• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.
  • We, the systems administration staff, apologize for this unexpected outage of the boards. We have resolved the root cause of the problem and there should be no further disruptions.

I don't know what'd be a catchy name for it...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tucker
  • Start date Start date
T

Tucker

Guest
... but I got an idea for a type of gauss rifle. Keep in mind I am no kinda firearm expert-- gaming wise or any other-wise.

Basically, my assertion is that there'll always be surplus obsolete/low-tech ammo clips and rounds lying about-- especially in the TNE era games. Scads of clips in varying calibers and capacity for whatever shooters folks used or got cheap from gov't auction etc. Anyway, some big-brain designs a gauss rifle that has a rechargeable power supply integral, a feeder mechanism that can adapt to strip rounds from whatever mag is inserted, and a barrel that can be adjusted to throw that whole round downrange.

It seems like it'd be useful to Star Viking types, or other pragmatic sorts, that don't want to spend a lot of time buying ammo or maintaining higher tech shooters. The rifle itself is a high tech piece, it's just made to cannibalize retrograde tech, whether the setting is TNE( or some other post-apoc)or you got cheap-skate PCs.

Whaddya think fellas?
 
Most ammunition not being made of iron or steel or other magnetic materials, it seems to me that a gauss pistol would have a hard time doing anything much with it.

OTOH a trip to the local hardware store would provide plenty of ferrous ammunition in the form of nails, screws, etc.
 
You mean a SCrew Utilizing Blasting Apparatus..S.C.U.B.A. ?
file_23.gif
 
Originally posted by Tucker:
Basically, my assertion is that there'll always be surplus obsolete/low-tech ammo clips and rounds lying about-- especially in the TNE era games. Scads of clips in varying calibers and capacity for whatever shooters folks used or got cheap from gov't auction etc. Anyway, some big-brain designs a gauss rifle that has a rechargeable power supply integral, a feeder mechanism that can adapt to strip rounds from whatever mag is inserted, and a barrel that can be adjusted to throw that whole round downrange.
Click to expand...
It's an interesting concept, but with a gauss weapon why not just bypass the ammo altogether. If you've got a coilgun, you can basically shot just about any ferrormagnetic object so long as it fits in the barrel reasonably well. A trip to the harware store would yield all kinds of goodies.

BTW, a weappn with the ability to shoot many calibers is not new. Most Aftermath (remember that game?) are familiar with the Medusa revolver, which could shoot just about any cartridge that had a bullet reasonably close to 9mm in diameter.

http://www.cadco.com/firearms/pri.htm
 
Thanks gents. I shoulda known about that ferromagnetic metals thingee-- I lose some basic science after a double shift overnight.

But, what if the rifle were some sorta fancy-pants slingshot-- the cartridge was carried down the bore by something integral to the rifle and that stays in the rifle. The coil still boosts it and all, the ferromagnetic bit returns down the queue. Dammit, I can see the analog in my head. Like one of those doohickeys for pulling up water form a well-- a bunch of buckets on a loop of rope or chain, crank the thing and buckets go down to the water while full ones get dumped out up top.

I totally missed the hardware store angle, a real screw gun for Pete's sake, now that's a fine idea as well.

I gotta wonder at the effective range of these things-- the SIPP or screw gun, even with spin imparted the projectiles are a tad 'rough'. ANy more ballistic and weapon expertise out there?
 
Originally posted by Tucker:
But, what if the rifle were some sorta fancy-pants slingshot-- the cartridge was carried down the bore by something integral to the rifle and that stays in the rifle.
Click to expand...
Got it. Some kind of integral, captive 'sled' that hold the projectile - something like a sabot, but one that is never expelled. Certainly original.

In such a weapon (call it a projector) anything that fit in the 'sled' could be fired, regardless of composition. Note that the projectile doesn't have to be a bullet. You could fire a spear or anything else that fit in the barrel.

The system you are describing has been used in conventional weapons. It's called 'Captive Piston' and is used in the FLY-K silent mortar, as well as several types of silent ammunition.

I gotta wonder at the effective range of these things-- the SIPP or screw gun, even with spin imparted the projectiles are a tad 'rough'. ANy more ballistic and weapon expertise out there?
Click to expand...
It pretty hard to even estimate without knowing the coefficiant of drag(cD), or ballistic coefficient(BD) as most calculations and software depend on knowing this.

If the projectile is at least stable, then Mach's equation will give you a good idea of velocity loss.
 
Is it just me or do a big bunch or gearheads and gunbunnies play Traveller or T2000?

Anyway, the idea is for an already packaged clip/mag what have you could be used to feed the SIPP or CPLUNC. Some of the obsolete ammo types are of the explodin' variety, and maybe are still fun to use. The damage the projectiles do is sorta fuzzy as well.

I certainly don't envision the thing as a first choice, more like something that works but ain't as good as what you really wanted. Sort of the swiss army knife of gauss weapons.
 
Now there's thinkin'! The gun I thought of used old mags so you can still get autofire if'n you want, but some sort of blunderbuss is a rockin' way to think of it. Solsec backed insurgents could be shooting back with Impie coin!

I am still struggling with the nomenclature though; I do like the David and Goliath slant to it being a kind of slingshot for guerilla-types, and the piratical feel to it being a sorta blunderbus. It'll come to one of us eventual-like.
 
I like all these kind of idea's but I'm wondering what type of recoil and or recoil compensation you'd need for a "captive piston" or "projectile cup" type of weapon as you'd have some peice of "Metal ? " moving rapidly down barrell and perhaps/probably just as rapidly, up barrell?? Corejob, you mention captive piston is used in the FLY-k mortar but this isn't exactly a shoulder fired weapon is it? Gauss weapon technology is my favourite type and gets heavily used imtu's but I played a homebrew modified version of "Aftermath" before I brought FF&S1 so I prefer to think/play that the weapon imparts spin via its mechanism rather than the darts needing to be manufactured with fins that seat in grooves, this way players can at a pinch manufacture their own ammo in a ships machine shop out of any correct thickness wire/rod. In that aftermath game I seem to recall we fired anything metalic including chopped up pieces of fencing wire :rolleyes:
 
The problem with explosive projectiles, most types need to spin to arm. Other ways to arm a warhead is for the warhead to recieve a sharp jolt as from being fired, or having a pin removed to allow a twist bringing the explosive chain into alignment. The spin arm is used in almost all cannon ammo as a safety precaution as there are too many ways the round could recieve a sharp jolt such as the trooper hitting the ground while under fire, or the gun carrage or ammo can being hit by incomming fire.

Being launched from a gauss blunderbuss will not give a quick enough spin to arm the warheads.
 
Originally posted by vegascat:
The problem with explosive projectiles, most types need to spin to arm. Other ways to arm a warhead is for the warhead to recieve a sharp jolt as from being fired, or having a pin removed to allow a twist bringing the explosive chain into alignment. The spin arm is used in almost all cannon ammo as a safety precaution as there are too many ways the round could recieve a sharp jolt such as the trooper hitting the ground while under fire, or the gun carrage or ammo can being hit by incomming fire.

Being launched from a gauss blunderbuss will not give a quick enough spin to arm the warheads.
Click to expand...
Not being expert in the non-existant I can't really say how much or little spin is imparted to a Traveller-type gauss rifle shot projectile. I assumed spin was imparted as part of the process of gettting slung down the coil. Is it that the 'sled' could not provide this action in the SIPP? I see the blundergauss as a smoothbore type thing, but it is supposed to sling nails, chunks of cement, or spare change. So yeah, no spin there.
 
According to living steel, gauss weapon projectiles use fins for atmospheric stability and not spin.

In vacc without air resistance as an issue stability become less important.
 
Trent said:
According to living steel, gauss weapon projectiles use fins for atmospheric stability and not spin.

In vacc without air resistance as an issue stability become less important.
Click to expand...

Well according to the MT Encyclopedia I got, spin and stabilization is imparted by "magnetic bias" in a gauss weapon. That being what the book says, of course what the book says and what folks do in their Traveller game is not always the same. Not in mine anyway.
 
Tucker said:
... but I got an idea for a type of gauss rifle. Keep in mind I am no kinda firearm expert-- gaming wise or any other-wise.

Basically, my assertion is that there'll always be surplus obsolete/low-tech ammo clips and rounds lying about-- especially in the TNE era games. Scads of clips in varying calibers and capacity for whatever shooters folks used or got cheap from gov't auction etc. Anyway, some big-brain designs a gauss rifle that has a rechargeable power supply integral, a feeder mechanism that can adapt to strip rounds from whatever mag is inserted, and a barrel that can be adjusted to throw that whole round downrange.

It seems like it'd be useful to Star Viking types, or other pragmatic sorts, that don't want to spend a lot of time buying ammo or maintaining higher tech shooters. The rifle itself is a high tech piece, it's just made to cannibalize retrograde tech, whether the setting is TNE( or some other post-apoc)or you got cheap-skate PCs.

Whaddya think fellas?
Click to expand...


Well, outside of the main flaw already noted, I'd call this a

DVC

Dynamic
Variable
Caliber
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
The Thunderwraith
Replies
2
Views
889
endersig
E
Back
Top