Little Devil Rounds

Little Devil Rounds
Technology
Invented by	Alistair Athelrid, Ser'varyn Enris
Used by	Military use
Common uses	Anti-personnel fire

The Athelrid "Little Devil" Expanding Round is a hollow-point ammunition design developed by Alistair Athelrid in collaboration with Ser'varyn Enris, intended for production and sale during the Dwarven war. Available in revolver and lever-action rifle calibres, each round is engineered to deform significantly on impact with soft tissue, maximising damage and reducing the likelihood of clean through-and-through wounds. Each completed round is packaged with a Church of the Iron Head wax seal and a blessing parchment.

History

When considering how to contribute to the war effort, Alistair Athelrid landed not on firearms or war machines but on something more easily produced and transported: ammunition. A well-made round could be manufactured in quantity, shipped to buyers efficiently, and put to immediate use without requiring the buyer to acquire new hardware. His design goal was a round that caused substantial damage and shrapnel injury on impact.

He brought Ser'varyn Enris in to help refine the concept and assist with production. Through iterative testing, the two determined the correct proportions for bullet size, powder charge, lead composition, and cartridge geometry to reliably achieve the desired deformation effect. The result was a hollow-tipped lead projectile that reliably mushrooms on contact with a fluid-filled target.

Construction

The process begins with a clay mould, dried and prepared to cast the lead bullet in its final shape: a hollow-tipped form that will cause the bullet to mushroom on impact rather than pass cleanly through. Hot lead is poured into the mould and allowed to set. Standard brass cartridge cases - sized for either revolver or lever-action rifle calibre - are then primed using a hand priming tool. Black powder is measured and poured into the case, the cast bullet is crimped in at the mouth, and the completed round is inspected. Finished rounds are packed in ammunition boxes, each sealed with a Church of the Iron Head wax seal and a blessing parchment.

Physical Characteristics

The revolver variant uses a short brass casing with a lead bullet featuring a depression at the tip, while the lever-action variant uses a considerably longer brass casing with the same hollow-tipped lead bullet. Both share the same core deformation mechanic on impact.

Applications & Weaknesses

The Athelrid Expanding Round is designed to expand dramatically on impact with soft tissue, producing a large mushrooming effect that causes significantly more internal damage than a standard round and frequently results in the bullet remaining in the body as a shrapnel wound rather than passing through. This makes it well-suited to sidearm ranges and close-quarters engagements against unarmoured or lightly-armoured targets.

The round's primary weakness is its reliance on fluid pressure to initiate expansion. When passing through non-fluid barriers - wood, light cover, armour - particularly at longer ranges, the bullet may fail to expand entirely, reducing it to a substandard penetrating round with no added effect.

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Accreditation
Writers OneDinoBOI Processors Bimberi	Last Editor Bimberi on 04/3/2026.

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