11-08-2017, 06:26 PM | #31 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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11-08-2017, 06:36 PM | #32 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
Very late TL5. 1863 for the Henry and that doesn't use "rifle" ammunition. You'd go to the Winchester 1866 at a minimum and more likely the 1873 or 1876.
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Fred Brackin |
11-08-2017, 06:49 PM | #33 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
...Since at that TL powder mills exist, you can find people who are already trained rather than having to train your own.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
11-08-2017, 07:31 PM | #34 |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Land of Enchantment
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
Ew.
Well, the M16's direct impingement gas system is not going to tolerate black powder at all. Don't even try. And in fact the casings are very low-volume, needing relatively energetic modern (circa 1960s) powders to work well. Basic nitrocellulose wouldn't work. So almost anything you're going to be able to realistically make is likely going to result in a profoundly unimpressive low-velocity round. It's just going to poke little .22-caliber holes in targets, rather than replicate the lethal tumble-and-fragment behavior of the 5.56mm round. And it might not cycle the weapon. It probably would, but might not- you may need to ream the gas port in the barrel to be a bit larger or something. Or another option would be to change the M16 into a manually-cycled magazine-fed rifle of some sort. Mill a slot in the side of the upper receiver for a side-charging handle to cycle it after every shot, not unlike what Alexander Arms has on their sniper rifle. It would be difficult to pick a worse gun to try to feed in a low-tech setting, frankly. I could come up with a few, but it ain't easy. I was hoping you'd say something like a lever-action rifle or revolvers. Almost all of which use rounds that were first developed for black powder, or are descendants of such rounds. Or better yet, shotguns. Because I would very seriously consider making a shotgun, and then feeding that rather than try to feed the M16. Making shotgun shells would be much easier, even with rifled slugs. If I were going to be more ambitious my next step up the technological ladder might be a single shot breechloader of some sort, likely a Remington Rolling Block or Sharps- something that takes a straight-walled brass cartridge and can use cast bullets (that is, it wouldn't need a jacketed bullet). Another step up from that would be a magazine-fed lever action rifle or a bolt rifle that uses a black powder cartridge.
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I'd need to get a grant and go shoot a thousand goats to figure it out. Last edited by acrosome; 11-08-2017 at 07:45 PM. |
11-08-2017, 07:39 PM | #35 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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11-08-2017, 08:11 PM | #36 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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This is done in our world and has been for quite a while but it's been done by the people who didn't make too many mistakes and the professional heirs of their successful techniques. Nitrocellulose is a lot easier to make and handle even if it's a primary explosive too.
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Fred Brackin |
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11-08-2017, 08:13 PM | #37 |
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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11-08-2017, 08:16 PM | #38 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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Though one could probably make do with less, double-base propellant isn't TL8.
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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11-08-2017, 08:18 PM | #39 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
Oh, I agree with you there. They'll need to build the lab first, which given a machine shop is doable. Of course now you need a skilled machinist, a skilled precision glassmaker, a skilled chemist and a skilled loader...
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11-08-2017, 08:23 PM | #40 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Making more ammo stuck on a low tech world.
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You still need to _handle_ the pure nitro after you make it. Not necessarily something they teach in chem lab.
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Fred Brackin |
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Tags |
ammo, gurps, high tl, low tl |
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