Curious Calibres 2

7/25/2019 Curious Calibres 2

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Six most interesting pistols



© 2011 by Bethany Minchew. All rights reserved.

Published by DRAKAT Games.

Curious Calibres is a resource for any Games Master looking for some

interesting firearms to introduce to a mid-20th Century RPG. The resourcewas written with British Call of Cthulhu™ campaigns set in the 1920s in

mind, but could be a useful addition to any game set at this time or later.

Also from DRAKAT Games…

Shipping Register 340 inspirational names to help you decide what to call your next elvengalley, armoured dirigible or colossal starship. Whatever the setting for your

game, Shipping Register will have some suitable ship names. Presentedas 17 separate themes to help you get just the right name for the situation,all you have to do is print off the relevant ready-to-use table and away yougo!

Gamegrids

Ever wanted to design or play a tabletop game but didn't have the right kindof grid on hand to help you map things out? Ever wished you could moveyour miniatures across a surface that represents the terrain they'resupposed to be on?



Galand Velo-Dog revolver

Length: 4.7” 119mm

Weight: 10.5 oz 300g

Calibre: 0.216” 5.5mm

Capacity: Six

The ‘Velo-Dog’ was a type of

small pistol first produced in

Belgium by Galand in the late 19th

Century. It would appear that

Monsieur Galand gave greatthought to the plight of those

pursuing the new pastime of

‘bicycling’, and who were at that

meaning that all such revolvers are

double action. Early models were

notable for their lack of trigger

guard, with some of these featuring

a trigger that folded away for yetgreater portability.

The pistol fires a specific ‘velo-

dog’ 5 5mm centre fire cartridge



LeMat revolver


Weight: 49 oz 1,390g

Calibre: 0.469” 12mm

0.577” 14.8mm 24 bore

Capacity: Nine bullets, one cartridge of shot

The LeMat was originally

developed in 1856 by Dr Jean

Alexander LeMat, who intended it

to be used as a sidearm for mounted

troops. It was a percussion cappistol of most unique configuration:

a rifled upper barrel fired 0.40”

bullets that were carried in a

then, in greater numbers, a centre

fire variant were manufactured in

Belgium. The latter is the version

described above, with an upper

barrel of 12mm calibre and a lowerbarrel of 24 bore.

All versions were single action,

and were nicknamed from the time



Webley 0.577” revolvers

Length: 9.5” 241mm Weight: 42 oz 1,190g


Capacity: Six

From circa 1870, officers serving

across the Empire were on occasion

dissatisfied with the efficacy of their

service revolvers. This led to the

famous manufacturer P. Webley &Son introducing a variant of their

0.450” No. 1 Revolver with an

enlarged calibre of 0.577”.

A number of similar variants

were licence built by other

manufacturers, most notably Bland,

Pryse and Tranter. All were top-

break designs with double action,with some having a capacity of just

five rounds.

The Webley 0 577” was never



Protector palm pistol

Length: 4” 102mm

Weight: 9 oz 255g


Capacity: Seven

In 1882 Monsieur Jacques

Turbiaux of Paris patented ‘Le

Protector’, a singular design

wherein the aim was concealment:

the pistol was held in the palm, with just the short barrel visible as it

protruded from between the fingers.

Licence-built models were made

The cylinder’s chambers are

arranged radiating outwards from

the centre, a configuration known as

a ‘turret’. Firing is double action,

and is effected by making a fistabout the gun, bracing the front of it

against the gripping fingers and

squeezing against the rear with the



Mauser C96 pistol


Weight: 40 oz 1,130gCalibre: 0.30” 7.63mm

0.354” 9mm

Capacity: Six/ten/twenty

The Mauser Construktion 96 is a

most distinctive German self-

loading pistol that was first

produced in 1899. It has a number

of noteworthy features: the long

barrel, the rectangular internal

magazine positioned in front of the

trigger and a grip that has earned

the pistol its nickname of

Most models fire a 7.63mm

Mauser cartridge, a round that

results in a very high muzzle

velocity and greater penetration

than might be expected of a bullet of

this calibre. The gun’s effective

range is impressive for a pistol,

particularly when the stock is used.



Nagant M1895 revolver


Weight: 28 oz 800g


Capacity: Seven

The M1895 was produced by the

Belgian firm of Nagant for the

Russian Empire, where it became

the standard pistol of the Imperial

Army. Production in Liegecontinues, and also occurs at the

Tula arsenal in Russia. The M1895

remains in use with Soviet forces.

ruggedness. It can withstand a con-

siderable amount of abuse and

remain functioning, something that

has made it most popular with

those who carry it into battle. It is,however, slow to reload, with each

spent cartridge having to be ejected

individually by hand ahead of

introducing a new round



Further Notes

Glossary

Bore A measure of calibre that states the number of lead spheres of a diameterthat would snugly fit the barrel needed to make up a total weight of 1 lb.The higher the bore, the smaller the barrel size. Called a ‘gauge’ in theUSA. Most typically used to describe shotgun calibre.

Centre fire A gun where the firing pin strikes the base of the cartridge at its centre.Cylinder A cylindrical device with chambers that hold the cartridges, the rotating

action of which is what gives revolvers their name.

Double action A gun design in which pulling the trigger first cocks the hammer and thencauses it to strike. Double action guns may also be used in single actionmode if the shooter wants.

Rim fire A gun where the firing pin strikes the base of the cartridge at its rim.Self-loading A gun that uses the power of the explosion from a fired cartridge to eject

the spent casing and automatically bring the next cartridge from themagazine into the chamber. Also termed ‘semi-automatic’.

Single action A gun design in which pulling the trigger only causes the hammer, whenraised, to strike, meaning it must be manually cocked first by the shooter.

Smokeless powder An explosive propellant developed in the later 1880s that not onlyproduces far less smoke than Black Powder, but is considerably morepowerful and results in much-increased muzzle velocities.

Top break A gun that is hinged at the bottom to allow the shooter to break it open,

exposing the cylinder to allow access for loading.

Curious Calibres is designed to give a little added detail to any RPG set in the middle part of

the 20th Century. It takes the form of a limited-run publication produced for the gun enthusiasts

of the fictional British island of Darkisle, and was written sometime during the 1920s. Watch out

for more Darkisle resources from DRAKAT Games in the future.



Weapon Calibre Damage Guide(where .38 = 100%)

Damage(CoC)

Base range (CoC) Suggested short/medium/long ranges

(as an alternative to CoC base range) Notes

GalandVelo-Dog

5.5mm 65% 1D6 5 yards 1-5 yards/ 6-10 yards/ 11-15 yards

A pepper cartridge may be fired at a target within 5yards. No change in the chance of hitting. Asuccessful hit does no damage but incapacitates thetarget for D6 combat rounds (assuming the target isaffected by pepper!).

12mm 80% 1D8 10 yards 1-15 yards/ 16-30 yards/ 31-45 yards

LeMatrevolver

24-bore 65% (close range) 1D6 5 yards Maximum range 10 yards

Fires a cloud of pellets at a spread of 45 degrees. Full

damage per target up to 5 yards, half damage per target between 5 and 10 yards.

Webley 0.577” 110% 1D10+1 10 yards 1-15 yards/ 16-30 yards/ 31-45 yards

Reloading is slow: in addition to the normal loadingrate for your game, add 4 combat rounds to allow for the removal/replacement of the back plate. This maybe reduced to 2 combat rounds if an appropriateDexterity-based throw is made.*

Protector palm pistol

0.32” 65% 1D6 3 yards 1-3 yards/ 4-6 yards/ 7-9 yards

Reloading is very slow: in addition to the normalloading rate for your game, add 6 combat rounds toallow for the removal/replacement of one side of thepistol to allow access to the cylinder. This may bereduced to 4 combat rounds if an appropriateDexterity-based throw is made.

7.63mm 95% 1D8+1

Mauser C96

9mm 100% 1D10

15 yards

(25 yards with stock)

1-20 yards/ 21-40 yards/ 41-60 yards

(0-40 yards/ 41-80 yards/ 81-120 yards with stock)

The C96 cannot be reloaded as quickly as most self-loading guns as it has a fixed internal magazine. Assume that this can be reloaded at the same ratethat a revolver is reloaded. Attaching/detaching thestock takes 1 combat round.

NagantM1895

7.62mm 80% 1D8 10 yards 1-15 yards/ 16-30 yards/ 31-45 yards

Reloading rate is half that of a normal revolver. It cansustain 50% more damage than a typical revolver.Whatever misfire rules your game has for revolvers,halve the chances for the Nagant M1895 when firing7.62mm rounds. However, double the normal misfirechance if it is being fired with 0.32” S&W rounds.

*Alternatively: you’ve got 3lbs of gun metal in your hand, might be easier to just beat that pesky Deep One to death with it!

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Curious Calibres 2