How do you think the gunblade functions anyway?

[Big D]

According to the FF8 Ultimania, the gunblade doesn't fire bullets at all. Pulling the trigger releases energy which causes the blade to vibrate, which is supposed to cause extra damage.

Well, that's what I've been told anyway.

That theory has been rubbished, many times. The bullets in Squall's case have solid metal tips. A 'vibrating blade' would just be harder to handle, and would be very crude and imprecise. It'd be a real waste of materials, making a sword with an empty chamber that fires blanks. Building that kind of mechanism into the blade would weaken it, which is something you don't do to a sword unless it's absolutely necessary for some reason. Besides, imagine what would happen if you swung and fired a weapon like that: you're bringing the blade toward your enemy, but then you fire and the weapon recoils in your hands. You'd have to exert extra effort just to make the weapon strike your enemy.

The barrel of Squall's gunblade actually emerges in that 'notch' at the front of the blade. You just see it when his blade is standing point-down in the sand.

Seifer's Hyperion proves beyond doubt that gunblades fire bullets. His weapon has a short barrel, to the right of the blade. It's rather like a semi-automatic pistol with a blade stuck to it. He fires during the opening FMV, but fortunately he retains his senses enough to avoid shooting Squall through the head. When Seifer takes Deling hostage, he holds the weapon against his throat... but with the blade edge pointing away from Deling. The gun mechanism, however, is pointing right at Deling's head. If it didn't fire bullets, there'd be no real threat except powder burns.

The whole point of gunblades is that you can slash and shoot the enemy at the same time. Double damage, getting by virtually any form of armour.[q=Itsunari 2000]That's just assuming Squall carries his gunblade in a sheath ... but can you imagine him lugging it around in that gigantic case ?[/q]I think it just hangs from his belt. That'd explain why he's actually got three belts... the two loose belts support the gunblade's weight.

[rubah]

or the belts are friggin' HOT

except not. but it's fun to say they are.

I never really thought about it, but it would explain them easily enough.

[Squall of SeeD]

I'm just going to quote myself from many past Threads on other Forums for this matter:

As we can see when looking at Squall's Revolver Gunblade, or Seifer's Hyperion, neither have exit holes for bullets and, thus, are shown to certainly have no indication of being used for projectile means:

(Note: In the FMV screenshot, the indentation near the end of Squall's Revolver Gunblade is simply a curve and not a hole; further, it's not even on the front of the blade; assuming it were an exit hole, the blade couldn't be straight, thus making for an illogical and impractical design; however, as we can see in any of the images of the Gunblade, the cyclinder and firing chambers line-up with the blade, in which case the blade must be straight.

Squall Link 1.

Squall Link 2.

Squall Link 3.

Squall Link 4.


Seifer Link 1.

Seifer Link 2.

Seifer Link 3.

Seifer Link 4.

Further, none of Squall's other Gunblades have openings or hollow areas on their blades with the exceptions of the Twin Lance and the Punishment Gunblades (note, however, that these hollow areas begin a short distance from the firing chambers of the two Gunblades; were it the case that they fired bullets, while possible that they could traverse the distance between the two blades and exit before the top blade could pass low enough to interfere with their trajectory, the fact that the barrel would be so very short would produce inaccuracies in the aiming and firing; further, if the weapon were swung somewhat to the left or right, due to the area between the upper and lower blades being hollow, the bullets would go entirely off-target if the target were in the path the blade was following in the arc motions in which the Gunblade users swing them, thus, again, making for an illogical and impractical design):

Shear Trigger.

Cutting Trigger.

Flame Saber.

Twin Lance.

Punishment.

Lionheart.


Further still, when watching the opening FMV of the game, we see Seifer pull the trigger of his Gunblade as he is bringing it down to slash Squall's face and a gunshot can be heard at that moment:



Were it the case that projectiles were fired by these weapons, Squall would have been killed.

Something else worthy of note is that if one loses during the game and receives the Game Over screen, it shows Squall's Gunblade broken in half. The blade is solid. There's no barrel running through the blade:Linkage.

Something else to consider is that when using Scan on Squall, the following information is given:

Uses a sword called a gunblade. Special skill is Renzokuken, using the gunblade. Silent, and a bit cold.

(Bolded for emphasis.)

The game itself refers to the weapon as a sword.

Something else to consider is that Seifer's Hyperion is more thin than Squall's Revolver, and likely lighter, allowing him to hold the weapon straight out with one arm, as he often does:

Linkage 1.

Linkage 2.

Linkage 3.

Linkage 4.

Being that this weapon can be held out straight with one arm, Seifer would easily be capable of aiming and firing with the weapon were it capable of emitting projectiles, yet he never does so. Further, being that Squall's weapons are all larger, bulkier, and likely a good deal heavier, they would be more difficult to aim and fire with. If one of these weapons were designed in a manner that would allow it to be easily used for projectile purposes -- as Seifer's would be -- then it would be illogical for the others to not be so. If these weapons had the capacity to emit projectiles, then all of them would be designed in such a manner as to allow one to use them to such effect. To design weapons that can fire projectiles, but not design them in such a manner as to allow one to easily employ use of them in that regard -- and design only one out of eight of them in a manner in which it could -- would not only be impractical, but extremely illogical. It would be akin to giving someone some Game Boy games, but no system to play them on.

Something else to note is that Irvine was sent with Squall's party to assassinate Edea because he was a sniper. If Squall's weapon had projectile capabilities, it's safe to assume that he would have been trained in the use of guns and Irvine wouldn't have been needed. While still arguable that Squall wouldn't have been necessarily trained as a sharpshooter, in light of all the other information against the possibility of the Gunblades having a projectile capacity, Irvine's presence being required certainly doesn't support the notion in any way.

Being that the weapons are never once used for projeticle means, have no exit points for bullets to leave a barrel from, are actually called swords within the game itself, are only used like swords, and with no one ever indicating that the weapons could be used for any means other than as a sword, clearly, they are simply swords with no projectile capacity whatsoever.

Seeing as how I've argued against this possibility, I imagine it's expected that I at least offer an explanation for what I think the purpose of the gun aspect of the weapons are. I personally can only determine that the intended purpose behind the gun mechanics of the weapons was that the bullets were shells that would explode (note the small explosions seen when pulling the trigger of the Gunblades), adding more force in the direction in which the weapon was being swung.

However, this would still be illogical taking into account that there's no opening from the firing chambers into the blade, meaning there would be nowhere for the force to escape to, containing it all within the firing chamber and not adding force in the direction of the swing at all. However, again, I'm saying that was likely the intended purpose.

In the pictures of the gunblade that appear in the intro and such, you can see the barrel. It sticks out to the side, and is much shorter than a standard gun barrel.

But there's not a barrel sticking off of the side of the weapon: Linkage to a close-up of the side. Even if there were, as it would be sticking off the side, it wouldn't be lined up with the cylinder and firing chamber anyway.

Here's a couple of other pictuers to drive the point home:
Linkage 1.
Linkage 2.


Anyway, yeah... there's no projectile capacity for these weapons. No one in the game ever so much as suggests it as a possibility. The burden of proof lies far more on the side of illustrating how it would be so.

[Big D]

Look at this picture again. In the notch, you can see what could well be an open end of a barrel. The revolver can't fire bullets directly at the side of the blade, because the bullet at the top of the wheel is the one that actually gets fired. Top of the wheel = top of the barrel, in the revolver's case.

Further still, when watching the opening FMV of the game, we see Seifer pull the trigger of his Gunblade as he is bringing it down to slash Squall's face and a gunshot can be heard at that moment... Were it the case that projectiles were fired by these weapons, Squall would have been killed.

Except that Seifer fires far too early. This much is obvious just from looking at the FMV and remembering where Squall is crouching. My point about the 'Deling hostage' scene reinforces that gunblades must indeed fire bullets. They would be manifestly stupid and utterly pointless otherwise. Besides, as has been said before, Squall's bullets have solid tips. If you fired one of those in a blade with no barrel, they'd fragment very violently, probably shattering the blade or making a real mess of the chamber.

Somewhere in the game - in a tutorial screen, I think - we're told that gunblades combine the damaging power of a gun with the accuracy of a sword, or vice versa.

Anyway, yeah... there's no projectile capacity for this weapons. No one in the game ever so much as suggests it as a possibility. The burden of proof lies far more on the side of illustrating how it would be so.

Way to ignore all the evidence to the contrary... plus, I'm a fourth-year law student. I know plenty about 'burden of proof'.

[DocFrance]

It's a weapon in a fantasy game. It doesn't have to function, it just has to look good. Does anybody ever ask how the Death Star can destroy planets?

[Doomgaze]

Yeah, but the Death Star makes SENSE. It's a giant particle beam weapon. Gunblades are just patently ridiculous.

[Squall of SeeD]

Look at this picture again. In the notch, you can see what could well be an open end of a barrel. The revolver can't fire bullets directly at the side of the blade, because the bullet at the top of the wheel is the one that actually gets fired. Top of the wheel = top of the barrel, in the revolver's case.

Right. And that notch is on the side of the blade, not the front. If that were the exit point of a barrel, again, the blade wouldn't be straight.

Except that Seifer fires far too early. This much is obvious just from looking at the FMV and remembering where Squall is crouching.

If he wasn't shooting at anything, that requires the question of "Why did he pull the trigger to begin with?" If the intention was that the shots would add more force in the direction of a swing, there would at least be a logical reason behind having done it.

In any event, the timeframe between just before the time that Seifer pulls the trigger and after the blade has already cut Squall is .40 of a single second. This can be determined by taking the video frame by frame with Windows Movie Maker. I somehow doubt that Seifer was able to determine the trajectory a bullet would or would not take in four-tenths of a second when he was passing the firing iron right in front of someone's face.

My point about the 'Deling hostage' scene reinforces that gunblades must indeed fire bullets. They would be manifestly stupid and utterly pointless otherwise.

Unless, again, Nomura's intention was that they 1) look cool, and 2) provide a means for adding more force to the direction of a swing. Would actual physics allow the second of these things? No. But based on the fact that no one ever uses the weapons for projectile purposes, and that there's no exit holes on them, there's few -- if any -- other possible intentions for the function.

By the way, the action figures come with Gunblades. The Gunblades don't have exit holes. This is the case even with the 1/6 scale (12 inch tall) figures.

Also, concerning your point about Deling being held as a hostage, I'll address that now:

His weapon has a short barrel, to the right of the blade.

Provide screenshot proof of this. That isn't the case, as can be seen in these screenshots:

Linkage 1.
Linkage 2.
Linkage 3.
Linkage 4.
Linkage 5.
Linkage 6.
Linkage 7.
Linkage 8.

I've provided pictures of both the right and left sides of the weapon with these screenshots, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh pictures especially show that the right side has no such barrel. If you're confusing the shell casing that's seen flying out of the right side of the gun as being indicative of a barrel being there, then it should be noted that the gun area of Seifer's Gunblade is designed las guns that use clips are. Such guns have the shell casings fly out of the side when they're spent. At this point, any screenshot proof of such a barrel being present would have to contradict the imperical evidence of the screenshots already offered.

Anyway, that barrel's not on the toy, either, on either side:
Right side.
Left side.

While you may argue that the small figure would lack such a detail, I argue that if they bothered to add a detail that wasn't present in the game with the Omega Weapon toy (legs for the humanoid part so that it can be detached from the steed and stand on its own) they're not going to leave out one that was in the game if it truly was.

While I don't own the 1/6 scale Seifer figure, I have seen the thing in-person and it doesn't have a barrel where you claim there to be one, either.

When Seifer takes Deling hostage, he holds the weapon against his throat... but with the blade edge pointing away from Deling. The gun mechanism, however, is pointing right at Deling's head. If it didn't fire bullets, there'd be no real threat except powder burns.

The entire Gunblade aside from the handle was in front of the guy: Linkage.

Also, you're not considering what little Seifer would have needed to do if Deling tried to break way from him with Seifer pointing the blade away from Deling's neck. In that position, he would only have to bring it across or down in a slash to wound or kill Deling if he broke away somehow and tried to get away.

As for holding the blade toward Deling's neck, that would have been easier to break away from, as Seifer would have needed to be holding Deling like this: Linkage.

Form that position with your arm and place it in front of yourself at about the level of your collar bone (where Seifer would have had to do it) and tell me that it's still comfortable, 'cause it sure as hell isn't. It's not only very painful on the wrist -- especially if you were holding a weapon weighing twenty pounds or more in your hand -- but it allows for very little control.

However, form this position with your arm in front of you at about collar level (the way Seifer had his arm) and notice that it's not only not painful, but it offers much more control of someone that you might be trying to drag as you were walking backward. Further, it would be much more difficult for them to push your arm away.

Besides, as has been said before, Squall's bullets have solid tips. If you fired one of those in a blade with no barrel, they'd fragment very violently, probably shattering the blade or making a real mess of the chamber.

No matter how much physics doesn't agree with it, the blade is solid as the Game Over screen in which its broken in half shows. Besides, we see an explosion occur when the Trigger Command is used. That's far more suggestive of something functioning like a shell than functioning like a bullet.

Somewhere in the game - in a tutorial screen, I think - we're told that gunblades combine the damaging power of a gun with the accuracy of a sword, or vice versa.

Find the quote please and reference where you found it. For now, what we have is Scan calling the weapon a sword.

Way to ignore all the evidence to the contrary...

That's the thing: I'm not seeing any. You say there's a barrel to the right of the blade. There's not. You say if it didn't fire projectiles, Seifer would have held the blade to Deling's throat. That would have been painful as hell and left Seifer with much less control. You say there's a random Tutorial quote that validates your claim. You've not provided it and -- having just looked for it myself -- I can't find it.

In other words, the evidence offered for your argument begins with an invalid claim, ignoring the less than half a second space of time between the firing of Seifer's Gunblade and the scarring of Squall, ignoring Homo Sapien anatomy and the logical position to take when dragging someone if one intends to maintain control over the one they're dragging, ignoring the placement of the Gunblade in front of the one being dragged in the scene in question, and another -- at worst, invalid, at best, not yet supported -- claim with no grounding.

Surely you can see why I might be a little prone to go with the argument that says they're not used for projectile means because we never see anyone use them for such a purpose, it's never suggested they could be, they're called swords, and they don't have barrels?

If I'm at all offending you here, by the way, you have my apologies.

[rubah]

Originally Posted by Big D:
Somewhere in the game - in a tutorial screen, I think - we're told that gunblades combine the damaging power of a gun with the accuracy of a sword, or vice versa.
Find the quote please and reference where you found it. For now, what we have is Scan calling the weapon a sword.

It's not weapons monthly march is it? Because I remember reading that too.

[Squall of SeeD]

It's not weapons monthly march is it? Because I remember reading that too.

If that statement is in there, it's not in the Weapons Monthly magazines. Here are screenshots of the Weapons Monthly issues' Gunblade articles:
Weapons Monthly March.
Weapons Monthly April.
Weapons Monthly May.
Weapons Monthly June.
Weapons Monthly July.
Weapons Monthly August.
Weapons Monthly 1st Issue.

[Wiegrahf42]

Whatever the Gunblade actually does, it's a rather impractical weapon. The idea of using a blade as a primary weapon against gun technology as advanced as ours is ludicrous. Now that I think of it at the field exam SeeD sends teenagers in cadet uniforms armed with extremely outdated and impractical weapons up against a full military force. Then again most of the G-soldiers use swords also.

[DocFrance]

It's like a backwards bayonet.

[Big D]

Originally written in the Weapons Monthly April Issue
Shear Trigger uses the same blade as the Revolver, but the gun aspect is now more powerful

I'm very intrigued by your posts in the FFVII and FFVIII forums, Squall of Seed. You seem to delight in finding something that makes sense, then trying to find whatever conjecture, evidence or theory you can obtain in order for it not to make sense. Puzzling.

Right. And that notch is on the side of the blade, not the front. If that were the exit point of a barrel, again, the blade wouldn't be straight.

Side? Look at the side view of the weapon. Look at the top edge of the blade. Follow it along to the blade's tip. At the tip of the blade, there is a curved section that is missing. It is theorised by some people that this is where the barrel emerges. This is where some claim a barrel is visible in the opening FMV, in the Revolver at least.

If he wasn't shooting at anything, that requires the question of "Why did he pull the trigger to begin with?"

Instinct, intimidation, to 'show what he can do' - the potential reasons are many and varied.

But based on the fact that no one ever uses the weapons for projectile purposes

They're very heavy weapons; to aim and fire one like a gun would be impractical. They're all well and good for holding in a 'ready' posture, as Sefier does, or for swinging and shooting at the enemy in the process. However, to aim the gun accurately at a moving target would be hopeless because of the difficulty in achieving a precise, mobile aim. Besides, in the case of the Hyperion at least, there is very little barrel - the bullet emerges directly alongside the blade. Just like a real semi-automatic pistol, ranged accuracy is reduced by the short barrel length.

Also, you're not considering what little Seifer would have needed to do if Deling tried to break way from him with Seifer pointing the blade away from Deling's neck. In that position, he would only have to bring it across or down in a slash to wound or kill Deling if he broke away somehow and tried to get away.

The issue is not whether Deling could escape, but what Seifer would do if Galbadian troops tried to free their President, by attacking Sefier. "Hang on a sec, don't shoot me just yet - give me a moment to reverse my grip and turn this horribly heavy sword around so I can slice your boss. Thanks!"[q=Wiegrahf42]Whatever the Gunblade actually does, it's a rather impractical weapon. The idea of using a blade as a primary weapon against gun technology as advanced as ours is ludicrous. [/q][q=DocFrance]It's like a backwards bayonet.[/q]Exactly. For a brief time in our own history, gunblades were in actual use. Right about the time when swords were going out, and firearms were being introduced. The 'real life gunblade' was a sword with a gun built into it; it held about two rounds, usually. They didn't last long and were soon surpassed.

[Squall of SeeD]

I'm very intrigued by your posts in the FFVII and FFVIII forums, Squall of Seed. You seem to delight in finding something that makes sense, then trying to find whatever conjecture, evidence or theory you can obtain in order for it not to make sense. Puzzling.

I don't see how the statement that "The gun aspect is now more powerful" indicates that a bullet is fired with greater force more so than it indicates the possibilty of an intended concept of more force being added in the direction of a swing. And we're still left with the matter of the solid blade and there being no exit hole, which I'm getting to now.

Side? Look at the side view of the weapon. Look at the top edge of the blade. Follow it along to the blade's tip. At the tip of the blade, there is a curved section that is missing.

That isn't the tip. Follow the red line on the right of this screenshot. It will travel from the top of the cylinder down to what is the front of the blade (note that one would follow the top of the blade until it curved down, becoming the front; we're being shown the Gunblade from a diagonal perspective); the red line on the right will travel along what is the side of the blade down to that notch:


Now compare the above image to the unedited picture:


By the way, you've still failed to address the matter of the blade being shown to be solid all the way through on the Game Over screen.

Instinct, intimidation, to 'show what he can do' - the potential reasons are many and varied.

You also failed to address the matter of him being able to determine the trajectory the bullet was going to take in that four-tenths of a second span of time.

They're very heavy weapons; to aim and fire one like a gun would be impractical. They're all well and good for holding in a 'ready' posture, as Sefier does, or for swinging and shooting at the enemy in the process. However, to aim the gun accurately at a moving target would be hopeless because of the difficulty in achieving a precise, mobile aim.

And swinging the weapon in an arc is somehow going to grant more accuracy than holding it still and firing? How do you figure that?

Besides, in the case of the Hyperion at least, there is very little barrel - the bullet emerges directly alongside the blade.

You still haven't offered screenshot evidence of this, D. I offered several screenshots which show that there is no such barrel on either side of the blade.

The issue is not whether Deling could escape, but what Seifer would do if Galbadian troops tried to free their President, by attacking Sefier.

I doubt they would be shooting at him while he was holding their President in front of him like that to begin with. Furthermore, that very factor is all the more reason to make sure that Seifer had control of the President.

Speaking of having control of him, you failed to address the matter I mentioned regarding the position of Seifer's wrist and the painful position it would have needed to be in to hold the blade to Deling's throat, in addition to it reducing the amount of control he would have had over Deling's upper body movements.

In fact, you failed to address most of what I said.


By the way, has no one else bothered to consider the sheer size and length of what those bullets would be if there were, indeed, bullets being fired through the blade and the size of an exit hole needed for them? Look at the size and length of the chambers and compare it to the notch on the blade:

Picture 1.
Picture 2.
Picture 3.

Can you really say you could see bullets that large and that long easily fitting through a hole that would be no larger than that?

Particularly look at the first picture. Compare the size of that notch with the size of those metallic things in the chambers, keeping in mind that the notch is right in front us and that the metallic things in the chambers are at least three feet away. Considering that the metallic objects in the chambers already look too large to fit through that notch and that they're only going to look larger the closer they are, again, can you really say you could see such bullets passing through a hole of that size?

[Big D]

Time for some "linkage" of my own.
Here is the cased gunblade, with the distinctive tipped bullets.

And swinging the weapon in an arc is somehow going to grant more accuracy than holding it still and firing? How do you figure that?

When the weapon is swung like a sword, its trajectory is controllable. When duelling with an opponent, the range is reduced to point-blank; provided the wielder fires when he is pointing roughly at the enemy - during a blow, for instance - a hit is more likely than trying to snipe someone on the move.

You also failed to address the matter of him being able to determine the trajectory the bullet was going to take in that four-tenths of a second span of time.

Oh yeah, I "failed". You ought to think about how your own posts sound before PMing moderators about other members being 'trolls'. Seifer is a precise and skilled swordsman. He knows where his weapon is going to be, and when. He's also not stupid. He knows that if he fires before the weapon is pointing at Squall's head, then he won't blow Squall's head off. It's pretty simple, really.

I doubt they would be shooting at him while he was holding their President in front of him like that to begin with. Furthermore, that very factor is all the more reason to make sure that Seifer had control of the President.

Most Galbadian soldiers use swords; they could run at Seifer from any direction and put holes in him. The entire point of taking a hostage and holding a weapon to their head is so that you can harm them if anyone tries to interfere.

By the way, you've still failed to address the matter of the blade being shown to be solid all the way through on the Game Over screen.

A metal hole, through metal, with a metal background. Now, why would that be difficult to see?
Besides, that is but one theory. The other possibility is that the revolver is similar to the Hyperion. I believe that the Hyperion has no barrel, and the bullet is ejected straight from the open end of the firing chamber. The revolver could be the same, but that would require the wheel to be slightly offset. Since the gunblade is a strictly close-range weapon, the accuracy provided by a barrel would be less than necessary.

By the way, has no one else bothered to consider the sheer size and length of what those bullets would be if there were, indeed, bullets being fired through the blade and the size of an exit hole needed for them? Look at the size and length of the chambers and compare it to the notch on the blade:

When a bullet is fired, not the entire bullet is shot out of the weapon. Only the small lump on the end of the shell is ejected. The Revolver certainly takes high-calibur ammunition, but the bullets are very short by comparison - less than a centimeter long, judging by the gunblade case image.

That isn't the tip. Follow the red line on the right of this screenshot. It will travel from the top of the cylinder down to what is the front of the blade (note that one would follow the top of the blade until it curved down, becoming the front; we're being shown the Gunblade from a diagonal perspective); the red line on the right will travel along what is the side of the blade down to that notch:

Exactly. That 'notch' lines up exactly with where a bullet would emerge, if it was fired in the normal 'revolver' fashion. The top of the wheel lines up with that notch. Some people say they can even see the barrel opening in that picture you posted. See this image.In the top picture, the pink line indicates the path followed. The bottom picture is just for comparison.

*Just another note... in the game, many Esthar soldiers use gunblades, of a sort. They have cresent-shaped blades with small shotguns built into the handle. Because of the design of these weapons, the gun and blade components get used separately, it'd be difficult to shoot and slash simultaneously.. however, they are definitive proof of hybrid sword/gun weapons in use in the FFVIII world, and they also have no visible barrel - just a handle, trigger and firing chamber that opens right out.

[Squall of SeeD]

When the weapon is swung like a sword, its trajectory is controllable.

Moreso than if one just held it in place and pulled the trigger? One action would involve calculating the trajectory of the blade itself, as well as the timing needed to fire, whereas just holding it straight would require simply aiming and accounting for timing if the target was moving. Again, Seifer holds his Gunblade straight out like that in the battles against him, but he never once simply pulls the trigger and fires the weapon, whereas Galbadian soldiers do shoot with their guns.

Oh yeah, I "failed". You ought to think about how your own posts sound before PMing moderators about other members being 'trolls'.

"Failed" would have the same meaning as "neglected" in this context.

Seifer is a precise and skilled swordsman. He knows where his weapon is going to be, and when. He's also not stupid. He knows that if he fires before the weapon is pointing at Squall's head, then he won't blow Squall's head off. It's pretty simple, really.

Fair enough.

Most Galbadian soldiers use swords; they could run at Seifer from any direction and put holes in him.

Not from any direction, seeing as how they would have been in front of him and would have needed to be behind him to skewer him, as I doubt they would run Deling through just to get Seifer.

The entire point of taking a hostage and holding a weapon to their head is so that you can harm them if anyone tries to interfere.

In this case, a bullet fired from the position Seifer was holding him from a barrel on the right side of the weapon would either pass in front of his face or graze his jaw: Link to Seifer holding him again. Also, here's a closer shot of that image in case that helps any: Linkage. It's a little fuzzy, though.

A metal hole, through metal, with a metal background. Now, why would that be difficult to see?

If it were there, one would think they would bother to make it visible, just like with the barrel (or open point from the firing chamber) that's not on the side of Seifer's Gunblade. Going back again to the matter of this open point, look at how far down the side of the gun that the shell casing flies out from: Linkage.

Look again at the side of the Gunblade, particularly the area right above Seifer's hand and the trigger area (from where the shell casing flew out, taking into account that the open point would at least need to be in the relative location of where the shell casing flew out, if not further down the weapon): The right side of the Hyperion. And for even more clarity, here's another picture.

Where is this open point?

The revolver could be the same, but that would require the wheel to be slightly offset.

We know it's not, though: Side of the Gunblade. The firing chamber lines up directly with the blade.

When a bullet is fired, not the entire bullet is shot out of the weapon. Only the small lump on the end of the shell is ejected. The Revolver certainly takes high-calibur ammunition, but the bullets are very short by comparison - less than a centimeter long, judging by the gunblade case image.

That's still ignoring that the size of those lumps visible in the chambers relative to that notch are too wide to fit through even from a perspective of three feet away, mustless when they got down to that point: Look again.

Exactly. That 'notch' lines up exactly with where a bullet would emerge, if it was fired in the normal 'revolver' fashion. The top of the wheel lines up with that notch.

Again, however, it would be off to the side and not on the front of the weapon. In my previously edited picture, I followed the firing chamber with a red line down the top of the blade and to where it curved down and became the front of the blade. That notch isn't on the front of the blade, but to the side. The front of the blade is solid. Were that notch an exit point for a bullet, this would mean that the blade was not straight. A bladed weapon with a blade that isn't straight is an impractical weapon.

For clarification of this notch being on the side, look at this newly edited picture: Linkage.

*Just another note... in the game, many Esthar soldiers use gunblades, of a sort. They have cresent-shaped blades with small shotguns built into the handle. Because of the design of these weapons, the gun and blade components get used separately, it'd be difficult to shoot and slash simultaneously.. however, they are definitive proof of hybrid sword/gun weapons in use in the FFVIII world, and they also have no visible barrel - just a handle, trigger and firing chamber that opens right out.

The weapons are not at all designed in similar fashions, however: Picture of an Esthari Soldier holding his weapon.

For that matter, we never see anything similar to the Gunblade in Esthar. A foreign land's weaponry is not necessarily indicative of the Gunblades used by People in other areas of the world, especially when we see the Esthari soldiers use their weapons to stand and shoot, whereas Seifer never does this with his Gunblade, despite holding a pose that would easily allow him to do so.

I think it rather strange that he would be more than willing to pull the trigger on his Gunblade to fire a bullet to the effort of intimidating Squall as he cut him (as you suggested), but he would never bother to do it during an actual with him or anyone else.