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Gunsmith Katsumi - Akitsukuni Arms Design Quest

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Character Sheet
  • Informational
    • Tachibana Katsumi

    Stress: 5/10

    Accomplishments
    Mechanical Engineering degree
    Got a job in your field
    Type 37 Special Purpose Rifle
    Type 38 Self-Loading Pistol

    Friends
    Maeda Rumi: Your roommate.
    Sanders Clara Rose: A colleague who works for Naylor, Sons & Daughters.

    Coworkers
    Mr. Watanabe: Your superior.
    Mr. Akutagawa: The boss of the company.

    Workshop 3
    Ms. Ikeda Nioh: Chemist. She also seems to be Mr Watanabe's personal secretary, but you're not sure if that's an official position.
    Mr. Yakade Yasuo: Physicist, specialized in ballistics. A living, breathing Technical Appendix C.
    Mx. Kusonoki Mayumi: Has a degree in materials science. Gets a look on their face when they say they know more about wood than anyone.
    Mr. Shiragiku Hideyoshi: Metalworker. Having met him, you've learned why metalworking is a craft and the meaning of the phrase "thinks himself heaven's gift to women".
    Mr. Kashiwa Ichiro: An apprentice gunsmith with a background in carpentry and actually using guns on people.

    Technologies
    Rifles (Familiar)
    Shotguns (Familiar)
    Pistols (Familiar)

    Rotate-and-pull bolts (Practical)
    Straight-pull bolts (Practical)
    Aperture sights (Practical)
    Stripper clips (Practical)
    Lever-delayed blowback operation (Practical)
    Double-stack magazines (Practical)
    Single-action handguns (Practical)
    En bloc clips (Conceptual)
    Simple blowback operation (Conceptual)
    Short recoil operation (Conceptual)
    Toggle-delayed blowback operation (Conceptual)
    Blow forward operation (Conceptual)
    Simple blowback operation (Conceptual)
    Double-action pistols (Conceptual)
    Automatic revolvers (Conceptual)
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • firestorm440 said:
    Well...did they only ever give katanas to Empresses? Or did they hand over bigger swords like nodachis? Cause those things were apparently used against cavalry, so if you think about it, an anti-tank rifle is really just a continuation of that proud old tradition...
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    In historical Japan there was a specific tradition of presenting a sword to one's lord as a symbol of fealty and after a quick perusal it doesn't seem like it had to be any specific type of sword, though there were traditions for how much it had to be worth. I was drawing a bit on the generic practice of master craftsmen presenting their work as gifts to patrons, so it's basically about making an exemplary piece in your craft (be it swords, guns, or confections). A bit like how it's customary to bring a bottle of wine when invited for dinner, and if you own a vineyard you might bring a bottle of your own. For IMMMT they're on the Empress' retainer and their craft is producing firearms, so it's tradition to present a firearm, have the presence of it in the Empress' hands drum up a little more business from the her social group, and maybe write the expenses off for a tax break.

    Modern industry and the Restoration ending the feudal age has brought an end to this as a show of fealty except in sword-exchange ceremonies so it's really just a traditional gift at this point and the Empress doesn't expect to receive an exemplary piece of craft from every master craftsman in the entire country, but I'll leave it up to @open_sketch whether Matsura is expected to present the Empress with a masterwork airplane every year. :V
     
    I have no doubt that we can make the finest rifle in the world by some measures, given what we have to build on. An SMG would be lovely, but I'm not sure if we can build a good one.

    [X] A rifle
    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most accurate gun you can engineer
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    [X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of

    I kind of want to see what we can do with this, and this is our opportunity to build something no one is likely to ask us to build for quite some time.
     
    Commenting on the rest of the update...
    FrangibleCover said:
    "Saturday, after you went home, I brought Natsuki back to my flat. Look, it was really good and I'm not complaining or anything but… Okay so I made us some tea, put on the phonograph, you know how it goes…"

    You don't, but you kind of wish you did.

    "So anyway, we're getting into it and… Alright, so here's the thing…" she continues, her pace getting more frantic, "She has my blouse off at this point..."

    You stop her there, your face burning bright red.

    "I can't—please, something's bothering you."

    "What are the rules?" she straightens up and says, emphasizing each syllable. You raise an eyebrow and she continues: "Everything has rules. There are rules for men and rules for women, and here in Akitsukuni you have rules for non-binaries, and there's also rules for courting all of those. But I don't know what the rules are for someone like that!"

    Oh. This. You've heard about this, how Europans don't have third genders or trans people and treat the mere suggestion like it's something obscene. Then there's the stories of misconduct that nobody is supposed to repeat, but everyone knows.

    "She's not 'someone like that' like she's some untouchable monster, she's a beautiful woman and I can't believe you'd treat her like this." you say, harshness slipping into your voice. You realise you've clenched your fists.
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    Poor Natsuki. She deserved a better night than that. Also poor Clara-Rose; she clearly doesn't want to be problematic but has no idea how and is freaking out about it. I know how that feels. It sucks. :/

    Hopefully round two will go better!
    FrangibleCover said:
    "Okay, this is definitely the time to go back to tradition, another beautiful hunting shotg—"
    "— the modern marksman demands high quality ammunition, if I got my notes on the first 6.5 back out—"
    "—the boss mentioned a repeating fire mode for a pistol, is that possi—"
    "—self-loading hunting rifles from New Allegheny—"
    "—fingers, but did you see the lines of Komura's pistol? That's th—"
    "—gardless, the important thing is that this gun is the best we can make it."
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    Running down what people think we should be doing:
    • "Back to tradition", vote for the boring-est thing possible.
    • Resurrect the original-spec Tachibana rifle. This is actually sort of what we're converging on, actually
    • Invent the machine-pistol
    • The other traditional option again, a really nice hunting rifle
    • Focus on the aesthetics
    Basically a bit of everything. Not much in the way of suggestions.
    FrangibleCover said:
    You giggle: "I'm sure Her Imperial Majesty would love a brand-new 343 mm naval gun. I've got to get back to work though. Would you mind seeing yourself out?"
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    This is always a reasonable option to fall back on :V
     
    [X] A rifle
    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most accurate gun you can engineer
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    [X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of

    Honestly the idea of attempting to invent the submachine gun sounds like something I'd really like to see us give an attempt at, or even just a semi-automatic rifle if we don't already have one.
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    [X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    [X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of
     
    Davin Valkri said:
    I mean, I could change to vote to "start the M1 Carbine 10-15 years early" for the same idea, but I don't know if that's X Rifle or X Carbine (+1 Stress).
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    At this point in the design process it would just be a rifle. Making a rifle in light cartridge is well within Tachibana's capabilities. Making it semi-automatic... well, that's the challenge of the quest, isn't it?

    Punchweasel said:
    Honestly the idea of attempting to invent the submachine gun sounds like something I'd really like to see us give an attempt at, or even just a semi-automatic rifle if we don't already have one.
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    The semi-automatic rifle has been invented, but it's not a mature field yet.
     
    [X] A rifle
    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most accurate gun you can engineer.

    Something that the Empress might actually use at least twice, if she likes shooting at targets or hunting with a gun. She's literally never going to use a machine gun unless something has gone so wrong that it wouldn't do any good.
     
    [X] A rifle
    Sniper rifle or carbine, I'm fine with either. Just no sumachine gun, let's do something where we know the basics for this (and are less likely to accidentally fuck up beyond repair). And please, make it empress-sized.
     
    [X] A rifle
    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most beautiful gun you can create

    Let's make some art. And since She asked for us, specifically, let's make a Tachibana rifle. And since this is for Her Imperial Majesty, absolutely nothing but the best will suffice.
    Let's make the Tachibana rifle.
     
    considering how bad the Kobayashi Rifle is if we where to make a workable semi auto rifle what are the odds that the army would make an order to replace them?
     
    The Laurent said:
    Something that the Empress might actually use at least twice, if she likes shooting at targets or hunting with a gun. She's literally never going to use a machine gun unless something has gone so wrong that it wouldn't do any good.
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    "The only SMG on the planet" sounds like a fun toy to go put a few mags through if you like shooting and/or impressing guests, I dunno, the Empress seems like the kind of lady who can appreciate the fun in spraying wildly with an automatic
     
    If memory serves, the pistol wasn't all that far off from being a telescoping-bolt SMG. Attach a stock, longer barrel, handguard, make it full auto, bob's your uncle.
     
    [X] Write-in: Something else (+1 Stress)
    -[X] A Submachine Gun

    [X] Push the boat out, make...
    -[X] The most technically advanced gun you can think of

    I like this idea!
     
    Looks like there's a chance we might end up making a Technically Advanced Rifle. If we're going by line voting.
    Adhoc vote count started by Derpmind on Sep 25, 2020 at 1:16 PM, finished with 80 posts and 37 votes.
    Click to expand...
     
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