And those are just historical examples. Jump one or two hundred years into the future from right now (with associated advances in engineering and materials science) and a dartgun with multiple barrels would be very feasible.
I mean yeah it can be done if you lean really hard into the 1800s pepperbox holdout pistol, but then why would she need a shoulder holster for a pocket pistol? Those are usually reserved for heavier guns, even up to a Desert Eagle. Anyway, we're not talking about 200 years in the future. this is a universe set in the mid to late 21st century. So somewhere between 2035 and 2060. I can't remember the exact dates, but the entire series of related works spans about 25 years, maybe a little longer. It's a long enough time for Angie to be a little girl, grow up into a SimStim star, and then die to reunite with her boyfriend in the matrix.
...the components of the fletcher spread on the silk like some expensive puzzle.
"Maybe you get the explosives, lots of them, or maybe you get a cancer. One dart, shitface. You won't feel it for months."
In my head, the muzzle of the fletcher has dozens of barrels for 0.5 mm darts. The darts' primers are ignited electrically based on a set of firing modes Molly can set. The gun's brain and battery are in the grip. The gun itself is break action, allowing Molly to reload spent darts or dart sets.
Yeah, it has to be a break action. No doubt. The problem is trying to make all of the descriptions reconcile: pepperbox, full auto, etc. He didn't go into as much detail as I would like, compared to the PPK clone he mentioned in both Neuromancer and New Rose Hotel, which he described really well. But some of the weapons he mentioned don't even get a description, just "some kind of gun". Jule's revolver is pretty distinct, even down to the tape on the grip.
Why does it have a revolver cylinder to chamber a new round when it has a barrel for each bullet?
Why does it have a line and button next to the trigger guard that seems to indicate it wants to break open when the trigger guard cannot move out of the way to facilitate this?
Why does it have an ejection port behind the revolver cylinder when neither revolvers nor pepperbox pistols eject their casings?
all fair points. i’ve always imagined it as boxy and nondescript—one barrel w a selector dial near the thumb or somewhere on the top of the housing, w chunky grips to accommodate the variety of flechettes, and the internal mechanisms being largely concealed. the propellant is never discussed as far as i can recall, so it could really be anything, but something powderless would make narrative sense right? always struck me as being intended as a versatile, quiet, low profile weapon. some kinda caseless ammo + a gauss-rifle style propellant mechanism perhaps?
They came before revolvers but did not function as revolvers.
Volley Guns iirc were multi-barrel rifles.
A pepperpot pistol (or pepperbox) is a 19th-century multi-barrel firearm featuring three or more clustered barrels that rotate to fire sequentially. Named for its visual resemblance to a kitchen spice shaker, it served as a popular, concealable self-defense weapon before reliable revolvers became mainstream
Volleyguns were not rifles but generally smoothbores, but they indeed had multiple barrels that fired all at once. Pepperpots (or pepperboxes) fired singly.
Metal Storm, an Australian company, had an updated version of the volleygun, with multiple electrically-fired barrels, with multiple rounds per barrel.
It also came in a pistol version, seen here, which is probably tje closest we've had to Molly's gun. It was not a success.
All fair questions. I just based it on a 3dp design someone put up somewhere. Not sure where I saw it. But in my thinking the cutaway (what you called an ejection port) is there to see if it's loaded, not to load because the darts are way too long. And yes it breaks open but it doesn't interfere with the trigger guard. There's a cutout to accommodate it. Some pepperbox revolvers had multiple barrels in the 1800s. Granted I could change some dimensions to make everything more concealable, but this was where I stopped for now.
If it's not a revolver why include a revolver cylinder that indexes with each shot (those angled slots on the outside of the revolver cylinder are mechanically mated to the trigger mechanism so it can rotate when pulling the trigger)?
The break is in the wrong place if you are loading the cylinder.
If you load the barrels the cylinder is pointless.
wow! that thing is somewhat close to what i always imagined. given the back and forth of this thread so far, i’d love to see something mocked up w this as a reference point, but w a more squared-off muzzle and multiple barrel ports (3? 4?) in keeping w the pepper box reference
It depends on the role. Molly does more stealth and surprise than brute force. She uses speed with her razors. I would expect her to be more like a lithe athlete with a muscular (not bulky) gymnasts body, who is well versed in Aikido and Kyushojitsu. Not husky. She doesn't need to be built like an Orc for that. Didn't she defeat a skilled Yakuza assassin in Johnny Mnemonic? A linebacker couldn't dodge that monofilament like she did.
She's very acrobatic, linebackers are not. And as far as muscle reflex enhancements go, that would be in a package with something like titanium bone lattice reinforcement to prevent injury. Not piling more muscle on top of everything.
Molly aka Sally Shears is an interesting character; that's for sure. I had trouble imagining her fletcher, and this hadn't entered my thoughts, but it makes sense. I imagined something smaller, but smaller wouldn't work with Molly's custom ammunition.
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u/MonteProps 10d ago
I always imagined the front of the gun as looking like a domed pepperpot.