Quote:
Originally Posted by Adm.Lee
A GM could assume that the rail /was/ adopted in the buildup to war, maybe some units got them by the US intervention in late '96, maybe most of them by the '97 offensive, but there could still be lots of weapons floating around without them.
You could also assume that they never got standardized in the rush to get more weapons out to the field NOW. I was just reading (again) about the Union Army's opting against breechloaders in 1862, so there's precedent for that kind of decision.
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I totally agree. Here's another real-world example supporting said conclusion. Mass production of the M1 Garand began in 1937, first deliveries to the U.S. military in 1938. That's three years before the U.S.A. officially entered the war, yet many Marine and quite a few regular Army units were still carrying the old M1903 Springfield bolt-action rifle into battle well into 1942.
That's a five-year spread between the beginning of mass production and near universal service. Apply that to the T2K timelines: between new-production and retrofitting, I reckon 60-75% of American M16s and M4 carbines would be sporting Picatinny rails. Yes it would be standard by 1997, but it takes time to replace and/or retrofit every service rifle/carbine, especially when a nation is in the midst of total war.