Firearm Operation, Care, and Safety:

Index:

Treatment & Mistreatment of Magazines

Submachineguns & Safety

Trigger Fingers

Using different ammo sizes in weapons

Weapon Conversions

Treatment & Mistreatment of Magazines:

In several action movies, two magazines have been taped together so that when one magazine runs out of rounds, they switch quickly to the other magazine. In reality, this is a very dangerous practice. The connections that the magazine make with weapon are very easily damaged. In game terms, there is a 10 percent chance per day that this will result in the magazine not fitting in the weapon. Since the damage can happen simply from the magazine bumping when leaving a building or vehicle, this rate of failure should be checked as soon as the first magazine runs out of shots and the new magazine is switched to.

Submachineguns & Safety:

The MAC 10, UZI, and similar Submachineguns have a problem with safety in that the bolt is a bit prone to go flying when the gun is dropped, so unless you are ready to use the gun, the only truly safe way to carry it is to have the bolt closed first, and then insert the magazine.

The bolt has a solid firing pin set in its face. You insert a magazine, and cock the bolt, the trigger group now holds the bolt in its rearward position. The gun is Fully loaded. Pull the trigger, and the bolt goes forward, strips a round from the magazine, and inserts it into the chamber. As soon as the round can go no further, it is struck by the solid

firing pin, and is fired. The bolt flies backward, and ejects the shell. In semi-auto, the bolt is held back again by the trigger group, in full auto, the bolt is free to go forward again and strip another round from the magazine.

Some civilian versions have a free floating firing pin, and can be carried safely with a round in the chamber. Those are usually semi-auto versions though.

Trigger Fingers:

In Hollywood movies, you see all the time the actors carrying a firearm with their finger in the Trigger. This is very dangerous and can lead easily to the wrong person shot especially with semi automatic weapons after their first round has been fire and the firearms hammer is back. The trigger finger of the shooter is suppose to be beside the trigger guard unless the person is actually firing. In reality, for most people trained to used firearms this is automatic. For players that insist on carrying their firearms this way, A penalty should be assessed. The author suggests that the weapons has a 15% chance of being fired at the wrong time if in combat. This should be rolled once per melee, each time the person is hit, each time the person parries, and each time the person dodges, and each time the person reloads a magazine. When a person is not in combat, the weapon has a 5% of misfiring if the player insists on keeping his finger in the trigger. This should be checked once a minute.

Using different ammo sizes in weapons:

While some people might think that different calibers cannot be used in other guns, there are some calibers that can be used in guns designed for different calibers. This is a description and information know to the Authors. One note is that the Desert Eagle line of automatic pistols do not chamber non Magnum rounds because they use a gas operation system unlike most automatic pistols which use simple blowback. They might still fire round though. Generally, revolvers are more forgiving of different cartridge pressures than automatic pistols are. +P Ammunition should not be used in weapons that it is not designed for.

Automatics Pistols:

10 mm Automatics: While the .40 S&W round is slightly shorter than a 10 mm round (0.142-inches), most 10 mm pistols should be able fire .40 S&W rounds. This is not normal operation in any case but is an emergency measure. There is some additional wear and the cartridge has some shape and size differences but various handgun magazines have indicated that the weapon's wear is minimal. The weapon will have a lower feed reliability as well although will usually feed. The .40 S&W cartridges will also usually be destroyed. The Author recommends that in game terms, unless a individual uses .40 S&W rounds in a 10 mm pistol for an extended period, that there is no additional wear or chance of failure for the weapon (or give a low chance of failure of around 5% per round fired). The Author does not recommend using .40 S&W ammunition in 10 mm automatic in real life. There is also information that some automatic pistols have been designed that can chamber both rounds with no extra wear and tear. The reverse is not the case, a 10 mm round will not work in a weapon chambered for .40 S&W rounds.

Revolvers:

.357 Revolvers: All revolvers that are chambered to use .357 magnum rounds (does not include .357 Sig & maximum rounds) can use virtually any .38 cartridge with no penalty or any additional wear. These include the .38 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt, .38 Special, and .38 +P. A revolver that is chambered in .357 Maximum rounds can fire normal .357 Magnum and all rounds that the .357 Magnum can fire.
.38 Revolvers: All revolvers that are chambered to use .38 Special rounds can use .38 Long Colt and .38 Short Colt rounds. Revolvers chambered to use the .38 Long Colt can use the .38 Short Colt but not conversely.
.44 Revolvers: All revolvers that are chambered for .44 Magnum round can use .44 Special and .44 Russian rounds but not conversely.
.445 Super Magnum Revolvers: All revolvers that are chambered for .445 Super Magnum round can use .44 Magnum, .44 Special rounds, and .44 Russian rounds but not conversely.
.454 Casull Revolvers: All revolvers that are chambered for .454 Casull round can use .45 Long Colt rounds but not conversely.

With the .357 Revolver, many law enforcement personnel used to use .38 Special Rounds in .357 Revolvers (before automatic pistols replaced most revolvers) because .357 revolvers are studier than .38 revolvers. The cylinder of the .38 revolver is too short for a .357 round, so they cannot be used (it would also most likely destroy the weapon if they could because of the higher explosive force).

Weapon Conversions:

Some weapons can take drop in barrels to convert to a different caliber. In some case it may require a more powerful spring. In most cases, the bullet is a necked down version of a wider caliber and generally have much higher muzzle energy. There are other calibers available but these are the most commonly available calibers.

.357 Sig: Necked down version of the .40 S&W Caliber that was first introduced in the Sig Pro. Now available for the Glock and other .40 S&W caliber pistols.
.400 Cor-bon: Necked down version of the .45 ACP caliber. Popular conversion for the M1911 pistol but also available for the Sig P220, Glock 21, Ruger P-90, and Smith & Wesson model automatics.

Writeup by Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ) and Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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