Spartan Gold: snub-nose revolver and more

.38 caliber Bodtguard

.38 caliber Cobra

pg 117

Lying on a bench amid shoes in various states of disrepair was a snub-nosed .38 caliber revolver.

A revolver is a gun in which the bullets are in a revolving cylinder, and only one bullet will fire at a time.

An automatic pistol is one where bullets come in a clip, which is located in the stock of the pistol.

A snubnosed revolver has a barrel length of less than three (3) inches. It was a popular type of firearm with undercover police officers due to its compact size and ease of handling. Its popularity was temporarily overshadowed with the wide-scale availability of compact semi-automatic pistols in the 1980s and their gradual adoption by police in the 1990s

History and use
The first snubnosed revolver were the various "Sheriff's Model", "Shopkeeper Special", and "Banker Special" versions of the Colt Single Action Army revolver made by Colt, in the 19th Century.

Two developments resulted in a resurgence in popularity of these revolvers in the United States starting in the mid-1990s. First, the passage of Right to Carry laws in various states created new markets for reliable, concealed carry firearms. Second, the passage of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban limited the availability of pistol magazines holding more than 10 rounds, thus reducing the advantages of the "Wonder Nine" pistols normally capable of holding 15 or more rounds. These are in addition to the advantages of simplicity and reliability common to revolvers.

The increased demand for snubnosed revolvers has been met with the introduction of numerous new models from Smith & Wesson, Taurus and others. While some were made of traditional carbon steel, stainless steel, and lightweight aluminum alloys that had been in use for decades, many of the new models used high-strength, lightweight metal alloys such as titanium and scandium.

"No serial number on the gun."

In 1968 serial numbering became mandatory in the US on guns; prior to that date they were just used by some manufacturers for internal controls. They were phased in over a three year period beginning in 1968; so, you can even find firearms made as late as 1971 that bear no number.

"I've got you in a Bonanza G36."

A G36 is a plane with a "glass cockpit." (The G is the identifier.)

A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mechanical gauges to display information, a glass cockpit uses several displays driven by flight management systems, that can be adjusted to display flight information as needed. This simplifies aircraft operation and navigation and allows pilots to focus only on the most pertinent information. They are also popular with airline companies as they usually eliminate the need for a flight engineer. In recent years the technology has become widely available in small aircraft.

As aircraft displays have modernized, the sensors that feed them have modernized as well. Traditional gyroscopic flight instruments have been replaced by electronic Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) and Air Data Computers (ADCs), improving reliability and reducing cost and maintenance. GPS receivers are usually integrated into glass cockpits.

Early glass cockpits, found in the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90, Boeing 737 Classic, 757 and 767-200/-300, and in the Airbus A300-600 and A310, used Electronic Flight Instrument Systems (EFIS) to display attitude and navigational information only, with traditional mechanical gauges retained for airspeed, altitude and vertical speed. Later glass cockpits, found in the Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767-400, 777, A320 and later Airbuses, Ilyushin Il-96 and Tupolev Tu-204 have completely replaced the mechanical gauges and warning lights in previous generations of aircraft.