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Perfect PC Sidearm

Perfect PC Sidearm


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I said Auto-pistol.... something like an .45 ACP
I don't care about suppressing it
Part of its purpose is to intimidate NPC's who usually don't want to die and can be made to fail morale checks unless they're experienced ( in which case you'd best have something bigger handy anyways )
 
I think we're drifting off the definition of "sidearm" in the original poll, which is just talking about pistols (okay, and "other").

As far as suppressed weapons go, clearly a suppressed gauss pistol will be quieter than an equivalent suppressed CPR pistol. If both are throwing identical slugs at the same subsonic velocities, damage will of course be the same. You're just using an electromagnetic weapon for its lack of flash/bang instead of its potential for higher velocity.

I still prefer dual-magazine snub pistols as a personal (semi-formal dress) side-arm for their versatility, and if you plan to shoot people more than one room away you should have brought a rifle.

Current EMG prototypes have lots of flash and bang to them. I've seen lots of "Gaussian" weapon concepts posted on both Youtube and University websites showing engineering students strut their electrical and mechanical know how by building prototypes. There's usually a loud electrical "snap" or "crack" followed by sparks flying out of the barrel as the projectile leaves. It made me wonder just how viable the Traveller version was supposed to be. Then again it is the 57th century.
 
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Not wanting to start a flamewar here, but as also an ex-military, and LEO who has an HK MP5SD-N1 for, er, certain incidents and training the other LEO's in my county as an instructor I understand what you are saying, but I think you misunderstood me.

By dialing down the velocity of a railgun all you'll achieve is a less effective weapon and reduce the potential for damage at long range. Then why use a longarm? If your target is engaged at rifle ranges then he's not likely to be able to tell where the round is coming from before you hit him anyway so long as you are using good tactics. As for the smoke and flash - well that still only works for spotting (at least in daylight) if you are looking in the right direction when the weapon goes off - and then the shooter (if he has any brains) will be moving to another position if one is available. And we are still only talking about a single shooter firing at ranges beyond 100 yards. And believe me, I fully understand the concept of the differences bullets make when they pass by you.

And since there wouldn't be any gases or bang coming from a railgun baffles wouldn't do anything to reduce the sound. It would still just be a snapping sound easily mistaken for anything other than a gun. My HK is so quiet you only hear the clicking of the bolt as it fires. No muzzle flash. Really nice and all, but it doesn't hit as hard as a regular MP5 or AR carbine since the rounds are subsonic. For anything but close tactical work the thing is zoomy and cool, but I wouldn't trade it for hitting power if I thought the other guy had armor for something that made a louder bang. That would be foolish, which is why I carry the carbine and the MP5SD - different tools for different tasks.

The trade off for a "silent" at the muzzle railgun wouldn't be worth the trouble really, just use it at a longer range, or use better tools for the job.

In game terms it also depends on the rules used: I use Striker which includes range attenuation in the damage potential as well as armor. So the farther away you are the less penetration - more realistic and it puts the need for longarms back in the game. CT rules put range attenuation in the roll to hit only, but allow for maximum potential damage regardless of how far the round had to travel. In my book that unfairly penalizes rifles because it makes them a pain to use at closer ranges, but rewards pistols and carbines for doing a lot of damage at ranges they shouldn't be able to.

I'm in total agreement with you and what you said. But we run into the same problem when discussing sci-fi weapons, since the weapon hasn't been made yet we don't know exactly what the weapons actual charactistic are.

Example: I know from some reading on the subject the Barrett has undergone major refinements since being introducted in the 80's. I've read people first hand experience of people who fired the weapon and the experts reviews of the weapon only to realize, if it wasn't for the muzzle brake on the weapon, it would most likely tear your shoulder off (Joke). The muzzle for the weapon was design to reduce the recoil on the weapon by redirecting the exhaust gases from the exscaping barrel.

Since our imaginary Guass rifle, has to use ballistic characteristics we can only assume some of the same principles must apply. As far as game use goes, control methods such as "full supressing" a weapon cost more and reduces the chances of a player wanting that weapon. Power source is another factor and so on.

If I wanted the ulitmate sniper weapon it would have to be an x-ray laser, but that's for a different thread...
 
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I voted "other".

My favorite used to be the Mertilizer*,
calvin-mertilizer.jpg


But I've since upgraded to the Zorcher**.
15753_183794642858_183786967858_2773904_3738108_n.jpg



* AKA Atomic Napalm Neutralizer, which has settings such as "Shake-n'-Bake", "Medium Well", "Deep Fat Fry" and "Liquefy"

** AKA Death Ray Blaster, a visually similar, but improved weapon... adds "Frappe" setting.
 
It made wonder just how viable the Traveller version was supposed to be.


BG,

A silent or near silent gauss weapon is perfectly viable, actually.

There's an anecdote in one of DGP's later publications involving a chance meeting between a DGP staffer and a DARPA scientist on an airliner. Once the row mates exchanged names and occupations, the DGP staffer eagerly picked the other man's mind for the remainder of the flight.

While I'm sure the DARPA researcher invoked a plethora of provisos, in his opinion a gauss weapon could be designed to be silent.


Regards,
Bill
 
My middle brother basically liked the idea of an 8 guage shotgun in pistol form. (Of course it would tear you're arm off) so I put the limitation of him wearing a battlesuit in order for him to fire the dang thing.

I on the other hand went with an over and under 20 guage shot gun in pistol form. It mostly fire Gyro-jet ammo (James Bond movie name escapes me) but flechette were also used....
 
Well since this thread seems to have return to the land of the living. :)

First, talking about Player Characters I think it is important to note what (if any) combat firearm skill that the character has (from Chargen).

Secondly, If that character has nothing more than Skill level 0, which Pistol would be the easiest for them to actually use (or hit something with other than as a club).

Double action or the no need to cock type pistol would mostly like be best for the PC of the second class.

Then again revolvers are a bit easier to maintain and less chance of misfire, jam or squid (which is when the primer fires but the powder does not most times because there is no powder in the casing).

In this catergory and assuming that some imporvements could be made with it, AND assuming that we are talking close combat, possible ship or room combat and with a character that has skill level 0 AND that you want that character to actually be shooting, I would say a Taurus Judge (or Night Court Judge). It's a 45 Long colt revolver that can handle .410 ammo also.

Assuming higher TL type weapons (ie energy of some sort instead of physical impact, I would want one that shoots mini light sabres. After all they can block blasters, lasers, cut through sheild doors and more. Imagine a pitosl that shot out mini light sabres. Nasty.

Dave Chase
 
I said Auto-pistol.... something like an .45 ACP
I don't care about suppressing it
Part of its purpose is to intimidate NPC's who usually don't want to die and can be made to fail morale checks unless they're experienced ( in which case you'd best have something bigger handy anyways )


Then you need one of these:

The Polymer ONE-SHOT™ TL-8

A different kind of body pistol, the One-Shot (2 shots actually) is a polymer framed handgun 15cm long and weighing 200grams. The twin barrels are both polymer with thin steel liners and rotate along a central post to bring one barrel at a time in line with the striker. The sealed barrels each contain one 9mm round that does not eject when fired. Both rounds are semi-jacketed hollow point.

The trigger is locked in place by a thin plastic tab which the user breaks during the first trigger pull. The round is fired and then the user rotates the second barrel into place manually. The second barrel locks into place to prevent misalignment by use of a simple pin that pops into a hole in the frame. The rounds are actually part of the barrel sleeve itself, so the weapon can't be reused. They are caseless rounds molded into and sealed in the barrel at the factory and fired by the impact of the striker pin on the embedded primer.

Because the barrels are sealed the shelf life is effectively unlimited, though the manufacturer only guarantees the effectiveness of the rounds for one year after purchase. The guns are completely recyclable and when you return it to the store can get a 20% discount on the next one purchased.

The One-Shot™ comes blister-packed and in many colors and has also been marketed in special limited edition collecting lines, such as sport teams, celebrity and fashion designer styling’s.

Price is only 250Cr. at any major sporting goods store, or in the sporting goods section of major department stores.

ONE-SHOT™ - It’s there when you need it!

…another quality firearm by Sternmetal GmbH

Now available for vending machines and starport self-serve kiosks!
Contact your local Sternmetal GmbH factor for franchise information and a fully interactive brochure that explains this incredible profit-making opportunity!

For weapon stats, other than the differences in length, weight, and number of shots per round, the One-Shot is treated as a body pistol. The One-Shot has a damage roll of 3D6-5. Rotating the barrel takes one combat round.

The Original One-Shot was a single barrel disposable polymer gun that used a shotgun round for ammo. That model was phased out because there was a consumer demand for a second round capability due to a lack of skill among the demographic that uses the weapon: mainly those people who feel they need either an “emergency” gun to keep in their glovebox or pocket when in the bad side of town, and those who just need a weapon in a hurry because they left theirs at home for some reason. Considering that the weapon is sold out of vending machines as well as over the counter one can imagine the sort of place these designs found a market in.

The Six-Shot is a more robust weapon that uses an electronic firing system combined with a non-rotating six barrel “magazine” to produce a future take on the old pepperbox pistol. The six barrels are mounted around the battery and fully sealed against the elements. The magazine is snapped onto the grip and trigger group and can then be fired one barrel at a time or all six barrels at once when a stud is pressed on the back of the battery cylinder. Changing magazines takes one combat round.

The Six-Shot is made of the same materials as a body pistol and is consequently undetectable by most weapons detection devices, but, it is closer in size to an autopistol and therefore not as easily concealed as a body pistol.

For Range and Armor DM’s the Six-Shot uses the same ones as a 9mm Autopistol. Damage is 3D6-3 per barrel fired. The barrels may be fired one at a time, or however many unfired barrels are left can be fired simultaneously. When firing more than one barrel at a time there is a -1DM applied for every 2 barrels fired to represent the decrease in handling quality since there is no recoil absorbing mechanic (like a slide) to the weapon. For example, firing all six barrels would incur a -3DM.

The Six-Shot weighs 800 gm loaded, each magazine weighing 300 gm. The length is 175mm. Price is 300Cr. for the grip/trigger group and 15Cr. per magazine.


One-ShotFamily.jpg
 
Well, my fav is robocop's full auto modified Baretta.

I'd post a link, but there's a lot of swearing in the film.
 
My other is the "Alien Blaster" from Fallout.

Actually there is no such thing as a perfect all around weapon. Personally, my PCs have skill with several different weapons so they can use the one that best matches their particular set of circumstances.
 
Revolver, standard or pocket

IIRC, in the OTU practically everyone carries a dagger practically everywhere, and they are legal almost everywhere. I carry this into MTU.

I take "sidearm" to mean pistol, and I think that the standard revolver and body/pocket revolver are the most versatile. Standard lead-bullet rounds are easy to find, and both can also use low velocity tranquilizer rounds without any of the feeding or ejection problems you'd get with semiautos.

Also, IMTU there are more expensive self-contained taser rounds available that work well on everything short of combat armor and battledress. These have already been developed for 12 ga. here and now.

If I have to pick one, I would have to choose the pocket revolver. You could wear it openly where legal, or concealed where necessary.

I have a notion that carrying tranq rounds instead of lead could often be less provoking to local cops and magistrates. "Gee, Officer/Your Honor, I don't want to hurt or kill anyone, but some planets are a little tougher and meaner than the Chamber of Commerce would have you believe. As a merchant/travelling salesperson/whatever, I just never really know what I'm walking into if I haven't been there at least a few times before."

I just can't get behind snub pistols at all. They shoot a projectile at a drastically lower velocity, but have the same effective range as standard revolvers and semiautos? It doesn't make sense. And with HEAP they hit for 4d12, like a shotgun with buckshot? Silly, I think. To be consistent, you'd have to offer HEAP shotgun slugs that would do about 12d12, which would be deadlier than clutching a live grenade to your bare chest.

Also, if HEAP rounds are available for snubs, then why not for every other slug-thrower? And if they are available for all other slug-throwers, then what's the advantage of the snub? It's light, I grant you, but if it's still going to be low-recoil then it has to be very low-velocity, which has to kill range.

Snubs only make sense to me if tranq (or taser) is all they can fire.
 
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I also love the Fallout Alien Blaster. Gotta love a pistol that hits like a flamethrower to twice the range and runs on C-cell batteries...
 
If the snub ammo is standard-velocity, and the snub is light, then it must kick hard, and is not a good zero-g weapon.

Did you forget that snub pistols are firing gyro-jet rounds?

The recoil is negligible and the round accelerates to the target at a high enough velocity to hurt, but the reasoning behind the HE and HEAP rounds is that they retain their damage and penetration regardless of the velocity of the round since they are not dependent entirely on velocity and mass to create the energy dump.

Tranq rounds are useful in ships where you might just be wanting a little riot control but not unnecessarily kill anyone of, more importantly perhaps, punch holes in important parts of the ship.
 
Dear Folks -

Did you forget that snub pistols are firing gyro-jet rounds?

In which system?

In MT, gyro-jet rounds are fired by accelerator rifles.

http://members.tip.net.au/~davidjw/tavspecs/maint/combat/wpnsheet/acclrifl.pdf

I just can't get behind snub pistols at all. They shoot a projectile at a drastically lower velocity, but have the same effective range as standard revolvers and semiautos? It doesn't make sense.

I thought they had a MUCH shorter range - max 25m. Even a 5 mm revolver fires out to 50m.

http://members.tip.net.au/~davidjw/tavspecs/maint/combat/hyp_wpn/per_slug.htm#Handguns

The idea is: it's a 1cm (!!) slug, fired at a very low velocity. The only reason it does anything at all is due to the explosive packed into the round.

I have to admit, though: I voted for the snub pistol as the best shipboard sidearm. In reality, I much prefer the gauss pistol.
 
Somehow I seem to have voted for snub pistol/revolver; I think now my vote would be either Gauss or Autopistol, dependent entirely on resources, TL of origin and past service.
 
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