Talk:The X-Files

I'd like to change the Smith and Wesson Section - The guns were 1076s, not 5906s.

The Smith and Wessons that Scully and Mulder get are actually 1076s. For a short time, as a result of extensive research after the 1986 Miami shootout, the FBI thought that a 9mm/.38 spl was ineffective. As a result, the FBI tested and selected the 10mm cartridge, which they believed gave superior stopping power and penetration. A special 10mm "lite" FBI load was developed, as the bureau thought the flash and recoil of the standard 10mm was too severe. For the 10mm, they had Smith and Wesson create a new gun, the 1076. It was a Gen III, was stainless steel, had a a decocking lever, no manual safety and was Double Action only. Capacity was 10 rounds. Ironically enough, the FBI only retained the 1076s for a short time due to issues with the weight and power of the cartridge. The bureau eventually switched back to the 9mm Sigs (P226 & P228), saying that with good ammo and proper shot placement, the 9mm is an effective cartridge. A while later, the FBI then switched to issuing the Glock 22/23 in .40 S&W to new agents. Ironically, the .40 S&W was essentially a shortened 10mm developed as a result of the the FBI's 10mm "lite" cartridge.

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Permission denied to make the change (not that I'm necessarily the sole arbiter on this site, so to speak, but I am a ranking member, not to mention that I did quite a bit of work on this page). We've already explained this many times before, but here it is again: You can never assume that just because a particular law enforcement/military agency uses a certain gun/caliber in real life, the exact same model/caliber is used in a particular movie or TV show. For instance, there are many members who assume that, for movies which feature FBI Agents carrying Glocks, the pistols in question are either Glock 22s or Glock 23s in .40 S&W, just because the FBI carries such weapons in real life. The thing is, 9mm pistols are FAR more commonly used in movies and TV shows, because until recently, this caliber was considered most reliable in blank-fire for almost any make/model of handgun. Chances are, if you're seeing a Glock in a movie, it's a 9mm Glock, regardless of whether the character in the film is an FBI Agent or a member of some other agency that issues .40-caliber Glocks in real life. This is not always true, but it's true about 9 times out of 10, we reckon. So, unless you have absolute proof that the prop guns are a certain model/caliber, the general rule is that you should assume it's a 9mm.

Anyway, related to The X-Files specifically, there is much more empirical evidence to suggest you are wrong here. The Smith & Wesson 1076 has a single-stack frame, whereas the pistols used by Mulder and Scully clearly have double-stack frames, which means that they have to be either S&W 5906s or 4006s. And since, as I said before, 9mm pistols were until recently the preferred caliber in Hollywood, the 5906 is a safe bet. There are even plenty of screencaps from this show which show the bores of the pistols pretty clearly, and they look to be 9mm in size. -MT2008

Anyone notice

I never seen the show but from these pics for FBI agents they sure as hell don't seem to know how to use a weaver grip. Y'know that grip that is accepted by the FBI? They're holding cup and saucer style. This bothrt anyone else?--ConditionNone 07:05, 28 November 2009 (UTC)