RE: [SG] Shotguns

--- Ryan M Gill <rmgill@mindspring.com> wrote:

> One would have the ability to fabricate some kind of
> sabot penetrator 
> fired out of say, belted 3" magnums even in these
> days that would 
> have a serious kick, but also serious penetration.
> One could turn 
> out, even today, a tungsten, steel or some other
> hard penetrator and 
> load it into a shot shell. There isn't hardly a call
> for any of that 
> right now, but if armored beasts were a threat, you
> can bet it'd turn 
> up. Far more powder cross section and decreased
> density. One could 
> even use small HEAT warheads (perhaps a problem to
> use close up for 
> the firing soldier).

I was thinking some kind of mini-HESH....

> One has to wonder what off world colonists with
> beasts not unlike a 
> Cap Buffalo would turn out for personal weapons.
> They could have a 
> penetration edge against PA that would likely give
> PA users a bit of 
> pause. 800 Nitro Express for the 2183 period anyone?
> A heck of a 
> kick, but it'll take down an elephant. PA shouldn't
> be a problem.

The germans used 2 different AntiTank rifles in WWII
-- one used an 8mm round with an obscenely huge amount
of powder behind it.  The other was a bolt action
20mm, the round was HE and looked very much like a
modern Autocannon round.  Gives one pause...

> Of course, surviving the return fire would be the
> hard part. 
> Colonists would get a shot or two before they were a
> mist. Still, 
> having the state of mind to drop a large scary beast
> charging you out 
> of the brush can't be all that different from having
> steely nerve 
> when assaulted by power armor. Perhaps there's a
> modifier for 
> confidence tests when the militia has experience
> with big mean nasty 
> Cape-Lizards.

I read a sci fi novel (Mistwalker, IIRC) once about a
guy stuck on a planet that only allowed the use of
"green" technology, to the extent that everything was
made from organic material.  At one point, the hero's
being chased by this very nasty predator.  he knows
his weapon won't penetrate it's hide, so he waits
until it opens it's mouth to bite him, sticks his gun
in it's jaws, and pulls the trigger.

=====
Qui me amat, amet et canem meum.

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