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Thread: A Novel Idea: Fouling

  1. #1

    A Novel Idea: Fouling

    Here's an idea on what I think is a good, and a perfectly correct mechanic in operating black powder firearms.

    Fouling. Fouling causes musket barrels to become smaller in bore diameter from the powder burning in the cartridge, which causes rounds to get stuck or indefinitely slowing the ramming of the bullet home. Thus the Army later in the war used smaller dies to cast rounds to ease cleaning needs. Example: .570 Minie balls in .580 bores and reducing accuracy.

    The idea is, that in (certain) Federal .58 Caliber Minie Ball Arsenal Packs of 10 paper cartridges, 11 caps were provided in a tube, nine .565-.585 Minie ball cartridges and one Williams cleaner round was provided (in various paper colors).
    Soldiers were instructed to use these as they did not have a hollow base but a plunger type piston inserted in the bottom of the round and would clear fouling (moderately), until a proper barrel cleaning was performed.

    Southerners captured and produced similar cartridges with similar effect.
    The Enfield also was able to use these rounds as far as I can recollect.
    69 Caliber rounds were avaliable but not purchased from suppliers.

    Also, musket cones (nipples if used to this nomenclature) do clog because of residue so a Cone Pick would be nice to implement aswell.


    So, in short:
    Muskets become unserviceable after a period without cleaning. Either a Cleaner round for certain muskets and rifles, followed by an option to actually clean your barrel with a patch.
    Effect: Varying reload speeds with loading cartridges with all muskets from Clean to Dirty to Unservicable and using either a Cleaner round if possibly or physically cleaning with patches (for example, 1842 Springfields). Also, using a Pick of sorts to service the Musket Cone of all Longarms.

    If implemented, reloading must be broken down to singular steps of the manual's nine step loading process to either troubleshoot a misfire or cleaning.



    Fouling in pistols is far too complex between chain-firing cylinders, misfiring caps, and caps jamming to cause cylinder rotation failure.
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  2. #2
    Hinkel's Avatar
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    Fouling is ingame since the begin of the technical alpha 2 1/2 years ago
    But I think it has no consequences at the moment.

    https://youtu.be/z5snMNkXdoo?t=434

  3. #3

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    With the right cartridge for the weapon you can fire hundreds of round with no problem with fouling.
    When you load the grease softens the fouling from the shot before. And when you shoot, the bullet push out the fouling.

    It only become an issue with the wrong cartridge and/or a poorly maintained firearm.
    This obviously did happen during the war, but to add it in a historical way, the devs would need to look into every single regiment and what type of cartridges they where issued during the campaign.
    Thomas Bernstorff Aagaard

  4. #4

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    Actually most fouling occurs in the nipple. Always carry a nipple pick when shooting a musket

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Hinkel View Post
    Fouling is ingame since the begin of the technical alpha 2 1/2 years ago
    But I think it has no consequences at the moment.

    https://youtu.be/z5snMNkXdoo?t=434
    Since it has been claimed to be in the game for 2 and a half years, claims to be implemented; but is not, then what gives?



    Quote Originally Posted by thomas aagaard View Post
    With the right cartridge for the weapon you can fire hundreds of round with no problem with fouling.
    When you load the grease softens the fouling from the shot before. And when you shoot, the bullet push out the fouling.

    It only become an issue with the wrong cartridge and/or a poorly maintained firearm.
    This obviously did happen during the war, but to add it in a historical way, the devs would need to look into every single regiment and what type of cartridges they where issued during the campaign.
    For the first portion.
    Please source a documented citing of hundreds of rounds being fired through one Rifle or Rifled Musket with no attempt to clean the barrel.

    Second portion.
    This research should have already been done with just the rifles and ammo to complete the Alpha phase. The way I understand the spawning is that the player should be able to choose different weapons, therefore it is useless to tag each group. Tag the weapons and cartridge boxes so it is a broad overview and thorough blanket.
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  6. #6
    Yeah, I'm not a black powder guy but knowing how filthy modern barrels get with excessive firing from cleaner ammunition I have a hard time believing it wasn't an issue. Otherwise soldiers in combat wouldn't have been tearing their pockets apart for cloth to clean their barrels.
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  7. #7

    USA General of the Army

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    What would implementing this accomplish aside from slowing the game down and annoying players?

  8. #8

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    'Tis true, it's the old "realism versus enjoyment" element. A fine balance to strike...

    "C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre: c'est de la folie"

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Oleander View Post
    What would implementing this accomplish aside from slowing the game down and annoying players?
    It would add a distinct mechanic into the game that Was an actual problem and had a simple solution. Brings in more of a cautious turn for soldiers who rely on their weapon to just fire and fire and with consequences.

    Bringing both disadvantage (a unservicable weapon), and the flip side that the soldier's enemy could misfire or et cetera which is an advantage or his reloading slowed by a dirty barrel or clogged cone.

    It's better than a Flintlock, but certainly not a AK-47 variant. Loose blackpowder cartridge firing in muzzleloading or breechloading is inherently flawed and should be given it's due.


    Quote Originally Posted by Gavsky View Post
    'Tis true, it's the old "realism versus enjoyment" element. A fine balance to strike...
    Indeed, but it's a good discussion to have. Fine line but a very distinct one.
    Last edited by L. Hopper; 01-26-2019 at 02:47 AM.
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  10. #10

    USA General of the Army

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    So, basically matches would be less about tactics and based more on luck. I don't think this would work. Back when skirmishes first came out, the ticket counter was visible to everyone. What ended up happening was the teams watched the counters and wouldn't move until they had a numerical advantage. It made matches very boring. What I see happening with this is one side letting the other fire away and foul their rifles while they hunker down behind cover. Once they see the other side is having weapon issues, they pounce and the defender can do nothing about it.

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