[bangbangtequila]

Ya I never understood why you couldnt mount a bipod on a handgun https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9e/49/81/9e4981eea1423379d3eb83460895388b.jpg

I don't think you're going far enough. Bipod for your knife.

[Angelone]

The best assault rifle is the one in your hands provided you have ammo. The worst is the one in your opponents hands.

[kyoto kid]

...my little demolitionist Leela has a fully modded out AK97 with Internal Smartlink, Shock Pad, GV III, Underbarrel Bola launcher (for her radio detonated "boom bolas") and several clips of handloaded EXEX (DV) for a base DV of 13P.

...and it's licenced.

[Lucean]

Handloaded ... yeah. Why can you handmade better ammo for yourself without any risks (especially when dealing with ExEx) with such an easy test is beyond me.
But it's interesting to see that some tables seem to use it.

[Duellist_D]

Handloaded ... yeah. Why can you handmade better ammo for yourself without any risks (especially when dealing with ExEx) with such an easy test is beyond me.
But it's interesting to see that some tables seem to use it.

Because handloading isn't really wizardry and loading ammo closer to the specific tolerances of a specific gun is just more convenient than using "lowest common denominator" ammo 
I get that handloading certain special rounds (Depletet Uranium  ) is a bit of a far stretch, but for most "normal" shots like ball, hollow point, frangible etc?
Don't see the problem, neither with the process, nor with the gain in quality.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Handloading is still bound by availability rules, i.e. you need to get appropriate materials, so handloaded DU rounds will be just as rare as regular DU rounds...

[Reaver]

I already hand load all my ammo.

It's way, WAY cheaper, even after you buy your scales, press, dyes, lead, brass and powder.

Give you an idea.

A box of .44 mag hollow point lead (5000 to a box): $350
A case of .44 mag brass (5000): $250
A 3kg container of powder (Bullseye): $275
Pistol caps(5000): $275

Compared to a box of 50 preloaded .44mag cartridges: $155. (Just over $3 a round!)

For $1200 and my time, I save $350 on 5000 rounds.... AND, the brass is a one time purchase as you can reuse your brass almost indefinately.... (about 200 reloads before you have a chance of thin walling.)


And, its not hard. Go to any Gun shop and you can pick up a book that will tell you all your weights for the various brands of powder. (Not all are created equal!)


But, that is not to say mistakes and accidents don't happen. About 10 years ago when I was new to handloading, I made an error and read the wrong column when loading .38 specials. I misread the powder load for the powder I was using and added 3.7 extra grains...

When I fired the rounds from my .357 mag King Cobra, I litterally blew the gun up in my hand! The explosion pealed the cyinder open, blew the barrel off frame, and the rear site came to rest IN my collar bone. (Requiring surgry to remove)

Damn lucky that rear site didn't kill me!

Since then, I take some extra safety precautions. (Random checks of hand load weights, only use a single brand of powder, blacking out any other powder entries in my manual...)

If I find the time, I'll post a picture what is left of the pistol when I get back home. (I keep it on my loading desk as a reminder.)

[Herr Brackhaus]

Heh. There's a reason I would never use handloaded .338s unless done by a unit armorer I really trusted, and even then I'd prefer Lapua or Sierra rounds over handloads and/or wildcats.

[Jack_Spade]

@Reaver

sounds like a critical glitch where you burned some edge to downgrade it to a simple glitch 

[Reaver]

@Reaver

sounds like a critical glitch where you burned some edge to downgrade it to a simple glitch 

what it really shows is just how dangerous gunpowder really is!

3.7 grains is LESS then a quarter gram of extra powder. Yet that quarter gram exceeded the tolerance of a hardened stainless steel .357 magnum revolver!

Explosives are dangerous things to mess with, and when you consider that all a gun is, is a EXPLOSIVE device that directs the explosion along a linear path.
(Hammer hits the primer cap, creating a spark, spark ignites the powder causing an explosion and rapid expansion of gases, the gas then pushes against all sides of the shell equally. The lead, which is just form pressed into the cartridge is the weakest link, causing the lead to expelled...)

In my case, that rapid expansion of gases pushed on the walls of the shell, and BLEW OUT the side of the cartridge, the force of which blew out the cylinder! (turned it into a basic U shape). If I remember correctly, the lead was still in the cylinder! (so It didn't even clear the barrel).

Now, all that said, I still hand load. simply because I like to shoot, and shooting gets expensive when you are not buying just .22 rim fire. In Canada, so no idea about the prices in the States or else where, and I have a large collection of fire arms that if I want to shoot, I am basically forced to hand load. Still costs me thousands of dollars a year, for the amount I shoot... but that still beats store bought for savings.


I haven't read the rules for hand loads in the new book (don't have it yet), but it is possible to tweak the powder to tolerance ratios to get a little more "bang" for your "buck", but.... as my case shows, those tolerances are closer the many people think! 

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Handloads add +20% in cost (if done by someone else) for either +1 DV or +1 AP. I think it is only 10% more if you do it yourself, but have to have the skills and gear.

[Herr Brackhaus]

10% for +1 DV is almost a no-brainer, even if you only use it to make Regular rounds instead of anything fancy. Even then it might easily be worth it with a few points in Armorer.

[MijRai]

It's 10% cost increase to hand-load your own ammunition.  25% to purchase. 

[Kincaid]

Given the direction the latest SRM season is headed in, this may become my character's casual carry.

[Herr Brackhaus]

With a threshold of 4 and a duration of 30 minutes, even a Logic 3 character with an Armorer skill of 1 and a Specialization in Ammunition could crank these out relatively reliably in a home game.

In Missions, due to the buying hits rule, you'd need 9 dice to start with so you could buy 2 hits on the first extended test and 2 more on the second in order to reliably make handloaded regular rounds at a rate of 10/hour. If you wanted to make special ammunition in Missions, you'd really only need 10 dice to buy 2 hits each on the first, second, and third interval, producing any special ammunition you can get materials for at a rate of 10/1.5 hour.

The +1 DV makes it instantly worth it in nearly every circumstance, in my opinion. Logic 3 + Armorer (Ammunition) 3 (+2) and a helper drone or two for teamworking suddenly became very, very useful.