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Originally Posted by johndallman
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Indeed so.
I don't have a clear idea of the relative opportunity costs involved, but it strikes me that maintaining a supply of ammunition is a larger problem than making the firearms themselves, as those can last a couple of generations easily enough. Not to mention that with carefully looted industry meant to bootstrap a whole new society, it's probable that machining work can be done faster than new citizens can be bred, so there's no need to equip any settler with a 'cheap' firearm, as such, though an economical design that makes use of black powder ammo makes sense.
As such, perhaps a version of the Gewehr 1871/84 might be the homesteader weapon of choice. It would certainly be reassuring to the citizens of the New Reich to have ten rounds ready to hand, instead of just one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
You don't want the slaves to be able to acquire anything good by mobbing their overseers, so double-barrel smoothbore shotguns are an alternative, and have the advantage of not needing so much brass for cartridge cases.
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Well, as it happens, only those slaves who require intelligence and initiative will have any possibility of revolt, as any kept merely as strong bodies will be...
managed with other methods.
As a result, the fear of a massive slave revolt is not severe. Of course, for any sane leadership, the risks of the methods used to secure a near-infinite supply of obedient slaves and legions of stormtroopers with absolute
Kadaverhorsamkeit would be considered to far outweigh the benefits, but, well, they
are Nazis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
There will probably also be a small rifle round in use for training and small game hunting.
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Might reloading 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridges with black powder be suitable for that role?
That way, training and hunting weapons can be a more or less exact copy of the Karabiner 98k and even usable with real military ammunition in the event settlers need to defend the Last Redoubt at any point.