Can Firearms be Fired in Space

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the pressure difference between vacuum and Standard Pressure at Sea Level on Earth are minimal, as it is only 14psi, vs 55,000-65,000 psi in a rifle.

Now thermal stresses...that could be a problem.
 
YZ, there is no reason why a primer wouldn't detonate in a vacuum. primer detonation is atmosphere independent, and is not even a combustion event.
 
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Willie, the distance travelled under constant acceleration is proportional to time^2, therefore if 16 ft after 1 second then 64 ft after 2 sec and 144 ft after 3, etc,...
 
The only way a gun could not be fired in space would be if it used the Daisy VL ignition system for caseless ammo: the Daisy VL .22 used a diesel effect with compressed air (containing oxygen) drawn from the surrounding atmosphere, compressed and injected under pressure into solid propellant at the base of the bullet.


I prefer the questions about the TP-82

Life during wartime: I have heard of the russians issuing their cosmonauts a gun the tp82

Life during wartime: plus, what were the russians thinking!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TP-82

The story I heard was that after cosmonauts returned from space in their capsule slightly off course, and spent the night trapped in the capsule by Siberian wolves until rescue could find them, they demanded there be a survival gun on board each capsule. TP-82 "pistol" was a double barreled 32 gauge shotgun with a lower 5.45x39mm barrel (three barrel drilling); the issue machete in its holster could be clipped to the butt as a shoulder stock. They also issued 32 gauge flare shells. TP-82 was issued 1986 to 2006.
 
A fun fact for Firefly fans. In episode 6, entitled "Our Mrs. Reynolds," Jayne shoots his favorite gun, Vera, in space by placing the gun inside a pressure suit.
 

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beatledog7 said:
It would curve downward and hit the surface. Gravity exists there, too.
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If the moon has 1/3 the gravity of the Earth, can we conclude that it would only require 1/3 the amount of thrust for an object to leave the moon's gravitational field? In other words, if a rifle was fired at exactly 90 degrees from the surface of the moon, is it remotely possible the bullet would go far enough to reach a point at which the moon's gravity no longer effected the bullet?
 
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OWEN

You forgot the deep freeze. Still goes off you think?
This has become a county fair. One show after another. The original question, will the gun fire, is still unanswered.
 
So, if you are doing a space walk and for whatever reason the tether to the ship got severed and you start to float away, your trusty little Keltec P9 that you sneaked onbaord could be used to propel you back to the mother ship?
 
Bobson said:
If a rifle was fired at exactly 90 degrees from the surface of the moon, is it remotely possible the bullet would go far enough to reach a point at which the moon's gravity no longer effected the bullet?
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I just did a calculation of the escape velocity from the surface of the moon. The bullet would have to leave the muzzle at 7800 feet per second. I don't even think a .50 BMG case necked down to a .22 LR bullet will get you there.
 
"Greetings from AFRL (Air Force Research Lab, up on the hill overlooking Edwards). We've been trying to teach this stuff to pilots for a long time, sometimes they understand it, sometimes they don't!"


Ahh, Rocket Ridge! .. I just drove past it on Mercury coming home an hour ago from chow at Domingos in Boron. Stop by TPS in the next week or so and look for the grey MiG. I'll be the one strapping in and sweating. Trade you tours. Good physics lesson too, well done!



"The original question, will the gun fire, is still unanswered"

This is purely a temperature related question. The answer is "Yes". Propellants and primers contain their own oxidizers, so the lack of surrounding atmosphere is not an issue. Impact fired primers would work fine as would the propellant.



"Mr Sutton: nice explanation but in the first instance you provided the formula for Kinetic Energy, not force."

Exhaustion and dehydration after 12 hours on the flightline and three sorties yesterday took it's toll.
I should have gone to sleep... ;-)




Willie

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Here is a fun little bit of Moon firearms trivia. You take your 16" naval gun, (like on the New Jersey), and I will fire my AR15 at the same angle, side by side.

Guess which projectile goes the farthest on the Moon?

Remember, those 16" guns would fire over 20 miles on Earth. No AR15 on Earth can fire that far.

But, on the Moon, thanks to the lack of an atmosphere, yes, that dinky .223 bullet will shoot farther. This is because its velocity is higher. SBR AR15s need not apply.
 
The Russians did experiment with arming a space station and supposedly test fired it:
"...In addition to reconnaissance equipment, Almaz was equipped with a unique 23mm Rikhter (factory index 261P or 225P) rapid-fire cannon mounted on the forward belly of the station. This revolver cannon was modified from the tail-gun of the Tu-22 bomber and was capable of a theoretical rate of fire of 1800-2000 (up to 2600) rounds per minute. Each 168*gram (ammo 23-OFZ-D-R ) or 173*gram (ammo 23-OFZ-G-R) projectile flew at a speed of 850*m/s relative to the station. The cannon had supply of 32 rounds and was tested at the end of the mission, when the station was operating in unmanned mode. To aim the cannon, which was on a fixed mounting, the entire station would be turned to face the threat.
Salyut 3/OPS-2 conducted a successful remote test firing with the station unmanned due to concerns over excessive vibration and noise.
OPS-4 was to have featured two rockets instead of the aircraft cannon, but this system has not been shown publicly and may have never been fully manufactured despite it being used experimentally...."
-Wikipedia.
 
This is purely a temperature related question. The answer is "Yes". Propellants and primers contain their own oxidizers, so the lack of surrounding atmosphere is not an issue. Impact fired primers would work fine as would the propellant.



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So you are sure the deeply frozen primer will ignite, no?
 
Sam. For energy transfer by radiation no atmosphere is needed.

Let's forget Wikipedia and stay on topic. Will the primer ignite at the drop of the firing pin at -250F, Sam?
 
"Will the primer ignite at the drop of the firing pin at -250F"


The one empirical data point we have is that the Russians did so with a slightly modified version of a standard aircraft cannon that used percussion primers. We know without any doubt that thousands of explosive bolts have been fired under those conditions, using electric primers. So we have a relatively good confidence level, but no formal proof. Spoke to a scuba diving buddy of mine yesterday who just happens to be a chemist for Federal, developing and testing primer materials. The chemical compositions in primers have no particular low temperature range where they would not behave normally. The metals of the primer cups and anvils are not outside of their working temperature range. So in his *professional* estimation primers would behave normally.

Ther'e nothing like a test in an environmental chamber though. Why don't you invest $100K into a test program and let us know how it works out to validate the above?


Willie

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