Quick firing question

[David Evil Overlord]

I have a character in a post-apocalyptic world. She has a sawn-off shotgun, a magic weapon from ancient times. The question is, how ancient? Even if the cleaning and maintenance rituals were handed down through the generations, just how long would a firearm remain functional?

P.S. I know one answer is "as long as there is still ammunition, and after that it's just an odd paperweight". Let us assume she still has one or two shells left.

 

[HareBrain]

A shotgun is basically just a tube and a hammer; it shouldn't take much maintenance. I think the problem is more likely to be the cartridges. They would have to be kept in an environment away from humidity and direct sunlight, and if they're the paper type, even more strictly. Even then, I think more than a hundred years would be pushing it.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

I need it to be long enough for the true cause of the apocalypse to become garbled myth and legend, but not too long for the shotgun to still fire successfully...at least once.

 

[Boneman]

A friend of mine is in a historical society that fires muskets that are over two hundred years old - guess what? He can't get insurance, unsurprisingly.

 

[Stephen4444]

I suppose, there are people around (like Charlton Heston,) that have an armory full of weapons and ammo. All of his stuff is in a underground., temperature controlled, humidity controlled environment. In the US, we store our old B52s in the desert. They don't rust or deteriorate.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

Given the number of military bunkers and so on, the preservation of ammunition in perfectly controlled environments is possible, assuming that environmental controls are self contained and nuclear powered. I suppose it depends on the nature of the apocalypse. However, such installations would be impenetrable, despite what the Passage says.

The shotgun itself would be fine, but the discovery of the environment in which the shells can exist would therefore render the shotgun itself of little importance, given that there are probably tanks, rockets launchers, M60s, sniper rifles and so on all over the place as well. My concern would be that in order to find the shells, the protag has to have knowledge that such places exist, which renders the mythical nature of firearms less important.

On the B52s in the desert, they get sand/grit/wind damage which, over decades, causes metal fatigue and makes engines worthless.

 

[MstrTal]

That is why sensitive components like engines and the like are usually removed and housed in hanger or warehouses. At least on the ones that are intended to actually be used again. Granted this is what i was told growing up when i asked the same question living near a couple Naval Air bases.

The biggest concern I would think with properly stored ammo after a certain point would be the primers going bad causing a miss fire, hang fire or just a failure to fire. Last thing you want is for the hammers to come down and nothing to happen for 30 seconds or more. . . or do you?

Edit: Also just because a weapon depot or cache may exist does not also dictate that said armory also has an ammo depot attached or that the aforementioned ammo depot hasn't been downsized, raided, relocated, subject to budget cuts or resupplied. In some cases armories are simply for the storage of overflow arms and equipment and somewhere along the line some paranoid politician or subcommittee decided it interest was in everyone's best interest to separate arms from ammo. Especially during the draw down years.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

The biggest concern I would think with properly stored ammo after a certain point would be the primers going bad causing a miss fire, hang fire or just a failure to fire. Last thing you want is for the hammers to come down and nothing to happen for 30 seconds or more. . . or do you?

That might just work...bwahahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[billhafan]

I have a character in a post-apocalyptic world. She has a sawn-off shotgun, a magic weapon from ancient times. The question is, how ancient? Even if the cleaning and maintenance rituals were handed down through the generations, just how long would a firearm remain functional?

P.S. I know one answer is "as long as there is still ammunition, and after that it's just an odd paperweight". Let us assume she still has one or two shells left.

As the missing link is the ammunition, and rituals have been passed down on maintenance of the weapon, why not have a coded piece of info passed along with the ritual, giving the chemical constituents and proportions of Gunpowder - elemental sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre - that way it might also add extra intrigue to the story, and possible power struggles could ensue for control or discovery of the compound that makes the Magic weapon work? Just a thought? Hope this gives some ideas to you.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Or just give your protagonist a musket, blunderbuss or old rifle - just chuck some ammo down the barrell - could be a metal ball or in the case of a blunderbuss some shrapnel, some gunpowder to prime it , and you're away.

If it has to be more modern than that, then why not a couple of grenades? Easier to maintain and more likely still to work (I would assume). Or why not use an experimental plasma rifle that only has a limited charge left- that way your have a little more flexibility with what it is capable of.

If it has to be a sawn-off shotgun and she only has 2 cartridges, then whether it works or not would be a moot point - with limited ammo, it's unlikely that the weapon will have been fired.

 

[HareBrain]

As the missing link is the ammunition, and rituals have been passed down on maintenance of the weapon, why not have a coded piece of info passed along with the ritual, giving the chemical constituents and proportions of Gunpowder - elemental sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre - that way it might also add extra intrigue to the story, and possible power struggles could ensue for control or discovery of the compound that makes the Magic weapon work? Just a thought? Hope this gives some ideas to you.

This is a major element of Russell Hoban's post-apocalyptic Riddley Walker (always worth a plug).

 

[kshRox]

I need it to be long enough for the true cause of the apocalypse to become garbled myth and legend, but not too long for the shotgun to still fire successfully...at least once.

I would think 40 years would be long enough.
Thats 2 generations and the youngsters who survived the apocalypse would be oldtimers now. Especially since I would assume the life expectancy would plummet - a 50 year old would be ancient.

There should still be plenty of shotguns and shotgun shells in this time frame.

 

[Grinnel]

One has to assume that in the entire world there has to have been at least a handful of guns survive. Some of them as revered family hierlooms. They would have largely become useless clubs over time, BUT: There are still one or two alchemists in the world that ritualistically make the 'thunder powder' for the odd old weapon still hanging about. This individual, or someone attached to him (her), will be working off of copies of some of the ancient texts once prepared by self-loading gun enthusiasts.

Of course, the mixtures differ depending on what kind of weapon is being used, and this might add plot issues with over or under loads (a bullet bounces off someone, a gun explodes, a bullet fires with much higher velocity, etc.)

 

[billhafan]

This is a major element of Russell Hoban's post-apocalyptic Riddley Walker (always worth a plug).

And there was I thinking it was a good original idea Goes to show how hard it is to come up with an original plot line - Haven't read Riddley Walker - and not read a lot of post apocalyptic stuff, to be honest - is it a good read?

 

[DWPetts]

Everything depends on if you mean "magic" (fantasy-style) or "magic" (as in these people don't understand how something like this would work) If its actual magic thenthere is no problem, as magic solves many problems... as for the other kind....well all of the people who've commented before me seem to have a better grasp on such things than I.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

What I was plotting was a protagonist who inherited a shotgun and a limited number of cartridges. She follows the instructions her mother gave her - keep the weapon hidden and only use it in the direst situations. Bladed weapons are more common these days. Don't wave that ancient weapon about, you might attract attention from the ruling class who are looking for those old magic weapons and those with the alchemical knowledge to make them work again.

 

[HareBrain]

Haven't read Riddley Walker - and not read a lot of post apocalyptic stuff, to be honest - is it a good read?

I think it's a work of genius, but it doesn't suit everyone. Definitely worth a go. Amazing use of degraded and evolved language.