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A note from Fred Hicks on different types of guns (edited for wiki links): [1]
I suppose we always could [include weapons in the rules], but in the end, with the Dramatic Combat Options, using a gun in a knife fight means "superior weaponry +1". Or if that doesn't sit right you could add a stackable extra category of "superior technology +1".
Going for the Simple Combat Options, guns would tend to be a 3 or a 4. Getting into higher-level tech (sci fi) and so on might expand the options beyond a 3 or a 4, but for me, at least, it's not to my taste to boost the numbers too much -- since "Taken Out" remains a MOS of only 7, you just don't need the kinds of damage modifiers you may see elsewhere to drop someone.
Once you go to the Advanced Combat Options, yeah, you can design whatever you want -- but I think, at least at the get-go, our intention with that set of options was to provide something a bit more palatable to the crunch types, even if it wasn't entirely our bag. I think it'd be pretty easy to model the effects of modern weaponry with the listed or one or two new weapon 'abilities', if truly desired.
In the end, though, the driving question -- for me -- is "what kind of effect on the dramatic telling of a fight will the use of this weapon have?" -- and choose rules to apply to it that make the most sense. Sure, modelling reality to an extent is desirable, but Fudge (and Fate) shines best, IMO, when being used to emulate a genre, a particular kind of story telling, and as such, the "right" way to address questions of representing new weaponry, etc, is to start with the story and work your way back to the weapon.
[...] Actually, the damage system is meant to be freely adaptable to all sorts of things -- that's why it's not really a damage system so much as a "degrees of success" system, and you find us saying people can use it to do disarming, maneuvering, and anything else that seems to fit.
A duel of wits is definitely in keeping! So is a "presence attack" of sorts, using Intimidation to shake your opponent's confidence, or Seduction to distract, or... you get the idea. Not all "wounds" are physical, but they can have the same for-the-moment or for-the-scene effects as a 'Clipped' or 'Hurt' result might entail.
Another note from Fred Hicks:[2] ... That's because -- at least in the games we play -- having a gun is much like having a sword. What matters is the effect it has in the story. For me, I'd just go with the straight-up "superiorities" method used in "vanilla" Fate combat, and have a 'Superior Firepower' notion. Start and end of story.
Followed by another (wikified) note: [3]
I use the Dramatic Combat Options, which is why I never think about this. :) The real "problem" is that guns are even more of a genre-buster than swordplay is. Super "realistic" treatment of guns would make even a minor hit from a gun incredibly traumatic. Other treatments allow for getting hit by several shots and still going. So what I meant to be advocating in my original response was deciding what effect you wanted, and working back from that to the mechanic, rather than starting with a mechanic that might not be a best fit.
And another Fred Hicks note: [4]
That actually works great for me. :)
And a comment from Jonathan Moyer:[5]
In cinematic action games, gun wounds don't seem to be very damaging. In these situations, a firearms shouldn't be deadlier than hand-to-hand weapons - they could have roughly the same damage level. It's possible to arrange it such that martial arts attacks do more damage than firearms. This may be more appropriate in martial arts games.
See also Combat Skills, Exchange Combat Example Combat Rules |