Lasers and Recoil

The previously included messages are gettting pretty deep, but here goes:

In message 1492, Brent L. Woods [email removed] writes:
>In message 1489([email removed] (Adrian Hurt) writes:
>>
>>Brent L. Woods [email removed] writes:
>>
>>>      I don't think they do.  The effect of the two types of weapons
>>> (laser pistols versus laser carbines/rifles) are a lot closer
>>> together than the slug-thrower equivalents.  With lasers, the only
>>> real difference is the power.  With slug-throwers, pistols are much
>>> less acurate (due to the shorter barrel length and inferior sights)
>>> and have a much shorter range (same reasons, basically).
>>
>>The pistol is still handled totally differently from the longarm, due
>>to the different shape and weight.
>
>     I don't think I agree with that, in the case of lasers.

Nope, Adrian's right.  More in a minute.

>                                                              One of the
>more important considerations in using a slug-thrower is the recoil.

No argument on this point.

>Recoil compensation for pistols and longarms is very different, due to
>the different ways they are handled (unless, of course, your pistol has
>a stock, folding or otherwise).  Lasers don't have that problem.

No argument here either, except that recoil NEVER affects the first shot.
It only affects subsequent shots if they are fired in rapid succession
(i.e. before the recoil from previous shots has been totally damped).

>                                                                  Sure,
>you hold a pistol differently than you do a longarm (unless you're John
>Wayne :-) ), but, other than that, there's no real difference.  Once
>you've been trained to use a laser (any type), I think you should be
>able to use any other type without a problem.

This is where I disagree.  Sure, for slug-throwers, recoil is a significant
problem.  But the two factors which make aiming a pistol radically different
from aiming a longarm are a) lack of a brace (i.e. stock), and b) noticably
shorter distance between front and rear sights.  Even if there is NO recoil
whatsoever, these two factors will require you to adopt totally different
firing techniques for pistol vs. rifle.  You could treat a .22 cal. rifle
and pistol as being comparable to firing a laser weapon, since they have
virtually zero recoil.  People who've fired .22 semi-auto pistols may dis-
agree with this statement, but 95% of the recoil that you feel with a small
caliber pistol is the bolt being thrown, and not the recoil of the slug
itself.  I maintain that unless an advanced sighting mechanism (which includes
some sort of automatic stabilization) is used, firing a laser pistol will
be as different from firing a laser rifle, as a slug-throwing handgun would
be from a rifle of the same caliber.

Personally, my feeling is that by the time laser weapons come into wide use
as individual defense weapons, they will include advanced aiming devices
(i.e. gyro-stablized scopes with electronically enhanced imaging capablities).
Once this happens, then there WILL be no different between aiming a pistol
vs. a rifle.  IMPORTANT NOTE: if you assume that this IS, in fact, the way
lasers are rigged, then Brent is right and Adrian is wrong.

Bear in mind that the first man-portable laser weapon (the laser carbine)
appears at TL-8 (according to the Players Manual), which is what we are
supposedly at right now (circa 1990), right?  I don't have my stuff here
at work, so I'm a little fuzzy on that point.  Anyway, given the current
technology available in the way of IR and Starlight scopes, plus the advent
of the steady-cam harness so widely used in the movie industry, I have to
believe that in one more Tech. Level, these advancements will be small enough
to completely incorporate into a standard, sidearm-sized weapon.  At this
point, aiming all personal laser weapons becomes the same.  The only differ-
entiator at that point would be weight and unless the pistol/rifle weight
ratio exceeds 3:1 or 4:1, it shouldn't be a factor worth considering.

Most of these observations are based on a lifetime of hunting (since age 12),
plus a stint in the U.S. Marines.  I've had the opportunity to use most major
types of civilian-available firearms, plus my fair share of auto-fire weapons
and other nasty explosive sundries whilst in the service.

Later,

        Mark F. Cook (Ye Old Weapon-smith)

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