Rifling

Game Stats

• Range: +25%
• Reload time: doubled

• Bonus: +10 to hit

Description:

Rifling is a rare modification that can be applied to the barrel of a dueling pistol, pistol, arquebus, musket, or grenade launcher.  To rifle a barrel, a gunsmith cuts spiral grooves into the inside barrel of the weapon.  These grooves grip the ball and cause it to spin as it leaves the barrel.  This spin makes the ball less likely to change course by conservation of angular momentum, and thus makes the gun more accurate.  The fact that the shot is in physical contact with the walls of the barrel also means no gas from the powder charge can slip past the shot and be wasted.  This increases the range of a rifled gun.

Rifling a barrel is a a relatively simple mechanical process, but places great demands on a gunsmith's experience.  Ideally, the rifling should be gentle enough to impart a stabilizing spin to the shot, but no more.  If the rate of twist is too low the weapon will actually become slightly less accurate, as the bullet will yaw and tumble in the air.  If the rate of twist is too high the weapon sacrifices unnecessary muzzle velocity and becomes more easily fouled.

Advantages

A properly rifled barrel is more accurate than a smoothbore barrel.  The Harkanian military deploys small units of skirmishers equipped with rifled muskets.  Working in pairs to compensate for their reduced rates of fire, these troops make useful scouts and snipers.  Rifled muskets or arquebuses are also popular with a certain segment of hunters, who are happy to trade rate of fire for extra accuracy.

Disadvantages

A rifled barrel is significantly more difficult to load than a smoothbore barrel.  For the rifling to have any effect, the ball must be in physical contact with the grooves - which means the raised portions of the barrel (called "lands") impede the progress of the ball down the barrel.  This impediment is precisely what causes the ball to spin as the ball seeks the path of least resistance down the barrel, but it means that a rifleman must essentially screw his ball down the length of his barrel, which significantly increases loading time.  Experienced riflemen wrap their balls in small patches of greased cloth to speed up the process, but even so, a rifle takes about twice as long to load as a smoothbore weapon.

The increased contact with the barrel also means that rifles foul more quickly than smoothbore weapons.  The inside of the barrel becomes coated not only with gunpowder residue, but also with powdered lead from the shot itself.  This limitation is not a concern for snipers and hunters, who do not fire often, but it is a serious liability for a front-line infantryman's weapon.  The increased fouling rates and loading times of rifled weapons means that they have not been adopted by any professional military in large numbers, and it is unlikely that any force will do so.

Variants

A rifled pistol or long gun is capable of firing alchemical shot and powder just as is a smoothbore pistol or long gun.  The most advantageous alchemical shot for a rifle is so-called expanding shot.  Expanding shot is a ball small enough to roll down the barrel in the ordinary manner, but expands upon firing to a large enough diameter to engage the lands and grooves of the rifling.  Expanding shot thus eliminates the increased loading time normally associated with rifling, although it does not help with fouling problems.  It is also extravagantly expensive.

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