[email removed] (Mark Urbin) wrote:
> I just dug into the small arms section of FF&S. ... Could someone in the
know please list some other stats for popular rounds?
Sure Mark! By the way, some tips for all of you:
FF&S small arms design tip #1 - Converting Real World Cartridges.
In general, converting rounds to FF&S using the cartridge dimensions doesn't
work very well. In the real world, cartridge dimensions and nominal muzzle
energy are (of course) related, but in the there is a much greater variation
of cartridge size and shape than FF&S recognises (for example, necked pistol
cartridges that FF&S treats as straight), and amount of powder actually loaded
(you don't have to fill the case to maxiumu capacity), and even types of
powder (each different powder has different burning characteristics). All of
these factors affect the practical amount of energy you can get out of the
cartridge when fired from a real gun.
The *best* way to "design" a specific weapon in FF&S is to arrange the
actual muzzle energy of your designed weapon to match the actual muzzle
energy of the model "real world" weapon. Work the cartridge design backward
from there, and the weapon design forward from that point. This is,
however, a large pain in the posterior to *do* (I'm working on deriving some
formulas to make it easier - more later!). Another tactic would be to use
the real world weapon information (you'll need muzzle energy, loaded mass,
and a few other statistics) and compute only those game statistics you need
(like damage, penetration, and recoil values) from FF&S formulae. In this
case, you will have rated a 100% real weapon for Traveller.
The next best (and much easier) method is to design a cartridge that yeilds
an "average" energy about what the published energy is for the real world
round that you want to duplicate. This is easier, but introduces some small
error (because the FF&S "average" barrel length will nearly never match the
length of the standard test barrels that the real world manufacturer uses to
rate the ammunition).
FF&S small arms design tip #2 - Don't Sweat It.
FF&S (and the T:TNE role-playing system in general) paints small arms with a
pretty broad brush. The differences between roughly comparable real world
small arms is more-or-less negligable when designing weapons in FF&S. All
weapons with about the same energy will come out about the same mass, and
with about the same penetration and damage. The rest is just "color":
"Well, the InStellArms R-352 'Lacerator' is a bull-pup design with integral
optic sight; it's certainly adequate, but notice the superior design and
quality construction on our MegaKillCo IIW-321 'Mauler', which is very
similar in features and price."
FF&S small arms design tip #3 - Use the Breakpoints, Use the Breakpoints!
If you look at the formula for damage, and the table which is used to find
penetration, you will see that certain energies will produce the most damage
or penetration for the least muzzle energy (and since just about everything
in the FF&S small arms sequence is based on energy, this translates into a
lighter, cheaper weapon). There's nothing wrong (and lots of things right)
about 'tweaking' a design up or down a few percent to take advantage of a
favorable breakpoint (and yes, there are energies which are particularly
inefficient, and tweaking down is more practical than tweaking up).
Now, here's a table that gives dimensions in mm, and the "common name" of
just about every round that was readily available for research. You can
figure out the diameter in inches by dividing the size in mm by 25.4 (this
is an exact conversion). I also listed some of the more common weapons that
use this ammunition, in the hopes that either the common name or a weapon name
would provide a memory handle you can use to relate everything. Pistol and
rifle rounds are listed together on the list; you will notice that pistols
generally have shorter cartridges, though.
Designation Energy Name Used In
XM645 Flechette 16.9 XM645 0.07 flechette XM19 SPIW
4.6x36mm 2.0 (unknown) H&K 36
4.7x21mmC 3.0 4.7mm Caseless Heckler & Koch G-11
5.45x39mm 2.9 (unknown) AKS-74
5.56x29mm 1.1 .22 SCAMP Colt SCAMP
5.56x36mm 2.2 .221 Fireball Remington XP-100
5.56x45mm 3.7 .223 Remington M16A1, FN-CAL, Galil ARM
5.7x17mmR 0.3 .22 Long Rifle High Standard .22, AR-7
5.7x24.5mmR 0.7 .22 Magnum High Standard Derringer
6.35x15.5mmSR 0.2 .25 ACP or .25 Auto Colt .25 Automatic
7.62x25mm 1.1 .30 Mauser Mauser M1896, Tokarev M1933
7.62x33mm 2.5 .30 Carbine M2 Carbine
7.62x39mm 4.1 7.62 Short SKS, AK-47, AKM-47, RPD, RPK
7.62x51mmR 5.4 .30-30 Winchester 94
7.62x51mm 7.1 7.62 NATO or .308 Win M-14, FN-FAL, L42A1, G-3, M60
7.62x54mmR 7.5 7.62mm Russian SVD, SG-43, PKM, Vz-59
7.62x63mm 7.1 .30-06 Springfield M1903, M1 Garand
7.62x66mmB 10.6 .300 Winchester Magnum Walther WA-2000
7.65x17mmSR 0.4 .32 ACP or .32 Auto Welrod "Silent", Vz-61
7.7x56mmR 6.4 .303 British Enfield, Vickers, Lewis, Bren
7.7x58mm 5.9 7.7mm Arisaka Arisaka M99 (WWII Japanese)
7.92x33mm 4.1 7.92 Kurz MP-44
7.92x57mm 7.6 8mm Mauser Kar-98k, FG-42, MG-08, MG-34
8x21mm 0.7 8mm Nambu Type 14 Nambu (WWII Japanese)
9x17mm 0.5 .380 Auto or 9mm Short Walther PPK, Ingram M11
9x18mm 0.8 9mm Makarov P64, Makarov, Stechkin, PM-63
9x19mm 1.0 9mm Parabellum (9mmP) Luger P-08, S&W M39, UZI
9x29mmR 0.6 .38 Special or .38 S&W Colt Police Positive
9x33mmR 2.1 .357 Magnum S&W M27, Colt Python
10.8x33mmR 2.2 .44-40 Winchester M1873
10.97x33mmR 3.2 .44 Magnum S&W M29 "Dirty Harry"
11.2x32mm 3.2 .44 Automag .44 Automag
11.43x29mmR 0.6 .445 Webley W-F Self-Cocking Revolver
11.43x23mm 1.0 .45 ACP or .45 Auto Colt M1911A1, Thompson SMG
11.43x60mmR 5.4 .45 Martini Martini-Henry Mk.I
11.56x33mmR 1.2 .45 Colt Colt M1873
11.6x54mmR 4.6 .45-70 Springfield Trapdoor
11.6x63.5mmB 14.1 .458 Winchester Magnum Winchester M70 African
11.6x74mmB 22.7 .460 Wetherby Magnum .460 Weatherby Mk.V
12.7x83mmR 8.0 .50-140 Sharps Sharps M1874 "Buffalo Rifle"
12.7x99mmB 34.9 .50 Browning .50 Cal M2HB
12.7x108mmB 34.7 Type BZ DshK M38/46 (Russan Heavy MG)
13.9x22mmR 3.1 .56/50 Spencer Spencer .56 (1st US metal cart)
13.9x99mmB 48.6 .55 Boys .55 Boys Mk.I
14.45x114mmB 63.1 Type BS-41 PTRS-41, KPV
15.7x76mmR 23.6 .600 Nitro Express .600 Nitro Rifle "Elephant Gun"
The "Designation" follows the NATO standard for such things, and is simply
the diameter of the projectile by the length of the cartridge case, both
measured in millimeters. So, the .357 Magnum is 9mm in diameter, and the
cartridge case is 33mm long. The letters at the end of the designation
indicate the style of the rim at the base of the cartridge. No letter is
a standard rimless cartridge as used in most modern designs (rimless
cartridges feed better through belts and magazines). A "R" indicates a
rimmed cartridge, which is a very old style and commonly found only in
revolvers. "SR" indicates a semi-rimmed round; this is a compromise between
the easier extraction of a rimmed case and the easier feeding of the rimless
design. A "B" indicates a belted case, used on very powerful rounds to
give the cartridge extra strength. And last (but not least) a "C" indicates
a caseless round.
The "Energy" is in thousands of joules (kilojoules, or kj).
The "Name" is the common name of the round. "ACP" stands for "Automatic
Colt Pistol", used in several different calibers of automatic pistol
ammunition (the Colt "Government" .45 Auto is .45 ACP). Decimal numbers are
fractions of an inch, the usual non-metric way of measuring a weapon's
caliber.
The "Used In" column mentions some (but by no means all) weapons which fire
the ammunition. Note that some weapons are available in different calibers,
either from the factory, or due to conversion kits, or because some
ammunition is "upward compatible". One example if this is .38 Special and
.357 Magnum. Revolvers chambered for .357 Magnum can also fire .38 Special
(but *NOT* the other way around!).
Comments: a couple of rounds on there aren't in production, or are from
experimental or developmental weapons. The XM645 was for an experimental
rifle developed during the 1960's. While not a practical weapon, it could
be taken as an indication of what Gauss weapons should be capable of.
Similarly, the G-11 caseless round has been changed since my reference has
been published, but I don't have newer data.
Source: _The Armory_, by Kevin Dockery. Kevin has a new book on small arms
available; it should be in game stores now. This book (I haven't read it
yet - FF&S is taking priority) appears to have enough data to convert any of
the weapons listed to T:TNE.
[email removed]
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"Have you noticed the way people's intelligence
capabilities decline the sharply the minute
they start waving guns around?" --- Doctor Who