ForgottenWeapons
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Ask Ian: "Last Ditch" Rifles for World War III? (Audio Only)
🕑 Added 2023-02-08 12:00:03 +0000 UTCFrom Thunderchild on Patreon:
"How would you see a modern major nation (US, USSR/Russia, China, etc) simplify their small arms in a large scale war, WW3 or Cold War gone hot? You've mentioned in the past how most nations end up having to simplify to meet demands, so why not start simplified?"
The reason for simplified small arms is to increase production speed. During peacetime deployment of new arms, it generally doesn't really matter how long manufacturing takes, and enough rifles will be built for the standing army and some predetermined number of reserve weapons. Last-ditch guns become a necessity when battlefield wastage and increased conscription combine to demand arms well beyond the production capacity of a country's industrial base. The only solution is to simplify the design to decrease production time - and the simplifications can't hinder the effectiveness or safety of the weapon, or else there is no point in producing them in the first place.
Comments
Thunderchild
https://shootingdiceblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/high-tech-twilight-war/
Thunderchild
Interestingly enough, I asked this for consideration and world building as I start a campaign for Twilight 2000, and what you guys came up with doesn't sound terribly far off from the M16EZ.
Thunderchild
I didn't know there was a discord, is it a monthly invite thing? I just increased my subscription level.
HaedFoxen
On the discord, we came up with something along the lines of this: 1: The KE-15 style lower is g2g. 2: Flattop upper (since they're what's being made these days) without the FA drilled/finished, ignore the dust cover, and only enough pic rail finished to mount something like an MBUS. 3: Barrel with no m203 cut, no muzzle device, and only bare minimum machining on the FSB for the barrel/gas system and front sight. 4: Basic tube-style handguard that screws onto the barrel nut negating the delta-ring.
Chris Jones
This was done in Australia back in the 1980’s. The Styer AUG was adopted and immediately ‘reduced’ in case of ‘war emergency requirements’. Outcome: 1. Extreme cost increase constantly replacing ‘cheap’ gas piston. 2. Excessive wear on rifling and quick release lugs of the ‘cheapened’ barrel. 3. Optic choice of ‘pumpkin ring’ allows fast initial training but severe cost blowout designing new ways to reach peacetime accuracy requirements as the ‘war emergency optic’ didn’t have a post or target cross. 4. Cheapened polymer stock had significant issues with shattering just behind the pistol grip requiring replacement more often. 5. Cheaper steel barrel unable to hold the bayonet without bending…… 6. Cheapened cocking handle attachment caused regular easy way to break the rifle. Seperate to above, we were always taught that the M-16 and AR-18 were different ways of avoiding the ‘war emergency’ changes as extreme productivity was easier and required less specialist manufacturing capacity from the getgo.
