Ammo reloading

[Legbreaker]

While reloading, or even fabrication of larger rounds may be possible, I'd be limiting it to solid projectile types only - there's just too much complexity in even a HE round for a backyard operation to do it safely.

Larger operations, such as the Wojo plant in Krakow could certainly manage most conventional munitions, especially the simpler ones, but anything with electronics or less than common materials/components would be an extreme rarity.

Post exchange munitions could be expected to have a much higher failure rate. I beleive even in the highly industrialized production lines of WWI, some artillery rounds had a failure rate (detonation rather than firing) as high as one in three. Rounds produced in 2000 using home workshops and the like could be even worse.

Bear in mind that WWI munitions were also EXTREMELY simple in comparison to modern day, or even 1950's rounds. From the 90mm reloading description, it sounds as if these rounds were also very simple - a case, propellant and solid projectile - no fuses, etc to worry about.

[headquarters]

For a formula - make it easy on your self -say they start out by hand and improvised tools as the starting level and that equals x shells a day and later they can upgrade from theer by capturing gear ,materials and people that know how etc .

I would stress the increased chance of misfire with rounds that have been reloaded to much or improperly - but thats just me..

Lack of ammo leads to creativity and ---

did you consider blackpowder weapons ? As offensive weapons they would lack efficiency -but used in static defense ,blackpowder cannon or mortars could be nasty.

In the T2K world they could have electrical ignition and motorized transport to move about the firing positions.

RThe brits actually used blackpowder mortars -some trench made- against the Germans up until I believe 1916 .

It doesnt really matter to the grunt wether the mortar that launched the round that just peppered his legs and groin with shrapnel was a modern or arcahic model.

Blackpowder is much easier to make than modern smokeless /nitrated powders.ANyone could do it pretty much ,and making a one -shot "claymore like" "gun" or AP device is not hard either.

As a supplement to the weaponry in the campaign -or as the mainstay as rounds run out..those brass casings are difficult to make for automatic weapons because of tolerance limits..and they do reload app 10 times or so ..but as they near the end of useful life and there are few new to be had -a .44 bp revolver might seem like a good choice -at least to take the "cheap shots" .

Bear in mind that some military deliberately make their shells unsuitable for reloading -they have all the ammo they want ,but they dont want anyone else picking up shells and reloading and turning this against them later .I believe that the Swedish Army -among others-still use a berdan type primer that is unpractical to reload in their 5.56 rounds.

[Rupert Willies]

As a side note, FMDeCorba actually built, and routinely shoots a black powder cannon. He uses it for art projects, firing paint filled projectiles. Check out his signature for pictures.

And he once shot a half litre bottle full of paint through the wall of his atelier and into the next office, where it exploded and covered the unlucky fellow sitting there in red paint. A glorious moment in time for performance art! I wish I could have been there to see it.

[kalos72]

Bringing up an older topic here...

What makes black powder a poor choice for automatic weapon reloading? I seem to recall some one saying its because the charge may sometimes not have enough energy to eject the case from the last round. Is that correct?

Would it work better in a bolt action rifle for example? What other kinds of weapons?

And does anyone have any sources for game stats on the old school black powder cannons/mortars that I can see?

[Targan]

Black powder burns real dirty. It would foul up the works in an auto/semi auto action pretty fast. Whether or not it would eject a spent case would depend a lot on the action (blowback or gas piston etc).

[jester]

Yeah, Blackpowder would not be a good option in weapons like the M16 series due to its high carbon and corosive characteristics.

I remember accounts of the American Civil War where soldiers at Little Round Top could no longer fire their muzzle loading rifles due to them being so badly fouled with carbon from their firing. Something to think about. If a uzzle loader gets so clogged with blackpowder after probably 40 or 50 rounds what would it be like with a closed system auto or semi auto weapon?

I would guess that it could work in simple blowback and recoil weapons as most of the powder residue goes out the muzzle and there is no system to get clogged.

Bolt action and lever action weapons were originaly fired using blackpowder.

And I would venture to guess that a system as robust with large gas ports and used to firing corosive ammo like the SKS would still function for a few magazines before the carbon build up caused the weapon to jam.

Also, keep this in mind, the cartridges

30-30 Winchester was the type of cartridge loading it meant a 30 caliber bullet with 30 grains of blackpowder.

30-40 Krag, 30 caliber projectile with 40 grains of blackpowder <this caliber was modernized with a rimless casing and modern smokeless powder into the 30-06 round>

Those are some examples and the Mosin Nagants, Mausers and Enfields all were originaly designed to fire using blackpowder or cordite. So, I hope that gives you some ideas.

Oh yeah and also the old gatling guns would work a bit better as their tolerances weren't as tight as modern machineguns, more open so more carbon escaped, they fired slower, and the multiple barrels would allow you fire longer than a modern machinegun.

I would also venture to guess that many of the earlier machineguns would be able to fire using blackpowder, the Russian Maxims since Russian stuff is always crube but reliable, and the old Colt M1898 machinegun aka "the potato digger" since it was orignaly chambered for the 30-40 Krag a blackpowder round.

Of course finding such weapons and the ammo to fire them could pose a problem.

[WallShadow]

What about reloading 40mm grenades? Obviously the spin-activated fuse is going to be a real pain to try to replicate, but buckshot, flechette, flare, chem (CS) and a crude HE-with-impact-fuse grenade might be accomplished, if Wojo hasn't blown up his factory again this week.
There is also another little curiosity called a 40mm beehive round, in which a steel cartridge-shaped block is machined for 10 to 18 .22 caliber rounds, all of which are triggered at once (not sure how that's managed, though).

On a completely different topic, I would love to see an old-fashioned Gatling gun of new manufacture chambered for 12 gauge shotgun shells, reloaded with Slug-and-ball, or buck-and ball for simplicity's sake. Take 6-12 heavy duty shotgun barrels, mount them in a cylinder with the breaches attached, machine the gearing, mount it on a tripod/small cart with an armored shield and extra ammo storage boxes. Not a whole lot of range, but lots of output. Imagine that beast opening up on a swarm of attackers assaulting your rubble-wall strongpoint, or fools trying to board the Wisla Krolova or the Constitution!
And for the zombie holocaust, just add an electric motor.... who needs an assault shotgun? BRRROOONNNNNNNNKKKKKKKK!

I wonder what loading it with bird shot rounds would do?

BTW, speaking of a gatling's sound, I once heard A-10s doing night firing runs with their 30mm Gatlings at Fort Indiantown Gap' firing range whiie I was there doing reenactor Military Police watch duty during a Battle of the Bulge reenactment. It sounded to my fertile imagination like dragons' love calls, kinda eerie coming out of night sky and echoing off the hills.