Machineguns fire mode.

[Legbreaker]

Having an assistant gunner can either be a blessing, or a curse you wouldn't wish on your worse enemy.

During my time with the M60, I invariably ended up with the later - somebody of little more use than an ammo carrier. Another gunner in my plattoon got extremely lucky and was paired up with a natural No2. Even with only the basic training they worked as a finely tuned machine from the very first moment, instinctively reacting to, even before the other.

With a good No 2, drills barely take more than a few heartbeats. With a crappy one often times the gunner has to scream for them to get close enough so they can grab the spare barrel/ammo/etc and then get on with the job themselves....

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Having an assistant gunner can either be a blessing, or a curse you wouldn't wish on your worse enemy.

That's pretty much true of any assistant, military or otherwise...

What's worse is when you have an assistant that's extremely competent, but is as a person is so odious that you'd like to punch him in the face every time you see him. They you really have a dilemma...

[StainlessSteelCynic]

I recall with the machinegun training we got that it was basically, bursts of 3-5 rounds and change the barrel after every 200 rounds

[Legbreaker]

It depends a lot on the weapon and rate of fire. A rapid rate of say 200+ per minute will require a change about every minute, while a slower rate of say 100 might only need a change every 3-4 minutes even though more rounds have been fired through it.

Note also that it's EXTREMELY rare for a weapon to have more than one spare barrel, so chances are in a heavy battle, the "spare" is still scorching hot when it's put back on the weapon for another turn.

[leonpoi]

I've been using the following rules for a while, maybe they can be of some use:

barrel change - same as changing a belt, 2 actions but the gunner and an assistant can work at the same time to make it one 5s action. This doesn't take into account the ready for the barrel (which the assistant would have done)

spare barrels - for simplicity a spare barrel weighs about 1/3 of the gun weight.

Overheating - an overheated barrel takes 15 minutes before being considered "cool"

The following barrel change rates can be used as a guide:

Automatic rifle / assault rifle change after approx. 200 rnds:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
5	        50	5 min
10	        100	2 min
25	        300	Ruin gun/High Jam chance

Medium MG:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
10	        100	10 min
20	        200	2 min
50	        600	Ruin gun/High Jam chance

Heavy/Autocannon MG:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
15	        200	30 min
25	        300/400 several minutes

[copeab]

Originally Posted by leonpoi

Overheating - an overheated barrel takes 15 minutes before being considered "cool"

Can you speed this up by dropping the barrel in water or spraying it with a fire extinguisher, or would this ruin the barrel?

[leonpoi]

Originally Posted by copeab

Can you speed this up by dropping the barrel in water or spraying it with a fire extinguisher, or would this ruin the barrel?

I don't know if it would ruin it but I've seen it done (dropping it in water). it's still hot so it evaporates off (shooting it with water droplets inside the barrel may damage it?). With water you could cool it in 5-10 seconds I'd think. I guess that this is also the premise behind water-cooled mgs. There are also stories about urinating on the barrel to cool it, putting snow on it, and I guess a fire extinguisher would work.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by copeab

Can you speed this up by dropping the barrel in water or spraying it with a fire extinguisher, or would this ruin the barrel?

I wouldn't drop it in water, but I've never tried or known anyone that's tried a fire extinguisher. In Basic, we were taught that a way you can cool a barrel enough to use it a little while longer is to have 3 or 4 guys piss on it -- so warm water might do the trick.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by leonpoi

I've been using the following rules for a while, maybe they can be of some use:

barrel change - same as changing a belt, 2 actions but the gunner and an assistant can work at the same time to make it one 5s action. This doesn't take into account the ready for the barrel (which the assistant would have done)

spare barrels - for simplicity a spare barrel weighs about 1/3 of the gun weight.

Overheating - an overheated barrel takes 15 minutes before being considered "cool"

The following barrel change rates can be used as a guide:

Automatic rifle / assault rifle change after approx. 200 rnds:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
5	        50	5 min
10	        100	2 min
25	        300	Ruin gun/High Jam chance

Medium MG:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
10	        100	10 min
20	        200	2 min
50	        600	Ruin gun/High Jam chance

Heavy/Autocannon MG:
ROF/turn	RPM	Barrel Change
15	        200	30 min
25	        300/400 several minutes

Ei Leonpoi! Nice table. It seems a very logic House-Rule. And an easy-to-use one. I'll buy it .