Post-apocalyptic TL 5/8

dcarson · 09-19-2013, 09:33 PM

One thing that makes it more Western is lack of a portable power source. They don't have the long range transport to move coal cheaply, oil is scarce, if they have problems growing enough food devoting crops to biodiesel won't make sense. So wood powered trains and horses.

I'd expect weapons to use both black powder and smokeless. You can make black powder on a small scale, nitric acid is a larger industrial base. So it will be available but you can't count on it everywhere and it will cost more. So a rancher or farmer that expects to fire a shot at a time for hunting or varmints will use the cheaper black powder. Someone that expects combat will use the more expensive stuff for lack of smoke to obscure vision and give away your position and barrels that don't foul.

09-19-2013, 09:33 PM	#32
dcarson Join Date: Mar 2008	Re: Post-apocalyptic TL 5/8 One thing that makes it more Western is lack of a portable power source. They don't have the long range transport to move coal cheaply, oil is scarce, if they have problems growing enough food devoting crops to biodiesel won't make sense. So wood powered trains and horses. I'd expect weapons to use both black powder and smokeless. You can make black powder on a small scale, nitric acid is a larger industrial base. So it will be available but you can't count on it everywhere and it will cost more. So a rancher or farmer that expects to fire a shot at a time for hunting or varmints will use the cheaper black powder. Someone that expects combat will use the more expensive stuff for lack of smoke to obscure vision and give away your position and barrels that don't foul.