TCS Thumper
The Thumper was a conventional weapon created by the Toledo City-State(organization:c1616be9-5667-4c0b-ac8c-d508da1fa3e0) mostly for its own forces, but some were also sold to allied organizations. After the @[Mid-Ohio Resource War, the TCS "restructured" and focused less on militaristic means of land and resource management. Their need for weapons development decreased and heavier weapons such as the Thumper became obsolete. The TCS hasn't produced Thumpers since the late 90's PE, though there are still a fair number around in the hands of petty warbands, monster hunters, and the like. At this point, ammunition for them is strictly on a "make-due" basis since it has been nearly 20 years since the TCS exported the explosive canisters used by the Thumper.
The Thumper is a short range explosive ordinance launcher. Originally built on the Popper ignition system, the Thumper uses essentially three stages of ignition: the Popper and a small base charge, the main propellant charge, and the fuse for the explosive canister itself. The TCS produced three main types of explosive canisters for the Thumper - fragmentation rounds that used small shot or metal fragments suspended in a buffer material (usually corn meal overpressure rounds, which were essentially a very fast acting high-explosive round used to destroy most Earth That Is structures [ed. There were rumors that these were built using stores of old Earth That Was smokeless powder, though its just as easy that they were made using some kind of ANFO material. They were almost never exported for use outside the TCS]; and fireball canisters, which projected a moderate amount of flammable material in a zone around the explosion point. Some later Thumpers were converted to Whizzer ignition systems, but they were never done so in numbers and the results weren't really worth the conversion effort.
A Thumper round looks like a steel can several inches around with two short pipes connected together stuck on one end, the last one smaller in diameter than the one attached to the can. The first pipe contains the Popper and the pre-charge. The second pipe contains the propellant charge which separates the first pipes from the can and sends it flying. They also serve to activate the fuse on the can itself. The propellant charge can fling the can some 75 yards away, depending on the angle it is held at, and the charges are typically set for 3 seconds, though the overpressure rounds typically had 5 second fuses to allow for additional time to take cover.
To load the Thumper, the can is dropped down the short barrel of the weapon and the rear assembly of the bolt is pulled back by using a lever under the weapon's grip. This exposes the firing chamber, allowing the user to extract the remnants of the previous round and ensure the everything is seated properly. This also serves the draw back the internal plunger hammer of the weapon. The bolt is then close and the weapon is ready to fire.
Item type
Weapon, Other
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Rarity
The Thumper itself is a rare antique. Original rounds for it are non-existent, though some groups have tried to create makeshift rounds for it.
Weight
8 lbs
Dimensions
35" long
Raw materials & Components
Wood, steel