Shotguns use all shells (lol, nvm)

[p4g3m4s7r 6]

EDIT: I'll leave the original post below so if anyone was wondering what I was confused about they can see it and laugh, or something :P

Anyway, my suggestion was to make all shotguns use the same kind of ammo, but there's apparently already a mechanism in the game for effectively making that happen. Now that I am the wiser, I retract my suggestion, since there's no need for it. Also, I now realize that the 1886 is a level action rifle.

ORIGINAL POST:

I'm new to the game, so I completely understand if I'm totally off base here.

Anyway, my suggestion is that shotgun shells not differentiate between which kind of shotgun they can be used in. I really don't understand why the 1866 cannot use M1014 shells, and why the M1014 cannot used 1866 shells.

Technically, there are differences in types of 12 gauge shells, in the sense that they can range from 2-3/4" to 3-1/2" in length. However, any shotgun that can chamber a 3-1/2" shell can chamber any 12 gauge shell. The M1014 is a combat shotgun and is almost certainly chambered for 3-1/2", so it can use any shell. The 1866 should also be able to use any modern shotgun shell it has a chamber that is long enough for. If it's a very old 1866, the point is still moot, because either it's not chambered for any commercially available ammunition (say if it was chambered for paper shells) and would've needed to have been rechambered at some point anyway.

You could make the point that maybe the 1866 has a shorter chamber, but I feel like shotguns (specifically the 1866) could probably use a bit of help, in terms of making them more viable. I get that some weapons are supposed to be better than others, but I would never pick up an 1866 unless I just didn't have a primary, and I can't think of any guns I trade for an M1014 unless I was basically out of ammo. Making it so that all shotguns can use all shells would help out just enough, in my eyes.

Edited August 15, 2012 by p4g3m4s7r

[m.w. vindicator 880]

Shotgun shells should stack up to about 10 per stack and could be used for any 12 gauge . So that you wouldn't have to combine or split ammo to get appropriate shells. Shotgun shells don't use a magazine so why couldn't 8 12 gauge shells be put in a double barrel. A player should have his shells in pool and they would be loaded in the shotgun in the appropriate amount.

Example: you find eight slugs in a stack. They go into your pool of 12 gauge slugs and could be loaded into a double barrel effortlessly. No need to split them into 2 shell stacks.

[Wiley 49]

Um... the 1866 is a rifle. The rest of the point stands. I'd much rather see them stack in tens or so, with the ability to use them across all shotguns.

[p4g3m4s7r 6]

Lol, ya I just saw that. Oops.

I didn't even notice that the different ammo types (2shot and m1014) stacked differently. I definitely agree that at the very least that should be fixed.

It strikes me as really odd that people would be able to find lever action .44 rifles just laying around. Maybe old Mosin Nagants, but a .44 lever is already rare enough in the US. Also, it's very odd that they would use shells as the ammunition, but that's not a big deal. I guess that gun falls outside the realm of my suggestion then.

[Wiley 49]

I believe it's an engine limitation. Guns take magazines, as far as ArmA is concerned. An 8 shot gun takes an 8 shot magazine. I might be wrong, but I wouldn't expect a fix for this until standalone comes along.

[p4g3m4s7r 6]

How do magazines apply to double barrel, though? Either the double barrel proves that guns can have ammunition stack independently of magazine size, or that there is a workaround for this problem anyway. Also, given how stack conversion works I'd imagine you could script something up to force the engine to allow stacks of 1.5 clips, since it can restack half clips.

It's a pretty minor suggestion, and I'm not under the illusion that it's very important. It's just awkward that the shells behave the way they do and befuddles someone like me who is a big fan of shotguns.

[Wiley 49]

That's exactly what I mean. A double-barrel takes a magazine of 2. When you pick up a '2x pellets' or '2x slugs' for the double barrel, that's the 'magazine' that gets loaded into it. Basically the game treats it as a 2 shot magazine. You load the gun, it puts the magazine into the gun. When it's empty, the magazine vanishes from your inventory and it loads from the next one.

ArmA has no concept of a 'round' in your inventory, just a magazine with however many parts of its capacity full.

[a_ruttle 199]

The winchester is not a shotgun, it is a repeater action carbine firing a rifle bullet althought he game labels it a shotgun, also you can convert M1014 ammo into double barrel ammo and vice versa currently.

[p4g3m4s7r 6]

ruttle, I guess I should edit my original post, but ya I already realize that.

Also, you can change between 2-shot and m1014? I think I understand now. The wiki really confused me, and doesn't contain any info about this. It's kinda kludgy to have to convert like that, but I guess it's a solution to work with the engine. Well, I guess my suggestion doesn't really mean anything then.