Buckshot (no ontology)

From Mazeworld

Revision as of 01:29, 3 January 2013

Buckshot is a type of load for 12 gauge shotgun shells. The particular version that is standard-issue in Mazeworld are 12 gauge shells containing 00 buckshot.

Real-life data

Shotgun shells, and subsequently, shotguns themselves, have existed since the 19th century. They have been declined in various types and versions, suited for different needs and purposes, from hunting to home defense, to military and law enforcement applications. Two major kinds of shotgun shells can be differentiated: those that contain lead shot, and slugs.

Among lead shot cartridges, several variants have appeared to suit various needs. Examples:

• Birdshot shells, that contain a number of small lead pellets ranging from 30 to 450, each with a tiny diameter varying between 2 and 5.8mm (0.08 to 0.23 inches). They are used primarily to hunt small game and birds, as the name implies.
• Buckshot shells contains a number of large lead pellets ranging from 3 to 20, each with a diameter varying between 6 and 15mm (0.24 to 0.6 inches). Meant originally for bigger game such as deer, buckshot (particularly in 12 gauge and 16 gauge shotguns) found extremely widespread usage in home defense, law enforcement and military situations.

In military applications, 00 buckshot (shells that contains 8 or 9 lead balls of 8.4mm/0.33 inch of diameter each) is particularly well suited to injure and/or kill human-sized targets. It offers reasonable spread and very high lethality at closer ranges, while at longer ones it remains relatively forgiving, as some the shells may still be able to hit and injure the target.

Mazeworld overview

The above chart applies for ONE pellet, and may be multiplied by the amount of pellets that hit the target (up to 8). How to read this?

• Available for purchase in a gun shop or a weapon shop, in boxes of 20 or 100 rounds
• Costs 40 P$ for 20 rounds, and 200 P$ for 100 rounds
• Value of a single round is 2 P$
• Recoil level of this round is 3 - Normal
• Propels up to 8 pellets per shot
• Availability of this caliber:
  • Can be found at random in the rooms
  • WPN-3 crate: 80 shells ; AMMO-4 crate: 60 shells ; AMMO-5 crate: 60 shells

Usage notes

Using buckshot ammunition inside shotgun has a main trait that bullets don't have: damage is variable. It can be treated as both an advantage and a weakness:

• The advantage: Even if the dice score is poor, the contestant may still be able to hit his/her target (although with minimum power) unless he/she scores a critical failure.
• The drawback: Whereas bullets almost always hit at full power, buckshot doesn't, unless the contestant scores 12, in which case all eight pellets hit. Because of this, the failure threshold is not useful - only your actual dice score is.

Because of this, shotguns are played a little differently than other firearms. Whether those traits can be helpful or not depend mostly on the contestant's strategy and style, although there are a few recommendations:

• Avoiding heavily armored targets, unless the contestant is positively sure to hit a lesser-armored weak point.
• It must be noted that failure threshold modifiers work differently with buckshot than with any other type of ammunition, since the amount of pellets that hit the target are dependent on the total score. For every increased accuracy occurrence, the amount of pellets that hit is your score +1. Likewise, for every decreased accuracy occurrence, your score -1.

Gallery

	Buckshot and slug comparison.

See also

• Ammunition
• Weapon
• 12 gauge

• Wikipedia article on shotgun shells in general