Out of Mothballs: Obsolescent Weaponry on the T2k Battlefield

[ChalkLine]

There's a PTRS-41 reticule for the PSO-1 sight (the same as used on the SVD among others)
The PTRS needs a rail fitted and evidently it's a custom side-rail due to the width of the receiver.

[swaghauler]

There's a PTRS-41 reticule for the PSO-1 sight (the same as used on the SVD among others)
The PTRS needs a rail fitted and evidently it's a custom side-rail due to the width of the receiver.

If you get a chance, check out 9-Hole Reviews the YouTube channel. I have the video from him posted in Leg's Video thread that's just below this one. He shoots an AK74 with an RPG-7 optical sight attached to its rail.

[Raellus]

Explode-by Date

Does anyone know roughly how long explosives in things like land mines remains viable Is there an expiration date, or does the stuff last forever Similarly, is there a best-used-by date, after which the explosives become less... explosive (or more unstable, perhaps)

I reckon it's a good long while, given how carefully unexploded ordinance from WWII is dealt with when an antique air-dropped bomb is discovered during construction or whatever.

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[Targan]

Meant to post about this last night, but forgot. I was reminded this morning by footage on the news of a Russian separatist firing in the Donetsk region.

Anti-tank rifles, like the the PTRS-41, would make a comeback in the Twilight War. Today, they're often employed as long-range sniper rifles, but more often as anti-materiel weapons.

The PCs in my last campaign captured a Gepard M3 and loved it.

[swaghauler]

Does anyone know roughly how long explosives in things like land mines remains viable Is there an expiration date, or does the stuff last forever Similarly, is there a best-used-by date, after which the explosives become less... explosive (or more unstable, perhaps)

I reckon it's a good long while, given how carefully unexploded ordinance from WWII is dealt with when an antique air-dropped bomb is discovered during construction or whatever.

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It depends on the explosive. We were shooting ordinance from WWII in our howitzers and it went bang every time. I have shot 100-year-old rifle ammo with NO ISSUES.

On the other hand... I have witnessed 20-year-old commercial dynamite "sweating" (leaking nitro from its casing) in Africa. It was so sketchy, that we just put a brick of C4 on it and sent it on its way. I also know that they blow up 20-year-old detonators (the pressure kind you screw into landmines) in the Army. But I have seen 50-year-old Composition B bricks used to demolish a bunker.

The issue with explosives, especially COMMERCIAL EXPLOSIVES, isn't that they won't go "boom," the issue is that they MAY GO BOOM from just being handled!

[Raellus]

Antique Aircraft

Most of our discussion here has focused on land weapon systems. It looks like the Russians are going to dust off some old bi-planes for use in Ukraine.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44532/russia-appears-to-be-preparing-its-ancient-an-2-biplanes-for-war-in-ukraine

To be fair, the North Koreans have never stopped using the AN-2. It's ability to fly low and slow, and it's low-metal use construction make it a somewhat stealthy platform, good for delivering SOF teams behind enemy lines.

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[Raellus]

Weird Guns Being Used in Ukraine Right Now #2

Someone posted a link to this 11-minute video on the FB fan page.

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=YYMgYpavdB4

In this video:

Mosin-Nagant
Maxim
DP27
MG42
MP40
PPSh41
PPS-43

There's also an interesting bit about how vehicle-mounted PKT machineguns, which don't have an external trigger mechanism, are being retrofitted with improvised ones by Kiev auto-mechanics for use as infantry GPMGs.

And a couple of newer (non-classic T2k) systems are included as well.

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[Vespers War]

Most of our discussion here has focused on land weapon systems. It looks like the Russians are going to dust off some old bi-planes for use in Ukraine.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44532/russia-appears-to-be-preparing-its-ancient-an-2-biplanes-for-war-in-ukraine

To be fair, the North Koreans have never stopped using the AN-2. It's ability to fly low and slow, and it's low-metal use construction make it a somewhat stealthy platform, good for delivering SOF teams behind enemy lines.

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In a bit of irony, the Antonov Design Bureau that the An-2 was developed by was based in Kyiv.

[Raellus]

AZP S-60 57mm anti-aircraft gun

Ironic, indeed.

First introduced in 1950, the AZP S-60 57mm anti-aircraft gun is currently seeing combat in Ukraine, most often against ground targets. It would definitely see a return to duty in the Twilight War.

I can easily imagine a scenario were an AZP S-60 57mm anti-aircraft gun shoots down an AN-2 Colt.

[Raellus]

Muzzle-loader Sighting

Is this old-timey canon functional, or just for show If it's the former, that has to set some sort of out-of-mothballs record.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/is-this-an-antique-cannon-guarding-a-russian-checkpoint-in-ukraine

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[swaghauler]

Is this old-timey canon functional, or just for show If it's the former, that has to set some sort of out-of-mothballs record.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/is-this-an-antique-cannon-guarding-a-russian-checkpoint-in-ukraine

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Every day Ukraine resembles a Twilight2000 campaign more and more. Europe didn't "demill" their stuff like the US did. That cannon could be operational but I'm betting the Ukrainians put it there (as a scavenged weapon system) and not the Russians.

[pmulcahy11b]

Is this old-timey canon functional, or just for show If it's the former, that has to set some sort of out-of-mothballs record.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/is-this-an-antique-cannon-guarding-a-russian-checkpoint-in-ukraine

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It looks like a toy. For that matter, the soldier looks like a toy. Note the uniform gray color in the two, and notice the lumpishness. Someone took a joke picture.

[Raellus]

The US Army's Largest 4x4 Ever

It looks like a toy. For that matter, the soldier looks like a toy. Note the uniform gray color in the two, and notice the lumpishness. Someone took a joke picture.

Could be. I have seen any follow-up either way.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39228/the-us-armys-largest-4x4-ever-the-gigantic-1000-hp-larc-lx-amphibious-vehicle

I wonder if these massive LARC-LX amphibs might have been dusted off and used in Europe- perhaps to cross the Vistula- during T2k.

Paul, I poked around on your site for this one and didn't find it, but I wasn't sure which category to look in.

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[pmulcahy11b]

B]LARC-LX[/B] amphibs might have been dusted off and used in Europe- perhaps to cross the Vistula- during T2k.

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I didn't do it; it's not on my site. I had to look it up in Bing to find out what it was; ah well, add it to the list. (That's how the Bombers got in there; they were on my list.)

[Raellus]

OT-810

The OT-810 was basically a lightly modified, Czech-made Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track APC with a Tatra diesel engine. According to Wikipedia, about 1,500 OT-810s were manufactured between 1958-1962, and the last examples weren't removed from Czech army depots until 1995. I imagine they would have seen action during the Twilight War.

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