From:	Kyoto the Angel dann1@********.erols.com
Subject:	exchange rates, and APDS...pronounced APP-ee-das ? : )
Date:	Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:52:31 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Clark <neil.clark@**********.com>
To: Jackpoint <shadowrn@*********.org>
Date: Monday, February 22, 1999 7:16 PM
Subject: exchange rates, and APDS...pronounced APP-ee-das ? : )


> does anyone have a good, founded idea of what the exchange rates are
>between nowaday US dollars and 205x's ¥s?
>
> personally, I've been estimating about 2¥ = $1.
>
> that makes it...pistol about $500, but I don't own a gun, so although
that
>does sound somewhat alright, I really don't know how much a nice pistol
goes
>for today.
>
> that would make a katana $500, and I have a friend in martial arts who
>says that's a hell of a lot for a sword (~$200), but maybe because it's
made
>for combat, and not for show as most swords are today? I imagine the
smiths
>of today compromise a lot of quality for shininess, and cheapness of
>production.
>

Don't know about the gun part, but he's right about 500 being quite a bit
for a katana nowadays. But, as you said, in the SR future, they're now
being built for combat, and hence would be using a lot sturdier metal, that
may not be as pretty, would have sharper edges, and probably be taken a lot
more seriously than they are nowadays. Hell, you can find swords nowadays
that aren't even hand-made, I doubt this happens much in SR, except if
technology happens to have found a way to make things better than they would
be by hand.


>*****
>
> and another thing, what *is* APDS? how is the bullet designed? it is
>some sort of case-shedding contraption? my friend thinks they would be
>comprised of depleted uranium, but I'm not so sure that's the case. I
>personally have no clue how physically an APDS is constructed, any ideas?
>
IIRC, and I'm still not sure about this one, the outer part of the shell is
softer lead than it is normally in a bullet, and the inside is made of some
sort of extremely hard metal, and fashioned to a point, thus allowing the
bullet, when it hit, to impact the armor in a normal way, and allow the hard
point on the inside to pierce the armor. I'm not positive about any of this
though, of course, the only purpose of the soft outer shell is to allow for
friction, and aerodynamics, as I'm sure the actual piercing bullet wouldn't
fly too well.

If I'm wrong, someone correct me, and tell me what I am talking about, as
I'm sure I've heard of this before, unless I inadvertantly mixed two
different types of bullets

Kyoto the Angel
AIM: AngelKyoto
ICQ: 29713335