The rules specify 7/32 shot size for my pdn. Thats .21875. Any objections to using .22? Thats #F shot. For armor I'm to use 3/32. Am I reading it right that this is the penetrable hull thickness? The use of the word armor refers to all hull sheathing above the solid part, right?
The projectiles need to be steel ball bearings; lead is heavier and retains its momentum better than the same size of steel shot, which gives an unfair advantage. That, and most of the ponds we battle at don't allow lead to be used.
I was looking at steel, its about 16 dollars for 6000 rounds from a reloader website. I thought ball bearings wouuld cost more.
Strike Models carries all sizes of Big Gun (and Battlestations) ammunition. If it's not on their website, just send Stephen an email. I get all my ammunition through him, both 1/4" and 7/32".
Strike is OOC until after July. If Greg wants to get shooty before then, he may want to order from McMaster-Carr, 7/32 low-carbon steel balls are $2.79 per 250. Item number 96455K74 not that I've been looking A little over a penny per round.
I know we've gotten better prices than that. Let me ask about it back home. I need some anyway, since I don't have any 7/32 for the VUs (although I haven't used them in a while, its still good to be ready for the whole shooty thing)
I've ordered a ton of stuff from McMasters. They process and ship very quickly. I have generally received watever I have ordered within 3 to 4 days. Definately would recommend them.
The ammo is packed away in a moving trailer that just departed the house today and will be unavailable until we get a house, so Strike won't be able to provide it easily in the short term. Happy to serve you in the longer term though!
I've always had great luck with McMasterCarr as well, but the the difference in price, wow! .22 steel shot is 16 bucks for 10 pounds. That's more than 6000 rounds! Up to 50 pounds ships for under 16 bucks so you could have 30k rounds for under 100 dollars. The difference in size is .012, hardly worth mentioning. With the size of the barrels available, it should work out great. I doubt there would even be a noticable difference in weight from one to the other without a decent scale. Personaly, being far from anyone else and only battling with one other friend for now, I've just got to try them. But of course I'd like to go someday to a larger battle for a vacation, so I'd have to make sure its all legal.
7/32 vs 0.22 is less than a 1% delta. I say we just modify the rules to allow a 1% variance in ammo size and call it done. Then we can get what works best for us financially. But yes, it must be made of steel. What do ya say?
I don't think we need a 1% rule on the ammo. The actual difference is 0.0012, not 0.012, which would require a micrometer or dial/electronic calipers to even find the difference. If you have a caliper with 1/32 graduations and it it looks close to the line then it should be allowed.
I guess my public school education is showing. .0012 ! No one will ever know. Back to the armor, does the superstruction follow the same requirments? I have armor thicknesses for various parts of that from historical records and could easily follow, or above the deckline is not counted?
Does the allowable armor thickness based on the original ships armor compensate for the difference between Harvey and krupp? Just curious.
The conversion is not too difficult as the effectiveness of the various types of armors was much discussed and debated around the turn of the 20th century, but it is sort of pointless as we don't use historic armor locations. Those could be a builders nightmare.
