Quick Overview:
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1) Changes the recipes for the Junk Rounds perk to craft ammo cases
2) Adds recipes for 12.7mm and .45 Auto
3) Adds a recipe to convert bent tin cans to tin cans.
4) Removes the luck requirement for the perk.


Why I Created This:
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I created this mod for my own personal use, but I decided to upload it in case anyone else wants to use it. I have only played through the vanilla game, but not the DLC. I bought all of the New Vegas DLC during a Steam sale last year, but I'm just now getting around to starting a new game with them. When I leveled up and saw the perk, I took it thinking it would be nice to be able to make my own ammo from junk and scrap, especially the rarer types that are hard to come by. I ran to a reloading bench to see the recipes. It still required an appropriate ammo case, 5 tin cans and a scrap metal. That seems like a lot of metal, so I assumed the recipe would yield multiple rounds. I already had scrap metal, so I continued playing and made sure to pick up tin cans when I found them. Once I acquired some tin cans, I ran to the nearest reloading bench, dropped in the ingredients hoping to finally have some .45-70 ammo only to be slapped in the face by disappointment when I get one measly round out of all of that. I couldn't believe I wasted a perk on this, and I quit the game out of frustration. I was considering loading a save before I leveled up and picking something else, but that would mean having to re-do everything I did from that save point, which was about an hour or so of play time.

The perk recipes basically just replace the gunpowder and primer with 5 tin cans and a scrap metal. You can already convert a scrap metal to lead and you can get gunpowder and primers from breaking down other ammo types, so this perk is practically useless since the other component of the recipe, the case, is the hardest to come by.

Although I am using some mods, I don't want to use mods that change default game for this play through, but this perk is so useless I made an exception and looked for mods that changed it. One mod, Dead Money - Junk Rounds Redux (http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/40500), did change the perk to the way I expected it would after seeing the ingredient list (by yielding multiple rounds), but it also added another category of ammo. I was still going to use it, but then when I thought about it more, the recipes still seem unrealistic. Tin cans and scrap metal would seem the most logical thing to make cases from, yet the recipe uses them in place of gunpowder and primers, and you still needs a case. It also doesn't seem realistic to be able to make gunpowder and primers from tin cans and scrap metal, so I decided to modify the perk myself to work in what I feel is a more realistic way without changing the core game.


My Solution:
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It seems more logical that you would use the tin cans or scrap metal to craft ammo cases, so that's what I changed the recipe to do. I used a real empty can and measured its circumference and length. I looked up the dimensions of the real world ammo cases. Using the case circumference and lengths I worked out how many of each could be made from the can, and this is what I came up with:

Pistol/SMG Ammo:
9mm - 35 cases
10mm - 24 cases
12.7mm - 20 cases
.357 Magnum - 18 cases
.44 Magnum - 15 cases
.45 Auto - 24 cases

Rifle Ammo:
5mm - 15 cases
5.56mm - 14 cases
.308 - 6 cases
.45-70 - 4 cases
.50MG - 3 cases

I had to do some guess work with the 12.7mm and 5mm rounds. There are real world 12.7mm (.50 cal) hand gun and 5mm rifle rounds, but there is not any verified source as to which one the game rounds are modeled after (if they are even modeled after a real round). Considering that the game's 12.7mm round is used in a pistol and SMG, and looking at the game models of the weapons and the shell casings ejected from them compared to the .45 Auto shells in game, I decided the .50GI is probably most logical because the .50AE would be too big to fit the magazine of the 12.7mm pistol. In the real world the 5mm round is not a common caliber. There are very few real world mass produced 5mm rounds, so I used measurements from them all and took the average.

There are two recipes per case, one using tin cans and one using scrap metal. Using the scrap metal recipe will yield 4 times as many cases as a tin can. Once you craft the ammo casings, you just make the ammo the way you did before. You still need lead, primers and powder which can be easily acquired by breaking down other ammo types.


Additional Changes:
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I also added a recipe to make one tin can from two bent tin cans at a work bench, and I reduced the weight of the cans to 0.10.

There is no recipe for making shotgun hulls from tin cans or scrap metal since shotgun hulls are not made from metal. I couldn't think of an alternative item/material to use, so I added a conversion recipe. You can convert one 12Ga Hull to one 20Ga Hull or two 20Ga Hulls to one 12Ga hull.

I also removed the luck requirement for the Junk Rounds perk as I don't see how luck has anything to do with being able to craft ammo cases from scrap metal or tin cans.


Installation:
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You can use the "Download with Manager" button to automatically install with Nexus Mod Manager. To install manually, extract the .esm to your Fallout New Vegas\Data directory and enable it with a mod manager such as the Nexus Mod Manager or Fallout Mod Manager. You must have Dead Money and Honest Hearts as well.

The recipes are all new, so this mod should not conflict with other mods. I did remove the original recipes, so if you use a mod that changes them and you wish to keep both, load the other mod(s) after this one.


Notes:
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I created this today (Oct. 6, 2012) and spent a few hours testing it. It's a simple mod and I don't believe there are any bugs, but if I find any as I continue my game I will update it. If you use it and find any, sent me a PM through this site and I will take a look at it.