Re: Gauss weapon recoil

> From: Mark Urbin [email removed]
> Subject: Quick question on Gauss weapon recoil.

>   Just a quick question that someone better versed in physics than I can
> answer.  Why do guass rifles/pistols have a recoil value at all?
> As I understand it, a rifle that uses gunpowder has recoil because of the
> expanding gasses pushing back against the breach of the weapon (with the
> equal but opposite force shoving the bullet down the barrel).
>
>   A guass rifle works by pulling the bullet down the barrel with an
> electromagnetic field.  Thus, no pressure agains the breech.  I'm I missing
> something really basic here?

  Yes, momentum. If you take something that is standing still and throw it
forward you will go backwards regardless of *how* you throw it. But don't
worry, the New York Times made the same error once in an editorial about
Goddard:)

  The recoil of a gauss weapon of a specific damage will however often be
*less* than for a conventional weapon of the same damage, because first of all
you don't throw bullet+gasses but just the bullet. This should reduce it by
25 percent or so.
  Secondly, speaking 3G3, gauss weapons have more slender projectiles that
penetrate better for a given energy, so to get a specific penetration and
a specific damage, you can make do with a lighter projectile, also reducing
recoil.
  I suspect that adding both effects will aproximately halve recoil compared
to a conventional weapon of equal damage.

> Mark Urbin  Racal-Interlan   Boxborough, MA  These opinions are mine.

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