Heavyarms

[Dartz]

To: shooterslist@Gunfen.com
From: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen

Subject: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec08 2023
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Hey all

So, as most of you long-term list-member know, for the last few years I've had this little Hobby Thing called Ford's Heavyarms.
Only now, it's starting to get beyond a hobby. I was always warned never to make a business out of something you do for fun
but I'm faced with the choice of either cutting back on my work-rate to meet my normal obligations, or going full-time.

Half the work I do on Frigga involved maintaining Survival Shot firearms anyway.

So, I've decided to go for it. Officially, full-time, open for business.

That means two things:

1) Lead times may drop on some projects as I have more time to dedicate to them

2) I need to hire someone to help meet the workload.

First and foremost, this won't affect any on-order stuff. At most, it'll arrive earlier. It also means I can get full PEPPER clearance
and certification.

Either way, here's what I can offer the discerning collector. Or someone interested in something just that little bit different.

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Built to order

1) Caster Gun Replicas. Available in .50BMG, or 20MM Vulcan, with or without driver coil compensation. POA.

Supplied in display case with training, armour piercing and armour piercing incendiary rounds.

2) Compensated Long-Lance 20mm rifle. 20mm Vulcan, semi-automatic rifle with full driver coil compensation and integrated
GJ-compliant smartgun system with cyberlink. POA. Supplied in display case with training, armour piercing and armour piercing

incendiary rounds.

3) Plasma Pistol. 7 Round Magazine, .45 calibre. Based on similar technology to the Cosmo Guns. 1000 cr Base Price. Quirk free ignition.

Similar to M1911 in capability and handling. Reliable and accurate, with modulating ignition power to minimise overpenetration.

4) Plasma carbine. 20 round Magazine. 20 inch barrel. Polymer Stock, and grips. Semi-automatic only. 1800 cr Base Price. Quirk free ignition.

Reliable and accurate with modulating ignition power to reduce the risk of overpenetration. Smartgun compatible.

5) .45Pl Ammunition, Box 40 Rounds. Standard ammunition for Plasma pistol and Plasma Carbine. Gel-backed .45 Calibre copper-jacketed lead bullet.

.45Pl Armour Piercing. Box 20 Rounds. Armour Piercing variant of the above. Steel core round.
.45Pl Safety. Box 20 Rounds. Frangible round. Designed to shatter without penetrating spacecraft skin.

.45Pl blank. Box 40 Gel slugs. Allows the fusion igniter to fire and cycle the weapon's action.

All .45Pl rounds are certified as Cook-Off proof and vacuum ready.

6) 20mm Vulcan ammunition. All standard rounds to order singularly. Price on Asking. Check local reg's before purchase.
There can be a lead time as my supplier in the US likes to wait until they have a large enough order before shipping.
20mm Vulcan N-Pinch Stun round developed with the help of Roberta Cisneros. Compatible with driver-coil equipped weapons only.

Capable of non-lethally stunning most standard humans for an average of ten minutes.

20mm Vulcan Explosive Radio Detonated. Law Enforcement only. Details on request.

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Production

1) FR15 Rifle. Ar-15 clone with gas-piston action. Constructed almost entirely from carbotanium fibre composite with an integrated structural battery and smartgun control
Manufactured by Catgirl Industries using their latest carbon process, this is the same weapon currently used by Survival Shot. Uses standard 5.56 NATO rounds, with adapters

for simmunition included in the case. Base: 1500 Credits

Discounts for law enforcement and registered mercenaries ordering in bulk.

Options include full datalogging. Knockdown kits and individual components also available. All components are compatible with most AR-type rifles.

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Reconditions

1) Steyr AUG A1. As used by Survival Shot. These are taken from the arsenal here and reconditioned to an almost-new state. All weapons include smartgun systems
with datalogging, and adaptations to use Simmunitions. Base: 1000 Credits. Limited availability.

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Custom Work

Contact me for a quote. I can do anything from basic maintenance, repair and reconditions to custom modifications and manufacture.

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Shooting Range

77 Frigga has a full live-fire shooting range, with a full range of weapons available for rent at fair rates. Including examples of all of the above. Or bring your own, for a little fun

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Now then. Am I a fool for competing with Whistler? Maybe. But that never stopped me before

Applications for gunsmith position at the address attached to the headers. Send a Resume along with a quick cover letter explaining why your interested in the position and I'll try

get back to you within the week. Salary negotiable based on prior experience. Benefits include access to a shooting range, strong local security, a local apartment, hanger space and

healthcare.

Be sure to check my website out for more information on the above: www.FordsHeavy.fen/wp-index.php

Later
-Ford Sierra

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________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[HRogge]

To: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
From: catgirl-industries@frigga.fen

Subject: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec08 2023

Hi Ford Sierra,

congratulation to your decision making your hobby also your work. Finally someone joins our efforts to make the Factory a place to build things to sell!

We are all looking forward to more collaboration with you.

Catgirl Industries, Frigga branch

P.S.: we are using this temporary email address until we have resolved the registration issue with the new domain.

[Rajvik]

To: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
From: Wolfboy@Stellvia.fen
Subject: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec08 2023

Ford its good to hear that you'll be doing something you love, and i have your first large(ish) order, and i'm probably going to blow my entire weapons budget for the year with this but the folks in F-SOG aren't really enjoying the "antiques" i have them using for reliabilities sake. That said, please send me a purchase order for twenty plasma pistols and carbines along with four of the compensated long lance 20mm rifles and 500 rounds of mixed round for each weapon. Once you get me a cost and a availability date I'll get OGJ to cut you a credit transfer and we'll get things really rolling

I mean whats so wrong with a nice reliable colt peacemaker and winchester .45-70 carbines and Ithaca model 1898 12ga shotguns for main weapons with british .303 rifles for sniping.
 

[Black Aeronaut]

To: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
From: blackrider@roughriders.fen
Subj: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec08 2023

*Whistles* Daaaammmnn... I already know that you're gonna be getting absolutely slammed with orders, so just let me know what you guys think you'll be capable of. Worst comes to worst, I can build a scaled down a manufactory for you guys (you know, one of those epic Von Neumann machines that handle pretty much everything over at BAT).

No, it's not for free - I know how you guys are about that sort of thing. In return, once you guys get that bad boy up and running, you go ahead and set us up with an order for some of those plasma carbines - Angmeng wants me to upgrade her team's firearms - as well as a production run of the FR15 Rifles for the home guard.

So, sound like a plan?

-Benjamin Rhodes
CinC Roughriders
For when it absolutely positively needs to be destroyed yesterday...

[Dartz]

To: Wolfboy@Stellvia.fen
From: Ford.Sierra@ Friggarock.fen
Subject: Re: Heavyarms

Better to do something I love and fail, than something I hate and succeed.

For 20 Plasma Carbine and Pistols, it'll take maybe two months if I start as soon as you send me the order. Lead time will depends on when I get it. That's 40 weapons total. The 4 Long Lance rifles will take another month on top of that. Final cost will depend on what exact options you'd like on each weapon. I'll draw up a quotation once you tell me what exactly you want, but I can do a discount of 10% per gun for a bulk order like that. 500 rounds each I can do easily.

And, honestly? Reload time and ammunition capacity.

Ford Sierra
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Specialist in Chicago Typewriters

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To: blackrider@roughriders.fen
Subj: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
From: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
Date: Dec09 2023

Yeah, if we can make it work, then it does sound like a plan.

The catgirls ran off the components for 100 FR-15 rifles in five days, including carbon composite cure times. Including the metal parts, like the trigger-group, recoil spring, bolt, bolt carrier and gas-piston and gas-tube. The barrel is carbon, with a steel liner we make in-house (Long and Short versions available). It took longer to assemble and test each rifle by hand, than it did to actually manufacture the parts.

How many do you you need?

The plasma weapons are harder to produce. They're built as on-offs, with the frame, slide and ignition chamber being roughed out on my own CNC mill, before being heat treated and finished to fit each other. Grips are fitted to the customer's custom spec along with anything else specified like engravings'. They take about 6 hours with my current CNC tools to rough-cut, heat treating takes another 3-hours, with final fit and finish taking most of the next day at a minimum if I have all the supplies I need and the customer has no special requests like real wooden grips/stock. I can be finishing one while another is rough-cut.

Just how accurate can the manufactory get? How fast can it work? If you can get it accurate enough and consistent enough that I can just assemble the base firearm with minimal bench-work, then we'll have something to talk about. Being able to mass manufacture parts for these will make my life so much easier. And make it easier for everyone who has one to get spare parts, because right now the only parts that can be swapped between them are the magazines, fuel bottles and igniters.

But I really need an extra pair of hands or three.

Ford Sierra
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Specialist in Chicago Typewriters

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OCC Note: I'm not quite sure how long it'd actually take. I'm not really a firearms expert. Ford would know a lot better than I would.

Incidentally.This is the Plasma pistol. The reason Ford doesn't call it a Cosmo gun, is that the Cosmo Dragoon pistols were specific one-offs, with only a specific few ever built to the Harlock style. Lengthen the barrel, and add a foregrip and stock for the carbine version. Most of the other components are common, including the ammunition.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Black Aeronaut]

To: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
From: blackrider@roughriders.fen
Subj: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec09 2023



You guys really should have taken that tour of the BAT Factory Satellite when I offered it.

Let me put it this way. I have special Christmas Delivery orders to fill right now, and I have just put them into the system. In all, I have five Blackbirds, two Peacemakers, three TIE Fighters, and an Albatross. Now, the machinery hasn't even started yet, but rest assured that, barring some major incident, these products will arrive on-time. And with the exceptions of custom fittings, ships of the same class are gonna be so identical that you won't even be able to tell the difference even with a 'waved laser micrometer.

But to answer you at a more technical level... This machinery is accurate to the micron. That's in part thanks to me blatantly ripping off some of the best CNC machinery patents out there (not really, they're getting their royalties), but I also opted for laser-machining for the finishing. Yes, it's all handwaved, but it's pretty low-quirk. Disturbingly so, even. In fact, I think the only real quirk they have is that I can't tell if the blasted things are sapient or not. If yours ever ups and says howdy to you, let me know.

Without a doubt, yours will be able to produce several hundred parts per day, perhaps even a thousand. It depends on how much QA you want the manufactory to do for you. Hint: high resolution X-ray tomography is a regular thing our manufactories do for the critical structural members of all BAT ships. Part of why they never 'break'. You can even have them do the custom bits and final assembly, but I suspect that would take the fun out of it for you.

As for the order...

We'll worry about the plasma carbines after you get set up with the manufactory - it sounds like you'll need it for certain after what you just told me. But I will say that she wants fifteen - enough to outfit the team, have spares on hand as well as spare parts. Woman does not want to kid around ever since she took the reins from Anika.

And the FR-15's? An order of 100 should do just fine. That will be enough to arm up our security forces and then some.

Anyhow... I suggest you (and anyone else that wants to come along as well) get with Jess and schedule a time for that tour at BAT. When you see it, you'll shit bricks.

-Benjamin Rhodes
CinC Roughriders
For when it absolutely positively needs to be destroyed yesterday...

[Dartz]

To: blackrider@roughriders.fen
Subj: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
From: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
Date: Dec09 2023

100 FR-15 Rifles, and 15 Plasma Carbines. At list price, that's would be over 177,000.

I think a manufactory would be a fair trade for all that. I'd want to make a test-run first.

Let me know if you want to go ahead

-Ford

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Specialist in Chicago Typewriters

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Ford planned to sell guns in, at most, groups of five or so. And set the price accordingly. With a large margin on the Fr-15 rifle because that's what the going rate for a mundane AR-clone is. She's trying to hide it, but Ben utterly blindsided her with the amount he wanted, and what he offered in exchange.

If she can configure it to do some of the work on the Long-Lance rifles and Caster guns, it'll pay for itself inside a year. Those are.... not cheap. Even before modifications.

Ford expected to make her money charging for custom accessories. This'll make it much easier for her to build the base weapon.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, Ben just saw Ford's email and smelled an opportunity to do some Chaotic-Good, not to mention send a jolt through the Fen's arms market the likes of which probably won't be seen for a while. Also, he really wants to see something besides Survival Shot really take off, so he decided to go ahead and twink the noob.

Besides, Sylia Stingray had the Silky Doll. Ford is gonna have Heavyarms. If she picks up on Ben's hints the size of Gibraltar, she'll let the manufactory handle the majority of the QA and assembly process for the big orders.

Also, here's a thought. For improvements or new designs for military weaponry, Ford calls on the one man in Fenspace with the most military experience, period: Tom Dobbs.

Oh, and I would love to see Ford's reaction to the first email Ben sent. (Of course, Ben won't get to see it happen, but he'll probably hear about it over the SMOFs' usual channels.)

[Dartz]

Probably somewhat similar to mine when someone from Sligo called asking for a hundred grand's worth of PV gear. A bank denied the company the credit it needed to fill the order, however. That went to someone who's brother was a bank manger, IIRC.

Ford feels she's taking a lot of risk with an order that large and public, bu the manufactory is worth it. If there're any weak points in the carbines or FR-15 rifles, they're going to come out in a big and public way in which a single faulty weapons sold to a single collector - and repaired - wouldn't. Something like that would ruin her nascent reputation very quickly. That's the risk when playing with BNF's. If they're happy, they may tell everyone about it giving a quick reputation boost. If they're unhappy, they will tell everyone about it, ruining a reputation just as fast. And most Fen do their business on foot of their reputation, as much as on their money.

Most of what's happening on Frigga was expected to be small-scale 'garage' style work, with no real proper corporate structure, front or branding. Survival Shot's successful in that it pays the bills. Everything else... less so. A lot of it is just an excuse to do something they enjoy doing rather than get rich. There's no corporate entities or the like owned by anyone- most of it's just a brand put on a maker's plate. Ford set her pricing based on an order rate of maybe 2-3 weekly, at most - just to give an idea of the scale she was expecting to operate at. Asagiri - what Jet and Daryl are doing - is really just a way to try an offset the cost of aerosport as much as possible and try to get it to partly pay for itself, while scoring a few wins and trophies before the pack roars ahead. They think they might sell between 7-10 items annually - at most. Kotono wants to run her own gym - mostly just catering for people who live there.

The only truly 'successful' business owned by anyone would be Stingray Motor company, which is mostly run by its employees and exists solely to launder money for the Knight Sabers and facilitate black payments.... anything not directly needed for Saber payments is left to the company and its employees to use for benefits, or expansion as the management sees fit. Sylia's sole input into the whole arrangement is keeping them in line, and dropping unusual patents on their laps with instructions to figure out how to use it. If SMC turns a profit, nobody on Frigga will ever see that money.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Rajvik]

To: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
From: Wolfboy@Stellvia.fen
Subject: Re: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec10 2023

Ford,
I talked to the teams and they are wanting to test the full set of options, and honestly i don't blame them in the least. I have a question though, when you have them ready could we come up and give them a test run and see what we might want to drop from the options. Also, I'll be dropping off a metric ton of waved teak (stickum wave no quirk) for your use as you need it. All i ask in exchange is that this be used to make the grips. If you want to give me a little off for that I'll take it but i would rather you put it to better use than it just sitting around in my hold taking up a cargo container. Its cut into six inch by six inch by twenty foot blanks.
 

[Dartz]

To: wolfboy@stellvia.fen
From. Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen
Subj: Re. Fulltime Heavyarms

I don't think I can do them that way. Custom fitting no-problem, but swapping out major parts gets expensive when I have to order in a stock of 20 that might or might not be used. I have a few demonstrators with bells and whistles they can try, individually. That sounds like the easiest way to do it. Once I've got everyone's individual preferences and fitting I can get a full quote to you and you can get the funding to go ahead.

That teak will polish up nice. It'll add weight compared to polymer parts, but I think the weight's why you want it, am I right?

Ford
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Specialist in Chicago Typewriters

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She is, of course, not telling him that she's filling Ben's order first. Because that'll drop the parts-cost, which will increase her profit.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?