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What does the Ammo Counter for the Bolter look like? also what is this Sinister/Dexter locking mechanism

I believe that ammo counter is seen by the marine on his helmet and as for the non-power armor users I think that the counter is not present.

That makes more sense than anything but it would be cool if the bolter also had a counter mounted onto it like the assualt rifle from Halo had nut I really wanted to know what this add-on was its called the Sinister/Dexter locking mechanism

The term Sinister/Dexter when applied to a locking mechanism, may imply it is a Left handed/ ambi-dextitrous bolt lock release modification for the bolter.
Since if my latin still serves me I seem to remember somewhere that Sinister means left, or left hand, and since the 40k empire uses alot of pseudo-latin in its descriptions, that would be my guess.

I hope this is of any help.

Sounds good to me! I might replicate the mag clip release and put one on the left side and maybe a small mock up ammo counter for my marines with out helmets on

bolters are ambidextrous same as marines
ammo count is in the hud in the marines helmet or on the marines ocular implants if no helm is worn

Oh scratch that idea then and wow thanks for explaining that you saved me a whole nother post I didnt know if they wernt wearing their helms they would still see their HUD thats awesome and again didnt know marines were ambidexterous along with their guns sweet!

ambidextrous and they all have the same blood group and tissue type its part of the process that changes them into marines
so if your right hand is injured you can shoot with your left just as well
if you need a transfusion any marine can help out same with transplants as there all the same tissue type
sensible if your going to spend your whole life in combat

Sinister/dexter = left hand/right hand

If you're not wearing a helmet, you're probably wearing some sort of targeter lens/combat HUD setup. At the very least there would be a display in the gorget or on the forearm; there aren't any bolters with attached ammo counters.

Bolter clips could also be like a lot of modern weapons some of the magazines we use in the army have a clear strip running down the center of the magazine so you can see how many rounds you have left. Probably not advanced enough for SM with their HUD in helmets but mabe IG bolters?

old rouge trader era bolters have a open strip down the side so you can see the bolts.

I think I have a few rogue trader era bolters im not sure their the ones with the stock right? and I like how some new styled clips have the see through strip deffinitley helpful.
another rogue trader question I have is I have a few backpacks from a biker chaplain kit thats where I got the bolters but the packs vents are weird it looks like they didnt want to take their time with them so they just have a bunch of ridges the vents on the newer packs actually have better detail

Morgrim wrote:Sinister/dexter = left hand/right hand

Sinister = left hand

The left hand side was associated with evil, hence the current meaning of sinister.
The orientation of churches is such that you usually enter the West end, so North/dark is on the left hand side.

dexter = skillfulness

so it means left handed

Ted Dexter = right handed

Just my two cents but a firearm cannot be ambidexterous. The 'handedness' of a firearm is determined by which side the spent casing ejects from. SM's however are all ambidexterous so it doesn't really matter. I would throw a bolter ammo couter on for scouts as this would be a cool conversion.

ComputerGeek01 wrote:Just my two cents but a firearm cannot be ambidexterous. The 'handedness' of a firearm is determined by which side the spent casing ejects from. SM's however are all ambidexterous so it doesn't really matter. I would throw a bolter ammo couter on for scouts as this would be a cool conversion.

A gun can be ambidexterous. This is done by not only making the gun usable in either a left or right setup, but by usually integrating a system to deflect spent casings and exaust gasses or simply putting the ejection port on the bottom of the weapon.

Fl@nked wrote:

ComputerGeek01 wrote:Just my two cents but a firearm cannot be ambidexterous. The 'handedness' of a firearm is determined by which side the spent casing ejects from. SM's however are all ambidexterous so it doesn't really matter. I would throw a bolter ammo couter on for scouts as this would be a cool conversion.

A gun can be ambidexterous. This is done by not only making the gun usable in either a left or right setup, but by usually integrating a system to deflect spent casings and exaust gasses or simply putting the ejection port on the bottom of the weapon.

As well, Bolters use caseless ammunition, so there are no casings to eject.

Why do you think that bolters are caseless? All art depicts them having casings ejecting all over the place.

Bolters initially fire like a normal bullet, ejecting a shell, and then fire a mini rocket.

ph34r wrote:Why do you think that bolters are caseless? All art depicts them having casings ejecting all over the place.

Bolters initially fire like a normal bullet, ejecting a shell, and then fire a mini rocket.

Because GW SAYS they're caseless in the fluff. It's been well established that they put them ejecting cases in art as a cinematic cool(this is their answer if asked and they confirm AGAIN that they are in fact caseless).

SMs remember each and every bolter round they have ever fired.

They are holy, it would be sacrilege not to do so.

Platuan4th wrote:

ph34r wrote:Why do you think that bolters are caseless? All art depicts them having casings ejecting all over the place.

Bolters initially fire like a normal bullet, ejecting a shell, and then fire a mini rocket.

Because GW SAYS they're caseless in the fluff. It's been well established that they put them ejecting cases in art as a cinematic cool(this is their answer if asked and they confirm AGAIN that they are in fact caseless).

Weird. All the threads concerning shell casings that I can remember resulted in people deciding that bolts must have a 2 stage system that involves a casing.

ph34r wrote:

Platuan4th wrote:

ph34r wrote:Why do you think that bolters are caseless? All art depicts them having casings ejecting all over the place.

Bolters initially fire like a normal bullet, ejecting a shell, and then fire a mini rocket.

Because GW SAYS they're caseless in the fluff. It's been well established that they put them ejecting cases in art as a cinematic cool(this is their answer if asked and they confirm AGAIN that they are in fact caseless).

Weird. All the threads concerning shell casings that I can remember resulted in people deciding that bolts must have a 2 stage system that involves a casing.

GW says that they're 2 stage, but also Caseless.

then why do the model bolters have ports for ejecting shells on both sides with one being the slide that you have to rack back to cock the gun? also why do the ultra marines have an honor for marksmen that is a golden bolter shell fired by Roboute Guilliman sorry not trying to attack or flame you.

Because GW is hardcore like that... "Naw, just fething with you guys, we ourselves have no fething clue..."

In 40k, anything can happen... including caseless-two-stage-automatic-rocket launchers...(IE Bolters).

BloodDrop101X wrote:then why do the model bolters have ports for ejecting shells on both sides with one being the slide that you have to rack back to cock the gun? also why do the ultra marines have an honor for marksmen that is a golden bolter shell fired by Roboute Guilliman sorry not trying to attack or flame you.

Easy: GW can't keep its own fluff straight(see the threads regarding the Fallen, Blood Ravens, and countless other subjects). As for models, it's the same reason(see Jes Goodwin's insistence that Marines are the right scale and that every single other GW sculptor can't keep to the scaling he set) as well that they have stated in diagrams that it's an ejection port for jammed rounds(complete with manual ejection trigger).

GW isn't perfect. Hell, they've both stated that Bolters are smooth bore weapons to reduce recoil AND label the barrels as rifled.

I thought a bolter doesn't eject rounds?

I mean, they're rockets...

So I assumed the hollow bit on the side was a digital display

i think they are definitly a case system.

one of the concept art pic for the movie is a spent bolter casing.

they can't retract now.

The case in a conventional round does two jobs -- it protects the propellant from damage during transport and storage, and it takes away some of the heat of firing. The Germans designed a caseless round in the 1980s but they found it was impractical for normal military use.

There is no need to protect the rocket propellant charge as it is contained within the round and flies with it. Likewise, the round leaves the barrel with its rocket chamber intact so it carries away the metal holding the heat.

There is no reason to provide a case though you would still need an ejection port to extract rounds which failed to ignite.

You could design a gun in which a conventional charge launches the shell, and a rocket propels to to longer range. The US Army used to have a rocket assisted projectile (RAP) for 155mm howitzer rounds. I don’t know if they still use it.

The problem with RAP rounds is that the extra range is gained at a large expense in accuracy. Any variation in the flight of the shell tends to be exaggerated by the rocket.

As often with GW fluff, there is a core of realism overlaid by Rule Of Cool factors.

Not to mention the damage that can happen if bolt rounds were caseless... imagine, a rocket blast inside the gun? one single can wreck the entire weapon! a normal bullet can be caseless, but a little rocket as the bolter round? impossible... the gun surely broken in the first shoots, if not the first, the rocket blast, no matter the size, is always preceeded by an explosion! because of this REAL rocket launchers (or self-propelled grenades) are open in the back...

Black Corsair wrote:Not to mention the damage that can happen if bolt rounds were caseless... imagine, a rocket blast inside the gun? one single can wreck the entire weapon! a normal bullet can be caseless, but a little rocket as the bolter round? impossible... the gun surely broken in the first shoots, if not the first, the rocket blast, no matter the size, is always preceeded by an explosion! because of this REAL rocket launchers (or self-propelled grenades) are open in the back...

Bolters are two stage, they fire the round then after the projectile leave the barrel the rocket fires.