Variable Velocity Gauss Weapons?

[SpaceBadger]

I don't recall seeing this idea in any of my Traveller books, but if someone can point me to it, please do.

Gauss weapons are silent except for the sound of their projectiles breaking the sound barrier, right?

Could a gauss weapon have a variable velocity setting so that the shooter could choose to fire at subsonic velocity and have a silent weapon? If so, what are suggested DMs to range/accuracy/damage?

How about in a gauss ACR w built-in rangefinder - could variable velocity be used for flatter firing arc at different ranges?

 

[Reban]

I've seen one or two write-up for weapons of this type. I think it's technically possible by varying the input power to the coils.

I'm not sure if the Gauss darts would be as effective at sub sonic speeds and as for DMs that depends on the rules set you are using. I suppose accelerator weapons might make a good comparison.

There are other interesting things you could do with variable power Gauss guns to do with ammo. You could fire different types of rounds; chemical, explosive, carrier rounds. I'm thinking variable power might be better for larger calibers. You've got stealth from the subsonic round, although I think there will be some level of pop, and there is some exhaust at the muzzle as well as heat and electric signatures.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

I agree with Reban - I'm not sure how effective a gauss weapon would be if the projectile were subsonic. In the F=ma equation, you're significantly reducing the "a" on something that already has a very low "m".

 

[McPerth]

I agree with Reban - I'm not sure how effective a gauss weapon would be if the projectile were subsonic. In the F=ma equation, you're significantly reducing the "a" on something that already has a very low "m".

To define the damaging/penentration power of a bullet, the afected formula is e_k=1/2mv², where e_k is kinetic energy. What SpaceBadger suggest, though, would be reducing speed (v), so, its effect will be even worse than what you say, as v is squared to mesure the kinetic energy.

 

[McPerth]

I don't recall seeing this idea in any of my Traveller books, but if someone can point me to it, please do.

Gauss weapons are silent except for the sound of their projectiles breaking the sound barrier, right?

There has been some discussion about those facts, in any case...

2. One of the MT game designers sat next to a real-world weapons designer on a plane flight. Part of their discussion involved the gauss rifle. Apparently, the real-world weapon designer did some sketches or went thru some numbers or thought about it, and then said that if the projectile could be accelerated to supersonic speeds while still in the barrel, then the projectile could be designed in such a way as to NOT create a sonic "crack".

Who knows, maybe a needle that is spun at a very high rate and which tapers to a point at both the front and rear is silent, compared to a blunt-ended bullet (where the "crack" is the displaced air rapidly coming back together).

In any case, the designers went with what the expert had suggested, and wrote up the gauss rifle as silent.

I also remember having read this (IIRC in the questions & answers in a TD or a MTD).

 

[HG_B]

Could a gauss weapon have a variable velocity setting so that the shooter could choose to fire at subsonic velocity and have a silent weapon? If so, what are suggested DMs to range/accuracy/damage?

Okay. A gauss weapon uses a 4mm? projectile. There are subsonic .22 cal rounds (~5mm). Your damage & range would less than that anemic round. Pretty crappy in other words.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I actually already have a variable speed Gauss weapon under a different name all written up. I was going to submit it to one of the publishers at some point, but maybe I'll do it now.

 

[Carlobrand]

Okay. A gauss weapon uses a 4mm? projectile. There are subsonic .22 cal rounds (~5mm). Your damage & range would less than that anemic round. Pretty crappy in other words.

The gauss rifle becomes available at TL12. Also available at TL12 is superdense armor, a material which is twice as dense and seven times stronger than steel. A gauss round made from that material would be heavier for the same size, offsetting its small size somewhat. Assuming the same length bullet, volume's 72% of that of a .22, mass is 1.44 times that of a .22, which puts power in the ... 200 joule range? Power is applied over a smaller cross-sectional area, so it should fly better and penetrate better than a .22 of similar power.

In Traveller terms, it packs about the punch of a Striker 5.56mm or 7mm pistol, which ain't much but there's some potential for lethality. Figuring out the exact characteristics would be an interesting exercise. As a rifle, it's a good bit easier to aim than a pistol and should have a decent effective range, but that velocity's a good deal less than a shotgun pellet - though it's denser. Still, it doesn't have much range. Might be better if you can figure a way to autofire several rounds at a burst, useful for covert ops as a short-range silent weapon. Also might be useful in a silenced pistol role.

 

[HG_B]

The gauss rifle becomes available at TL12. Also available at TL12 is superdense armor, a material which is twice as dense and seven times stronger than steel. A gauss round made from that material would be heavier for the same size, offsetting its small size somewhat. Assuming the same length bullet, volume's 72% of that of a .22, mass is 1.44 times that of a .22, which puts power in the ... 200 joule range?

It would be about the same KE as a .22LR round fired from a rifle. Best used for a short range assassin type weapon. Not good for much else. Also would be very easily defeated by TL 7 body armour.

 

[aramis]

It would be about the same KE as a .22LR round fired from a rifle. Best used for a short range assassin type weapon. Not good for much else. Also would be very easily defeated by TL 7 body armour.

.22LR runs 150-190 J
.45ACP runs 350-500 J
.9mmPara 425-600 J

Pen for a narrower round will be higher for a given energy, though.

 

[HG_B]

.22LR runs 150-190 J
.45ACP runs 350-500 J
.9mmPara 425-600 J

Pen for a narrower round will be higher for a given energy, though.

Right it would. However, deformation of the round listed (the trav round) would be less than a soft lead round. So tissue damage would probably be less also.

 

[McPerth]

Right it would. However, deformation of the round listed (the trav round) would be less than a soft lead round. So tissue damage would probably be less also.

Isn't that a usual problem with ammo (those with good armor penetration power are also more likely to "clean" pass thorugh the body doing "minimal" tissue damage)?

 

[Carlobrand]

Isn't that a usual problem with ammo (those with good armor penetration power are also more likely to "clean" pass thorugh the body doing "minimal" tissue damage)?

Ayup, but it isn't modeled in the CT/Striker rules. Megatrav adds a factor that accounts for it.

Given the limitations, occurs to me that the subsonic gauss round works best for mobsters and gangers, out of a gauss pistol: execution-style murder with a silent round, threatening civilians (who aren't likely to be wearing armor), robbery and such. Not much need for range in such pursuits, and a pistol's smaller size favors it over a rifle.

 

[McPerth]

Ayup, but it isn't modeled in the CT/Striker rules. Megatrav adds a factor that accounts for it.

Neither is it modeled in AHL (quite similar to Striker, AFAIK), nor in MgT or T4, where the damage soaking for armor is equal regardless of the weapon. It was represented somewhat in T2K (1^st edition) with the armor multiplier for the rounds (being also a GDW game, I'm surprised this has not been taken by any other GDW game).

 

[HG_B]

Isn't that a usual problem with ammo (those with good armor penetration power are also more likely to "clean" pass through the body doing "minimal" tissue damage)?

Given similar velocity & caliber, the harder round will cause less tissue damage.

 

[atpollard]

A supersonic gauss bullet could be made to produce no sonic boom ...

... see Busemann's Biplane

... the gist of it is that a hollow cylinder can be made to travel at supersonic speeds and generate the shock waves inside the cylinder where they are trapped between the walls. As a 'wing', it has the fatal flaw of generating zero lift. As a bullet, that is not a bad thing.

... so a 4mm x 12mm hollow supersonic gauss bullet can generate no sonic boom (and will probably mushroom on impact like a hollow point bullet).

 

[HG_B]

A supersonic gauss bullet could be made to produce no sonic boom ...

... see Busemann's Biplane

... the gist of it is that a hollow cylinder can be made to travel at supersonic speeds and generate the shock waves inside the cylinder where they are trapped between the walls. As a 'wing', it has the fatal flaw of generating zero lift. As a bullet, that is not a bad thing.

... so a 4mm x 12mm hollow supersonic gauss bullet can generate no sonic boom (and will probably mushroom on impact like a hollow point bullet).

A supersonic wad cutter!

 

[SpaceBadger]

A supersonic gauss bullet could be made to produce no sonic boom ...

... see Busemann's Biplane

... the gist of it is that a hollow cylinder can be made to travel at supersonic speeds and generate the shock waves inside the cylinder where they are trapped between the walls. As a 'wing', it has the fatal flaw of generating zero lift. As a bullet, that is not a bad thing.

... so a 4mm x 12mm hollow supersonic gauss bullet can generate no sonic boom (and will probably mushroom on impact like a hollow point bullet).

Nice! Might be illegal for military use (if in a TU where such rules exist and are honored; I think probably below the scope of OTU Rules of War), but excellent for assassins and such.

 

[Patron Zero]

Just my two pence but I think a round driven from a .45 cal. Gauss weapon or say even a 12 gauge that 'mimics' the performance of it's powder-cartridge predecessor would still be welcome and useful in a firefight, excluding battledress or heavily armored opponents being the target.

The concept of individual cartridges containing both 'stored' charge and projectile have been been in my house rules since GMing my first game.

 

[McPerth]

A supersonic gauss bullet could be made to produce no sonic boom ...

... see Busemann's Biplane

... the gist of it is that a hollow cylinder can be made to travel at supersonic speeds and generate the shock waves inside the cylinder where they are trapped between the walls. As a 'wing', it has the fatal flaw of generating zero lift. As a bullet, that is not a bad thing.

... so a 4mm x 12mm hollow supersonic gauss bullet can generate no sonic boom (and will probably mushroom on impact like a hollow point bullet).

But will probably have less penetration power against armor, due to the same reasons that make it mushroom on impact...