I have this concept for this gameplay mechanic (if that's the right word) that I've been tossing around in my head for a while now (mentioned it briefly to jefequeso in another thread), and was hoping I find, with y'alls assistance, a semi-realistic way to depict this.

(Just FYI, this has to do with guns and ammo, so if you find the idea of common citizens owning firearms offensive, feel free to move on. I'm not looking for a debate here, please.)

The mechanic I'm referring to might be used in an action-horror game. I've developed sort of this pet-peeve for games that just leave ammo and cartridges randomly about (doesn't Resident Evil 4 have them in ancient jars or in places besides that teleporting salesman?). It works in games like Max Payne (noir horror-ish) where all the bad guys are humans with pistols and automatic weaponry and such, but the non-human enemies in other games (zombies or other monsters) aren't wielding that stuff. I dunno, leaving ammo around like that feels kind of like a cop out (unless maybe the game starts mid-way through the "apocalypse" and the ammo found is from others who didn't make it).

So, ANYWAY, my idea is for the character to have a bullet/cartridge creation device of some kind. I get the feeling that outside a factory setting it'd be quite hard to make quality, accurate bullets, not to mention making them on the go and with a device that could fit inside a backpack or one's belt. Thing is, though, I'm thinking of more close-combat shooting (so accuracy isn't all that important), as well as an element of challenge (so even if they broke apart as they shot out, as long as they did /some/ damage, that would be okay).

I was thinking if there was a simple way to grab and stick small but solid items into the device (metal garbage or similar stuff), then it could be melted down into a 9mm mold, then cooled and relatively ready to go. It wouldn't be really fast anyways, but I think that could fit into the horror theme. (Single bullets can be loaded into a glock at the top, correct?)

I'm more worried about how I could "realistically" find a substance for ignition/explosion in an everyday setting. IIRC, cartridges use black powder or another form of powder to blast the bullet out. Is there something (like a tiny bit of gasoline or something) that might make a viable substitute, even if it's somewhat unstable?

I'm probably missing quite a few things here, but I've written a lot already. :) Hopefully some solutions could be found. Somebody might suggest, "Why not just have a laser gun or something that doesn't even need ammo and can recharge?" I considered that, but that felt like another cop out. I'm more interested in a semi-realistic, slow-but-reliable and portable source for 9mm (or "simpler") bullets/cartridges. Throw some theories at me for how this might work out. Thanks all.

Honestly, I doubt very much that you're going to be able to make useful bullets like that. There are kits for reloading and putting it all together, but the powder and the actual bullet are going to be tough to make.

Even if you do create a proper bullet, the tolerances are fairly tight and if you don't get it properly symetrical, you'll have issues with accuracy.

You're referring to accuracy of the bullet shooting straight? Given the close range this could take place, that doesn't bother me too much. The other things you mentioned do sound like real issues, though. Too bad. :-/ No workarounds?

It's more practical with shotguns and old-timey weapons. Modern weapons, tolerances are pretty tight, and you're limited to what you can find in good enough condition to refurbish to tolerances that won't result in a gun failing to fire, jamming, or blowing up in your face.

In a steampunk world, it makes more sense, because making your own ammo was an expected skill in the 19th C.

But alternative igniters or propellants like gasoline belong in throwable bombs, not cartridges.

Could you elaborate? Are you referring to modern shotguns?

You'd have a hard time not killing yourself doing this even if you had tons of reloading experience. Reloading is dangerous and precision work, that you do with precision tools. You don't jury rig this one, you'd die or kill someone you didn't intend to kill.

If you want to do this in your game you'd want jury rigged weapons, not the real kind. Potato guns, nail guns, that kind of thing could be reasonably loaded "on the go" with stuff you'd find lying around.

There are people who play around with improvised loads for shotguns; after all, a shotgun is a device for ejecting whatever you can stuff into a cartridge.

At the very least, you still need a proper propellant (which things like gasoline are not), and a payload that won't damage the barrel.

But using a shotgun to fire an improvised cartridge of something like, say, nails is not so implausible (just incredibly dangerous to yourself) that it would damn your game as unrealistic.

If you are planning a game mechanic for weapon misfires or accidents, improvised loads should greatly increase the risk of a really bad accident, which could be reduced by an appropriate skill or talent.

The DeWalt M-16 Nail Gun

Don't worry about it, no. You get the wrong shit in there and you've made a pipe bomb, not shotgun ammo. While it might be funny to see a video game character hugging a pipe bomb when it goes off, if you're after realism people do not load their own ammo these days without a basement full of gear.

I was hoping for something rather small (spud guns look rather big). Any examples of something jury rigged that could use random crap to shoot but handgun-ish size?

My first thought was that a blunderbus style weapon would be the only one that's remotely reasonable. As you mention you do still have to find a suitable propellant. Definitely not. Anything like that is going to be barely more plausible than a raygun. Older weapons tend to be better, but with the range you're dealing with, you'd probably be better off with knives and clubs.

Lol, I guess in the end I'd have to go the mostly unreliastic route, and have the main character own a modified shotgun or handgun that could use petrol or something as a propellant, and isn't picky about the size and content of the cartridge. :P Something like that...

Some things just don't translate well to games.

You could cop out with the propellant. Maybe a setting that'd allow for the propellant to be magnetic fields inside the gun, so it'd sound plausible to just need electricity, and the main character could be someone who knows how to make and plug in all sorts of electricity. Y'know, pseudosciencey stuff, or maybe something like a homemade crossbow-like gun.

A gun that uses a spring to propel stuff and needs you to crank it before each shot :p

Why not settle for something simple, like a pipe gun, just like Fallout did? Now I don't know how to make one, but I'm going to make a guess here that in theory, they should function like a primitive musket; all your survivor would need is a solid enough pipe, some wood for the stock, a drill to make some holes, gunpowder, a flint and ball bearings.

A pipe gun is effectively impossible, they did it because it seemed possible. But, pipes aren't generally strong enough to withstand the explosion of the gunpower.

If we're going to do things that are impossible, there are any number of ways of solve the problem the OP has.