Hello friends, this is a look at the firearms of HL2rp.
In this guide we'll be covering the pros and cons about the standard issue weapons of the combine and resistance forces., the facts about the weapons, why the combine/resistance would pick these firearms over others.
The goal of this thread is to provide a better understanding of firearms for their use in roleplay in both city, and outlands.
Pistols.
Looking at the pistols found standard issue for the combine forces we notice a few things, one that the combine prefer to use target style firearms for their standard carry, and that they prefer accuracy over firepower.
With pistols there tends to be three "Styles" of firearms, these styles are often defined by things like grip size, the size and shape of the firearm over all, and the caliber. The three styles of firearms can be broken down in to: Conceal carry, Combat, and Target.
With Conceal carry firearms, you tend to have thinner, lighter and smaller guns made to be carried often on the hip concealed under clothing. They tend to be smaller caliber and use less accurate sights in favor of aiding the draw speed(Higher sights tend to snatch on clothing). Pistols such as the Glock 26, the Ruger LCP/LC9, the Markov, and the snub noise revolver(which is a revolver with a barrel length of less than three inches.) are all common conceal carry firearms, each offering a difference benefit over the others.
Combat style pistols are full size pistols that are often carried open on a hip/drop leg holster.
They feature better sights, carry more rounds, and are more accurate then a conceal carry fire arm, and have more power then conceal carry gun, often sporting calibers from 9x19mm to .45 ACP.
With these bigger cartridges you have greater recoil, but the full frame and weight allows these weapons to reduce felt recoil and help provide quick follow up shots.
Guns of this style are: The colt 1911, The Beretta M9, The majority of the USP series, most of the Glocks, and most revolvers.
These guns tend to be a middle ground, they're hard to conceal, but they provide much greater firepower then the conceal carry series, and even some target guns.
The last style is Target, these guns are often more expensive, harder to clean, and some times provide less firepower then combat style, with the benefit of much greater accuracy then the other two, these guns are the ones used in IPSC shooting, they offer greater felt recoil reduction giving you faster follow up shots then the other two, and the best sights offered.
Another downside is that these guns tend to only run Full Metal jack ammo(will define later.) so they give up more firepower for accuracy and reliability.
Of this style there's the USP Match, the Colt python, variants of the 1911, and many .22 LR firearms.
Now lets cover the guns and their pros and cons.
Lets start with the standard issue side to all CCA forces, the USP Match.
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The USP Match is a target style pistol, sporting a rather large capacity magazine a good rate of fire and the 9x19mm cartridge(Which currently is the standard NATO pistol cartridge) this is a world class target pistol, used in IPSC shooting(Speed pistol shooting) it offers lower recoil then its .45 caliber cousins and offers easy to see adjustable target sights.
What also helps with the recoil and accuracy is the heavy "Bull" barrel, this gives more weight to the front then most standard pistols giving you less muzzle climb when firing, giving quicker follow up shots, it also helps balance the gun with aids the aiming process.
These could be some of the reason why the union picked this for the standard sidearm, its found on all non-union Civil protection officers, and is the Trans-human army's standard side arm as well(The only force to not use this is the Commanders and above), Because the combine don't use money and have the earths resources under their control they can afford to make this pistol, and due to their lack of use out side the cities the don't need to be cleaned that often, but in Outlands they do tend to need to be cleaned more then in the city.
This Pistols downsides is its low stop power. However, in properly trained hands this can be a very deadly weapon.
Now lets move to the Colt Python.
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This weapon serves as a balance, this is a target style double action .357 magnum revolver. Considered to be the best mid line target revolvers on the market, Colt made this to try to get rid of S&W's monopoly on the USA's revolver market.
Sporting a six inch barrel this is the revolver used by the combine forces and resistance alike, often carried by commanders on both sides this full size high power gun can make weaker men break at the sound of the hammer being pulled back.
This gun sports adjustable target sights, giving you near that accuracy often found in revolvers. This is one of the most powerful weapons in the game mode, this can rip apart anything from head craps to OTA.
Limited to six rounds the revolver is the longest lasting style firearm on the market today, versions of popular revolvers are made for conceal carry, most of these are snub noise revolvers sporting the 38 S&W special, these guns are consider to be the most reliable hand guns in the world. Reloading a revolver is a slow process that can be sped up with speed loaders,
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Or speed strips.
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The colt python sports near perfect accuracy at both short to medium range, but due to the power of the cartridge they have a massive amount of recoil, making follow up shots slow and with the limit of six rounds is often considered inferior to the modern automatic handgun on the battlefield.
The Colt Python can also fire the .38 special round for less recoil, but at the cost of less power.
Now, before I go further I'm going to cover the cartridges of the firearms in HL2 before I move on to rifles.
Lets start with the 9x19mm(Often called the 9mm Luger).
9x19mm is the metric name for it, it defines the diameter of the bullet(In this case 9mm) and the length of the case,(19mm)
Now, lets compare it to its weaker sister cartridge the .380.
9mm in inches converts to roughly .380th of an inch(Hence the name) but the 9mm Luger is .355 inches so its rounded up.
The .380 in metric is 9x17mm, following the pattern that I showed above that means that the bullet is 9mm(Or .355 of an inch) and the case is 17mm long. the length of the case often defines the powder behind that round, so the .380 is a weaker version of the 9mm Luger.
The 9mm Luger is a hand gun cartridge, adopted by NATO for low recoil and high speed, compared to the .45 ACP, it offers lower stopping power then the .45 but a soldier can carry much more ammo due to the smaller size and weight of the 9mm round.(.45 ACP is 11.5mm)
Depending on a few factors(Barrel length, armor type, and brand of bullet) a 9mm Luger has been know to penetrate basic armor.
Now, lets look at the grand Ol, .357 magnum.
The .357 is considered to be a more buffed version of the .38 special, both the .357 and the 9mm luger sport a slightly longer case compared to their smaller brothers for more of safety reasons then anything else, a 9mm luger won't chamber in a .380, and a .357 magnum won't chamber in a .38 special revolver.
In metric the .357 magnum is 9x31mmR(Same diameter as the Luger, but much longer case gives it better stopping power.) in this case the R stands for rimmed.
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That rim allows it to properly be seated in the revolvers cylinder and gives something for the extractor rod to grab on too.
The .357 was made because the .38 special(The then standard issue caliber for most police officers in America) was considered to weak and they wanted the ability to pierce the think metal doors of a car, or even in to the engine block to stop a speeding car(Mind you, this was in the 30s.) as well as gangsters starting to wear body armor that the special didn't have the speed to penetrate(When trying to pierce body armor its always better to use faster, often small bullets.) so they started loaded the specials hotter(Loaded more powder, caused greater pressures and sped the bullet up) we call these +P ammo. But there was still a problem with the doors and some of the thicker body armor, so S&W took the .38 special, made the case stronger, and slightly longer, and loaded it so hot they had to make a stronger frame revolver to shoot it, otherwise the pressure would break the revolver.
The modern revolvers still can penetrate almost all body armor worn, including OTA's making the revolver an effective hand cannon and one of the most deadly guns in the game when used properly.
Primary Weapons.
In this chapter we'll be covering the primary weapons carried by the combine and resistance forces.
This list consist of: MP7, SPAS-12, AR2, and the Combine sniper, and the Resistance crossbow.
I'm not going to go in to detail with the pulse weapons due to my lack of knowledge but bear with me.
Let's start with some facts on the MP7.
The MP7 is a selective fire(Modified by the combine to fully auto only.) made by German gun manufacturer H&K(The same that makes the USP Match). It was designed to replace the MP5 as the PDW used by private military contractors and military personnel.
Its primary design feature is the bullet it fires, the 4.6x30mm H&K round, which was made to penetrate military grade Kevlar while providing better stopping power then the 9mm Luger cartridge. With the low recoiling round, Valve removed the stock to rise felt recoil and give it less uncontrollably for better game balance.
However the MP7 is more of a compact "Assault rifle" then an MP7 given its use of a rifle round.
The combine modified the MP7 to feature a 20mm under barrel grenade launcher, there is no information on how this is loaded, however when used properly both the MP7 and its grenade launcher make a very good short range ambush weapon(Assuming you don't blow your self up) however due to its high recoil it is not recommended to use it at long/medium long range.
A quick run down of the Pros and Cons for the MP7
Pros:
-Good mobility.
-Great close range firepower.
-High rate of fire.
-Armor piercing capable.
Cons:
-High rate of fire eats up ammo very quickly.
-Not very accurate past 30 meters.
-Low stopping power
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Moving on to the SPAS-12 we have a 12 gauge semi-automatic/pump action full size shotgun with out a stock
The SPAS-12 was made to be a standard issue police/Riot shotgun.
It was designed as a semi-automatic with a working pump to help clear jams and quickly load it, it fires the powerful 12 gauge shotgun shell(Combine use 00 buck shot) which gives near perfect stopping power at the cost of range and recoil.
With shotguns you have to remember that the smaller the number the bigger it is(Weird to try to wrap your head around) 00 buck shot are .32 caliber(Maybe confusing this with 000) and is a popular home defense/military/police round, it balances power, spread, and recoil.
The SPAS-12 is a very heavy shotgun, coming in at eight pounds this thing out weighs some machine guns, with out the stock you lack the ability to safely bring the shotgun up to its sights unless trained to handle the recoil, its best to "Fire from the hip" with it cleared from impacting your body with its recoil, but due to the weight the recoil it is far less then it would be with normal shotguns.
The combine modified the SPAS-12 to fire pump only(Perhaps to fix any feeding issues) they also gave it the ability to fire two rounds at once(How is a mystery to me.) this is not recommended unless very close to your target and the target is VERY large and slow.
The shotgun is considered to have an "Open choke" meaning that there is little to no choke in it(Choke is the barrel of the shotgun getting progressively smaller to improve the shot pattern) which allows the use of "Rifled slugs" (though the combine don't use these and they are high recoiling they might be found if auth'd and ICly shot) slugs give higher recoil but near perfect accuracy up to 70 meters.
00 buck shot offers very little armor penetration, however due to the force of the round being spread out over an area it can knock down a target at close range and crack ribs and even break the spine if fired in to the back(Close range being a Max of ~20 feet),
but buck shot only has a max effective range of 50 Meters.
Pros and Cons.
Pros
-Its a shotgun
-The pump action can be used as a warning
-Buck shot is a /VERY/ effective close range round
-Its a mother fucking shotgun.
-The ability to fire two rounds at once allows you to take down /VERY/ large targets(Such as hunters and ant lion guards.)
Cons.
-its a shotgun you have a very short effective range.
-Low rate of fire.
-low ammo count.
-Heavy ammo.
-Heavy gun.
(I'm going to cut it right here for now cause I have research to do on these next weapons)
Chapter four: Ammo.
Now here we get in to some fun, in this chapter I'm going to be defining somethings people don't know about ammo like its types, what are the benefits and draw backs to some of those types and remove some misinformation from the community.
Let's start with ammo types, There three or four main types of ammo that that is: FMJ/Ball, HP, and SP.
With FMJ/Ball you have your basic bullet, normally round noise(OR pointed for rifles) solid lead normally with a copper jacket covering everything but the bottom of the bullet(And even then some times its covered). This is your most basic/common type of ammo and what you'll be seeing a lot of in HL2, with this round you have VERY little to no expansion(Will define this factor in another chapter) but a whole lot of penetration, so much in fact that with some calibers it could go through someone and the wall behind them and hit someone behind that wall and go through them!
This ammo is used mainly for its reliable feeding and its ease of manufacturing, and you can have fairly light training loads that give less recoil and longer ranges/accuracy.
The next time is Hollow point bullets.
With a hollow point you have a cavity in the front of the bullet, in this cavity we have whats called "Soft lead" or "pure lead"(Most ammo use a lead/tin mixture to make it harder and not deform when loading/making the bullet), when this impacts a soft object(Person, gel, whatever) the soft tissue fill the cavity up and the soft lead allows it to "Mushroom" back and expand the bullet, creating drag and cutting motions, allowing for better kinetic transfer in to the target.
There are three types of Hollow points: Lead, Semi-jacked, and Jacked.(SJHP, and JHP)
Both have pros and cons, A lead round gives weak penetration, and un-uniformed expansion and even fragmenting.
A SJHP gives better penetration and more uniformed expansion, but still has the fragmenting problem.
A JHP is considered the best for personal defense and gives near perfect expansion and no fragmenting, as well as the jack forming "Talons" and creating a cutting motion(Which combined with the bullet spinning from the rifling) makes for a VERY VERY deadly round.
Most people carrying guns(Be them police or civilians) carry JHPs due to their effectiveness.
This is video shows basically what all police in america uses, this is a very effect JHP thus I picked this video to show you the mushroom effect(NOTE: A wound cavity caused by a bullet would close up unlike the gel, but the damage is still there). You can watch other videos on this channel to help get a better understanding
Soft points are considered purely hunting rounds and are really only found in hunting rifle calibers like .308 and such.
However soft points are like ball ammo with a flat point that is soft lead, when it impacts soft tissue it expands a bit like a Hollow point, but not nearly as effectively.
Using firearms.
In this Chapter we'll be going over things like holding the weapon(Which will effect accuracy/mobility) and things that would effect your point of aim(Where your aiming compared to where the bullet is going) and things like recoil and dismissing some urban legends.
When holding a firearm, your stance can effect your shot more that most people think. With higher recoiling firearms(Shotguns, Automatics, high powered rifles) it will effect the time to get a second shot off.
With pistols there are three main ways to hold it, each of them have their benefits and they all have their downsides.
"Cup and saucer" This is the classic way to hold a pistol, while no longer used to due to its flaws it still has its benefits.
With this style the grip on the pistol is held by the right hand while the left hand is "cupped" under the grip to provide stabilization.
The downsides to this is your resting the gun on your palm, and a number of blood veins, this will make the gun move around more with your pulse(Up and down), its also a less stable grip to maintain due to your "Supporting" arm being totally unsupported, however with less recoiling weapons such this issue can be avoided by putting your left elbow on your hip(Bending your body in the process).
This method makes you a much smaller then the way most people shoot their guns at the range.
Along with this, its also an easy to teach style of shooting, and makes it easier to control higher recoiling guns(such as the .357 magnum and other revolvers) so this is mainly used with revolver style weapons.
This grip style provides good mobility but at the cost of accuracy in the long run.
Its also easy to shoot from cover with this.
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"One handed" This style your holding the gun with one hand, this can be done by either holding the gun in front of you(Max Payne style) or to your side(Like you see in the Olympics). When holding it in front you have less stabilization and a bit less recoil control, but you're more free to move the gun around and engage more then one target very quickly while staying mobile(this isn't advised when engaging well trained forces like OTA) when shooting with your body pointed sideways you're shooting at your best, you're less stable then other grip styles, but you're a very small target able to stay mobile(Note, walking like this you will lose even more stability then with the gun pointed in front of you, with your arm bent to take up most of the movement.) this style makes it nearly impossible to control the recoil of higher caliber firearms(.45 ACP, .357 magnum etc etc).
"Two-handed" This is the style you're mostly going to be seeing people who are trained in firearms to use, Not as quick as one handed, but still quick, accurate, and gives you moderate control of the recoil.
With this style you're holding the grip with your right hand(if your right handed) and you have your "offhand" also holding the grip folded over your right hand, this style gives you the most stability out of all of them, but it still allows you to move and shoot, with a bit more stability then one handed or cup and saucer methods.
This can be used with the lighter Magnums like .357 and maybe .44, but you'll still be dealing with quite a bit of recoil.
When dealing with recoil of a pistol, the best thing you can do is hold the gun with as strong of a grip as you can get and when it recoils back apply more pressure to the top of the gun to counter the muzzle climb.
(Too be continued.)
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