Transhuman Space Firearms more in line with High-Tech

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Phil Masters notes on using 4E Ultra Tech and Bio Tech in THS:

https://tekeli.li/transhumanspace/ultratech_ths.html

https://tekeli.li/transhumanspace/biotech_ths.html

Thanks. I read through these.

Note, however, that Ultra-Tech came out before High-Tech and while all sorts of exotic TL10+ weapon technologies in Ultra-Tech have very optimistic stats, the TL9 conventional firearms are often inferior to the stats for real TL8 weapons, apart for some optimistic assumptions for light and compact high-density magazines for some of the smaller guns, which I personally think might be rather bulky in practice.*

Apart from that, I don't understand some of the assumptions underlying the magazine weights. Why does the Storm Carbine have a weightless magazine, the Storm Rifle have a magazine weighing 0.48 lbs. and the Assault Carbine have one that weighs 0.15 lbs.? If it had anything to do with the power of the round, the pistol caliber rounds wouldn't need such high magazine weights. The Urban Assault Weapon has a magazine for pistol rounds that weighs 0.44 lbs. and the Machine Pistol has a magazine for the same caliber that weighs an astonishing 0.58 lbs. empty (more than a modern metal magazine).

If caseless rounds can be carried as a disposable bloc where the individual rounds stick together without an external structure, meaning a loading scheme that works more like TL6 clips than TL6-8 magazines, as the weightless Storm Carbine magazine implies, why isn't that noted in the descriptions? What makes the Assault Carbine or the pistol chamberings unable to take advantage of that technology?

Ultra-Tech is also riddled with plain-old errors in the weapon lists. Even with years of errata, not all are fixed. As an example, the 5.7mm PDW has a full magazine of 100 rounds weigh 0.3 less than a 100 individual rounds of that caliber...

That simply can't be right.**

*It's certainly technically possible at TL9+ (even at TL8+) to fit 18 .30 caliber caseless rounds into a pistol magazine, but I just have a hard time imagining how the pistol would remain slim and concealable enough to rate Bulk -1 (Walther PPK, AMT Backup, etc.) with either a single-stack magazine that is an absolute minimum of (135mm + wall thickness) long or a double-stack magazine that seems like it would always be thicker than a modern single-stack magazine of up to 9mm. On the other hand, modern double-stack 9mm subcompact do rate Bulk -1, even if they might be less unobstrosive than slimmer single-stack designs, so maybe it's just a granularity issue.
**I suspect that the WPS for the 5.7mm Caseless rounds is meant to be less than the listed 0.013, as that modern cased 5.7x28mm FN already weigh that and Ultra-Tech caseless rounds are usually 40-60% lighter than modern cased rounds.

[Icelander]

In the world of Transhuman Space, what are the densest nonmetallic substances that can be fairly easily minifac-made?

In other words, what are possible materials for bullets that are harder to find with security scans?

Can guns be entirely made from advanced polymers and plastics, apart from a very small electrical igniter?

Considering that a plastics-only minifac is much cheaper than one that can handle both metals and plastics, is this economically viable for designs meant to be minifac-made?

How good are the artificial materials of TL10 in comparison to modern metal alloys?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Icelander

In the world of Transhuman Space, what are the densest nonmetallic substances that can be fairly easily minifac-made?

In other words, what are possible materials for bullets that are harder to find with security scans?
?

If you're looking for a dense, non-metallic substance to make bullets out of he best I can think of off-hand would be synthetic corundum with a density of c. 4.5 or almost half as dense as lead.

You'd probably want a sabot to protect the barrel and control the brittleness on firing.

After that some iron ores are denser than corundum but they might not be close enough to non-metallic.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If you're looking for a dense, non-metallic substance to make bullets out of he best I can think of off-hand would be synthetic corundum with a density of c. 4.5 or almost half as dense as lead.

Cool. Half the density sounds good enough for a specialist load that isn't expected to be effective against any kind of armour.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You'd probably want a sabot to protect the barrel and control the brittleness on firing.

Yeah, I expected that to be the case, so I assume that the pistol that a PC is carrying is smoothbore and the ammunition is fin-stabilised sabot.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

After that some iron ores are denser than corundum but they might not be close enough to non-metallic.

Half density is fine. I don't have to specify the exact material* , as long as there is a plausible synthetic material that could give that density.

*High-density polymer-sabot synthetic corundum bullets might be what they are called, though something more generic would be even better.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Grounds for suspicion will lead to corruption and persecution if not overt prosecution.

In the hands of a bad or lazy cop, sure. But all police look for grounds for suspicion; all it means at the core is "reason to suspect A over B", which may be a good reason, like, say, "Running away from a jeweller's store where the window is broken and the alarm is going off, with a bunch of expensive watches in your pocket".

"Carrying a gun" is not necessarily proof of criminal intent - the person may be a soldier, or a hunter, or a licensed gun-owner in a polity where this is considered a valud option for self-defence. Carrying a gun whose sole advantage over other guns is low detectability and non-traceability, much like carrying, say, a set of lockpicks and a pocket crowbar, will cause any sensible non-hopeless cop to wonder why. Good cops will accept good explanations why, perhaps after checking; bad cops will treat this as an excuse for persecution.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If you're looking for a dense, non-metallic substance to make bullets out of he best I can think of off-hand would be synthetic corundum with a density of c. 4.5 or almost half as dense as lead.
...

Ooh, a stealthy killer known only as The Sapphire Assassin for their penchant for corrundum bullets.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

In the hands of a bad or lazy cop, sure. But all police look for grounds for suspicion; all it means at the core is "reason to suspect A over B", which may be a good reason, like, say, "Running away from a jeweller's store where the window is broken and the alarm is going off, with a bunch of expensive watches in your pocket".
...

I'm not talking legitimate suspicious activity. I mean all those activities that only become suspicious when performed by minorities or by those cops don't like. Exercising one's legal rights should never be grounds for harrassment.

I've been "pulled over" by cops for daring to walk across the edge of a restaurant parking lot at night carrying groceries. And for being in my step-father's mechanics shop at night. This was AFTER they'd talked to him on the phone. "Come out with your hands visible!" while some ****** lurks in the shadows with a drawn assault rifle kind of made me suspicious of cops' ability to judge danger without well defined protocols. Recent events in the news doesn't make me more optimistic for any setting where they have greater discretion.
Sorry, sore subject.

[Icelander]

IOF Chandrahas ('The Laughter of the Moon')
Battle Rifle, 5.6x32mmCL and 30x30mm mini-missile
Dmg: 5d+1 pi or by warhead;
Acc: 4;
Range: 700/3,300 or 500/500*;
Weight: 11/1.6 + 2.4;
RoF: 9#/12 or 3;
Shots: 100(5) + 3(3i);
ST: 9†;
Bulk: -4;
Rcl: 2;
LC: 1;
Cost: $890/$4.7 + warheads;

Adopted by the Indian Armed Forces in the 2050s, this is a typical 'Battle Rifle' of the 21st century. Many Indian bloc and TSA nations use copies with only cosmetic differences. The Chandrahas and its many deriatives are double-barrelled weapons with a 12" long small-caliber caseless rifle barrel and an intergrated mini-missile launcher, made from advanced alloys and polymers. Such battle rifles come with a full suite of smartgun electronics, including HUD link, diagnostic computer and multispectral laser designator. The Chandrahas has three fire modes, semi-automatic, three-round high-cyclic controlled burst (HT p. 87) and full-automatic.

The 5.6x32mmCL rounds consist of a long, aerodynamic projectile seated in explosive propellant. Most combat loads are designed to be used in short-barrelled rifles and typical bullet weight is 80-90 grains even with guidance systems, to ensure reliable wounding when bullet velocity drops below 2,400 fps (see 'The Tactical Carbine', Tactical Shooting p. 61). Typical 5.6mm FMJ loads retain pi damage out to 500 yards from a 12" barrel, which is longer than most engagement distances for troops armed with battle rifles.

Reloads for the Chandrahas come in 100-rd sealed disposable clips that are inserted into the conventionally-located fixed magazine from below. This method has been criticised for being slower than switching a fresh detachable magazine into the weapon, as many other battle rifles offer, but to the Indian Armed Forces, the reduced weight of reloads more than makes up for it.

The 30x30mm mini-missiles use the same fire-control system as the automatic rifle barrel. If the battle rifle is controlled through a computer connection, as it always is in front-line service, in addition to various fuze settings, the mini-missiles can be set for a subsonic velocity semi-ballistic setting with better endurance, giving Range 300/3,000*. This still allows the use of any guidance system, as the mini-missile does not fire the last reserves of fuel until just before impact.

*Mini-missile, the first Range number is the Speed and the second maximum range.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If you're looking for a dense, non-metallic substance to make bullets out of he best I can think of off-hand would be synthetic corundum with a density of c. 4.5 or almost half as dense as lead.

You'd probably want a sabot to protect the barrel and control the brittleness on firing.

After that some iron ores are denser than corundum but they might not be close enough to non-metallic.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Ooh, a stealthy killer known only as The Sapphire Assassin for their penchant for corrundum bullets.

Don't get too excited, Flyn. :)

My calculations lead to Dmg 2d-1 pi- for a saboted synthetic corundum 9mmCL bullet from a short-barrelled holdout pistol. And that's pretty generous, really, as I'm rounding up for it being a sharp penetrator, but not reducing the weight further for a different shape from an old-fashioned 9mm.

Basically, a skilled shooter can assassinate baseline biosophonts who cannot afford any kind of armour and who are far from a Third Wave or better medical facility.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Don't be too excited, Flyn. :)

My calculations lead to Dmg 2d-1 pi- for a saboted synthetic corundum 9mmCL bullet from a short-barrelled holdout pistol. And that's pretty generous.

So an assassin that kills with subpar weapons. Even better. ;)
It's not like many assassins kill the fully armored.