unavailable to anyone but strictly badass operators working for Russian government agencies.
- The double-barreled MSP and self-loading PSS are small concealed-carry pistols designed around SP-3 and SP-4 cartridge. These rounds do not let the gases escape the shell casing at all (a short-stroke piston pushes the bullet out, containing the pressure). The PSS was also designed to lower cycling noise with a sophisticated mechanical recoil dampener.
- The now rather famous VSS Val sniper rifle uses other special purpose cartridges, the 9mm SP-5 and SP-6 (AP). The rifle has a highly effective integral suppressor similar in concept to MP 5 SD. Combined with steel-core heavy bullet, low-velocity rounds, it is both capable of penetrating military-grade body armor and is silent enough to make its operation the loudest part of the report.
- The rifle can be encountered in Russian video games such as STALKER and Metro 2033.
Thanks.
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Really, it's similar to examples that are already on the useful notes page; the Welrod and De Lisle Commando Carbine both had the same approach of using a massive integral silencer, so it's hardly unique to the AS / VSS family, and pistols like the Mark 22 were known for being extremely quiet due to use of slide locks to prevent gas escaping during cycling (it's said that chambering a new round in a Mark 22 makes more noise than firing it). Also, there's no such weapon as the VSS Val; there's the AS Val carbine and the sniper version, the VSS Vintorez.
Edited by Evilest_Tim It is shameful for a demon to be working, but one needs gold even in Hell these days.
The This Troper bit doesn't help. Also, this is gun porn. Which may be material for the useful notes article, but not here, where we're talking about the use of silencers in storytelling.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
So the second pothole in the first sentence: A black cylinder that screws to the end of any gun... seems to be either a strange and very oblique reference to a gun's phallic shape and dark color, or a stupid pun on the word 'screw'. I'd like to remove it, but there might be a better interpretation that I'm missing.
It's stated in the opening paragraphs that silencers don't work on revolvers, due to a gap between the cylinder and the barrel. While this is true for most revolvers, the Nagant M1895's cylinder moves forward when the hammer draws back, and thus, famously, can accept a suppressor.
The function of the cylinder moving forward was designed to seal escaping gas, and improve muzzle velocity. However, it proved over-complicated, and was already outdated when it was first manufactured, as it did not have a swing open cylinder, and so required being reloaded by using the push rod to eject and then replace one bullet at a time.
Still, they were incredibly popular with Russian police and military, well into even World War II.
Removed from Atlas Shrugged entry for (admittedly, pretty funny) natter.
- Which is much less believable than the magic free energy machine.
So, slightly off topic, but in the Metal Gear segment, the troper refers to MGS 2, and comments on how tranquiliser darts wouldn't activate the mechanism since it doesn't have the "explosive force" needed. Now, I've seen tranq guns fired, and according to the Other Wiki they use compressed air to fire. Now, my question is how that wouldn't work on MGS 2's tranq gun in particular, unless I'm missing something. If that's the case, maybe we should add that info to the example? And I apoligise if this is dumb, I'm not really a gun expert.
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