Hell in a Handbasket

The idea was that this would be a compact, snag free, high capacity pocket pistol. That weird safety was supposed to be disengaged by the trigger finger as the gun was being drawn, so it could be used immediately upon clearing your pants.

The actual gun is, to be frank, a complete waste. It had a tendency to fire if dropped or handled roughly, trigger safety and weird sliding thingy notwithstanding. I have always said that the very worst kind of gun is one that won't go off when you need it, but a close second are guns that will go off when you don't want them to.

They are still used as props in various television shows, and it has turned out to be the most common firearm used in Battlestar:Galactica except for the two Colonial sidearm designs.

The first time they were used was in the first season episode entitled Bastille Day.

A group of prisoners overpower the guards and take over the detention area. Although most of the scenes were poorly lit, the Vector was one of the guns that seemed to be on camera the most. Probably because it is small and can be shoved into someone's face without being so large that the viewer can't make out their expression.

One of the main military characters seems to have a Vector hidden away in her personal effects, which indicates that it is a civilian model that she smuggled past security for some reason. On the two screen grabs below, you can see her fiddling around with it while she sits on her rack. ("Rack" means "bunk" for all of us who were never in the Navy.) Although the grip is hidden by the actor's hand, we can see the distinctive Vector silhouette in the slide and frame.

Eventually that same character uses a similar gun to shoot her commanding officer in the gut. In the shot below, you can see that the gun has just been fired and the slide has come back. I think that streak of light coming out of the breech is gas escaping, but it could also be some sort of lens flare for all I know.

The next shot shows a special effects squib just going off in the gutshot actor's clothes, who has closed his eyes in anticipation. Notice how the slide on the handgun has returned to battery.

If you are going to shoot your superior officer in the gut, then you might as well do it twice to make sure that the job is done right. The capture shot below shows the gun firing a second time, and you can see all the hot gas escaping from the muzzle. It is visual proof that even blank rounds can injure someone if they are discharged into someone's face or bare skin.

But the gun makes yet another appearance, this time in the hands of the President's personal bodyguards.

All in all, I would have to say that I never imagined that crappy South African handguns would actually end up in space. If the rest of the human's gear is this bad, then no wonder they are almost extinct!