[Modern Firepower] Technothriller gear for secret DHS team in 2017

[Kalzazz]

Other staple pieces of kit include flashlights and hand sanitizer. Sadly from a techno thriller standpoint the most common flashlights are cheapy rubberized LED ones like found near Walmart checkout or in dollar stores. A lanyard is essential. Often staff will spend time juggling flashlight, pen and clipboard, or are wearing gloves to protect their hands/keep clean and don't want to dig light out of pocket. A skilled staff member can tell an offender is alive by shining their flashlight only on his body and watching, so they don't need to wake him up or shine light in face

Hand sanitizers are used for the obvious purpose of cleaning. I've almost universally seen it worn in a holder attached to the thrust vest shoulder strap . . . I'm not sure how they would be worn with a conceal able vest


Another interesting tool that may be encountered is the 911 tool. This is like a pocket knife with a curved blade and hooked point, but the inside of the curve and hook is sharp. It's designed to slip under a noose and cut down someone that is hangling without cutting them

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by clu2415

According to HT, the M4A1 has ACC 4 while the M16A1 has 5. I guess this is due to the shorter sight radius? More accurate barrels are about how carefully the barrel is machined. You can have an 8-10" barrel made with the same mechanical accuracy as a sniper rifle. Barrel length affects velocity, so at long range you will deliver less energy and have a longer bullet flight time (harder to hit moving targets).

GURPS Acc is not just mechanical accuracy, but is meant to reflect adventuring utility, so I've always imagined that reduced velocity was a factor in lower Acc for carbines over rifles.

Originally Posted by clu2415

A 16" barrelled AR-15 can use a 14-15" long railed hanguard and have the same sight radius as a 20" barrel M16A1, and using a scope makes the sight radius superfluous anyway. Without knowing exactly why the M4 got docked a point of accuracy, I don't know what you can do to or if you can get that back.

I've never much liked the fact that GURPS makes full-sized M16/AR-15 rifles so much more effective than carbines in combat, even combat at short ranges like 20-100 yds, due to the Acc 5 over Acc 4.

At typical combat ranges, mechanical accuracy is pretty much irrelevant, but ergonomics matter. Pretty much any longarm is accurate enough for torso, chest, vitals or even head shots at up to 100 yds and having sub-MOA accuracy won't help much in a firefight at 25 yards.

In GURPS, though, center mass shots at 25 yards after a second of Aim are easier with an M16 than with an M4 and much easier with an M16 rifle than with a wartime M1928A1 Thompson. A normal skill 12 user will hit around 50% of the time with the rifle, 37% of the time with an M4 and 25% of the time with a Thompson.

It gets worse if you put a 10x scope on the weapons and allow three seconds of Aim for a head shot at 70 yds. An experienced operator with skill 16 will hit 83% of the time with the M16, 63% of the time with an M4 and 37% of the time with the Thompson.

The undeniable differences in mechanical accuracy between these weapons probably won't make that much difference at such short ranges. And in the case of the M4, the mechanical accuracy is barely any worse.

I'll grant that flat-shooting trajectories make it much easier to shoot accurately and velocity therefore makes quite a bit of difference. On the other hand, from what I can tell, both the M16 and M4 are shooting pretty flat at such short ranges anyway.

Originally Posted by clu2415

However, high quality barrels for AR-15s are all over the place and replacement trigger groups are everywhere. A high grade trigger like a Jewell or Geisselle talong with a high quality barrel from someone like White Oak Armament, Wilson Combat, or Krieger would definitely get you +1 ACC. That's basically what the US's SDM-R is. $1600 is reasonable for a complete rifle with an adjustable stock, comfy grip, etc, but just a barrel and trigger group would cost way less than that and provide the majority of the improvement. $6-700 is definitely doable for an upgrade to an AR-15, but for any other gun you're looking at a lot more.

+1 Acc is a fairly significant improvement, as it results in doubling effective range when you account for the fact that Acc also limits any extra bonuses for Aim. I guess I'm wondering whether improvements to mechanical accuracy are enough to justify it if you're also losing some velocity through a barrel shorter than 20".

I'm concerned that I haven't seen any firearm written up in GURPS receive stats like this. None of the FN-SCAR, HK416, Rock River LAR-15 or Barrett REC7 carbines are given higher than Acc 4 in GURPS. I have never seen a carbine written up as Fine (Accurate) in an official GURPS product.

It seems that the GURPS rules, at least, assume that making carbines equally accurate for practical purposes as rifles at typical combat ranges is either difficult, expensive or otherwise impractical, as it seems that none of the end-users who are buying fancy tactical rifles are doing it.

[Icelander]

I can find pictures of FPS personnel with M4 rifles easily enough and it looks like they often carry it with an EOTech holographic weapon sight. Does anyone know what other accessories the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) buys for AR15/M16/M4 weapons?

What kind of weapon lights do they buy? I think that the DHS buys Koehler and Streamlight Polytac tactical flashlights, but I don't know what they'd mount on an M4.

Would they have a foregrip mounted? If so, what model or manufacturer?

Movies and television shows often show DHS personnel and even specifically FPS with full-length Daniel Defence RIS rails, but I don't know if that's accurate or if that just makes the gun looks better on screen.

What kind of night vision would be available, if any?

[Icelander]

Has the current US Army sniper rifle, the M2010 ESR .300 Win Mag been statted in a GURPS supplement somewhere?

I can estimate the Dmg and Range stats pretty well from the AWM-F/G22 in .300 Win Mag on HT p. 119, though the M2010 has a 24" barrel to the 26" barrel of the AWM-F, which might knock a point of the damage and a few yards of the range. Or not, as the 20" barrel FN BAR Magnum only does 1 point less Dmg than the 26" version.

The Acc is probably 6. Rcl is given in HT as 2 for a 20 lbs. rifle, 4 for a 8.8 lbs. rifle, which means that Rcl 3 sounds like a fair value for something with a Weight between those extremes.

I'm not sure whether the 12.1 lbs. weight that Remington cites is for the empty or loaded rifle. Nor do I know whether any accessories are included.

For that matter, I'm not sure whether the Weight 13.4 lbs. listed for the M24 in HT p. 116 include the scope and bipod or not.

[Icelander]

Imagine a character, called 'Tex', the strong silent Western type, wears a Stetson on occasion, likes leather boots. He originally came from the 101st Airborne and was an operator in 1st SFOD-D/CAG/Delta Force between 1998 and 2001.

He is technically still part of the US Army in our game, which is set in February 2017, but he's now an officer and belongs to a very secret intelligence unit set up to support JSOC operations with actionable intelligence. This special operations intelligence unit has in the past been referred to or designed as FOG/ISA/Grantor Shadow/Centra Spike/Torn Victor/Grey Fox/Orange/MSA, is jokingly known as 'The Army of Northern Virginia', but may be most familiar to people as 'the Activity'.

While an operator at CAG, Tex developed a strong preference for .45 ACP pistols over 9mm pistols, especially becoming a partisan of gunsmithed Colt 1911 models. He retains this preference to the current day. As the Activity comes under JSOC and Tex is an experienced Captain with a close relationship with numerous senior officers, often chosen for missions even more clandestine than 'ordinary' special operations, I figure that Tex is likely to be able to indulge his fancy even if his fellow operators often just carry Glocks.

In game terms, I want him to carry a Fine (Accurate and Reliable) Colt 1911 with which he has a Weapon Bond.

It should have an 8-rd magazine and be capable of running +P .45 ACP ammunication without issues. Obviously, it should be reliable with standard issue GI .45 ACP ball ammo, fancy match ammunition, several different kinds of JHP or other top-of-the-line commerical ammunition and anything else he might need to cycle through it.

A beveled magazine well sounds like a nice addition, unless there are real world problems with having that feature on a carry gun.

It should ideally be usable with a suppressor, which I think precludes a compensator. I think the action of the 1911 cycles poorly with a suppressor, but there are presumably modern gunsmithing solutions to that problem. Does anyone know what they are? If there are special parts you buy? From whom?

I'd like help from the forumites in identifying real-world manufacturers for parts in such a custom gun. It should be recognisably inspired by what Delta Force/CAG was using around 1998-2001, but it's been personally modified for Tex. Tex has Armoury (Smallarms) -14, so any minor modifications and maintenence he can do himself.

The weapon is meant to be his one and only sidearm, meaning it has to be a comfortable carry gun, but it would be good for it to be as capable as possible for any tactical role. He won't put bulky accessories on it and make it into some kind of Frankengun, but anything useful that won't really make it any heavier or bulkier than a typical custom 1911 ought to be considered.

If Tex expects an actual firefight, he'll carry a longarm, of course. But as he is functionally as much intelligence officer as he is a soldier, he is very often undercover in civilian clothing, where carrying any kind of longarm would not always fit his cover. So he's gotten very used to having to rely on his sidearm in all kinds of hairy situations.

Many people in his position prefer a Personal Defence Weapon (PDW) of some kind, a MP7A2 or a Honey Badger AAC, but Tex, while ruthlessly practical about most things, is a fully paid up member of the Cult of the Colt Forty-Five, though his sect does at least allow gunsmithing and custom builds.

I'm sure some forumites are fans of custom 1911s. It's a fairly popular gun for collectors and hobby shooters. What kind of gunsmithing would forumites do with one if they had a pretty sizable budget? I mean, maybe not infinite, but at least $2,500+.

I was thinking Caspian frames and slides. A custom trigger, maybe Wilson Combat.

Who should make his magazines?

What kind of sights?

Should the weapon have accessory rails and if so, what kind?

Edit:

This is apparently one attempt to build an 1911 similar to that used by SMU under JSOC at a sligthly later date than 1998-2001.

I'd want to use slightly different components, but it's a good start.

List of components:
World War II Colt GI 1911A1 frame
Ed Brown Memory Grove grip safety
Ed Brown Ambi thumb safety
Ed Brown strong side safety
Ed Brown extended mag release
Ed Brown standard mag release
Ed Brown National Match trigger
Maryland Gun Works sear and hammer
One pair of Maryland Gun Works GI plastic style ambi cut grips (issued item)
One set, Pachmayer Grips (issued Item)
*user installed non issued VZ grips (as pictured)
GI 1911A1 mainspring housing with lanyard loop (modified to smooth 1911 style)
Smith & Alexander mainspring housing with lanyard loop and mag guide
Caspian slide with Novak sights
Two each, TZ ( Israel Military Industries) National Match grade barrels and National Matich bushings both fitted to pistol
Two Ed Brown slide stops
Two military spec firing pins
Two firing pin stops
Two recoil springs
One starlight hard case for transport
One soft side side case to store mags, pistol and cleaning kit and small parts
Eight Wilson type 47 mags
One cleaning kit
Take down tool kit
One GI field lanyard
One pistol lease. telephone cord syle.

[clu2415]

A handgun will have only one accessory rail located under the barrel. That would carry a weapon light. He would want tritium sights for visibility at night, possibly suppressor height depending on the size of his suppressor. A micro red dot is also an option.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by clu2415

A handgun will have only one accessory rail located under the barrel. That would carry a weapon light.

The SureFire X400V IRc is apparently popular in that role. Of course, it's a pretty bulky item, about as big as the 90s era AN/PEQ-6 LAM for the Mk 23 pistol. It's also less capable than the older device in at least one way, in that it does not include a visible laser.

Let's assume that Tex feels that the the X400V is too bulky for day-to-day carry. Is there anything smaller that would still include visible light that would be effective within 25 yards and a visible laser good for at least 50 yards? Any IR capability would be a nice bonus, but not something to add bulk over.

Originally Posted by clu2415

He would want tritium sights for visibility at night, possibly suppressor height depending on the size of his suppressor.

Novak makes good tritium sights and he'd be used to them.

Originally Posted by clu2415

A micro red dot is also an option.

Replacing the conventional sights would not appeal to Tex. Some Googling tells me that alternatives to that are usually fairly bulky. Not -1 Bulk penalty to handling bulky, but might realistically have a slight penalty to Fast-Draw from a carry holster and even be one of the things that make Holdout more difficult. For his primary carry gun, even while undercover, that's not going to fly.

I'm assuming that Tex will own something similar to the ALG Defense 6-Second Mount that will allow him to mount a SureFire X400V IRc and an Aimpoint Micro for situations where he'll be carrying his pistol openly.

For daily carry, however, he'll need to go without these extras, unless I can find a micro red dot that does not impair Fast-Draw or Holdout in any way and does not interfere in any way with backup use of the conventional sights. No sight that I recall comes to mind, but this is an area with a lot of development going on every year, so I'd welcome suggestions.

[Icelander]

As the AK-47/AKM already has Acc 4 in its typical barrel length around 16", I'm guessing that going down to ca 12.25" wouldn't impose a further Acc penalty. I think every other modern combat carbine with a barrel in that length range is Acc 4.

This receives some support from the fact that a weapon chambering the same 7.62x39mm ammunition, the custom-made Vietnam-era 'SOG RPD', is given Acc 4 with a 10" barrel in Tactical Shooting p. 66. It isn't noted as being Fine (Accurate) and, in fact, seems to have been made by cutting down the barrel and resighting the weapon, without even adding a new flash hider or anything. Granted, that did drop Acc 5 down to Acc 4, but it was also going from a barrel sligthly over 20" long to one around 10".

I'm thinking about the stats for a Century Arms Draco pistol. Apparently, it is popular among Mexican cartel gunmen.

Obviously, it lends itself well to gunsmithing, with the possibility of buying it as a legal pistol, adding a folding or retractable stock and converting it to fully-automatic. Regular people or GURPS players would never do this, of course, but cartel gunmen, alas, are less discriminating. Of course, so are some GURPS PCs.

It's even made in fairly nice looking tactical varieties, like the Mini-Draco, that can mount modern accessories.

I think the Draco pistol ought to have Acc 3, like the Thompson Center/Contender firing typical rifle rounds from a 10" barrel. I'll grant that with many chamberings, the Contender is technically more mechanically accurate, but as the Draco is around MOA 3, I think Acc 2 would be too low for it.

It's also a pretty basic principle of GURPS that adding a stock adds +1 Acc and removing one is -1 Acc. If a 12" barrel AKM-type rifle is Acc 4 then a stockless one should be Acc 3.

[clu2415]

For a handgun weapon light, I mean something the size of a Streamlight TLR-1 and for a micro red dot, I mean a Trijicon RMR.

Edit: for AK pistols, see HT p160. Folding a folding stock gives ACC -1, recoil +1, and ST times 1.2. Presumably removing the stock entirely is the same.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by clu2415

For a handgun weapon light, I mean something the size of a Streamlight TLR-1

That's still barely smaller than the military models with IR functionality in addition to the white light. I think Tex would prefer to keep a weapon light for those situations where he's carrying openly and leave it off when carrying concealed.

Originally Posted by clu2415

and for a micro red dot, I mean a Trijicon RMR.

That looks good, but can you still use the iron sights if the batteries run out or the device otherwise malfunctions?

It looks like you might and some red dot sights do allow this, especially if you've got suppressor height iron sights.

The RMR is very small and light, but does it impede concealed carry or fast-draw in any way?

Originally Posted by clu2415

Edit: for AK pistols, see HT p160. Folding a folding stock gives ACC -1, recoil +1, and ST times 1.2. Presumably removing the stock entirely is the same.

Agreed, but before I apply those modifications, I have to establish what the stats of an AK-47 type rifle with a 12.25" barrel are.