Antarctic Space Nazis Across the Multiverse

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Might reloading 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridges with black powder be suitable for that role?

There are several problems with that.

You often need a different kind of rifling for a gun barrel to last for a long time with smokeless powder, to the kind you want with black powder.

You can use cast lead bullets with black powder fairly easily, but the velocity you can easily get with smokeless demands jacketed bullets.

You can't get black powder rounds to have the same velocity as smokeless, unless you deliberately underpower your smokeless, which means the rifles need different sights, and any confusion with the ammunition means you will miss a lot.

The cleaning regimes for black powder and smokeless aren't the same, and confusion there ruins guns. I suspect gun oil may often be in short supply.

Training rifles are usually .22LR calibre, because they have much less recoil, which makes it easier to teach the basics of shooting. That sort of calibre is also good for light hunting.