The 40mm XM576E1 and XM576E2 MP Rounds
 

As many of you well know I have a special affection for Shotguns both in real life and in Twilight2000. As such I have been working on some newer rules for them. This includes developing newer rules for Buckshot in the game. I was doing some research into the various loads for "Buckshot-like (or behaving) ammunition" when I discovered something about the XM576E1 (as 20 pellet center-of-cup loaded 40mm) and its sister round the XM576E2 (a 27 pellet loading spread across the face of the 40mm round only one pellet deep the whole way).

Here's my issue. MULTIPLE SOURCES including Online Sources, my Field Manuals, and the book US Grenade Launchers (ISBN: 978-1-4728-1952-9) all state that the loading is a #4 HARDENED Buckshot Loading weighing 24 grams/370 grains and surrounded by a plastic sabot. My issue with this is that a STANDARD #4 Buckshot Pellet only weighs about 1.3 grams/20.7 grains. The hardened loading is EIGHTEEN TIMES heavier than a normal pellet.

Am I looking at a TOTAL Load Weight (which would be accurate for 20 pellets of #4 Buck) or is this really the weight of a singular pellet which would add SIGNIFICANT weight to the loading and cause that load to be limited to 20 or 27 pellets (in a casing that could easily hold 72 #4 Buckshot Pellets)?

I finally found the answer thanks to the FAS. It is 20 pellets of 24 GRAINS EACH (NOT Grams as Mr. Rottman claims) of high-density (plated) #4 Buckshot INSIDE a plastic Sabot designed to retard spread (like a Full Choke in a shotgun).

Under my system, this gives this round a base range of 20m and 4 To Hit Dice to Roll doing 1D6 DAM for each hit. PEN is nil. I'm surprised it's so low powered (880ft/sec, with only #4 Buck).