Gunsmithing

 So last post I... err built firearms for Classic Traveller -reinventing the wheel so to speak.  There's more... never fear. 

Generally speaking, bullets do 3D of damage and have no penetration modifier by themselves. This is modified by the frame of the weapon. Medium longarms are also called assault rifles. Heavy longarms  are battle rifles (or shotguns).

A shot shell modifies the range and penetration modifiers as follows:

	C	S	M	L	V.L.
Shot Shell Mods	0	0	+3	-5	No

Shot shells have Penetration -1 and do one additional die of damage. A shotgun would look like this

Large Shotgun: 0/0/+3/-5/No/4D/Slug/Shot Shells, Pen -1

	C	S	M	L	V.L.
Shot Shell Mods	0	0	+3	-5	No
Heavy Longarm	-4	+1	0	-1	-3
Large Shotgun	-4	+1	+3	-6	No

Light Shotgun: -4/+1/+1/-9/Non//3D/Slug/Shot Shells Pen -1 Not everyone wants to lug around a big ole shotgun. Some people are strength 3 or even less.

Shot Shell Mods	0	0	+3	-5	No
Light Longarm*	-4	+1	-2	-4	-5
Light Shotgun	-4	+1	+1	-9	No

Weapons firing shot shells are -6.25% weight. The light shotgun weighs 2800 grams unloaded. though the magazines still weigh 750 grams.

What about a carbine firing ammunition based on the Snub pistol? Building my trader carbine in this system works as follows. I basically find the frame that fits the weapon closest. In the case of a snub pistol I chose the light pistol. Now the Snub pistol fits the Light Pistol frame best IMHO.

The snub pistol is truly atrocious at anything beyond spitting distance. We chalk it up to the ammo in part.

C

S

M

L

VL

Light Pistol Frame

+1

+2

-5

No

No

Snub Rounds	C	S	M	L	VL
HE	0	0	-3	No	No

HEAP

0

0

-3

No

No Pen +3

Tranq

0

0

-3

No

No Pen -6

C

S

M

L

VL

Snub Pistol

+1

+2

-8

No

No

I figured Penetration by looking at the round's modifier against Cloth.A -3 DM for Cloth means no Penetration mods. A -2 DM is Penetration +1. A -5 vs. Cloth is a Penetration -2.  I give HE a Pen +1 as a light frame reduces penetration by one and HE has as good a chance as any (-3) of getting through Cloth. A HEAP round has a Pen +4. Tranq rounds have a penetration of -5. These are modified by te frame's Pen -1.

Let's plug these numbers into the light longarm frame to create my Trader Carbine! 

C

S

M

L

VL

Light Longarm

-4

+1

-2

-4

-5

Snub Pistol Rounds

+1

+2

-8

No

No

C

S

M

L

VL

Trader Carbine

-4

+1

-5

No

No

The version of ammunition the Trader Carbine fires has penetration as follows: HE Pen +1, HEAP Pen +4, Tranq -5. It still sucks at medium or greater ranges, but when was the last time you had to shoot at something that far on a Free Trader? A trader carbine holds ten rounds, like the standard model.  

In practice, the carbine magazines are color coded to prevent mishaps. Tranq for disturbed passengers (green), HE for use against boarders (yellow) and HEAP for use on another ship (red). Crew doesn't always follow this protocol. 

I leave the creation of the Snub Machine gun to you. You know who you are.