At Miguel’s insistence suggestion I started the Monster Hunter International book series.
I’m doing them on Audible as I pack and work around the house to get it ready to sell it.
I know, it seems like something I should have stared long ago, but in my defense, I’m much more of a hard core science fiction person and am wary of fantasy.
I’m enjoying them immensely and am now into Monster Hunter Alpha, the third book, in as many weeks.
It is clear that Larry Correia is an absolute fucking gun nut and knows his shit.
At the same time, I am who I am and I cannot deny my nature.
And my nature is a metallurgist and weapons engineer.
“Better killing through metallurgy” is on my business card.
And I realize I can save MHI both a shitload of money on ammunition and improve the terminal performance of their ammunition.
Have I mentioned that this is exactly what I do for a living in the real world?
So…
Silver kills monsters and the undead.
MHI uses a silver ball inserted into the top of a JHP, as Correia himself states, a ripoff of the Corbon Power Ball.
Again, a testament to his gun guy credentials to write about a relatively obscure round of ammo.
So assume a silver ball the size of a BB (0.177 in).
A standard BB is mild steel and weighs 5 grains. A silver BB of the same diameter would be 7 grains. That would be 62 silver BBs per ounce of silver at $20 per ounce. Two mags full from an MHI H&K UMP45 is $20 in raw silver alone.
And the silver would only have the contact surface area of a BB which is 0.092 in².
Silver plates wonderfully well on copper. Copper is actually used as a silver plate substrate. So if you have a silver belt buckle, its steel plated with nickel, then plated with copper, then plated with silver.
Let’s assume that MHI loads their own ammo because they use custom bullets.
Silver playing isn’t that hard to do. Lots of small scale knife makers and jewelry makers do it all the time.
Some silver nitrate and a DC power source and you’re set.
So what I would do is start with an all copper bullet like the Barnes Tac-X and do an electrolytic silver plate before loading.
A few microns of silver would be less than a grain per bullet and would make the silver surface area the total area of the expanded hollowpoint. More contact surface area, more terminal performance.
The silver will survive the trip down the barrel. The copper plating on plated lead bullets does, the bullet wouldn’t be any good if it didn’t.
So what you have is a 85% reduction in silver costs and radically increased terminal performance. The same two mags from a UMP45 would have $3 worth of silver in them and still be more effective.
It also adds diversity to ammo choices as any copper bullet of any caliber could be washed in silver.
(A thin electrolytic plate is known as a wash)
Hell, they could buy regular FMJ and do a silver wash. Silver plated fragments from 5.56 would be highly effective as well.
I know, I know, it’s a fantasy book.
But I can’t help it. I’m very fucking good at my job.
Like this:
Like Loading...