Ammunition Anaylsis

[chaosshade]

I was playing Stalker again today and found myself toying with different weapons and I noticed some things about the different ammunition.

Pistol Ammunition:
9x18mm:
Advantages:
-VERY common throughout The Zone

Disadvantages:
-Poor stopping power
-Weapons that use it have poor accuracy

9x18mm +P+:
Advantages:
-Armor Piercing ability
-Better stopping power

Disadvantages:
-Rare and expensive

9x19mm:
Advantages:
-Low armor piercing
-Common throughout The Zone

Disadvantages:
-Poor stopping power

9x19mm PBP:
Advantages:
-Good armor piercing (for light handguns anyway)
-Better stopping power

Disadvantages:
-Slightly rare throughout The Zone

.45 ACP:
Advantages:
-Very good stopping power
-Weak armor piercing ability
-Common later in The Zone

Disadvantages:
-Heavy for its type
-Weapons that use it have low mag sizes

.45 Hydro:
Advantages:
-Excellent stopping power

Disadvantages:
-No armor piercing ability
-Rare in The Zone
-Heavy for its type


Rifle Ammunition:
5.45x39mm:
Advantages:
-Very common throughout The Zone
-Good stopping power

Disadvantages:
-No armor piercing ability
-Poor effectiveness vs better armored foes
-Weapons have poor accuracy

5.45x39mm BP:
Advantages:
-Very good armor piercing ability
-Good stopping power
-Effective against better armored foes

Disadvantages:
-Rare in The Zone
-Weapons have poor accuracy

5.56x45mm:
Advantages:
-Common later in The Zone
-Accurate at long range

Disadvantages:
-Average stopping power

5.56x45mm AP:
Advantages:
-Good armor piercing ability
-Accurate at range

Disadvantages:
-Poor stopping power
-Rare in The Zone


Sniper Rifles:
7.62x54mmR N1:
Advantages:
-Very good stopping power
-High velocity (travels very flat)

Disadvantages:
-Rare early in The Zone
-No armor piercing ability
-Unusually high weight (due to a coding typo)

7.62x54mmR N14:
Advantages:
-Excellent stopping power
-High velocity
-Very good armor piercing ability

Disadvantages:
-VERY rare in The Zone (cannot buy, few stashes contain it)
-Unusually high weight

7.62x54mmR AP:
Advantages:
-Very good stopping power
-High velocity
-Excellent armor piercing ability

Disadvantages:
-VERY rare in The Zone
-Unusually high weight

9x39mm PAB:
Advantages:
-Very good stopping power
-Good compatibility (Pistol, Rifle, Sniper)
-Very light (due to a programming typo)
-Buyable later in The Zone

Disadvantages:
-Rare early in The Zone
-Low velocity (must arch shots)

9x39mm SP-5:
Advantages:
-Excellent stopping power
-Good compatibility
-Very light
-Buyable later in The Zone
-Excellent armor piercing ability

Disadvantages:
-Low velocity
-Expensive to purchase

9x39mm SP-6:
Advantages:
-Very good stopping power
-Good compatibility
-Very light
-Very good armor piercing ability

Disadvantages:
-Low velocity
-Rare in The Zone


Shotguns:
12x70mm Buckshot:
Advantages:
-Excellent stopping power
-Very common early in The Zone

Disadvantages:
-Short range (<50m)
-Very heavy

12x76mm Slugs:
Advantages:
-Excellent stopping power vs certain threats (Loners, Boars, Bandits, Flesh, Zombies, Controllers)
-Decent Range (>50m)

Disadvantages:
-Rare in The Zone
-Very heavy
-Poor stopping power vs certain threats (Bloodsuckers, Snorks, Merc armor or better, Dogs (all types)

12x76mm Darts:
Advantages:
-Good armor piercing ability
-Excellent stopping power vs certain threats
-Decent range

Disadvantages:
-Rare in The Zone
-Very heavy
-Poor stopping power vs certain threats

[Karcentric]

Disadvantages:
-Very rare throughout The Zone

You sure? There's a ton of this crap in The Garbage...

[chaosshade]

I meant other than that. And besides, if you use the MP5 a lot, you burn ammunition at a surprising rate.

[Karcentric]

Fair enough. You get at least 1000 rounds from those crates.

[chaosshade]

Yeah, and it only takes like three or four heated battles to deplete it all, which really kind of sucks. I find myself using like four different weapons by the time I get to Agroparam. MP5, AK-74/2, AK-74/u, and the P99. I mostly trade-off between the AKs I round up from the battle w/ the grunts, but the MP5 does have its uses.

EDIT: Made a couple of adjustments

[Διμι]

The 1000+ 9x19 PBP rounds last me until I get the fast-firing AK-74 from Strelok's stash, and even so, I still have a few hundred remaining and weighing me down. It's more than enough ammo, unless you don't know how to shoot in bursts.

Also, I never carry amounts of buckshot at which weight becomes an issue. It's a shotgun shell. You won't need many of them.

[Karcentric]

Also... Am I blind or did you forget the 7.62 sniper ammo?

[chaosshade]

*laughs* Ah, so I did! I'll get on that.

[tsiros]

the mp5 is not for spraying bullets like hail

at least what i found it is for dispatching large numbers of bandits quickly. the excellent behaviour when firing bursts of 3 makes certain that one of the 3 bullets will hit the head from a distance that is close enough to aim accurately but far enough that their shotties don't hit me.

i think i can complete all the battles with the AP x19 ammo in the mp5, from the bandit offensive on the derelict machinery scrapyard up to offing Fat Bastard (borov) (that is, the offensive, the military attack on seriy, the bandits in underground, the grunts in underground and at their base *and* returning to garbage and the bandits at their base.) using the hunter shottie only for mutants.

[Διμι]

9x39mm PAB:
Advantages:
-Very light (due to a programming typo)

9x39mm SP-5:
Advantages:
-Very light

9x39mm SP-6:
Advantages:
-Very light

IDK what mods Chaos was running, but 300 rounds of any 9x39 ammo weighs 7 kilos in .05.

I can't carry more than 700 or so of the shits with a VSS without overloading.

By comparison, I can carry a G36 and 1200 rounds of ammo for it, along with about 50 medkits and bandages.

[Afterburner]

Isn't 9x39 supposed to be heavier than usual?

[Διμι]

Yeah. It's .7 kg per fucking box for SP-5 and SP-6. I keep finding it on the lab missions, and ending up overloaded by at least three or four kilos, and I'm too much of a jew to throw out my precious ridiculous hoards of 5.56 rounds.

[Afterburner]

Is it just me or am I too much attached to pistols? I'm like the only one who uses them till the endgame. That's why I'm overloaded on .45 90% of the time.

[Karcentric]

You carry 50 medkits? That's an insane. The most you need is 10 kits, 15 once inside the sarcophagus, and 20 bandages, that leaves more space for ammunition!

There's no use for pistols once you go past the barrier in the AW. You can usually scavenge one if your desperate.

I usually stick with the LR300 once I get all the attachments for it. Why carry extra guns and ammo, maybe a SVU too but once again, I usually just grab it from someone who looked at me funny.

[Afterburner]

I liked the SiG in SoC. I liked the SiG in all three games. But, I like the pistols since I usually used stealth and somehow, 'twas easier for me to drop someone with a Martha rather than use a silenced rifle to drop him.