Guns

A description of the guns found in the rulebook and on this homepage.

Gun	Description
Hand cannon. 150cm 10kg	A primitive short barrelled gun without lock, sights or true stock. Fired with a slowmatch or brand.
Arquebus. 100cm 2.8kg	Earliest recognisible shoulder-arm, a light muzzle loader with matchlock or (rarely) wheellock.
Rifle arquebus 110cm 3kg	A surprisingly early innovation, the rifled weapon is more accurate but slow loading and very costly.
Early musket 190cm 7kg	Heavier arquebus fired from a rest. A response to the introduction of heavier field plate armour.
Pistol 40cm 0.9kg	One handed horseman's sidearm, usually equipped with a (costly, fragile) wheellock mechanism.
Fowling piece 100cm 2.5kg	Very lightly made arquebus used to hunt birds and small game. Ancestor of modern shotguns.
Saker (wallgun) 240cm 12kg	Outrageously large musket of about 2cm bore. Fired from a pivot mount in fortress or warship.
Tower musket 160cm 6kg	Everyone's favorite flintlock muzzle loader. A long shoulder arm of around 15mm bore. Used 1650 to 1860.
Carbine 100cm 3.7kg	A shorter, lighter musket for use by cavalry and dragoons. Fierce muzzle-blast and recoil.
Cavalry pistol 36cm 0.7kg	Heavy, simple flintlock handgun issued as a sidearm to cavalry troopers (and popular with highwaymen).
Dueling piece 30cm 0.6kg	Well balanced, accurate handgun used in formal duels and target shooting events well into the 1800s.
Dueling piece (rifled) 32cm 0.6kg	A cad's gambit to gain an accuracy advantage, some examples have a smooth muzzle section to hide rifling.
Pocket pistol 14cm 0.3kg	A traveller's personal defense weapon, small enough to carry in a coat pocket or purse.
2 barrel pistol 20cm 0.5kg	Development of the typical civillian sidearm to give a second shot.
Brunswick rifle 118cm 6kg	Early military rifle. Heavy, awkward and slow, but far more accurate than a musket. Issued to specialist troops.
Typ. blunderbus 55cm 2kg	A short, wide bore carbine firing a heavy load of shot at short range. Popular coachman or nightguard's gun.

Percussion cap versions of the previous flintlocks appeared before more modern cartridge breech loaders rendered muzzle loaders archaic. Ballistics remain unchanged, reliability improves.

Gun	Description
Enfield .577 125cm 5.5kg	Percussion lock muzzle loading military rifle. Adopted by British Army in 1858, replacing earlier muskets.
Dreyse 1848 130cm 5kg	Breech loading needle-fire rifle adopted by Prussia in 1862. Paper cartridge fired from bolt action breech.
Martini Henry 120cm 5kg	Single shot breech loader (falling block mechanism) firing a 13mm metallic cartridge. British Army, 1871.
Lebel m1886 130cm 4.3kg	First modern small bore, bolt action magazine rifle in service. French, tube magazine, 8mm bore. In use to 1920
Sharps carbine 100cm 4kg	Breech loading carbine beloved of US buffalo hunters. (probable origin of the term 'sharp shooter').
Winchester 90cm 3.8kg	American lever action repeating carbine introduced in early 1860s. Rim fire cartridge.
Colt .36 navy 30cm 0.9kg	Early (1850s) percussion revolver. Classic Colt design popular during Civil War.
S+W.44 Russian 32cm 1.2kg	Excellent example of the cartride revolver (Colt 1873 Army model similar). Modern weapons differ little.
Lancaster.455 30cm 1.5kg	Heavy four barrel breech loading pistol. Alternative to the less reliable revolver.
Target pistol 34cm 0.5kg	Long barrel, single shot breech loading pistol built for competition shooting.
Typ. Derringer 12cm 0.2kg	Tiny single shot concealable pistol firing a heavy round (typically 10mm). Two barrelled versions exist.
Hollands .600 140cm 6.5kg	Double barrelled, breech loaded elephant rifle. A huge large game rifle.
Lee Enfield mk3 113cm 4kg	Argueably the best bolt action repeating rifle ever made. British Army service 1900-1957 (several marks).
Mauser Gew 98 125cm 4.2kg	Other side of the argument. German army version of the famous Mauser action used by almost everyone on earth.
Mannlicher m91 92cm 3kg	Bolt action carbine, Italian service. A weapon similar to this (reputedly) used in the Kennedy assassination.
P13 rifle .276 118cm 3.9kg	Intended Lee Enfield replacement (1912). Theoretically a better rifle, but slow, unreliable and awkward in use.
Luger 9mm 22cm 0.8kg	Archetypal self loading pistol. Accurate, complex, prone to jamming, but so stylish.
Mauser C96 31cm 1.3kg	Heavy automatic pistol with detachable wood holster/ stock. Bulky but reliable, a few types full automatic.
Webley .455 m6 28cm 1.1kg	Classic British Army service revolver. Brutally simple but nearly indestructable.
Webley .38 m4 26cm 0.8kg	Post WW1 reduction in calibre to produce a smaller and more controllable sidearm.
Colt 1911A1 21cm 1.1kg	The excellent US army service automatic. Heavy .45 calibre round. Many still in use.
Thomson m1921 86cm 5kg	Early sub-machine gun. Inextricably associated with 1920s US crime. Bulky 50 round drum, easily recognised.
Bergmann MP18 80cm 4kg	German SMG used at close of WW1. (Adopted by the Royal Navy in 1940 as Lanchester mk1)
12bore shotgun 130cm 3kg	Double barrelled civillian smoothbore used for small game hunting.
Military shotgun 100cm 4kg	Pump or lever action repeating shotgun, shorter barrel than civil weapon. Used by US marines and police forces.
Sawnoff 12bore 40cm 2kg	Criminal modification of normal 12 bore, removing most of barrel and stock for a short range concealable gun.
.410 shotgun 90cm 2kg	Cheaper alternative to 12 bore for vermin control and very small game. A poacher's gun.
.22 rifle 110cm 2.4kg	Smallbore target or practice rifle sometimes used for rabbit hunting. Some types mimic military weapons.
.32 revolver 18cm 0.4kg	Very inexpensive small calibre civillian pistol, the 'suicide special' of pulp crime fiction.
.32 auto 16cm 0.6kg	Concealable civillian automatic intended for personal defense.
Signal pistol 35cm 1kg	A single shot flare-gun. Not designed as a weapon (but one late 1930s German design can throw a small grenade).
Mauser Tg m1918 170cm 18kg	Large 13mm high velocity bolt action rifle capable of penetrating the armour of early tanks.
Vickers-Maxim 110cm 15kg	Britsh development of the classic Maxim belt fed heavy machine gun. Most world armies used similar guns in WW1. Tripod weighs another 22kg.
Masden m1902 117cm 10kg	First example of the easily portable magazine fed LMG used by modern armies. Widely adopted.
Lewis gun 128cm 12kg	Drum fed, air cooled LMG used in WW1. Many used in aerial combat.
Browning .50 M2 165cm 38kg	Heavy machinegun with some anti tank potential. 20kg tripod. Became a useful light AA weapon.
18 pdr fieldgun (big)	Typical mid 20th century field artillery piece, crewed by 4-6 men (British).
Mills bomb	Fragmentation grenade (pineapple shaped cast iron body). Used in both world wars (British).
Stick grenade	German issue blast grenade (the easily recognised 'potato masher').
AK 47 (USSR) 88cm 4.3kg	Extremely successful assault rifle design, used world wide. Short 7.62mm m43 cartridge.
SLR (UK L1A1) 113cm 4.3kg	British army version of FN FAL self loading rifle. Original FN design full automatic. 7.62x51mm NATO round.
Mauser SP66 130cm 6kg	Typical example of a modern bolt action sniping rifle. Normally equipped with telescopic sights.
HK Gewehr 3 102cm 4.4kg	West German issue automatic rifle firing the 7.62x51mm NATO round. Heavy barrel versions used in LMG role.
IMI Galil 98cm 4.3kg	Israeli service rifle. 5.56mm m193 round, action derived from Kalashnikov AK47. Integral bottle opener.
M16 99cm 3kg	American issue assault rifle. First service design to use the small 5.56mm m193 round.
Carbine M1 90cm 2.5kg	WW2 US design. A light, popular weapon intended to arm non-combat troops (cooks, drivers, vehicle crews).
PPSh41 (USSR) 83cm 3.6kg	Very simple (but effective) SMG design. Widely used, copied by China as Type 50. alternative 35 rnd box.
Sterling SMG 86cm 3.6kg	Post WW2 British army weapon. Typical modern SMG, many other weapons fundamentally similar.
Uzi 9mm 65cm 3.7kg	Compact, Israeli designed SMG. Very effective, great commercial success.
Ingram 10 54cm 2.8kg	Concealable machine pistol popular with bodyguards and hitmen. Effective silencer available for this weapon.
VZ61 (Czech) 52cm 1.3kg	Small machine pistol designed for tank crews, firing the low powered .32 ACP round.
Walther PPK 15cm 0.6kg	Police issue 7.65mm concealable automatic pistol. The slightly larger PP is virtually identical.
FN GP35 9mm 20cm 1kg	Modern military issue automatic, used by many armies (Britain, Canada, Belgium, Holland). Large magazine.
.38 special 25cm 0.7kg	Uncomplicted revolver used by US police departments and many civilians.
.44 magnum 35cm 1.4kg	'The most powerful handgun in the world'. Heavy revolver firing an exceptionally powerful round.
Riot gun 37mm 74cm 3kg	Short barrelled smoothbore firing a plastic 'baton' round or a CS gas grenade (both allegedly non lethal).
M60 LMG 110cm 11kg	US army belt fed LMG. Design based on the German MG42 and FG42 weapons.
Auto. 12 bore 90cm 5kg	Fully automatic shotgun. Massive short range effect. Weapons in this class quite uncommon.
Bren (L4A1) 115cm 10kg	NATO version of the British WW2 magazine fed LMG. A surprisingly accurate weapon.
RPD (USSR) 104cm 7kg	Belt fed LMG variant of the AK47 mechanism. Being replaced by the magazine fed RPK.
Grenade L2A1	Typical modern fragmentation (or 'defensive') grenade. Some designs have removable fragmentation sleeve (Y2)
Grenade VK40	Sub miniature Dutch fragmentation grenade (little bigger than a golfball)
Grenade stun	The NICO grenade used by anti-terrorist organisations. Lots of disorientating flash and noise.

A brief description of the classes of modern firearm:

Rifle.

A traditional military individual weapon. Uses a high velocity 7.5mm round with an effective range beyond 1000m, and the ability to penetrate most light personal armour.

Assault rifle.

A short, light automatic rifle firing a lower energy round effective to around 500m. Has supplanted both rifle and SMG roles in some modern armies.

SMG.

A small, simple automatic weapon firing a low velocity pistol (type) round and varying in size between a small rifle and a large pistol. Rarely effective beyond 150m. Militarily obsolete, it is often used by police and security forces.

Pistol.

Single handed personal weapon firing a low velocity round accurate to about 25m. Great variations exist in size and power, with calibre between 6 and 14mm.

Shotgun.

Large calibre (typ. 18mm) smooth bored weapon discharging a spread of small projectiles. Highly destructive at short ranges. A common civilian/hunting weapon with infrequent military usage. Few fully automatic shotguns have seen use.

Stats are given for weapons firing military or game shot (large lead balls or steel flechettes). Birdshot is less lethal but avoids wrecking small prey (one dice damage, penetration -20%).