Weapons of the Aztec Sultanate

[TacCovert4]

Individual Weapons:

Active Duty Troops

1910 Navy Rifle:  Due to the logistical issues arising from the Sultanate's terrain, the smallbore revolution was a complete revolution for the Sultanate.  After extensive trials, in 1910 the Sultanate finally standardized on the Navy proposal 'universal short rifle' using a straight pull action which was seen to improve rate of fire, and a 5 round en bloc clip which allowed for easy storage and rapid charging.  Rather than have long rifles and short artillery carbines, the latter already very popular in the jungle terrain of Oaxaca, a standard 60cm barrel length was established.  The 6mm caliber was seen as both sufficient and lightweight, allowing for the soldiers to carry approximately 1/3 more ammunition on their person for a given weight when compared to the competing 8mm cartridge.  The lower effective range of 500m was considered to be perfectly adequate, and the 6mm cartridge is flatter shooting, making it easier to compensate for range within it's envelope.

1906 Army Pistol and carbine:  In 1907 the Army finally upgraded from top-break revolvers.  With the rifle trials already underway, thought was given to a weapon that could allow artillery troops to effectively fight in close quarters in the jungle, due to raids by Mayan forces in Oaxaca, but not have to carry full size rifles due to their necessity of man-handling mountain howitzers.  Ultimately a relatively large pistol, in 7.63mm caliber with a 12cm barrel length, feeding from a 10 round clip-fed magazine, was standardized upon.  The pistol could come with or without a holster/buttstock which would turn it into a 10 round small carbine.  A full carbine version of this pistol was desired and fielded for engineers and also popular with Marines and mountain troops, having a 30cm barrel and a permanent buttstock and a somewhat extended effective range of 250m over the pistol's 150 with buttstock or 50 without.

1909 Tampico Pistol:  While not standard issue, this 6 shot pistol is a popular purchase item amongst the officer corps and those wealthy enough to privately own handguns.  Firing the same 7.63mm cartridge as the 1906 pistol, this uses detachable magazines and is much smaller and handier than the standard issue weapon.

2nd Line and Reserve Troops/Weapons

1875 Army Revolver:  A top break 12mm revolver.  Originally a black powder revolver, upgraded to smokeless powder with reduced loads.  Typically found in the hands of police or reservists only.

1880 Army Rifle/Carbine:  A 12mm 'trapdoor' rifle available as full length rifle and carbine.  A new build version of the original 1870 muzzleloader conversions.  A solid and reliable rifle, if bulky and slow to reload. 

[TacCovert4]

Machine Guns

1910 6mm Machine Gun:  Concurrent with the adoption of the new rifle and cartridge was the adoption of a machine gun for infantry use.  These are air cooled and relatively lightweight machine guns, which were reasoned to be optimal for use in the mountainous and jungle terrain that makes up a sizable chunk of the Aztec's frontier.  Firing at a somewhat slow 450rpm from a 30rd box magazine, these guns were license produced from Madsen.  This weapon is typically deployed at 3 per company in the weapons platoon, in conjunction with a 40mm mountain gun.

1911 8mm Navy Machine Gun:  The Navy desired a gun heavier than the license produced Madsen, and were able to license the Maxim gun.  These fire the 8mm cartridge which has over double the effective range of the Madsen, making it more suited to operations from ships or boats.  The long range and more continuous fire also make it ideal for the coastal forts and the fortress line in Oaxaca.  The Army has expressed interest in the purchase of large numbers of these guns as well for machine gun companies.

[TacCovert4]

Artillery

4cm Mountain Gun:  A 150kg gun with a simple box trail, firing a 4cm shell with a relatively high rate of fire and a range of 3000m.  An older design, it is universally deployed to the infantry as a support weapon rather than being placed in dedicated batteries.  The exception is the mountain troops, where brigades typically have 1 battery of 4cm guns and 1 battery of 7cm guns.  The shell of choice is the case round, which puts out a pattern of shrapnel into a beaten zone and can be devastating to advancing infantry, there is also a canister and an HE round.

7cm Jungle Gun:  A simple, if more modern design, this gun features a pole trail and a hydraulic-spring recoil system.  Typically deployed in batteries to the Infantry, Mountain, and Marine troops, it is phasing out the 4cm gun which is finding its way into universal direct support roles.  Capable of firing a significant high explosive shell, as well as a case round which is time fuzed to send a pattern of 8mm balls into a beaten zone  Range, 5000m

10cm Field Gun:  Actually pulled somewhat from the 10cm naval gun, this is the heaviest caliber in the Aztec Army's arsenal that is used outside of fortifications.  A fairly modern gun with a recoil system, it still requires a dedicated horse team and roads to move, relegating it more to the role of siege gun in a lot of cases, though the more open desert terrain to the North shows promise for movement of this heavier artillery piece.  High Explosive Quick Fuse and High Explosive Base Fuse ammunition is available for anti personnel and anti-fortification work respectively.  Range, 10000m

[TacCovert4]

Weapons of the Aztec Sultanate, 1929 Edition:

In 1927-28, under a post-Mayan effort to standardize calibers between all major service weapons, the experimented 7.65 x 30mm cartridge is eliminated from service.  The Logistical complications do not justify the additional caliber.  However, the standard 6mm cartridge, roundly unchanged since 1910, sees its first major update, which turns into a complete redesign using modern techniques.  What results is the 6M28 Cartridge (6 millimeter model of 1928).  An 80 grain 6mm projectile, with a 45mm long case 10mm in diameter, the new cartridge could use existing barrels after a refurbishment to cut them down by 16mm and recut the chamber.  Performance is considered equivalent, with the slightly lighter bullet still reaching 1000m/s, with similar performance meaning that sights need not be changed.  Existing bolts can be used, and magazines, with plugs to account for the slightly shorter cartridge, with only spring changes needed.  New production weapons will be directly manufactured to the spec of the new cartridge, with older weapons being adapted for use.  Ultimately, the slightly modified cartridge allows a restoration of commonality of cartridge between all infantry weapons in the Sultanate.  The 7.65mm Carbines were brought in and modified to the new standard cartridge.  The modified carbines were only partially satisfactory, though new production includes a lengthened receiver to correct problems encountered with bolt travel and receiver strength.

Individual Weapons:

1910/28 Rifle - A 6mm Straight-Pull Rifle with a 6 round magazine, stripper clip fed, 55cm barrel (reduced from 70cm on the 1910 rifle)

1923/28 Carbine - A 6mm semi-automatic Carbine in limited use by Cavalry and Marine Forces, 10 round detachable box magazine (the 20 round magazine was found unreliable in the Mayan War)

New Model Pistol - (Analog, Browning Hi-Power).  7.63x25mm, 10 round detachable box magazine in grip.

1918/28 Automatic Rifle - (Analog, BAR).  6mm, 24rd Detachable Box Magazine.

1922 Rifle - 8x57mm, Bolt Action, 6 round stripper clip fed.  Used with and without a 3x Scope, with the scope it is the designated marksman's rifle for the Eagle and Jaguar Warriors.  Without scope is is the standard rifle of the Rangers.  The 8mm cartridge is felt to offer certain advantages in those situations that outweigh the heavier rifle and heavier ammunition.

1910/25 Automatic Pistol (C96 Advancement) - 20 round detachable box magazine, 7.63x25mm, essentially a stocked pistol firing full auto only

Machine Guns

1919/28 Medium Machine Gun  -  (Analog, Browning 1919).  8x57mm, Belt Fed.  Tripod Mounted.

1920/28 Light Machine Gun - (Analog, Browning 1919 'Stinger')  6mm, Belt Fed with Canvas Bag holding 200rd Belt, Bipod and Buttstock.

1910/28 Fortress Machine Gun - (Analog, Colt Potato Digger) 6mm, Belt Fed, Air Cooled

1916/28 Fortress Machine Gun - (Analog, Vickers/Maxim) 8x57, Belt Fed, Water Cooled

1922 Heavy Machine Gun - (Analog, Browning M2) - 12mm, Belt Fed, Water Cooled

Mortars

60mm Infantry Mortar

90mm Infantry Mortar

120mm Heavy Mortar

Artillery

30mm AA Gun

30mm Infantry Gun (Anti-Tank Semi-Automatic Breechloading Gun capable of firing 30mm AA/HE shell as light HE)

70mm AA Gun

100mm Field-Howitzer

130mm Howitzer

130mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

150mm Multiple Rocket Artillery System

180mm Howitzer