Shooting guns in Space

[Leg Day]

I can't believe it. You can't shoot guns in space.

[Sistermatic™]

Since when? It has propellant.

[Leg Day]

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

Since when? It has propellant.

Do it then. Shoot a gun in space.

[vonbleak]

Yeah you can - In fact with little to no resistance a gun in space would be more lethal than on earth lol

[Sistermatic™]

Leg Day の投稿を引用：

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

Since when? It has propellant.

Do it then. Shoot a gun in space. :cozyskyrimvr:

It'd work. Bullets have their own oxidiser. Easily discovered.

Albeit, potentially not for long, depending on material used.

[Leg Day]

vonbleak の投稿を引用：

Yeah you can lol

How effectively do you believe you can shoot at targets in space?

[vonbleak]

Leg Day の投稿を引用：

vonbleak の投稿を引用：

Yeah you can lol

How effectively do you believe you can shoot at targets in space?

Very effectively - What makes you think you cant shoot a gun in space...?

[Sistermatic™]

Leg Day の投稿を引用：

vonbleak の投稿を引用：

Yeah you can lol

How effectively do you believe you can shoot at targets in space?

Without answers to a heap of questions first, this can't be answered.

If held, are you locked/strapped in, using counter thrust/rotation? And so on.

If in a turret/stand/vice, locked in position, without the human element, it would fire as per its direction, projectile potentially travelling for infinity.

[Bubblegum Flavour]

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

Leg Day の投稿を引用：

Do it then. Shoot a gun in space. :cozyskyrimvr:

It'd work. Bullets have their own oxidiser. Easily discovered.

Albeit, potentially not for long, depending on material used.

Does it have to be special gun or does it work for regular stuff ? I thought it requires oxygen?

[Sistermatic™]

Bubblegum Flavour の投稿を引用：

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

It'd work. Bullets have their own oxidiser. Easily discovered.

Albeit, potentially not for long, depending on material used.

Does it have to be special gun or does it work for regular stuff ? I thought it requires oxygen?

Where would a bullet get its oxygen from in a sealed cartridge? That's why they have their own oxidiser (which is usually potassium nitrate).

[oak]

I think too many people demonstrate that they still fantasise about muskets.
That's the only explanation I can think of.
What the OP meant to write, "You can't shoot a musket in space"?

[Bubblegum Flavour]

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

Bubblegum Flavour の投稿を引用：

Does it have to be special gun or does it work for regular stuff ? I thought it requires oxygen?

Where would a bullet get its oxygen from in a sealed cartridge? That's why they have their own oxidiser (which is usually potassium nitrate).

♥♥♥♥ I had no idea, I am not an american I dont know how guns work ;p So how far back does that go, would canons also have their own oxidiser ?

[Sistermatic™]

Bubblegum Flavour の投稿を引用：

Sistermatic™ の投稿を引用：

Where would a bullet get its oxygen from in a sealed cartridge? That's why they have their own oxidiser (which is usually potassium nitrate).

♥♥♥♥ I had no idea, I am not an american I dont know how guns work ;p So how far back does that go, would canons also have their own oxidiser ?

I'm not American either but I'm OK with the assumption.

And yes, modern arty' would be same. Sealed shell with igniter and oxidiser.

Older style cannons unlikely to work because they're loaded differently. Projectile, wad, powder.

[Mickk]

To answer the OP's question, basically, yes you could fire a gun in space.
In reality why would you though, it's not going to be anything like firing a rifle on earth.

Sistermatic is onto it and seems to have a good handle on the situation.
I go back to Newton's 3rd Law when thinking of this and try to consider just how I could hold, let's say a rifle and fire it. If I were to go outside my spacecraft so as to avoid shooting holes in it and stand on the ship, outside, raise the rifle, sight a target and fire what would happen to me? I have images of me spinning wildly as I careen away from my spacecraft.

I think it's a bad idea to fire a rifle in space.
Could you hit a target if you tried this though? I don't think so. Rifle barrels are not straight and I think you would end up shoot way too high above the target.
There are many difficulties with shooting a firearm in space and they will likely design something different if they decide for some odd reason to arm spacemen (go space force).

[oak]

FWIW I find firing heavy gauge ballistic weapons in zero-g ship environments in Starfield can push you backwards quite a lot (I haven't actually tested, and now I'm curious whether inventory mass plays a factor at all). It's not a perfect simulation, but it's real enough to be annoying?

[jonnin]

Mickk の投稿を引用：

To answer the OP's question, basically, yes you could fire a gun in space.
In reality why would you though, it's not going to be anything like firing a rifle on earth.

Sistermatic is onto it and seems to have a good handle on the situation.
I go back to Newton's 3rd Law when thinking of this and try to consider just how I could hold, let's say a rifle and fire it. If I were to go outside my spacecraft so as to avoid shooting holes in it and stand on the ship, outside, raise the rifle, sight a target and fire what would happen to me? I have images of me spinning wildly as I careen away from my spacecraft.

I think it's a bad idea to fire a rifle in space.
Could you hit a target if you tried this though? I don't think so. Rifle barrels are not straight and I think you would end up shoot way too high above the target.
There are many difficulties with shooting a firearm in space and they will likely design something different if they decide for some odd reason to arm spacemen (go space force).

what cannon are you shooting lol? Lets math!
Say something like a beowulf is about like a .308. Lets give it a 200 grain projectile and a 3000 fps velocity. Sorry, but most ballistics are in english units, and that is what I will be using, annoying as it is. Conservation of momentum says that mv1 = mv2 ... so you shoot the thing as a 200 pound person. the bullet takes off at 200/7000 (grains to pounds) * 3000 feet/sec = 85.7. 85.7 = 200 pounds * your velocity, then. You do be moving .4 feet per second, or some 5 inches per second.

Rifle barrels are straight. You are thinking rifle sighting, which on earth accounts for earth's gravity, so the rifle is sighted inches above the target point of impact to counter act gravity drop, and at extreme ranges (over about 500 yards) you also start to factor in rotation of the earth and other aggravations like wind and either manually correct or adjust the sights. But the barrel is straight, as much as technology imperfections allow. The problem is that the sights don't cowitness the barrel's true alignment. You can NEVER have sights in space that aim to point of impact, as there is no gravity, or worse, changing gravity if near planets or suns or whatever! All you can do is just line up the sights or optic at a reasonable combat distance (probably 100-200 yards) and wing it if the enemy is too close or farther out. We do that on earth too... if its sighted in at 200, and the enemy is at 300, you have to adjust the sights or manually fudge your point of aim a little bit (and that changes for each cartridge, even within the same round like a 100 grain vs 200 grain 308 would be different)

There would be weirdness, for sure. Yes, recoil is going to knock you around, and if your future space suit lacks jets to compensate for that, you will be spinning (SLOWLY PER SHOT ADDING UP IF YOU SHOOT AGAIN AND AGAIN) (applying a force to the near extreme end of your body, the shoulder, will spin you). And when that bullet hits armored space suits that we all wear because violent wild west society, its going to probably do minimal damage and push the target as much as it did you given ~ equal body masses more or less. It may not penetrate at all, only shove. The expanding gas cloud at the barrel may also make it hard to see like shooting a civil war era smokestick. I don't know what else, but there would certainly be these and other things going on that are not at all like shooting on earth.