Now that you're all jacked up, you may want to take the opportunity to check your firearms
cabinet. But trying to find the proper shotgun to accompany your peculiar state requires patience
and skill that would defeat a sober man. The two main considerations are the weapons bore size,
or GAUGE, and chamber length.
The gauge of a shotgun was originally demarcated on Terran by the number of lead balls at a
particular diameter required to equal one pound (0.4545 kg). Hence a 12 Gauge reflects the fact
that it would take 12 balls of that diameter to equal one pound. But in the modern age we don't go
around weighing our balls, so gauge is now rated in millimeters:
Gauge Diameter (MM)
4 26.7
6 23.34
8 21.2
10 19.67
12 18.52
14 17.6
16 16.81
20 15.9
The most common modern gauges are 12 and 20. The single digit gauges are mainly low power black
powder weapons. One gauge not included is the .410 caliber shotgun. This is actually a 10.41 mm
weapon, and one best suited for killing cockroaches and other imaginary vermin while you're in the
DTs.
Chamber length, also the cartridge length, determines if a shotgun is a standard or a high powered
magnum. A standard shotgun round is always 69.85 mm in length, while a magnum round is 88.9 mm. If
its a puny .410, the round is usually from 50.8 to 63.5 mm in length, though why you'd wanna cut
yourself off so short like that is beyond me.
For comparison purposes:
18.52x69.85mm-6 average muzzle energy=3763 joules
18.52x88.9mm-6 average muzzle energy=4311 joules
This has either been an offbeat Hunter S. Thompson homage, or a pointless waste of my spare time....
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
TNE-RCES mailing list
http://mailman.silent-tower.org/listinfo/tne-rces