Crafting riffle ammunition


Rifleman

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There is a way, it however is complicated, requires specialized tools, and a good deal of experience. I just recently finished up 300 12 ga. shot shells. It took a couple hours and about $2000 worth of specialized equipment, which most folks don't own. So you'd be unlikely to find it out in the TLD's world. 

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Maybe if Hinterland wants to implement ammo crafting, they could make a special location with an ammo crafting workbench.

But that doesn't answer the question of supplies. Despite what many folks think you can't just make your own gun powder, and follow the standard loading guides; you'll either end up with light loads, or a gun shaped pipe bomb. Bullets are some what easier to make as long as you have a mold, and the ability to melt lead. Brass cases can usually be reused a couple of times, but you still need to be careful. Finally there are primers, these can in theory be reloaded with match-heads. But you're still going to run out of materials eventually.

A lot of this can be changed and balanced for game-play purposes. It's a matter of how much realism you want to achieve. 

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5 hours ago, Rifleman said:

The work bench in the game can have this so you can craft ammunition 

I don't think you quite grasp what @miah999 is saying - this is an extremely expensive, specialist piece of equipment that  requires a fair amount of knowledge and skill to use, and costs an absolute bomb. Only firearm enthusiasts tend to have them, and most of those tend to find it cheaper to purchase boxes of ammunition than fill their own spent brass.
Canada is NOT 'Murica, they don't shout "you cannot change the second amendment!" if you look at their firearm collection in a funny way. Guns are rare (in comparison with the US), and specialist gunsmithing equipment is rarer still. 

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Wait a sec... What about making bullets for shotguns? I've done that before with card stock paper and a 12 gauge detcap! And what about a musket type of weapon? Making ammo for that would be awesome! Maybe you can find makeshift  pistol or something that is reloaded like a musket! A pipe gun and a shotgun, making shells can be done with common tools, I've done it.

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1 hour ago, Docterrok said:

And making your own firearm is alarmingly easy...

Those are also alarmingly unreliable. Sure you can make a makeshift shotgun with a pipe, few pieces of wood, spring and some metal junk. But i wouldnt really rely on it.

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Yup, and how hard does it hit?

Hard enough to stop a PO'd bear before it gets its filthy paws on you?

No, I doubt that a player character could craft something so well built as a Remington or even a Springfield in a short period of time given they have a Quality Toolbox, some scrap metal, and a makeshift forge in a wrecked ship. 

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5 minutes ago, hauteecolerider said:

Yup, and how hard does it hit?

Hard enough to stop a PO'd bear before it gets its filthy paws on you?

No, I doubt that a player character could craft something so well built as a Remington or even a Springfield in a short period of time given they have a Quality Toolbox, some scrap metal, and a makeshift forge in a wrecked ship. 

Ppppppshshhshhshshhs, im talking abut like the worst of the worst, sometime like this lol.. (Yes, a spent cartidge was the barrel!) 

 

image.jpeg

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Ha ha! That picture made me laugh! :D

Especially the fine print at the bottom: "The "muzzle" would have needed to be virtually in contact with the victim's body before the gun was discharged."

!!!!!

Sounds (and looks) like something that was made purposely for a vendetta killing . . . 

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Well, even if we do find a specialised workbench for that, we'd still need shells (which could probably be recycled), projectiles, a propellant and a primer. All of which is probably of dubious quality when found in the wild.

I'm not against it, but it should come with a penalty - damage reduction from inferior propellant maybe? Chance of ammunition malfunction due to faulty primers? Unreliable ballistics due to uneven projectile?

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6 hours ago, Docterrok said:

Wait a sec... What about making bullets for shotguns? I've done that before with card stock paper and a 12 gauge detcap! And what about a musket type of weapon? Making ammo for that would be awesome! Maybe you can find makeshift  pistol or something that is reloaded like a musket! A pipe gun and a shotgun, making shells can be done with common tools, I've done it.

Your right that shotgun ammo is easier to make, and if a shotgun is added to the game, it could make sense. I'd forgo making your own shells though, spent shells can be reused several times so long as you clean them. But you'll need powder, primers, shot, and shot-cups to make them work.

A muzzle loading weapon would be far easier to make ammo for. But you'll still have the problem of finding powder and caps (unless it's flintlock, no caps needed then). Again I don't recommend making your own powder, but if you have a cast, which some muzzle loading folks have, 60 caliber balls are pretty easy to make. So long as you have a heat source to melt the lead. You can't just use any old scrap metal though, aluminium is too light, and steel or iron will ruin the gun in a few rounds, even modern smooth-bore shotguns require special considerations before using steel ammo to prevent ruining the barrel.

If for some reason you find or Hinterland sees fit to allow you to make a Blunderbuss, then ammo is anything you can cram in the barrel, and of course powder and cap or flint. But I wouldn't trust a buss to take out a bear, grizzly, or moose for that matter.

As for a crafted pipe gun, your right that they're not that hard to make, but they can be just as dangerous to the user as the target. So if Hinterland introduces such a mechanic to TLD I think there should be a chance of the thing blowing up in your face.

In the end any kind of firearms crafting will be no more useful than the existing bow and arrow crafting, but it may add some variety to the game, and there are a lot of variables to consider. 

I'll be happy to answer any questions folk have on this, I'm a AR-15 armorer and amateur general gunsmith.

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8 minutes ago, miah999 said:

Your right that shotgun ammo is easier to make, and if a shotgun is added to the game, it could make sense. I'd forgo making your own shells though, spent shells can be reused several times so long as you clean them. But you'll need powder, primers, shot, and shot-cups to make them work.

A muzzle loading weapon would be far easier to make ammo for. But you'll still have the problem of finding powder and caps (unless it's flintlock, no caps needed then). Again I don't recommend making your own powder, but if you have a cast, which some muzzle loading folks have, 60 caliber balls are pretty easy to make. So long as you have a heat source to melt the lead. You can't just use any old scrap metal though, aluminium is too light, and steel or iron will ruin the gun in a few rounds, even modern smooth-bore shotguns require special considerations before using steel ammo to prevent ruining the barrel.

If for some reason you find or Hinterland sees fit to allow you to make a Blunderbuss, then ammo is anything you can cram in the barrel, and of course powder and cap or flint. But I wouldn't trust a buss to take out a bear, grizzly, or moose for that matter.

As for a crafted pipe gun, your right that they're not that hard to make, but they can be just as dangerous to the user as the target. So if Hinterland introduces such a mechanic to TLD I think there should be a chance of the thing blowing up in your face.

In the end any kind of firearms crafting will be no more useful than the existing bow and arrow crafting, but it may add some variety to the game, and there are a lot of variables to consider. 

I'll be happy to answer any questions folk have on this, I'm a AR-15 armorer and amateur general gunsmith.

Isn't copper gaining popularity in ammunition because of the environmental impacts of lead? Could be easier to smelt than steel. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

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4 minutes ago, Wastelander said:

Isn't copper gaining popularity in ammunition because of the environmental impacts of lead? Could be easier to smelt than steel. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Yes solid copper and gilding metal bullets are gaining popularity, where I live there are no laws requiring them so they're still quite rare. As for smelting ease here are the melting points.

Copper: 1984 F

Lead: 621.5 F

Gilding metal: 1450 F , a type of brass, it can be obtained from plumbing scrap.

Iron: 2800 F

Steel: 2750 F , varies by exact alloy

So lead is actually the easiest, you can often melt it in a regular fire, as long as you know what your doing. One difficulty of solid copper and gilding metal, is they must be annealed or they may crack when cooling.

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Thanks, this is really interesting! I don't really know much about firearms due to me being German :D

Is there another possible material aside from lead? And is there a good way to acquire lead in the context of TLD? I could imagine lead-coated pipes on some older buildings and maybe some lead in batteries.

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1 minute ago, Wastelander said:

Thanks, this is really interesting! I don't really know much about firearms due to me being German :D

Is there another possible material aside from lead? And is there a good way to acquire lead in the context of TLD? I could imagine lead-coated pipes on some older buildings and maybe some lead in batteries.

You couldn't work with the lead in batteries, acid burns are more risk than reward for a tiny piece of lead. Pipes, however, would add an interesting aspect to game.

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Just now, Docterrok said:

You couldn't work with the lead in batteries, acid burns are more risk than reward for a tiny piece of lead. Pipes, however, would add an interesting aspect to game.

Difficult to get them out of the ground though I guess, especially when everything is frozen.

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Your best bet for obtaining lead is old batteries, fishing tackle, and very out dated plumbing (pre 1970). As for alternatives to lead any heavy metal can be used so long as it is softer than used in the guns barrel steel. The problem is most of the metals were talking about are either difficult to work with or radioactive.

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