"Dull sliver barrel"; what does it mean?

[toril]

Hi,
this is my first post in this forum.

I'm about to translate some pages from English to Norwegian. It's from a book by Derek Nikitas, called Pyres. It's in the crime/noir genre.

I'm wondering about this sentence:

He was aiming a gun with a dull sliver barrel and slanted groove marks near the muzzle.

The word "sliver" is what gives me headache. At first I thought it might be a spelling error for "silver", but I wonder now if a "sliver barrel" means a gun that has been cut off, to make the barrel shorter. Which could explain the "slanted groove marks near the muzzle".

I appreciate any insight!

Toril

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi,
this is my first post in this forum.

I'm about to translate some pages from English to Norwegian. It's from a book by Derek Nikitas, called Pyres. It's in the crime/noir genre.

I'm wondering about this sentence:

He was aiming a gun with a dull sliver barrel and slanted groove marks near the muzzle.

The word "sliver" is what gives me headache. At first I thought it might be a spelling error for "silver", but I wonder now if a "sliver barrel" means a gun that has been cut off, to make the barrel shorter. Which could explain the "slanted groove marks near the muzzle".

I appreciate any insight!

Toril

I'd say it's a typo for silver. Perhaps something like this: Google Image Result for http://colt-revolvers.com/15big.jpg
I used to collect these things.

 

[5jj]

'Silver' would almost certainly be used in the sense of the colour rather than the metal - though the Longe Ranger used silver bullets, so you never know. ;-)

 

[BobK]

:up: I'm pretty sure it's a typo. I've never met 'sliver' in this sense. A revolver is 'snub-nosed' and a shotgun is 'sawn-off'.

b

 

[toril]

Thanks all for your contributions!

I'll go for an old, well used gun, with silver color.


Toril