The Best That Never Was 2 (Prototypes)

[shrike6]

[Vespers War]

It's me again, in this thread again. If you guessed that means something absurd, you're right! A few years ago, Ian posted a video about an early 20th-century French light punt gun, a rather large shotgun meant for commercial hunting of waterfowl. At .920" caliber and with a 48" barrel, it's a big gun, but a (relatively) modest black powder load and a weight of 14 lbs, 4 oz means it can be shoulder-fired. A cartridge with 216 grains of black powder and 8 ounces of shot is what Ian mentions the gun using, which I converted to 68 pellets of FF (the largest waterfowling shot) and a very roughly guesstimated 40mm long case. As far as I know, there was no slug round, but you know some player's going to want one for the hell of it, so I included its stats.

Darne Canardiere Portatif (23.4x40mm black powder shotgun)
Ammo: 23.4x40mm shell
Wt: 6.46 kg
Mag: 1 round, loaded individually

Slug: ROF SS, Dam 9, Pen 2-4-6, Blk 11, Mag 1i, SS 7, Rng 30
Shot close: ROF SS, Dam 51, Pen Nil, Blk 11, Mag 1i, SS 7, Rng 30
Shot med: ROF 5x13/1x3, Dam 1, Pen Nil, Blk 11, Mag 1i, SS 7, Rng 30

This is actually not as absurd as the gun could be - with the smallest shot for waterfowl, T, it would have roughly 102-103 pellets per cartridge and still have enough energy for each to be Dam 1, so at close range it would be Dam 68 and at medium range the ROF would be 5x20/1x3.

[Vespers War]

I've got another weapon Gun Jesus has done videos on that I don't think Paul's got on his website. It's a submachine gun, chambered for 9mm Parabellum, developed just after World War 2 to use surplus Sten magazines. So far, so conventional.

It's a simplified Sten. With a bullpup design. And a wood body. No foregrip. No semi-automatic fire. No trigger guard. No sights. Yes, it's the wacky and WTF-inducing Viper Mark I.

Because of the utterly bizarre firing method, I went with a range halfway between a bullpup and a pistol of otherwise identical configurations. The buttstock under the shoulder should give a more solid anchor than a pistol, but the lack of a handgrip for a third point of contact and the complete lack of sights make it less effective than a rifle. Also, this gun can only take Quick Shots, not Aimed Shots. It uses a shortened Sten magazine because the full-length magazine was unwieldy with this design, but as far as I know there's no physical reason it can't use the 32-round magazine.

Viper Mk.I (9x19mm Parabellum)
Wt 2.1 kg, ROF 5 (no SA), Dam 2, Pen 1-Nil, Blk 4, Mag 20, SS N/A, Brst 5, Rng 40

The Viper Mk.III is somewhat more conventional, with a metal body, normal buttstock, and sights. It also switched from a Sten magazine to an MP40 magazine. A push-through lever/button takes the gun from safe through semi-auto to automatic fire. It had screw-off barrels in 4.7", 6", and 7.5" lengths. The stats below are with the 7.5" barrel.

Viper Mk.III (9x19mm Parabellum)
Wt 2.21 kg, ROF 5, Dam 2, Pen 1-Nil, Blk 4, Mag 32, SS 2, Brst 5, Rng 60



ETA: I think these work particularly well as examples of things that might be produced during the fragmented years when isolated areas are trying to produce firearms for self defense, particularly the Mark I. What's essential (the receiver; the barrel; the trigger system) is simple but effective, and what's not essential (the shell; sights; safeties; selective fire) use non-strategic materials or are simply eliminated. It's almost a real-world equivalent of the M-16EZ, using spare parts to create a gun that's crude but better than nothing.

[shrike6]

http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product4492.html
https://tanknutdave.com/brazilian-eet4-ogum/

[Raellus]

Check out this jumbo hydrofoil.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...uan-hydrofoils

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[Vespers War]

During these plague times, the Royal Armouries has started up a few video series on YouTube, including one with Jonathan Ferguson, the Master of Firearms and Artillery. Back in March, he took a look at a Treeby Chain Rifle, a .50 caliber rifle that used a chain of 14 chambers revolving around sprockets instead of a conventional revolver cylinder. It didn't have quite enough information to go on, but way back in the 1950s one had been test-fired for its centennial and written about in Guns magazine. This had enough information to put together a rough set of statistics for the gun.

The most interesting feature is that it seals the gap between chamber and barrel by moving the barrel using a threaded sleeve controlled by a handle. This means the firing procedure is slightly more complex than usual. The lever is rotated so the barrel moves forward. Cocking the hammer then rotates a chamber into battery. The lever is then rotated back so the barrel slides over the tapered front of the chamber, and the gun can be fired. This added complication is likely why it was never ordered by the military, despite the weapon apparently working flawlessly in trials. Reloading is slightly slow because it uses loose powder and a ball inserted from the front and a cap placed on the back of the chamber, similar to an Agar (Coffee Mill) machine gun or the earliest Gatlings. Tests were done with a 30-chamber Treeby that apparently also worked well. It was able to fire all 30 shots in a minute, so the seemingly awkward barrel action didn't slow it significantly, albeit with a practiced shooter. In Tommy's hands, it likely would have had significant issues with firing without sealing.

Treeby Chain Rifle (12.7x44.5mm BP Ball)
Wt 4.8 kg, ROF SAR, Rld 2 per chamber, Mag 14, Dam 2, Pen Nil, Bulk 7, SS 1, Rng 75

[Raellus]

Sounds like this was more like the worst than the best, but maybe an improved version might find it's way into the Twilight War.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-didnt-go-well

On a slightly related side note, as a kid, I really wanted the G.I. Joe hovercraft. That thing was so boss.

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