Light Gas Guns

[BackworldTraveller]

How would a light Gas Gun translate to Traveller?
I suspect that the weight may be high compared to many small-arms weapons, but a 6000m/s to 7000m/s muzzle velocity would have a niche in the "I'm low tech and facing combat armour" stakes!

 

[Spinward Flow]

If you're talking CT Striker Book 3, it's just a (flavor of) hypervelocity CPR Gun.

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Really? Striker Book 3 only has ETC cartridges and basic explosive cartridges - nothing that would have the gas-gun's leverage of those cartridges' power to increase the energy output.

 

[kilemall]

In Striker I have a class of weapons that were originally AntiTank Rifles, and evolved into the TL8 LAG. The current RL designation is anti material rifles, sniper rifles meant to disable artillery or snipe very high value personnel.

In my house rule, these weapons continue on through TL12, and get a pen equal to their TL and commensurate range.

So they are very form factor like the TL6 ATR or LAG, but get a different tech covering their performance increase.

By TL9 they would be ACR caseless rounds, going in the direction of larger propellant for greater velocity rather then miniaturization for ammo count.

TL10 would be the gas gun, pen 10. I am assuming you mean electro thermal chemical designs.

TL11 would be a gauss AMR, in line with miniaturization of the VRF crew weapon and predecessor of the TL12 Gauss rifle. 11 would be where I put the ‘missing’ ETC family of weapons, up the pen of ACRs by 1 and other tweaks.

TL12 would be the final hurrah of an improved Gauss ATR prior to plasma/fusion guns taking that niche.

 

[Condottiere]

I've got the technological level seven anti materiel rifle down as five dice of damage potential and armour piercing factor five.

The gauss sniper rifle, apparently technological level twelve, at five dice damage potential and armour piercing factor six.

 

[whartung]

Well, I had to look it up. Wikipedia: Light Gas Gun

Save for the photo at the bottom of a 7000 m/s 7 gram Lexan projectile hitting a block of aluminum, they're rather sparse as to the mass of the projectiles that they can shoot out of these things. But putting a 4" deep crater into aluminum is kinda neat, dunno how well that works against rolled steel.

7 grams and 7000 m/s is a boat load of energy, 171kJ, about 10 times what a 50 caliber nets (just raw energy).

But, even given that it isn't really even THAT high tech, we currently don't deploy such things, for whatever reason. A 25mm round is about 121kJ. Much simpler design.

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Well, I had to look it up. Wikipedia: Light Gas Gun

Save for the photo at the bottom of a 7000 m/s 7 gram Lexan projectile hitting a block of aluminum, they're rather sparse as to the mass of the projectiles that they can shoot out of these things. But putting a 4" deep crater into aluminum is kinda neat, dunno how well that works against rolled steel.

7 grams and 7000 m/s is a boat load of energy, 171kJ, about 10 times what a 50 caliber nets (just raw energy).

But, even given that it isn't really even THAT high tech, we currently don't deploy such things, for whatever reason. A 25mm round is about 121kJ. Much simpler design.

True we don't deploy them - but we don't have a need to shoot ships in orbit from the surface of small airless worlds.

 

[Spinward Flow]

True we don't deploy them - but we don't have a need to shoot ships in orbit from the surface of small airless worlds.

Well ... that's true, if you surrender unconditionally before any shots are fired by/against any hostile fleet invaders.

Slug throwers for orbital defense are also kind of ... slow movers (making evasion easier) ... when compared to relativistic/light speed weaponry. They also "pollute space" with objects that become enduring navigation hazards when they miss their target, and create SHOWERS of debris to clean up if they do.

 

[mike wightman]

Is there any evidence of these things being adapted as real world weapons or are they purely a research tool?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Presently they are heavy and complex compared to a normal rifle - But that doesn't preclude their being developed somewhere in the imperium.

 

[mike wightman]

If they offered something you can't get from conventional weapons then they would be developed as a weapon.
If they have nor been developed into a weapon system as of yet that tells you all you need to know about their suitability as a weapon system.
Why would 'somewhere in the Imperium' bother when they have better options too.

 

[Baroun Tardis]

If they offered something you can't get from conventional weapons then they would be developed as a weapon.
If they have nor been developed into a weapon system as of yet that tells you all you need to know about their suitability as a weapon system.

There's 90% of me that agrees with the above
The rebellious 10% of me has this mental image of a guy in a tavern 1100 years ago talking about matchlocks and saying the same thing.

 

[BackworldTraveller]

There's 90% of me that agrees with the above
The rebellious 10% of me has this mental image of a guy in a tavern 1100 years ago talking about matchlocks and saying the same thing.

Clearly a forward thinker - or mad visionary!