Usuario:Vegvisr/Firearms in the Cosmere

This page is a compendium of the info we have about the various types of firearms in the Cosmere, separated by magical vs traditional, and then by planet. This is quite unfinished, as I am lazy, and will be expanded as we learn more (and as time progresses in the Cosmere).

Traditional Firearms

Scadrial

Current

Northern Scadrial is the most technologically advanced society we have seen to date (not counting Sixth of the Dusk), and their gunsmithing skill is no exception. They have access to smokeless powder and therefore cartridge projectiles, which is the type of firearm that most people are familiar with in our world today. The most common type of gun appears to be revolving cylinder handguns(revolvers), although lever-action rifles exist as well. The revolving cylinder rifle has been invented but is fairly uncommon.

Future

More interesting is really what Scadrians have just recently developed, which includes but is not limited to: semi-automatic handguns, some form of fixed rotary gun (certainly a type of Gatling gun), artillery (in the form of naval guns aboard ships like the Pewternaught), and the creation of aluminum-alloy guns as well as bullets. The implications of each of these are interesting, let's break it down.

Semi-Automatics: A side-note, before we begin: I recognize that lever-action firearms are also semi-automatic (in particular those with tubular magazines) which is what the rifles and shotguns used by Wax seem to be. However what I am referring more to in this section is semi-automatics with a removable magazine. I make this distinction because a removable magazine typically also implies a bolt that relies on blow-back or recoil to cycle the action, which is very important for further development, such as fully automatic firearms.

Jackstom Harms is seen brandishing a semi-automatic pistol, which is noted as being both of a modern design and popular among constables in Elendel. If our world is in any way analogous of the way in which technology progresses on Scadrial, I would have expected a semi-automatic rifles to be developed first. I think it's quite reasonable to assume that they do in fact exist, and we have simply not seen them as of yet. I expect these type of removable magazine semi-automatics to become the norm very quickly in Scadrial, as they are just as reliable as a revolver but with a much higher bullet capacity.

The future implication of the development of magazine-fed semi-automatics is that they are not very different from fully automatic weapons. In fact, I would expect Scadrians to develop full-auto rifles within a few years of the first magazine semi-auto rifle.

Rotary Guns: The Vanishers used a rotary gun in one of their train car hijackings, surprising Marasi, though Wayne seemed to be somewhat familiar with them. This suggests that they are relatively uncommon, perhaps expensive or difficult to produce. Rotary guns are a type of fully-automatic firearm, however their design prohibits a handheld variant (a Pewterarm could conceivably wield one, actually). A rotary gun is really a series of barreled upper rifle assemblies arranged in a circle, which is quite bulky. This design facilitates an incredible rate of fire, and are useful into the modern era. Typically they are mounted on ships, vehicles, planes, or at a fixed position. Speaking of fixed guns. . .

Artillery: The Scadrians, somewhat surprisingly, have developed naval artillery. In Era 1, The Lord Ruler suppressed knowledge of gunpowder - this means that there is relatively little time (or motivation, post-catacendre) for the Scadrians to develop canon technology, the obvious precursor to artillery. Nevertheless, they have it, and in a big way: twelve-inch naval guns with a range of sixteen miles! I suspect that these armored warships will quickly develop flak-canon technology if a war between the northern and southern Scadrians becomes a reality.

Aluminum Weapons & Projectiles: This is "the big one" in terms of having a really lasting Cosmere effect for the Scadrians: aluminum guns & bullets are a serious check against Allomantic Iron & Steel. This is doubly true once Scadrial fully industrializes and aluminum becomes not only common but cheap. I truly believe this may be the most important "Cosmere gun" contribution that Scadrial makes, given aluminum's seemingly Cosmere-wide immunity to magic. Aluminum bullets are immune to allomancy, and I suspect that they would also be immune to basically any type of magic interference. For example, an Elantrian would probably not be able to magically shield themselves from an AlumBullet, however shardplate would provide some measure of physical protection.

Taldain

They have black powder pistols & explosives, seemingly no rifles. The handguns look like flintlocks but act like a cartridge firearm... difficult to tell. There is also the Zinkall, which is technically an air gun, not a firearm, as the projectile is driven by mechanically compressed air instead of a chemical propellant.

Ashyn

Confirmed flintlock technology, which is interesting in the Rosharan System. Of course, Ashyn is completely uncanonical right now anyway so who knows what is subject to change.

Magical Firearms

Threnody

As of circa 342 PC on Scadrial, Nazh carries a handgun that appears to fire Shades, which cause the instant deterioration of anything they touch. The projectiles appear to be made of ghost-shaped energy and scream as they travel through the air. The handgun's side is covered in runes that glow green normally, switching to red when about to fire. The pistol can be temporarily disarmed by a Leecher, although it is quickly able to be readied again.