Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl
Modern firearms do not use black powder and the rifling would probably erode quite quickly due to the acidic nature of the remnant propellant (shotguns are probably the only exception). Current propellants of nitrocellulose (single-base) or nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose (double base) and neither of them are going to be produced outside of a late-TL5 industrial base.
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People have been making nitrocelluose since the 1850s, and the primary components (nitric acid and sulfuric acid) have been made since at least the 13th or 14th century. It doesn't look like it would be that hard to make in small batches, though it might be time consuming to start from scratch.
Setting up a full chemical plant with Ostwald and Haber processes so you can make enough nitric acid for millions of rounds probably requires a late TL5 or TL6 tech base. But if you only need 1 lb of nitrocellulose - which is 7000 grains of powder, enough for 100 or so rifle bullets - you can probably do that with stuff made from a TL8 Factory module and a couple of weeks' work in a lab. Making ammonia at 4 oz/hr is going to be tedious, but 6 pints of the stuff should hopefully be plenty for both the nitrocelluose and the mercury fulminate.
Are the kinds of brass cartridges, mercury fulminate primers, and nitrocelluse powder that a single guy makes in a lab going to be of less than commercial quality? Sure. Would I expect to see a lot more misfires and corrosive gunk in the barrel? Definitely. Is it better to have 100 somewhat unreliable bullets than 5 reliable bullets? I'd expect so.