What's it sound like?

[MacTrom]

Ok, since a gauss gun does not use explosive propellant to move the projectel down the barrel, does it make a loud noise when you fire it? would there just be a "pop" since the round is hypersonic?

I watched a demo on the military channel about rail guns (similar technology?) and there was a huge band, but I believe that to be the round hitting the target.

So, any thoughts, suggestions, or R/L experience?

 

[Theoselk]

Not a reliable source, but its the first thing I found:
Gauss Rifle Wiki

A coilgun has no moving parts other than the projectile, the only noise produced is by the projectile moving and the theoretic maximum speed of the projectile is extremely high. These attributes make it attractive as a weapon.

But I guess if you wanted to make use of a silencer attachment, you could say that the act of rapidly flowing current thru a coil, or charging a electromagnet, creates a futuristic *BeZoom* noise, and the attachment muffles that noise. But I guess its mainly a IYTU thing.

But in both warhammer and battletech (Mechwarrior), they both make noise for some reason.

 

[MacTrom]

hmm.. I'm going to have to dig out my copy of Eraser and listen to that one.

I'd expect a whistling sound "silent death".

 

[jimg]

I was looking at this myself and came across this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppressor

Based on the section on "Effectiveness," I assumed that Gauss Rifles would have a noticeable "bang" from the hypersonic projectile. Traditional suppressors wouldn't really be able to reduce this sound.

IMTU, I was thinking of adding some high-caliber gauss carbines. They would fire a heavy slug at subsonic speeds. Range and accuracy would be reduced, but the weapon would be very quiet.

 

[Gadrin]

I think most of the GURPS books describe it as a "crack" of the projectile breaking the sound barrier when it goes supersonic. GURPS usually offers a subsonic, silent option on most G-weapons.


>

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Just got a bit of time and this caught me....

<<For those who care, move is now down to I have a place and am now looking for full on net connect...might be a minute...anyway...back to the topic at hand..>>

I always thought that they would hiss, kinda like real bullets do when they pass and then the crack of the broken barrier hits, but since most Gauss weapon ammo is of the needle variety that it wouldn't break the sound barrier as quickly or as loudly as it slides through the air to its unlucky taget. :devil:

Well that's my air chair weapons systems engineering opinion.

 

[Renaissance Man]

This was discussed at length before.

The fact that the projectile moves at hypersonic speeds, there will be sonic booms. However, it would be quieter than chemically propelled rounds. Not silent though.

 

[Icosahedron]

<<For those who care, move is now down to I have a place and am now looking for full on net connect...might be a minute...anyway...back to the topic at hand..>>

I always thought that they would hiss, kinda like real bullets do when they pass and then the crack of the broken barrier hits, but since most Gauss weapon ammo is of the needle variety that it wouldn't break the sound barrier as quickly or as loudly as it slides through the air to its unlucky taget. :devil:

Well that's my air chair weapons systems engineering opinion.

Glad to hear you're almost back with us, Magnus. PM me for a chat about how to bring you back into the Crisis Game (if it can be resurrected).

Needle shapes are an advantage, but they still make a noise. Renaissance Man beat me to a reminder of the previous thread(s).

I found reference to a 'silent shape' called Busemann's Biplane, with ammunition applications, but I haven't read the details yet. Google it.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Is good to be missed.

Glad to hear you're almost back with us, Magnus. PM me for a chat about how to bring you back into the Crisis Game (if it can be resurrected).

Needle shapes are an advantage, but they still make a noise. Renaissance Man beat me to a reminder of the previous thread(s).

I found reference to a 'silent shape' called Busemann's Biplane, with ammunition applications, but I haven't read the details yet. Google it.

Once I get back up to speed, I will be letting everyone know.

And I will check this concept as I like to keep up with weird weapon stuff, well all sorta weird stuff, but I do dig weapon systems, which is why I am so happy to have a Jane's, which shows my gearhead leaning.

 

[Icosahedron]

Busemann's Biplane seems to be a reference to tubular projectiles, which apparently have a greatly reduced drag at supersonic speeds, but increased drag at subsonic speeds. They have good gyroscopic stabilisation. The walls of the tube have a very sharp 'cutting' edge, at least at the nose end, then become thicker in the middle, reducing the bore diameter, before thinning out again at the tail.

If you cut the thing in half longitudinally and look at the cross section you see two wide triangular sections, one inverted above the other - a shape reminiscent of a biplane. Various improved profiles exist, but you'll never get zero sound.

The shape would probably lend itself to a needle format, and to a gauss rifle, which doesn't need propellant to push against anything. Light weight aids supersonic stealth, too, so tubular gauss needles seem to tick all the boxes. Better than disks, anyhow.

It makes one helluva hollowpoint...

 

[DaveChase]

Guass gun firing sounds like

Hillary Clinton screaming from an orgasm from Bill Clinton
(silence)

Then the pop of the round hitting was Chelsa coming out.

OK, its sick but but funny.

Dave Chase

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Ummm, yeah - that was beyond what I want to see here.

 

[DonM]

Sadly, from the title of the thread, it's what I expected to see...

 

[DaveChase]

OK, Sorry, it was a bad joke at that.

Just to much Demo convention crap on the radio and I just read the post after hearing some of it.

Well at least you know now why I am not a stand up comdian.

Dave

 

[JohnMarsh]

It travels faster than the speed of sound. The guy it hits ain't gonna hear it! :rofl:

 

[Icosahedron]

It's his mates, flanking you, that you need to beware of.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Don Martin School of Sound Effects Grad Speaking:

"sssssplortch!"

 

[MacTrom]

Not a reliable source, but its the first thing I found:
Gauss Rifle Wiki


But I guess if you wanted to make use of a silencer attachment, you could say that the act of rapidly flowing current thru a coil, or charging a electromagnet, creates a futuristic *BeZoom* noise, and the attachment muffles that noise. But I guess its mainly a IYTU thing.

But in both warhammer and battletech (Mechwarrior), they both make noise for some reason.

Probably the same reason that the Starship Enterprise *whooses* by in the vacuum of space. (ie: lousy science.)

 

[samuelvss]

Crack of the supersonic round may be less, but it will be there. This comes from the flight of the round, however, and not from the muzzle. You (as with conventional small arms) would never hear the one that gets you, of course, but the ones going over your head "make a very distinctive noise."

The faster the round, though, the more separated the crack and the passing of the round will be. Of course, on the other end, it would be perfectly possible to build a Gauss Rifle that could be dialed back to subsonic, with a corresponding loss in performance. At the range that sonic signatures could tace that closely back to the firer, however, that performance would not be so critical.

The final verdict: quieter than an AK, and louder than a laser (or an MP5S3 firing 147 gr subsonic...)

A thought: what damned good is suppressive fire that can neither be seen or heard?:smirk:

 

[Kaveman Koder]

If the sound comes from breaking the sound barrier, how would the different atmospheres effect this? Would it be muffled in Dense or Louder?