Brad Taylor spent 21 years in the U.S. Army, including eight in the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (aka Delta Force), before retiring in 2010. In 2011, he published his first novel and the first book in the Pike Logan, “Taskforce” thriller series, One Rough Man (an allusion to the George Orwell quote: “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm.”). Since reading that book a few years ago, I have faithfully pre-ordered every subsequent installment as soon as it popped up for Kindle pre-order on Amazon, and recently finished The Insider Threat, the most recent novel in the series. Much to my surprise and enjoyment, Mr. Taylor quite prominently featured the .300 AAC Blackout cartridge, the PWS MK109, and the GEMTECH GMT-300BLK suppressor all working together in concert to provide a new, highly effective “black rifle” for the Taskforce to replace their range-limited HK UMP45s. Excerpts from the novel follow. . .
“Knuckles,” explaining the switch from the UMP to the MK109:
Reliability wasn’t the problem. The caliber was. The PWS system is chambered in 300 Blackout. Much, much more knockdown power than the UMP’s forty-five. The can is Gemtech. Believe it or not, it’s shorter than the UMP suppressor, and it’s built specifically for the Blackout round. In subsonic, it sounds like a pellet gun.
[…] The 300 Blackout in supersonic has much greater knockdown power, and in subsonic it beats anything in its class. The HOLOsight has a Mil-Dot calibrated for both, so you don’t have to worry about zero problems if you switch from sub to supersonic, and the Gemtech suppressor can handle both just fine. In fact, better than fine. […] The PWS system will clear a room just like the UMP, but beyond that, it’ll clear a block when shit gets bad. Unlike the UMP.
The MK109 in action, some a bit gory:
…then a bullet smacked the concrete pillar next to his head, spraying him with spall. He fell flat, searching for the shooter, confused because he’d heard no sound. He saw a black man deeper in the bowl, behind the stage, and he held a rifle with a fat barrel, pointed right at him. […] The black man swung his weapon as if it were on rails, then surgically put two rounds into Hashim.
[…] He yelled in Russian, then glanced my way, looking for support. What he got was two rounds from my rifle, both hitting him in the head and breaking it open like a watermelon smashed with a mallet. The 300 Blackout round was definitely growing on me. He slumped down and everything grew quiet.
In the Acknowledgements, Mr. Taylor sheds some light on just how a GEMTECH-suppressed, PWS MK109 became the Taskforce’s go-to weapons system:
…with the US military’s continuing quest for a new primary weapon, I figured it was time for a change in the Taskforce, both in weapon system and choice of caliber. The “black rifle” is chambered in just about any round imaginable, but I finally settled on the 300 Blackout round for reasons expressed in the book, and that was an easy choice. The weapon was a different story. There are literally hundreds of excellent builders of AR-type rifles, and I got to see plenty of them while doing research at SHOT Show in Las Vegas. I eventually settled on the Primary Weapon System MK109 because of its unique piston system, combining the reliability aspects of the AK-47 into an AR platform. Thanks to Bill at PWS for walking me through it. Believe it or not, suppressors are just as complex, some good and some better. GEMTECH suppressors are at the top of the pyramid, and I’m indebted to Casey for showing me the ins and outs of how his GMT-300BLK tames the noise of the Blackout round in both super and subsonic. I liked the setup so much, I’m building my own PWS/GEMTECH weapon system. Chambered in 300 Blackout, of course.
As I have very much enjoyed this series, I’m already looking forward to reading The Forgotten Soldier, due out December 29th. Dutton publishing was actually kind enough to try and arrange for a TTAG interview with Mr. Taylor, but he’s traveling for research for the next novel and won’t be available for a few weeks. Hopefully we can connect with him ahead of The Forgotten Soldier‘s release.
Excerpts from THE INSIDER THREAT by Brad Taylor. Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2015 by Brad Taylor.