Calibers of IK firearms?

[John Q. Mayhem]

I'm looking to convert IK's guns to Grim Tales. Does anyone know what the "official" calibers of the pistols and rifles are, or if there are any official calibers?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I'm looking to convert IK's guns to Grim Tales. Does anyone know what the "official" calibers of the pistols and rifles are, or if there are any official calibers?

I do not think it is listed anywhere nor an official caliber. I think I would say 45 or 50 just because of stopping power of the slug.

 

[HellHound]

Caliber doesn't equate with damage, however, so I wouldn't use that as the basis for damage - damage is more based on velocity of the round.

Except at the bottom end of the scale, Grim Tales uses very close to d20 Modern damage for firearms.

 

[painandgreed]

Caliber doesn't equate with damage, however, so I wouldn't use that as the basis for damage - damage is more based on velocity of the round.

I would argue against that*. Primary damage done by a bullet is directly related to the crosssectional area of the projectile as it passes through the target. This is why bullets are designed to mushroom once they hit. The total amount of energy transmitted to the target is related to the bullet's momentum which is a function of velocity and mass, which can usually be directly related to it's caliber between similar types of weapons. The wider the cross section, the more energy you can transmit to the target without overpenetration. Smaller bullets are going to penetrate better and thus risk not transfering all their energy to the target before they exit out the other side.

If we're talking about Iron Kingdoms here, it's hard to say what the caliber would be. By graphics I remember and comparisons with firearms from a similar age in our history, I'd say anywhere from .45 to .75 if shooting a ball and on the low side of that if shooting a bullet. This is due to real world figures and bullets were made that way for reasons of manufacture as well as the power of the propellant. If the IK propellant is more powerful than black powder, then they could make the barrel and projectile smaller because they'd need less powder and could put more energy into the bullet (and shooting a large bullet with that much velocity would do nasty things to the firer).

*short but good read on subject even though it is dealing with handguns:
FBI Study on Handgun Effectiveness

"Kinetic energy does not wound. Temporary cavity does not wound. The much discussed "shock" of bullet impact is a fable and "knock down" power is a myth. The critical element is penetration. The bullet must pass through the large, blood bearing organs and be of sufficient diameter to promote rapid bleeding. Penetration less than 12 inches is too little, and, in the words of two of the participants in the 1987 Wound Ballistics Workshop, "too little penetration will get you killed." 42,43 Given desirable and reliable penetration, the only way to increase bullet effectiveness is to increase the severity of the wound by increasing the size of hole made by the bullet. Any bullet which will not penetrate through vital organs from less than optimal angles is not acceptable. Of those that will penetrate, the edge is always with the bigger bullet.44"