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

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by clu2415

Chinese firearms are currently banned in the US after several incidents where Poly Tech and Norinco sold full auto AK-47s to undercover investigators. They also offered surface-to-air missiles, RPGs, grenades, and even armored personnel carriers.

I did not expect the Knight Templars cartel members to have bought their smallarms legally. :-)

In any event, pretty much any firearm is functionally barred to Mexican civilians.* The cartels are armed with firearms bought or stolen from the many police forces and the military, smuggled over the border with the US or Central American countries or smuggled by ship from various places abroad.

There is some evidence that the most modern military-grade weaponry is acquired by having 'friendly' police forces order shiny new weapons in bulk from European companies like H&K and there is every reason to expect that this also happens with manufacturers in other parts of the world.

In this particular instance, the chemical precursors going one way and the iron ore going the other have paperwork, though sometimes of questionable legality, and are more-or-less legally bought. The illegal part are the facts that they either end up somewhere they are not legally supposed to end up or that they were originally obtained by illegal means.

If the weapons are obtained through similar means, it's likely that the Chinese TCN on the other end buy them on the 'grey' arms market from friendly companies, either Chinese or otherwise, using forged end-user certificates.

I am just wondering what that means, exactly, in terms of the precise models that the NPCs that the PCs meet will be carrying.

*They can technically own firearms in non-military calibers, but may not carry them anywhere and the red tape to acquire those few types that are allegedly legal from the sole gun store in the country is legendary.

[(E)]

There was a case in a about 2010 where a shipment of 10,000 weapons was stopped going from China through India, "AK series rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers"

A link for cartel weapons
https://www.wired.com/2012/11/cartel-weapons/

A gang related weapons raid
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...es-SWORDS.html

[acrosome]

I would imagine that Chinese criminals, like almost al others, get their guns wherever they are. It would be too much of a pain to move their own shipments across the Pacific. So I imagine that Chinese operating in North America would have the same guns that North American criminals do. That's probably who they bought them from, anyway.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by acrosome

I would imagine that Chinese criminals, like almost al others, get their guns wherever they are. It would be too much of a pain to move their own shipments across the Pacific. So I imagine that Chinese operating in North America would have the same guns that North American criminals do. That's probably who they bought them from, anyway.

I'm not talking about Chinese criminals carrying the weapons. I'm talking about a Mexican cartel buying large shipments of military weapons from Chinese Transnational Criminal Networks with whom they are trading through the Pacific port of Lázaro Cárdena.

It's confirmed that the Knights Templars cartel had an annual trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars with China and Asia and I can find news reports that part of the back and forth trade was arms shipments, but I can't find any mention of exact models being bought.

[clu2415]

AR-15 rifles with imitation Colt roll marks have shown up in Iraq and Mexico. Those and AK-47s are most likely.

[acrosome]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'm not talking about Chinese criminals carrying the weapons. I'm talking about a Mexican cartel buying large shipments of military weapons from Chinese Transnational Criminal Networks with whom they are trading through the Pacific port of Lázaro Cárdena.

It's confirmed that the Knights Templars cartel had an annual trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars with China and Asia and I can find news reports that part of the back and forth trade was arms shipments, but I can't find any mention of exact models being bought.

Well, then I think you can at least justify a hell of a lot of Type 56 rifles. I had always sort of wondered where those damned things kept coming from- there really is no source on the continent- and despite it's many other flaws the AK design certainly is sexy. I can't imagine that Type 54 or Type 59 pistols would be very attractive to the cartels, but the Chinese AK would, and maybe the QX-04 or QSZ-92, especially in 9mm.

I'd think a QBZ-95 would be less likely, though I can't really articulate why. After all, they are exported, though I think those are all the 5.56mm version. I might find that more believable. If I were a criminal considering the logistics of feeding my firearms those odd Chinese calibers would certainly deter me. And diverting something from an export stream should be easier than stealing from the PLA.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by acrosome

Well, then I think you can at least justify a hell of a lot of Type 56 rifles. I had always sort of wondered where those damned things kept coming from- there really is no source on the continent- and despite it's many other flaws the AK design certainly is sexy. I can't imagine that Type 54 or Type 59 pistols would be very attractive to the cartels, but the Chinese AK would, and maybe the QX-04 or QSZ-92, especially in 9mm.

I'd think a QBZ-95 would be less likely, though I can't really articulate why. After all, they are exported, though I think those are all the 5.56mm version. I might find that more believable. If I were a criminal considering the logistics of feeding my firearms those odd Chinese calibers would certainly deter me. And diverting something from an export stream should be easier than stealing from the PLA.

You are certainly right that odd Chinese calibers are right out. 7.62x39mm and 5.56x45mm are both viable, with ammunition available to the cartels, albeit at fairly high prices per round.

From the perspective of the NPCs involved, they probably want modern assault rifles with provisions for mounting optics and lights. They'd need several marksman's or sniper rifles, as well as a couple of anti-materiel rifles. They'd also want grenade launchers, SAWs or GPMGs and possibly rocket launchers.

It's possible that Type 56s would be good enough for the common soldiers, though, as long as the leaders could get a more modern weapon. Norinco makes an unlicensed copy of the M4A1, which sounds ideal as a platform for grenade launchers and various advanced accessories.

[Icelander]

Combining special operator supersoldier Supers with inhuman skill, hand-eye coordination and ballistic calculation ability with a technothriller-style focus on minor equipment variations leads to thought experiments for tactical niches that don't really apply in the real world.

For example, mechanical accuracy and external ballistics out to extreme range are much more relevant for combat rifles if the shooter technically has the ability to rapid fire head shots at up to a mile, limited only by the precision and effectiveness of his tools.

So, while 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm NATO are realistically plenty for most tactical scenarios calling for rapid shooting, I've been considering semi-automatic tactical rifles chambered for rounds with better long range performance, such as .224 Valkyrie, 6mm Creedmoor, 6x47 Lapua, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47 Lapua, .260 Remington, 7mm Remington Magnum**, .300 RSAUM*, .300 WSM*, .300 Win Mag** or .338 Lapua Magnum**.

I'm wondering what real rifles and chamberings, whether stock, semi-custom or custom, offer the best long range performance from fairly short barrels and semi-automatic actions.

Requirements are ROF 2+, Shots 10+ and Bulk -5 or less, with the real world capability to be used at 800+ yards effectively.

Yeah, I know GURPS RAW doesn't actually distinguish much between the performance of different rifle rounds once they are outside 1/2D Range, but I'm trying to fit technothriller fluff to the capabilities that the rules allow by choosing the best possible tools, even if it't not required by RAW.

Actually, I'd like to get ideas for two distinct tactical roles:

Bulk -4 (barrel length under 16"): CQB to 800+ yards.
Bulk -5 (barrel length 16-24"): Anywhere from typical combat ranges to 1,000+ yards.

I've found plenty of nice 6.5 Creedmoor rifles with barrels from 16.5-24 inches, but I don't know if there are better options out there. And I don't know if there is a better carbine option available than the SR-25K in 7.62x51mm cut down to 14.5-inch barrels, as JSOC did in Afghanistan.

*Last I heard, Delta L problem cartridges which suffer feeding problems, so perhaps not good choices for autoloaders.
**Yes, semi-automatic rifles chambered for these cartridges do exist. Obviously, they are heavy and expensive, but if they feed reliably, they might be just the ticket for well-funded supersoldier designated marksmen or supersoldier snipers.

[Icelander]

Weapons I'm especially interested in statting include:

LaRue Tactical Stealth 2.0 11.5-inch SBR, .224 Valkyrie (or any equivalent upper in same chambering)
A very handy Bulk -4 short-barrelled AR-15 pattern rifle that chambers a round allegedly supersonic and stable out to 1,300 yards from a 24" barrel. I'm primarily interested in loads that allow long-range bullets like the 90 grain Gold Medal Sierra Match King to be chambered in (and hopefully feed reliably from) a high-capacity magazine.
To stat this new LaRue Tactical offering or a custom-built AR-15 resembling it, I'd need data for .224 Valkyrie performance from shorter barrels. Some rounds, like the 6.5 Grendel, that achieve impressive performance from a 24" barrel lose much of their velocity advantage over heavy bullet .223 Remington loads when fired from short barrels.
If the .224 Valkyrie loses proportionally no more velocity from a shorter barrel than the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO, it might be an interesting round to chamber in carbines and SBRs for inhumanly accurate supersoldiers, who can theoretically shoot tacticool carbines with precision out to longer ranges than most bullets for the 5.56x45mm or even the 7.62x51mm cartridges are ballistically stable.
I'd also be interested in stats for an AR-15 style carbine chambered in the .224 Vakyrie with a slightly longer barrel, 14.5-inch or 16-inch, as a general purpose tactical rifle.

Savage MSR 15 Valkyrie, .224 Valkyrie
See above for the cartridge.
This rifle comes with a 18-inch barrel, but I'd also be interested in carbine or SBR versions of it. Several supersoldiers in the campaign have Armoury (Smallarms) and are used to rebarrelling their own weapons. Of course, I don't know if the gas system would need modification as well, for the rifle to work with a 16-inch or 14.5-inch barrel, to get it down from Bulk -5 to Bulk -4.

JP LRP-07 Long Range Precision Rifle, 6mm Creedmoor
Firing a 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge necked down to 6mm, this rifle is becoming very popular with long range shooters. Accurate, flat-shooting and ballistically stable, especially with 103-105 VLD or ELD-X bullets.
I'm pretty sure that the LRP07 qualifies as Fine (Accurate), but I'm not sure whether it's Fine (Reliable) as well.
The LRP07 comes in any barrel length from 16"-22" and I'd be interested in stats for at least the 16" barrel and the 22" barrel.

Smith & Wesson M&P10, 6.5 Creedmoor
An AR-10 type rifle from Smith & Wesson, chambered for the long range 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 Creedmoor is the choice of many 1,000 yard shooters, both in bolt-actions and, increasingly, in AR-10 type gas guns.

Lewis Machine Tool LM8MWS, 6.5 Creedmoor
The LM8MWS comes chambered in a variety of calibers, including the 6.5 Creedmoor. Stats will be very similar to the M&P10, but it might rate Fine (Accurate).

Wilson Combat Recon Tactical 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor
Comes in 16-inch, 18-inch and 20-inch barrel length. Stats will be similar to the M&P10 and LM8MWS, but I'm not sure whether it rates Fine or not.

[Kalzazz]

Looks like you can get a Browning BAR (The modern semi auto, not the WW2 gun) in .270 Weatherby Magnum

The Remington 7400 can be tricked out in very Tacticool police fashion and can chamber the iconically flat shooting .270 Winchester

You can get the Remington 7615 Police in various calibers including .270 Winchester, and nothing is as Tacticool as that, I mean, has all the awesome of a police pump shotgun but it's a rifle!