GURPS vs Reality

In-Range has been comparing the battle rifles.



The have three targets at 10? yards.  1 shot into target A, 2 shots into target B, 3 shots into target C; magazine is empty, reload; 4 shots into target B, 5 shots into target A.

At timestamp 17:09 there's the table showing the results.

If you can read these weapons' tables, you'll see that there's not that much difference between all the guns.

10 yards is -4 to hit.  The fastest this can be run in GURPS, without special talents and techniques, is 1 turn for each target for the first three targets, 3 turns for the reload and 2 turns each for the last two targets.

10 seconds.  The M4 they used as a baseline does it in 10.48 seconds.

But watching the video, there's some stuff going on that deserves mention.

Several shooters are taking more than one second on the third target.  With a Rcl of 3 you need to make your roll by 6 to get all three rounds on target, but only make it by 3 to get two.  Two rounds then one round gives a lot better odds of making that shot.  The Rcl 2 of the M4 and AK74 mean you only have to make it by 4 to get all three on target.

Everyone appears to be making the hits, so a skill of at least 15 is at work.  Nobody appears to be taking the time to get the Acc bonus.

The reload time of (3) for all of these guns appears to be just wrong.  They state that the difference in time between the M4 and the AK74 was the magazine change time.  The AR has an excellent magazine well for dropping the old and inserting the new and the AK doesn't lock open.

They showed fumbles with reloading the FAL and the G3.  With the G3 obviously needing an extra second, or more, of ready action to work the charging handle because it doesn't lock open when empty.

I could see changing the reload time on a rock-n-lock magazine to (4) if it locks open and (5) if it doesn't.  Then adding a "bad magazine well" penalty of an additional turn as well, but allowing for someone who takes the time to become intimately familiar "buy" that penalty off; because I've experienced being unable to get the magazine into my FAL until I practiced a LOT with it.  Willard even gives me shit about it when I've let this skill lapse.

I also noticed that nobody seemed aware of the bolt release on the FAL.  That would have sped things up a bit too.