Is it possible to shoot into outer space ?

[LRNut]

It has been a while since I saw "gun writers" say this, but a common explanation for hitting low or high was due to the fact that "Gravity only pulls on a bullet over the horizontal part of flight." Boddington and many others wrote this some years ago. When I was writing about ballistic stuff, I always pointed out if that were true, a bullet fired straight up would end up in space since there is no horizontal component of travel, and thus, no gravitational impact. Absurd.

This thinking led to the "Rifleman's Rule" for angled shots, which modern ballistics software such as AB has shown not to be true. How anyone could think the Rifleman's Rule was a perfect mathematical solution is kind of puzzling; a bullet fired at an angle still has to travel through more air than its equivalent horizontal distance. Yes, you hit lower whether up or dowhill, but if hold for the true horizontal distance at long ranges, you will hit low.

Speaking of space, I have a friend who is an astronaut. I watched him launch from on the space shuttle Endeavor - it was a night launch (STS-126). I had binos and watched as he sailed out over the Atlantic. I remember thinking it was bizarre that when the shuttle was just a lit up dot in the night sky that it appeared to be sinking lower - then it dawned on me that the earth really is round and he was far enough away to make it look like the shuttle was "falling."

 

[del2les]

This discussion, while fun, reminded me of a couple of discussions I heard decades ago in the then local gun stores. One was a firearm would not work in space because there was no oxygen, and the other, would a semi-auto pistol or rifle work in space without gravity to control or give resistance to the firearm.

Those were some interesting, and sometimes heated, talks to overhear and laugh at.

 

[choprzrul]

It depends upon your altitude when the shot is fired.

If the F15 that got to 103,000 feet in 1975 had nosed up and fired its 20mm cannon towards space, I suspect it might have been successful given aircraft speed, reduced atmospheric drag, and reduced gravity at that altitude.

 

[Pureblood]

It was my friend Dave who shot the rifle straight up, and it was a magnum caliber rifle. He was abducted and roughly probed by aliens not long after, I think he ****ed them off.

 

[Darryle]

It was my friend Dave who shot the rifle straight up, and it was a magnum caliber rifle. He was abducted and roughly probed by aliens not long after, I think he ****ed them off.

I think they probed the wrong individual, but if it had been you, they would have found regardless of which end probed, the conclusion would have been the same

 

[Rick Richard]

Dave. Yeah, I remember him. That friend of Cheech and Chong.

"Dave's not here"

 

[MtPockets]

Dave. Yeah, I remember him. That friend of Cheech and Chong.

"Dave's not here"

Oh, man, where is that movie quote thread!?
There are too many Cheech and Chong ones to remember!

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Oh, man, where is that movie quote thread!?
There are too many Cheech and Chong ones to remember!

You keep on knock'n but you can't come in

 

[Reelamin]

It was my friend Dave who shot the rifle straight up, and it was a magnum caliber rifle. He was abducted and roughly probed by aliens not long after, I think he ****ed them off.

Are you sure they didn't probe your ear hole with Ron Jeremy? It appears maybe they snuck one on ya.

 

[crazymonkey]

I can't believe I really read this!!! It truly defies basic common sense. The alien abduction and probing hopefully explains where this came from.

 

[AGGRO]

It was my friend Dave who shot the rifle straight up, and it was a magnum caliber rifle. He was abducted and roughly probed by aliens not long after, I think he ****ed them off.

Just got my SDGE bill. Add me..............

 

[Hugnot]

From Wikipedia:

Earth[edit]

For example, at the Earth's surface, the surface gravity is about 9.8 m/s2 (9.8 N/kg, 32 ft/s2), and the escape speed for a small object is about 11.186 km/s (40,270 km/h; 25,020 mph; 36,700 ft/s).[5] This is approximately 33 times the speed of sound (Mach 33) and several times the muzzle velocity of a rifle bullet (up to 1.7 km/s). At 9,000 km altitude, escape speed is slightly less than 7.1 km/s. These velocities are relative to a non-rotating frame of reference; launching near the equator rather than the poles can actually provide a boost.

In this context, when taking Earth as the primary body, escape velocity is sometimes called "second cosmic velocity"[6]

Energy required[edit]

For an object of mass �

the energy required to escape the Earth's gravitational field is GMm / r, a function of the object's mass (where r is radius of the Earth, nominally 6,371 kilometres (3,959 mi), G is the gravitational constant, and M is the mass of the Earth, M = 5.9736 × 1024 kg). A related quantity is the specific orbital energy which is essentially the sum of the kinetic and potential energy divided by the mass. An object has reached escape velocity when the specific orbital energy is greater than or equal to zero.

What is needed are 3 stage 6.5 CM loads having 45.36 gram bullets each containing 3 progressive charges of solid propellent firing thru 3, each disposable nozzles. Twist rate is irrelevant as pop out fins assure adequate ballistic stability. Barrel life is of no concern because less than 20 grains of a medium burn rate powder would be required to initiate ejection of the solid fueled projectile from the 2.5 meter long barrel.

Project managers may expect generous grants to compete work on this complex but potentially high profit (every shooter just has to have one) project.

Panama would be a good place for production testing and caveats would be provided for use in Alaska.

 

[crazymonkey]

From Wikipedia:

Earth[edit]

For example, at the Earth's surface, the surface gravity is about 9.8 m/s2 (9.8 N/kg, 32 ft/s2), and the escape speed for a small object is about 11.186 km/s (40,270 km/h; 25,020 mph; 36,700 ft/s).[5] This is approximately 33 times the speed of sound (Mach 33) and several times the muzzle velocity of a rifle bullet (up to 1.7 km/s). At 9,000 km altitude, escape speed is slightly less than 7.1 km/s. These velocities are relative to a non-rotating frame of reference; launching near the equator rather than the poles can actually provide a boost.

In this context, when taking Earth as the primary body, escape velocity is sometimes called "second cosmic velocity"[6]

Energy required[edit]

For an object of mass �

the energy required to escape the Earth's gravitational field is GMm / r, a function of the object's mass (where r is radius of the Earth, nominally 6,371 kilometres (3,959 mi), G is the gravitational constant, and M is the mass of the Earth, M = 5.9736 × 1024 kg). A related quantity is the specific orbital energy which is essentially the sum of the kinetic and potential energy divided by the mass. An object has reached escape velocity when the specific orbital energy is greater than or equal to zero.

What is needed are 3 stage .22-.250 loads having 164 grain bullets each containing 3 progressive charges of solid propellent firing thru 3, each disposable nozzles. Twist rate is irrelevant as pop out fins assure adequate ballistic stability. Barrel life is of no concern because 8-10 grains of Hodgdon Tite Group or similar powder is required to initiate ejection of the solid fueled projectile from the 2.5 meter long barrel.

Project managers may expect generous grants to compete work on this complex but potentially high profit (every shooter just has to have one) project.

Panama would be a good place for production testing and caveats would be provided for use in Alaska.

Now that's fact and funny all rolled into one.

 

[sp6x6]

Man I don't even get where you all going with this.The moon is fake, we never walked there, it was just a movie set!