Hyunchback
Member
Ummmm...
Billll wrote...
Hate to tinkle in your space suit but...
I've always had the impression that what launced the bullet was the burning of the gun powder. No atmosphere to speak of, certainly not one with enough oxygen to breathe, on the moon. You pull the trigger on a 1911 and I'm figuring you'll either feel the click through your space suit glove/hand and nothing more.
The fulminate of mercury in the primer would have no oxygen to bind with. The gun powder would have no oxygen to bind with. No oxygen no fire. No fire no explosion. No explosion no bullet lanched.
Add to that the temperature we are dealing with. If they are in full sunlight the gun would already be baked to several hundred degrees on any scale you name. If not in full sunlight the gun would be so cold the barrel would shatter before the bullet could be expelled (assuming you provided the oxygen to burn the powder).
Add in that the bullet's velocity is the velocity measured in... AIR. In a vacuum the velocity would be MUCH higher with no resistance other than that of gravity to impact the projectile. Remember the first lunar landing and the golf ball? Lower gravity and no atmosphere and that clumsy hit soared better than anything Tiger Woods can pray for.
Don't feel bad. A LOT of rather interesting stories bear little relation to actual physics although some elements flat out offend my sensibilities.
For example: In L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth". The heros find some well preserved Thompson submachine guns (and the author makes a point of saying this) WITHOUT a compensator on the muzzle.
Well, those brave earthmen figure out that if they turn the gun sideways that nasty muzzle jump will help them strafe side to side instead of giving them muzzle climb!
SAY WHAT?
I'm not the brightest bulb in the flash cube but even I could see how silly that was, even if I was stupid enough to buy the book at the grocery store.
Since then I've always recalled that portion of the book anytime Scientology is mentioned. If the jerk couldn't understand bullet physics and firearms I'll be dam*ed (literally?) if I let him try to sell me a religion.
Billll wrote...
My favorite was an ordinary 1911 that figured in a gunfight on the moon. The good guy, whose gun it was, stood on a ridge, some 100 yds away from the baddie, and let him empty the magazine at him. Figuring, correctly, that someone who had never fired a pistol before would be a terrible shot, he then engaged the villan in arguement for a few minutes.
Orbital velocity on the moon is 1100 FPS. Muzzle velo for the 1911 is also 1100 FPS. Aiming at the horizon will get you 1 orbit from the bullets. Yup. Shot himself in the back.
Hate to tinkle in your space suit but...
I've always had the impression that what launced the bullet was the burning of the gun powder. No atmosphere to speak of, certainly not one with enough oxygen to breathe, on the moon. You pull the trigger on a 1911 and I'm figuring you'll either feel the click through your space suit glove/hand and nothing more.
The fulminate of mercury in the primer would have no oxygen to bind with. The gun powder would have no oxygen to bind with. No oxygen no fire. No fire no explosion. No explosion no bullet lanched.
Add to that the temperature we are dealing with. If they are in full sunlight the gun would already be baked to several hundred degrees on any scale you name. If not in full sunlight the gun would be so cold the barrel would shatter before the bullet could be expelled (assuming you provided the oxygen to burn the powder).
Add in that the bullet's velocity is the velocity measured in... AIR. In a vacuum the velocity would be MUCH higher with no resistance other than that of gravity to impact the projectile. Remember the first lunar landing and the golf ball? Lower gravity and no atmosphere and that clumsy hit soared better than anything Tiger Woods can pray for.
Don't feel bad. A LOT of rather interesting stories bear little relation to actual physics although some elements flat out offend my sensibilities.
For example: In L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth". The heros find some well preserved Thompson submachine guns (and the author makes a point of saying this) WITHOUT a compensator on the muzzle.
Well, those brave earthmen figure out that if they turn the gun sideways that nasty muzzle jump will help them strafe side to side instead of giving them muzzle climb!
SAY WHAT?
I'm not the brightest bulb in the flash cube but even I could see how silly that was, even if I was stupid enough to buy the book at the grocery store.
Since then I've always recalled that portion of the book anytime Scientology is mentioned. If the jerk couldn't understand bullet physics and firearms I'll be dam*ed (literally?) if I let him try to sell me a religion.