10-19-2017, 07:07 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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10-20-2017, 01:11 AM | #22 | |
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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Actually that's a point as well as the extra +1 acc for doing this, I might be tempted to give some benefit in terms of Malf and degrading performance, maybe referencing the 5 shots rules in cleaning and maintenance True Last edited by Tomsdad; 10-20-2017 at 07:40 AM. |
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10-22-2017, 09:25 AM | #23 |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Land of Enchantment
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
It's possible to make a smoothbore reasonably accurate, but it was rarely done. You just need a tight fit of the projectile in the bore. One way to do this is with a tight patch around the projectile, but this sort of reintroduces the problem of slow loading that one gets with a rifle. It's one argument for having that first shot be the best, of course. But the reason that tight musket bores were rare is because black powder causes massive fouling. If the bore was too tight then after a few shots you wouldn't be able to load the musket. And as has been discussed being able to fire a lot and reload quickly was what was desirable. A musket that couldn't be loaded after half a dozen shots wouldn't be very useful in a line of battle.
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10-22-2017, 10:36 AM | #24 | |
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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With that in mind I wonder if it would be better to have careful loading cause more problem for cleaning and maintenance (the opposite of what I suggested above!) |
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10-22-2017, 10:58 AM | #25 |
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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10-22-2017, 01:29 PM | #26 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
The reverse direction of causation may make sense though - a fouled musket would probably impede careful loading more than regular loading.
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10-22-2017, 01:37 PM | #27 | |
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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10-22-2017, 01:48 PM | #28 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: [Low Tech] TL4 Rifles
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In TL4, which the OP specified, and which I (and GURPS) take to be the Renaissance and Age of Sail Exploration, the muskets (which were heavy things needing a musket rest) and their smaller cousins the caliver and carbine tended to hide behind pike walls to protect them from charging infantry and cavalry forces. Being a musketeer required a lot of upper body strength (Low-Tech gives the Musket an ST score of "12R†"; even with ST 12 you needed a musket rest to fire it and withstand the felt recoil.) The Colonial-era muskets people are discussing (described in High-Tech) are closer to the Caliver listed in Low-Tech rather than Low-Tech's Musket.
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