This is in regards to a ‘BBC-Sherlock verse’ imagining of the good Colonel, and is the result of a conversation with husband (which he is certainly regretting, now that I made him type this up) that was sparked after I’d pointed out a post asserting that Moran would like ‘rifles over handguns’ because he was a ‘sniper’.
What weapon would Moran prefer? You would first have to think a bit of his military service, and his local availability. (While being in the underworld does bring forth its advantages to not needing to obey local laws and opens up your choices, it would be safe to say the supply line to a discrete man’s armament would be hampered in the area of quantities.)
Lets start with pistols. Being military, and a probable member of the Royal Marines (these are the ones that train British snipers*) one would assume the usage of a Sig Saur P226 as a comfortable fallback, and a weapon easy to get parts for, adaptable to suppression without any recoil assist devices (Such as an AAC Ti-Rant in Titanium) and easily available supply of ammo, much of which is subsonic, for use with said suppressor. Otherwise, I would think him to look favorably on other euro region pistols, like the HK offerings or something in a Swiss Sphinx.
As for rifles… are we talking close up work, or far encounters? Would he fall back to a L81 variant which makes for an easy CQB carbine, or for a more modern approach of something in an AR15 platform in one of the boutique calibers that would also be suppressed, such as the .300 BLK? Such a rifle as the later is made in a take-down version with integrally suppressed barrels, making for a a quick repeatable setup that can be stowed or deployed from a vantage point or a vehicle.
If we are going long range, most likely a rifle in .338 Lapua. The British and US forces have used these out to spectacular ranges… the round shoots long and flat, well out past 2000 meters. Although I cannot see Moriarty allowing for such impersonal contact on a frequent basis.
Now do we want to get into optics choices?
*I would question his title of sniper, as snipers are trained to work in pairs for modern work. Marksman most definitely.
(There was more to the discussion involving other various background and what might be used where to blend in and such, but this was all I could make him re-do in text 😉
Lady Karasu 