NationStates Jolt Archive


Making a GOOD assault rifle...

Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 04:03
Now, typically in NS, people like an effective rifle that they can keep using over and over, top line quality. There are plenty of top line qualities in modern day world: two of my favorite examples are the FAMAS and the M16. I see a lot of M16s in circulation, but the FAMAS is ignored... wonder why... anyways, here's a basic idea on what you should include for an assault rifle.

1 - NAME: ALWAYS NAME YOUR RIFLE! PEOPLE WILL THINK YOU'RE LOADED WITH SH*T IF YOU DON'T HAVE A RIFLE NAME. And another pointer: don't just punch in random letters or numbers. Give it something that you can use to represent it: for example, my ESMA stands for Enhanced Standard Military Assault. Make sure the name doesn't sound really stupid when it's broken into one word, either. I wouldn't want to tote around gun that's called ESMAR... sounds kinda cheesy.

2 - CALIBER - What you do with calibers are this: never make up nonexistant rounds. Always stick to the typical rounds of 5.56, 7.62, 9mm, 12.7" (50 mm), or .45 APC. These are compatible with almost all guns, making it so that people don't need to make specialty rounds to fire the gun... unless you're greedy like that. :twisted:

3 - ACTION - How the gun operates. Typically, what's used for assault rifles are gas operated with rotating bolts; that is, where the enery from the previous shot does the manual bolt rotation that would normally be done on a typical bolt-action rifle. You don't have to work the bolt; the shot does it for you. Then there's this thing called delayed blowback (my original info resource gave me a bad bit of info on it... VERY bad): that is:

"Your definition of delayed blowback is incorrect. Blowback systems for semi- and full-auto fire utilize springs behind the bolt for their method of operation the firing sequence is as follows: a round is fired, the recoil from the shot forces the bolt rearward ejecting the empty brass, the operating springs behind the bolt force it forward again, stripping a new round from the mag and closing the bolt. Delayed blowback utilizes some system, typically rollers, to slow the rearward motion of the bolt and thus spread the recoil out over a longer period of time (though it is still best measured in milliseconds). The recoil hits the user's shoulder well before the second round is fired. Gas operated systems are mechanically very similar to bolt actions, save the use of gas to precipitate semi- and full-auto firing. Basically, some distance down the barrel, some of the extra gases created when a round is fired are siphoned off to rotate the bolt, move it rearward, move it forward again, and rotate the bolt back into battery."

Thank you, Thirtycaliber, for solving the problem of my bad information source. Eternally grateful.

4 - SIZE - You want to include the dimensions of the rifle: typically, you want barrel length, overall length, and loaded/unloaded weights. This is so people can know the size of the weapons their buying.

5 - MAGAZINE CAPACITY - In other words, how many rounds of the caliber type that this weapon's clip can hold. If it can hold specialty ammo drums for additional ammo, include that to! For example, my ESMA can take traditional 5.56 in a 30 round mag, or the same in a 50 round ammo drum hooked in.

6 - MUZZLE VELOCITY - How fast the bullet leaves the muzzle of the gun, of course! They typically want to be about a 900 meters a second through 1 kilometer a second.

7 - RATE OF FIRE - Otherwise, RoF, Rate of fire is simple how fast this weapon can pump out rounds in a continuous stream. My ESMA outstrips the typical FAMAS by 150 rounds, for a max muzzle velocity of 1150 RPM. MOST older assault rifles are about 700 or 800 RoF. It's measured in Rounds Per Minute, or RPM.

8 - EFFECTIVE RANGE - In other words, how far the gun can fire and still hit it's target. My ESMA goes to 550 meters, a pretty high range: a little over half a kilometer. This is pretty typical for assault weapons.

9 - MINUTE OF ANGLE - A measure of the gun's accuracy. Here's how I explain MoA...

"Minute of Angle. The most common way to describe accuracy is to measure the average diameter of the circle that may be drawn around the group of bullet holes in a target. The MoA is the measure of the angle, that formed with the triangle of the muzzle as the top and the group of bullet holes as the base. 1 MoA is roughly equivalent to 1 inch hole group diameter at 100 yards (91 meters) or to 2 inches at 200 yards, etc. So, if you read that X rifle shoots 4 MoA groups, it means that at 300 yards, this rifle could place 30 or so bullets in a circle of no more than 12 inches in diameter. At 100 rounds, it could place 30 or so rounds in a circle of 4 inches in diameter."

Naturally, my weapons info source got the customary MoAs wrong so I was corrected... thank you again, Thirtycaliber. Here are customary MoAs!

"Assault rifle (western): ~ 2-3 MOA
Assault rifle (eastern): ~ 6-8 MOA
Shotgun (using slugs): ~ 4 MOA
Shotgun(18" bbl, cylinder bore): ~ 100 MOA pattern (not a typo, cylinder bore expands the shot cloud about 1 inch per yard the shot travels )
Pistol: ~ 10-15 MOA
Sniper rifle: 1 MOA maximum, some as accurate as 1/4 MOA
Machine gun(light/medium): ~6-8 MOA (when fired in the semi-automatic mode)
Machine gun (12.7mm/.50 cal and above): ~ 2 MOA when fired semi
Submachinegun: ~ 10-12 MOA when fired semi, though this is a useless fact because nobody fires a subgun anything but F/A"

10 - COST - If you're selling the rifle, price it close to its closest RL counterpart. My ESMA is about $1,800 through $2,100. If there are special discounts or whatever, include them here!

11 - ADDITIONAL NOTES - Anything about the gun that you want to include here. Can include: added on devices (typically M203 grenade launcher, scope, bayonet, or laser sight), naturally embedded sights, carrying handles or devices, reasons for size, materials used to make the gun, implications the materials give towards security, ways to disassemble, fixed or folding buttstocks, other modes of fire, clip ejection ports, safety modes, seperate configurations, and anything else you can think of!

12 - PICTURE - Include a pretty pretty pretty picture! We tend to like pictures here on NS, and they make you look more experienced. Besides, people like to know what the things their buying look like.

I think that's a basic rundown of an assault rifle and what to include. If you want good things to calculate assault rifle information, check out http://world.guns.ru database on assault rifles. Only check out the modern ones, though: don't sell easily outstripped equipment! And don't always try to make the next OICW, either! Keep it simple at first, until you know what you're doing.
28-12-2003, 04:07
wow... you would think (and hope) this would be all the common sense stuff on rifles for anyone who's even played a Tom Clancy game... but noooo ;)

Nice post.
Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 04:09
wow... you would think (and hope) this would be all the common sense stuff on rifles for anyone who's even played a Tom Clancy game... but noooo ;)

Nice post.

You have no clue how many people I want to stab because I don't know the MoA of their rifle, or the Muzzle Velocity, or what kind of configuration (bullpup or standard)... I'm just... obsessive compulsive! :P
28-12-2003, 04:19
Well, MoA and MV yeah... but configuration? I dunno wat that means :P
Tactical Grace
28-12-2003, 04:21
This is more suited to NS, I'm afraid. It is relevant to forum RP, not NS World gameplay.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator
28-12-2003, 04:25
This is more suited to NS, I'm afraid. It is relevant to forum RP, not NS World gameplay.

Tactical Grace
Forum ModeratorI would have to disagree... but oh well.
28-12-2003, 04:38
What's a moderator??


General Zircon
Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 04:44
Well, MoA and MV yeah... but configuration? I dunno wat that means :P

Configuration: uhm, various different models of it. We have 2 basic configurations: standard and bullpup. Bullpups have the majority of the barrel within the body of the weapon, so only a small metal tip pokes out at the end. Bullpups tend to be smaller in size, and look like the Steyr AUG or FAMAS. Traditional configuration are things like the AK-74 or the Sturmgeweher 44.

Other kinds of configurations are additional models the gun comes in: for my ESMA, there were 5 variations, D (Derivative) 1 compact, D2 SWAT, D3 machine-sniper, D4 "BFG" (uses a 12.7" and ammo belt... huge ass thing), and D5 standard.
Ares Industries
28-12-2003, 04:58
Well, MoA and MV yeah... but configuration? I dunno wat that means :P

Configuration: uhm, various different models of it. We have 2 basic configurations: standard and bullpup. Bullpups have the majority of the barrel within the body of the weapon, so only a small metal tip pokes out at the end. Bullpups tend to be smaller in size, and look like the Steyr AUG or FAMAS. Traditional configuration are things like the AK-74 or the Sturmgeweher 44.

Other kinds of configurations are additional models the gun comes in: for my ESMA, there were 5 variations, D (Derivative) 1 compact, D2 SWAT, D3 machine-sniper, D4 "BFG" (uses a 12.7" and ammo belt... huge ass thing), and D5 standard.

Actually, a bullpup rifle has the magazine or clip further back, allowing for the barrel to be longer with the benefit of increased accuracy.

And, while I'm on here correcting, 12.7mm(not ") is .50 cal, not 50mm, and it's .45 ACP, not APC. No offense intended, things like this just nag at me to correct them.
Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 05:00
Double post.
New Genoa
28-12-2003, 05:01
<OOC: *ahem* May I point out that 90% of the time when you're engaged in a war RP, fancy specifications will not make a difference unless you decide to numberwank. Basic information is all you need: caliber, weight, clip/magazine capacity, range. Done!>
Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 05:01
Well, MoA and MV yeah... but configuration? I dunno wat that means :P

Configuration: uhm, various different models of it. We have 2 basic configurations: standard and bullpup. Bullpups have the majority of the barrel within the body of the weapon, so only a small metal tip pokes out at the end. Bullpups tend to be smaller in size, and look like the Steyr AUG or FAMAS. Traditional configuration are things like the AK-74 or the Sturmgeweher 44.

Other kinds of configurations are additional models the gun comes in: for my ESMA, there were 5 variations, D (Derivative) 1 compact, D2 SWAT, D3 machine-sniper, D4 "BFG" (uses a 12.7" and ammo belt... huge ass thing), and D5 standard.

Actually, a bullpup rifle has the magazine or clip further back, allowing for the barrel to be longer with the benefit of increased accuracy.

And, while I'm on here correcting, 12.7mm(not ") is .50 cal, not 50mm, and it's .45 ACP, not APC. No offense intended, things like this just nag at me to correct them.

Whoops! I hate it when I make mistakes for a third time in a row... :? Not a good day for me to be on a keyboard, eh?

And as far as I can tell, on the bullpup, the barrel IS further back within the gun. I mean, the FAMAS hardly has a barrel poking out the front... not so sure about a Steyr, never seen one.
Soviet Haaregrad
28-12-2003, 05:03
Actually it would be best to offer your rifle in multiple calibers. It isn't that hard to change your rifle between .22x and .30x the AK and the AR 10/15 have both been modified between them. Additionally you can modify the AR 15 to fire everything from .177 to .458 rifle and 9mm-.50AE cal pistol rounds.

The point? Assualt rifles if designed right can be made in most calibers.
Ares Industries
28-12-2003, 05:11
Whoops! I hate it when I make mistakes for a third time in a row... :? Not a good day for me to be on a keyboard, eh?

And as far as I can tell, on the bullpup, the barrel IS further back within the gun. I mean, the FAMAS hardly has a barrel poking out the front... not so sure about a Steyr, never seen one.

Well, the tip bit doesn't matter much unless you care alot about the way your rifle looks, and the barrel isn't further back, it just starts further back.
Archaic Slang Words
28-12-2003, 05:17
01-01-2004, 01:03
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