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[Sensei]

Armories of Valturia: Behrens Thread

Tall, narrow spires of Palace Valturia are visible on the skyline from the boardroom. The Behrens factory is a single building in the capitol city, integrating both offices and factory floor. The company was founded years ago by Artour Behrens, and it's run by Behrens Jr. now, who is getting on in age himself and walks with a cane. He addresses you, the team of engineers. "We've been doing clocks for a long time. It seems that now is our opportunity to expand the business." He places a Mauser C96 pistol on the table. "We've made a few of these under license. But, that's not really the Behrens way. Every clock we make is our own design, superior in our field, and signed by the finishing craftsman. Our guns should be the same. In other words..." he picks up the Mauser and, for dramatic effect, throws it into a rubbish bin. "We can do better."

The Behrens company starts with the following assets:
The Behrens Main Factory has space for 2 assembly lines.
The Crown has pledged to pay the expenses of tooling the first assembly line.
The treasury holds 60 Credits, in bank bonds for silver Valtas.

Here is a link to the main thread.
Remember: If you've joined another company, you should not be reading this thread, as design plans are confidential.

Behrens starts with the following designs:
-You do not own a gun design.
-The 8mm Behrens cartridge. This is a near-imitation of 7.63mm Mauser used in the C96 pistol. It has a short round bullet, and the case is 25mm in length and rimless (making it suitable for use in magazines). It has a shoulder 5mm back from the bullet, which widens by 1.5mm.

It is now 1910, Drawing Phase
Look at the contracts in the main thread, and choose one to target. You will need to design a gun to submit for one or more of them. Normally you may decide whether to make multiple actions in a phase, but I strongly recommend only making one design at first. Propose a design, and vote to decide the best choice. Once you see the results, you will have an opportunity to revise it, or wait until the bidding phase, when you can put a price on your product and submit it for field trials.

Remember your design should include the proposed goals of the gun, as well as its operating mechanism and cartridge, and any special features. If you need to design a cartridge, specify the shape of the bullet, rim or rimless, and the size either in exact measurements or in general (EG, a small rifle cartridge, a large pistol cartridge).

For the first turn only, you may rename your company! Vote on a name you like. If you agree on a logo as well, that will be added to this post.

[Kashyyk]

Salutations skilled artisans of Behren Co! First up, here's the current contracts so we don't have to keep swapping threads:

Spoiler: 1910 Contracts (click to show/hide)

1)    The 4th Artillery Regiment of Ira is looking for officers' pistols. They are considering either revolvers or auto-loading pistols, but have made the particular request that the guns hold at least 7 cartridges. They also prefer the gun to fire a powerful round to as long a distance as a pistol can manage. Furthermore, they should look sharp. This is part of an officer's uniform after all, and it should command respect. They are willing to pay around 30 credits per batch, for 2 batches. 8 Prestige. Tip: Cost for an average revolver is around 15 credits, and an average semiautomatic is around 20 credits.

2)    The Rutz Cavalry Legionnaires are looking for a carbine. It should be short, but still boast sufficient firepower to be a threat to enemy horses. More than anything however, it should be easy to wield and reload on horseback. Accuracy is not a primary concern, as the cavalry can ride close to their targets and shooting from horseback is imprecise at best. They are interested in purchasing 2 batches at 30 credits each. 6 Prestige. Tip: Cost for an average rifle is around 20 credits.

3)    The City-State of Procino is interested in pistols for Royal Police. They say that the gun should be small, and slim profile. Semi-automatic is preferable. It will mostly be used at close range, but should be reliable. Appearance is of no concern- in fact, it will apparently be concealed most of the time. They are willing to pay around 25 credits per batch. 5 prestige.

4)    The Vostoy Revolutionary Army is in desperate need of rifles. While they want a rifle which holds multiple rounds, is accurate to a long distance, and is reliable, they really want them to be cheap above all else. They will buy up to 4 batches, and possibly from multiple suppliers, but it should be cheap as possible. They're not willing to pay any more than 24 credits, and less is more. 3 prestige.

Now, I think we should go for one of the pistols. The Irate Officer's Pistol was my first thought, because it has the highest prestige and highest per unit cost, but the Procinian Royal Police have no maximum number of batches, so if I understand correctly we can just keep selling to them. I don't think Behren round has the kind of stopping power Ira is looking for either.

Not that we can't make one pistol and offer it to both of them anyway, although we can then only choose one.

[TricMagic]

I was thinking the same thing, our craftsmanship makes making reliable and small mechanics fairly easy. Making a design for the Royal Police seems obvious at first glance.

I would suggest simply doing a design for the RP, and revise it if needed afterward. Maybe revise it anyway to fine tune the manufacturing process.

Slim/Concealable
Semi-automatic
Reliable/Accurate


Auto-loading and semi-automatic also seem to be synonymous...

[chaotick21]

I think that doing the pistols for the 4th Artillery Regiment would be better because we can make revolvers, and have them look good due to our background in watchmaking. We can incorporate elements from our watches into the revolver design. Seeing as we are better at making intricate designs, a revolver would be simpler and more efficient than a semi-automatic pistol.

[TricMagic]

A reminder a revolver that has to hold at least 7 cartridges. And reloading them is slowly than a semi-automatic, which has replaceable ammo cartridges. The revolver smoothly moves to the next shot in the line up, the semi clicks ammo into the gun barrel.

In this regard, the semi is a better fit for our skills as clockmakers, since the parts are small and fine. A revolver also isn't a fit for two contracts. I think the design for RP can certainly look good as each is handmade and signed.

As our boss said, "We can do better."

[NAV]

For the police, we should make a pistol with a folding grip. The grip (with a magazine in it) folds up underneath the barrel for easy concealability and storage. Pull a pin, and a spring unfolds the grip and cocks the gun.

[Kashyyk]

Whilst the six-shooter is the most famous, you can easily make revolvers with 7 or 8 cylinders. It should be right up our alley to make the cylinder rotation utterly reliable as well.

Additionally, Speed Loaders are a thing, so we can easily reload a revolver quickly.

Our skill in precision makes revolvers a good choice, and it should also allow us to both make things tiny if we went the RP route, or beautiful if we went the Officer route.

The RP don't give a damn about nice looking guns, so long as they are small and reliable, which we can definitely do. However our artisanal heritage make me want the Officer contract.

The Snakebite is a five cylinder double-action revolver chambered for our 8mm cartridge. The barrel protrudes only 20mm beyond the cylinders, ensuring a small profile. The mechanisms are all carefully made by hand using similar techniques to our watch/clock making, ensuring high precision and thus an incredibly reliable end product. The case is cast for cost efficiency, as the client cares only about the internals.

In short, this should produce a 5 round, semiautomatic, reliable firearm that can fit in the palm.

I'll add a design for the Ira Officer Corp after dinner.

[Taricus]

A folding grip isn't the best idea; too many moving parts which will impact on reliability. Though to propose a counterpoint, or focus on precision would make a semi-automatic handgun much more within our grasp, especially since we do have the ammunition experience with a rimless cartridge.

Besides, Revolvers are old-fashioned. You want something that says 'Sharp' and 'Stylish', you want a semi-auto. Hell, we can definitely get away with offering a pistol to both the Officers and the Police, especially since if we do that we can fill both contracts with a minimum of design costs

[TricMagic]

Offering a Revolver is almost like offering a Sword, if better. Also, why the M10 designation? Do we need letter/number designations, what are they used for?


I'll give a design a shot I guess, hopefully a good one.

Behrens Semi-Automatic 'Valturia' Pistol
As Behrens Jr. himself said, we pride ourselves on craftsmanship. We've made a few Mauser C96 pistols under license, but we can do better. The parts are milled from scratch by our company, the barrel carefully grooved to give the bullets a spin, and the seven-ammo cartridge placed in the handle for reloading. A simple press on a switch near the top will cause the ammo cartridge to unlock, dropping it to allow a new cartridge to load into place. The handle designed to be ergonomic, and the outer casing of the gun sleek and slim to not catch when concealed while remaining stylish.

Recoil Operation is used, and our handmade milling allows innovation in the form of a slide over the 90 mm barrel. This means that it does not stick out like some designs, meaning concealing it is much easier. Our craftsmanship renders our products quite reliable and hardy, as the products we make often last a long time. So long as you keep them oiled and cleaned, they will serve you well. By industry standards, the Behrens Valturia Pistol falls under the beginning of the Compact classification and uses the 8mm Behrens cartridge. Each comes etched with a signature from the finishing craftsman and numbers telling the year it was made in as well if it's the 1st or the 1000th that craftsman has done, so not only do you know it's Behrens Quality, but the government can track them.



Name in honor of country, and mostly aimed at the Royal Police. I think having one of the first sets produced might also be a good motivator for collectors in the future.

Also, can someone do a logo of a clock?

A pocket revolver is concealable, but it doesn't fit well in your hand at all. Compact means it does with or without a cartridge, which will help when using it.

90 mm comes to a tiny bit above 3.54 inches. It's right over the Sub-compact limit, but will make operation easier when reloading.

[Kashyyk]

The real challenge there Tari, is that they have quite different requirements and we'd likely need two production lines to satisfy both simultaneously.

Anyway, have another design:

The Judgement is designed from the outset to be a work of art as deadly as it is beautiful. An ergonomic leather wrapped handle doubles as a slot for the 12 round Berhen 8mm magazine. Each round is fed in turn into the milled receiver using either the blowback system or a hand-workable slide. The barrel is 20cm, rifled and slender, ensuring the center of weight for the weapon sits squarely in the hand whilst maintaining accuracy.

Each weapon is then available with either a simple polished finish, or a unique hand-engraved design. Our experience with precision machining for clock cogs should ensure the action is smooth and reliable and the weapon is accurate to long range.

This weapon shouldn't cost more than 25 credits per batch, ideally closer to 22.

The M10 stands for Model 1910. I figured having some sort of identifier in the name for how old it is would help us once we have a few designs to choose from.

[chaotick21]

The Behrens Stinger
The Stinger is a self-cocking revolver made to combine both elegance and power. The Stinger has a long barrel to improve the velocity of the bullet and make it travel farther. The gun also contains a 7 bullet speedloader magazine and a swing-out cylinder to improve the time it takes to load the gun. It has a polished wooden grip and an aluminum alloy frame. It is adorned with golden filigree.

[TricMagic]

I have two designs I like. Granted, unless we decide, just 1 design.

Also, the full name is Behrens, not Behren.

1 Design: (1) TricMagic
2 Designs: (0)

Behrens Valturia Pistol: (1) TricMagic
Behrens Judgement Pistol: (0)

If you like something, add it, but these two are the ones I like.

[Screech9791]

1 Design: (2) TricMagic, 0cra_tr0per
2 Designs: (0)

Behrens Valturia Pistol: (2) TricMagic, 0cra_tr0per
Behrens Judgement Pistol: (0)

[Taricus]

1 Design: (3) TricMagic, 0cra_tr0per, Taricus
2 Designs: (0)

Behrens Valturia Pistol: (3) TricMagic, 0cra_tr0per, Taricus
Behrens Judgement Pistol: (0)

[m1895]

Model 1910 Self-Loading Pistol
The M1910 is a 120mm long semi-automatic pistol chambered in our 8mm Behrens. It can take 9 rounds in a single-stack detachable magazine located in the grip plus 1 in the chamber, and after firing a round it uses a short recoil system to load a new one. Notably, the entire action is a self-contained "module" and can be replaced in the event that it fails to function, which is unlikely given that the tolerances are so tight a mote of dust can't get inside in the first place. The barrel and chamber follow the old pressure vessel standard of calculate wall thickness, add a safety margin, double everything, so it should be more than capable of handling hotter charges should we modify our ammo, and the sights have markings out to an ll very optimistic 100 m. less importantly, we will allow distinguished gentlemen to buy personal grips, from sharkskin to mother of pearl, as well as the standard engraving and gilding on a made to order basis.