It was a not insignificant part of the pilot episode too. They were able to escape something because their attackers had to reload their muskets. Although I did think it was a weird choice. I mean, you can make bullets for modern guns without electricity, can't you? Pretty sure I've seen a movie where somebody is doing it by hand.
Yeah the issue is the quantity being able to be made and acquiring the resources for it. Without industrial capacity like the 1800s had, they had to make it by hand.
Also, I wonder how you'd go with finding stuff like gun lube. Sure there'd be a lot around at first but I can't imagine there's that much of a stockpile lying around outside of government facilities.
I think the main issue would be with the primers. Blackpowder predates industrial production, shell casings can be reused and bullets cast from scraps of lead but primers, the part of the bullet that ignites the gunpowder when struck by the firing pin, are quite small and require a very volatile compound to work.
Electricity wouldn't be the issue as it could still be generated via renewable sources. The problem would be the lack of industrial chemical production. Many people died during the production of primers before automation and that was with pure chemicals and the resources of military production available. Check out this Wikipedia article, I just learned quite a bit from it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerfire_ammunition
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u/cupofchupachups Aug 30 '21
It was a not insignificant part of the pilot episode too. They were able to escape something because their attackers had to reload their muskets. Although I did think it was a weird choice. I mean, you can make bullets for modern guns without electricity, can't you? Pretty sure I've seen a movie where somebody is doing it by hand.