Akmr

[Legbreaker]

Being a game, one of the more "annoying" issues is the limited ability to accurately reflect the effects of the various calibres, etc. Basically we're stuck with 1, 2, 3, or 4 D6 for most of the more common weapons with no provision for handloads, varying projectile weights, etc.

Of course it is a game so suspension of disbelief is a given.

Any variation in weapon firing, etc that's not already covered by the basics (recoil, rate of fire, base damage, etc) is fairly easily covered by a little roleplaying. If a weapon is described as having a large muzzle flash (AK-74U as an example) then there's certainly nothing wrong in playing it that way.

[pmulcahy11b]

Being a game, one of the more "annoying" issues is the limited ability to accurately reflect the effects of the various calibres, etc. Basically we're stuck with 1, 2, 3, or 4 D6 for most of the more common weapons with no provision for handloads, varying projectile weights, etc.

Of course it is a game so suspension of disbelief is a given.

Any variation in weapon firing, etc that's not already covered by the basics (recoil, rate of fire, base damage, etc) is fairly easily covered by a little roleplaying. If a weapon is described as having a large muzzle flash (AK-74U as an example) then there's certainly nothing wrong in playing it that way.

This is where the GM should be winging it.

[headquarters]

yeah

This is where the GM should be winging it.

sure.

Why not just add a little sumpin`like say a + dice damage for special loads,increase range and penetration for those kinds of loads or reduce recoil and other stats for those loads.

As long as you go about it systematically its all good imho.

My players ( greedy,spoilt rotten and megalomaniac as they are ) always ask for mercury core vanadium steel tipped shotgun slugs,match grade long range rifle bullets etc etc .As long as they can get it I just give some extra stats to go with their wep stat sheet .


note to self :
Also - increase number / skill level of enemies

Someone want a rule section for this - I agree that thats a great idea .Until then I fly by the seat of my pants from wehat I know and what can be read online .

[Raellus]

The RL AK-103 has convinced me to drop the AKMR from my T2KU. If, IRL, the Russians decided to design and manufacture an improved version of the 7.62mm S AKMR in the mid '90s for domestic use and export, it stands to reason that the Soviet Union would opt to do the same thing, replacing old AKMs and even older AK-47s instead of going to the trouble of collecting and rechambering them. It would likely also start exporting them to other WTO nations that used the AKM and/or allowing liscenced production of the AK-103.

The AKMR is not a terrible idea, but I prefer the AK-103.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Perhaps the AKMR should be viewed as one of those oddities of the war, a depot level conversion of older weapons to maintain ammunition commonality with certain frontline units. However it is not an authorised model, just something that has come about because a particular unit has sufficient stocks of 5.45mm ammo but not enough AK74 types to go around.

So it should be viewed as one of those 'in theatre' conversions like the various armoured conversions of softskin vehicles seen in various wars rather than some rifle issued with widespread distribution in lieu of the standard AK74 types.

[HorseSoldier]

The AKMR doesn't make sense pre-war, as there's just too much replacement or major alteration required. Post-nuke, though I can buy the idea of guns being cobbled together from leftover parts at Soviet or other WP state armories. Pretty low frequncy sort of weapon, I'd think captured Chinese guns would be more common, even in the European theater.

[Tegyrius]

With the current price of surplus 7N6 on the American domestic market, I'll see occasional gun board threads on the feasibility of producing a 5.45x39mm bolt-action rifle (there is the SSG 82, but it's as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth and uses a proprietary optics mount). The best idea I've seen from gunsmiths who're consulted seems to be that the ideal starting platform would be a CZ 527 in 7.62x39mm, but the combination of re-barreling and reworking the bolt face would at least double the price of the rifle. Now, that's an off-the-cuff figure for limited-run custom work, but I have no reason to doubt these guys, particularly the AK smiths who already work with both calibers on a daily basis. Point is, it would not be just a barrel swap.

More data.

- C.

[Tegyrius]

Also, I can confirm that AK-47-type magazines will not seat properly in an AK-74-type receiver, nor vice versa. Steel '47 mags are too wide. Bakelite '74 mags are too long. So getting 5.45x39mm magazines into a receiver that started life as 7.62x39mm is going to require grinding on the mag "well" and rework of the magazine catch, and even after that you're going to see some lateral wobble that will make feeding rather unreliable.

YMMV.

- C.

[HorseSoldier]

Yeah, surgery to the receiver to make the mag well work is one of the issues, and then I'm not sure if just extending the mag well would be the end of the story or require further internal mods to then compensate for that change (though they might be addressed as part of the barrel swap anyway).

[Raellus]

I think that the game designers way back in '84 were not aware that the AK-74 was in production (or soon would be) anywhere else besides the Soviet Union. Liscence-built AKMs, however, were being produced throughout the Warsaw Pact and so must have seemed like they would be more numerous than the AK-74 for many years to come (at least until WWIII started in '95-'96).

I can't blame them for this assumption. I didn't know until very recently that AK-74 copies were being manufactured anywhere other than Poland (the Wz.88 Tantal). My Osprey Warsaw Pact Ground Forces (copyright 1987) makes no mention of 5.45mm AKs being used by any of the WP armies and all of the photos and color plates show troops carrying AKM clones (with the exception of the Czechs who carried their own look-alike 7.62mm S assault rifle).

It turns out that, in addition to the USSR and Poland, Romania, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia (at the very least) were all manufacturing AK-74 clones by the late 1980s (RL). By '95, most, if not all, first-line WP units would have been equipped with 5.45mm AKs and production of 5.45mm ammo and additional rifles would have been in full swing. AKMs would have been mothballed and/or sold off to pro-Soviet client states around the globe. You would still be seeing them in WP use c. 2000, but they would be much less common than the AK-74 and its variants.

So, taking updated RW history into account, as well as the difficulties of reworking AK-47s and AKMs to fire the 5.45mm round AND the fact that the Russians have since gone the route of manufacturing new 7.62mm AKs (i.e. the AK103 series) instead of rechambering old AKs, it seems like the AKMR would never have been born. It was an imaginative attempt to give the WP some uniformity of ammunition and I commend the designers for their inventiveness. However, in light of these recent findings, I can't in good conscience keep the AKMR in my T2KU.

[Tegyrius]

To be clear, I'm really not trying to fault Team GDW for making an extrapolation based on best available research and current trends. I'm not that much of a hypocrite...

- C.

[HorseSoldier]

Agreement -- without having weapons and ammo to handle and look at and just knowing that both rounds were "x39" dimensionally the idea of the AKMR makes good sense, and wouldn't be out of step with a lot of stuff the Soviets really did to keep obsolete equipment updated and relevant as time went on. There are still lots of people out (judging by AK and SKS related posts on gun boards) who don't know 5.45x39 is more than just a necked down M43 7.62x39 round. (Not to mention the ones who want to rechamber replica StG-44s in 7.62x39, but that's a bit off topic.)

[waiting4something]

The AKMR is a terrible idea. Why would you go dicking around with calibers when the 7.62 and 5.45 are both plentiful? It would require more production of parts and time when it could be spent on better things. It's like rechambering a M14 for 5.56 because the M16 in more common now. I have always hated the AKMR idea and never given it a realistic look.

[Tegyrius]

It's like rechambering a M14 for 5.56 because the M16 in more common now.

Hey, look, you just invented the Mini-14!

- C.

[waiting4something]

They are simular, but the Mini-14 is still a bit different. Mainly the Mini-14 is a cheaper built gun. It's accuracy is not on par with the M14, but yes I know what your saying man. I almost used the Mini-14 as a example, but felt the M16 was a better choice since that is what the Military uses.