COMPENDIUM OF MODERN ARMAMENTS
Appendix I: Ammunition
Pistol/SMG
Rifle
Shotgun
Heavy Weapon
Powercells

Ammunition Types & Descriptions

PISTOL & SMG AMMUNITION

* Additional text on cartridge below

When two Damage Multipliers are listed under the same heading, the left DM is used vs. Unarmored Targets, the right DM is used vs. Armored Targets.

Boxes of 50 cost 2/3 listed value, boxes of 20 cost 1/4. Bulk-purchased ammunition (in 500rd lots) costs 3x the listed value for a 100rd box.

4.7x30mm Caseless: Derivative of HK's 4.92x33mm caseless cartridge for the G11 program. Utilized in HK's next-generation Caseless Personal Weapon program ca. 2000. The cartridge consists of a copper-jacketed lead projectile seated within a block of stabilized propellant with a square cross section. The entire cartridge length ("case" plus bullet) is 30mm. For its power and compactness (especially compared to similar cartridges such as FN's SS190 5.7x28), it was determined to be an ideal (if expensive) loading for a compact defensive weapon. Conversion notes: Listed KE is ~470J, which comes out to x15. Listed armor penetration and presumed tumbling effects raise DM to x18.

5.45x18mm: This cartridge was developed by the Soviet Union in 1979, and was initially severely underestimated in capability. On later reflection, it appears the 5.45 cartridge fills a similar niche to the FN SS190 (5.7x28mm) cartridge, with a low-weight, high-velocity bullet for armor penetration. If this is in fact the case, the USSR appears to have had this particular clever idea first... The 5.45 cartidge was first used in the PSM pistol, and is currently in service in the Drotik special-operations pistol. The cartridge is 25mm long with a 7.55mm diameter base, and masses 4.8g, of which .15g are an undisclosed propellant. Though the bullet mass is fairly small (2.6g), and energy is a mere 130J, the 5.45 has very impressive armor-penetration characteristics, penetrating 55 layers of Kevlar at 40m. Additionally, the flat-point bullet is comprised of a gilded copper jacket around core with a mild steel tip and a lead tail. This construction draws the center of gravity towards the end of the bullet, causing it to tumble on penetration, yielding substantial wounding results. This round disobeys the "normal" cartridge conversion rules, as its energy is so low (130J, yielding a x10 DM). However, with its listed armor penetration, and tumbling effects, I felt justified in raising the DM to x16, and it could perhaps be as high as x18.

5.7x28mm: The FN 5.7x28mm cartridge was initially designed because of a belief that the useful life of the 9x19mm as a military cartridge was coming to an end. The FN 5.7 used top-of-the line ballistics-knowhow to produce a cartridge with excellent combat characteristics. The standard ball cartridge (designated SS190) has exceptional armor penetrating characteristics, coupled with an extremely low recoil force, about 1/2 that of a 5.56x45mm cartridge, and 2/3 that of a 9mm Parabellum.

9x18mm High Impulse: The 9x18mm Makarov High Impulse cartridge was developed in post-Soviet Russia as a replacement for the relatively underpowered 9x18mm Makarov cartridge. In general, the HI (high-impulse) cartridge is essentially a +P+ version of the standard Makarov cartridge. The Mak HI could be considered to be a less-efficient 9x18mm HiVel cartridge, but it does not require nearly the amount of weapon retooling as a true HV cartridge would need for safety. The majority of 203X-era Russian/CIS firearms chambered in 9x18mm Makarov can be assumed to be compatible with the High Impulse cartridge as well.

RIFLE AMMUNITION

* Additional text on cartridge below

** Equivalent to Silenced rounds

Boxes of 20 cost 2/3, Bulk-purchased ammunition (in 500rd lots) cost 5x

Belted ammunition increases cost by 10%.

.600 Nitro Express: The .600 Nitro Express is a purpose-designed Dangerous Game cartridge, originally used for felling the kind of Big Game that could easily take a lighter round and keep on charging. The sheer mass and size of the .600 limit its use to bolt-action rifles, and it is definitely not recommended to fire without being braced. The "AP" bullets were actually fairly commonly available by special order to civilians, as the tungsten-carbide cores would often be needed to punch through the thick hide, bone, and gristle of the target and cause a wound. The standard bullet was still a soft-lead flat-tip, however.

SHOTGUN AMMUNITION

Base cost applies for both Slugs and Shot ammunition.

* When using shot ammunition, consider the weapon to have the Attenuating Damage characteristic (reduce base damage by listed value after each range band past Short)

** All listed shotgun stats assume the use of shotshells, rather than slugs, and the +1 accuracy for Shot has been included. Additionally, Flechette ammunition also grants a +1 accuracy (essentially AP buckshot).

Example: Shotgun Billy fires at his foe with his 12-ga with 00-buckshot loads (+1Acc, x14, BR10, AD2). The target is 25 meters away (Long Range), and thus the damage is (14-2-2) = 10). If the victim were in Medium or Extreme range, the damage would be 12 ( = 14-2), or 8 ( = 14-2-2-2).

HEAVY WEAPONS

Bulk-purchased ammunition (in 1000rd belts) costs 5x the listed value

MISSILES/ROCKETS

See Vehicular Weapon Systems listing for more specific missile/rocket reloads.

POWERCELLS

All powercells are rechargeable. Adapters for wall-current available (GM's call).

AMMUNITION TYPE DESCRIPTIONS:
Note: Availability Modifier is added to the Base Availability; Legal Code replaced with that listed. If no legal code listed, value is unchanged.

Full Metal Jacket (FMJ): 1x Base Ammo Cost (Standard, no change)
FMJ ammunition is the "default" standard ball-type bullet for small arms. Base DM is for FMJ.

Hollowpoint (HP): 2x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +0)
Special hollow-nosed bullets made of soft, quickly mushrooming lead. When these rounds hit armor, the lead flattens bluntly and does mostly bruising damage. However, when these rounds hit unprotected flesh, the lead expands outwards to cause a massive wound cavity. DM is increased by 20% against unarmored targets, decreased by 20% against armored targets.

Improved Hollowpoint (IHP): 3x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +1)
Improved Hollowpoint rounds are specifically designed to maximize damage against "soft" targets. Commonly a standard HP round with a special core that aids in the rapid expansion of the bullet to enhance lethality. Base Damage multiplier is increased by 40% against unarmored targets, and decreased by 40% against armored targets.

Armor Piercing (AP): 3x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +1B)
The AP bullet usually has either a special coating, jacket, or dense core material (typically steel or tungsten) meant to penetrate various forms of armor. Typically only available to military and security forces. AP ammunition increases the DM by 20% against armored targets, but decreases DM by 20% against unarmored targets. Flechette rounds for shotguns are considered to be AP versions of buckshot (and thus are granted the +1 Accuracy).

Armor Piercing Dual Purpose (APDP): 5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +2B)
The largest disadvantage to AP ammunition is that it tends to pass completely through soft targets, leaving fairly clean wounds. The APDP bullet is designed to be equally damaging to soft and hardened targets through the use of a dense tungsten steel rod surrounded by a soft lead sheath. The lead sheath either acts as a HP round, or is stripped by impacting armor, allowing the penetrator rod to punch through. Generally only available to military or security forces. APDP ammunition increases the DM by 20% for both armored and unarmored targets.

Enhanced Armor Piercing (EAP): 5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +3D)
Enhanced armor piercing bullets are commonly those using subcaliber penetrators, such as APDS (armor piercing discarding sabot), and SLAP (subcaliber light armor penetrator) rounds. Although these tend to reduce overall wounding potential, their substantially increased velocity coupled with a smaller bullet diameter makes them excellent armor penetrators. Against personnel, reduce both damage multiplier and target's Armor values by 50%. EAP projectiles are especially dangerous to vehicles, as they possess the "Armor Piercing" vehicle characteristic (JCC, p126), and do not reduce their damage. However, against vehicles, they cannot produce an Overkill result. Only available (e.g. mechanics-meaningful effect) for weapons of 11mm rifle caliber or higher. 11mm Rifle or Larger

Non-Lethal (NL): 1.5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +0)
Many ammunition manufacturers have produced a variety of "Less-than-Lethal" ammunition, be it simple rubber bullets or more complex gel rounds or projectiles designed to distribute impact force over a large area. These rounds do "bruising" damage that heals in 1/4 the time, but when the victim is hit, they must make their consciousness check at double the usual penalty. Nonlethal rounds for small arms do 1/2 damage. NL rounds for shotguns do full damage for the given ammunition type (shot or slug). NL rounds for Heavy Weapons are substantially less effective, due to the enormous muzzle velocity involved (DM decreased from 1/2 to 1/3).

High Velocity (HV): 2x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +1B)
Typically a standard round with a substantially higher charge than normal, and usually a slightly heavier projectile mass. Incredible penetrating power in addition to damage potential versus soft targets. However, HV rounds cause very high stresses on the firing weapon, causing it to be much more likely to malfunction, in addition to wearing out the action in a much shorter amount of time. Modifications to configure the gun to fire HV exist, removing the penalties for using HV ammo. However, such modifications tend to prevent the firing of conventional ammunition (eg. no longer enough energy to cycle the action). HV ammunition increases the DM by 20% for both armored and unarmored targets.

Low Velocity (LV): 1.5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +1B)
Low Velocity ammunition is specifically designed to be subsonic in nature. In addition to making the weapon's report more difficult to notice (+1 to Notice threshold), the increased bullet weight compensates some for the loss of muzzle velocity (typically DM is reduced by 10-20%, depending on caliber), but range is also effected adversely (reduce BR by ~10%, rounding to nearest whole number).

Armor Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS): 5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +2B)
These shotgun shells consist of a dense metallic penetrator with machined fins for flight stability surrounded by a polymeric sabot. On firing, the sabot falls away, leaving the penetrator to continue towards the target. The penetrator has excellent anti-armor capabilities, counting all armor protection at 1/2 its value. Unfortunately, the APFSDS rounds do tend to drift at excessive range (additional -1 penalty at Long and Extreme ranges). Shotguns Only

Armor Piercing Incendiary (API): 4x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +3D)
Essentially a dense metal body filled with a pyrophoric agent. On impact, the pyrophoric agent is released, causing significant secondary damage (Intensity 6+MOS flame). Against Vehicle-scale units, use standard DM, and Incendiary effects are secondary (and usually ineffective). Not available for calibers below 11mmAMG.

High-Explosive Armor Piercing (HEAP): 5x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +2D)
Similar to API rounds, the filler in a HEAP round is an explosive agent. The explosives can cause minor secondary fragmentation effects (count MOS=1/2 on a MOS0 impact). Effectively, HEAP rounds provide a similar result for Heavy Weapons as APDP for small arms. Not available for calibers below 11mmAMG.

Safety Rounds (SAF): 6x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +1)
In many closed quarters (rooms, aircraft, etc), overpenetration is a significant issue. To combat this, many ammunition manufacturers produce a specialized frangible aluminum or plastic bullet that is designed to break up quickly on impact with solid objects. Glaser rounds (lead shot in a gel fluid capsule) also fall into this category. Decrease DM by 50% versus hard targets (walls, hard armor), decrease by 20% against soft-armor, and increase by 33% against unarmored targets. Available for most small arms, especially pistols. [Quick & Dirty Rule: Ineffective against Hard Targets (if hit, make a Consciousness Roll. If failed, take a -1 penalty for d6 turns), acts like IHP otherwise] Not available in calibers above 7mm Rifle (including shotguns).

Caseless (CL): 1.5-6x Base Ammo Cost (Avail +2B)
Weapons that have been reconfigured to fire caseless ammunition are no longer compatible with conventional cased ammunition. In general, most caseless rounds consist of a bullet is then seated within a block (commonly cylindrical or rectangular) of stabilized propellant. The cartridge is then fired either electrically or via an integrated primer. For most conventional weapons converted to caseless, the simple conversion is a minimal redesign of the conventional cased cartridge. However, such "stopgap" designs are often inefficient compared to purpose-designed caseless cartridges, such as HK/Dynamit Nobel's 4.7x33 rifle and 4.6x30 pistol cartridges that are often smaller and more space-efficient than an equivalently-powered cartridge. In general, caseless cartridges weigh less than half of their cased cousins. Cost and availability will often vary depending on area. Additionally, caseless cartridges are often not nearly as resilient to handling and hostile environments as equivalent cased weapons. The purpose-designed caseless rounds are of course an exception.