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Old 03-08-2018, 12:49 PM   #1
hal
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
Default ULTRATECH guass weapon system design rules?

Hello Folks,
Does anyone have a design system they've been using for use with describing the ultratech guass weapons?

Using Doug's spreadsheet formulas - I get a 442.9 grain (28.7 grams) bullet moving at 2650 feet per second, will produce 12d6+0 damage with a 10:1 aspect length (Dart) bullet. The presumption is that the dart is made of a tungsten/Titanium core mixed with lead etc for a rough density comparable to depleted uranium. That works out to a bullet that weights roughly .06 lbs per shot for those who wonder.

As such, using the Ultratech rules for bullet damage, high tech bullets improve the damage from 12d6 to 12d6(2) or 12d6(3) with Armor-Piercing Enhanced Penetrator designation.

If that's the case, what is the energy required as input assuming 25% efficiency (per other threads on Gauss guns and batteries etc)?

Yes, the stats I'm going for mimic the stats in the book, but I wanted to see just what would go into a design system for getting gauss weapons made where one could create the bullet stats first, determine the velocity you wanted the bullet to travel at the muzzle - and then determine how many shots each battery type would enable the user to fire. I'd like to be able to design some alternative diameters other than 7mm for the sniper rifle or the 4mm weapons given in the book. For instance, a 5.56 bullet made not as a dart, but as a simple bullet might be interesting to see what happens. Yes, I'd suspect that the weapon's accuracy might suffer - but then again, it would be interesting the explore the options - something a design system would be NICE if existed.

If necessary, I'll go to GUNS GUNS GUNS design rules - but then use the spreadsheet developed by Doug to determine actual damage values etc.

Question for you out there who know answers...

Is there anything to keep from having a sabot that actively interacts with a barrel as it exits by propulsion via electromagnetic means? In other words, assume you have a sabot whose only purpose is to be comprised of material that allows the magnetic fields to function/grip the bullet. Suppose that plastic were soft enough that it could be forced through the barrel much like a lead bullet is propelled through a conventional fire arm. Could not rifling in a gauss gun barrel, acting upon the sabot material itself - spin the bullet as it exits, and then fall away once it passed the end of the barrel?

Just curious.

If such a concept is viable - it would prove to be interesting in its secondary effects. For instance, anyone who wants to police up their firing vantage point, would need to pick up the sabot halves after the shot is fired. Crime scene investigators might be able to develop forensics that measure the residual magnetic field imprint on the plastic halves - on the presumption that no two gauss rifles/guns leave the same pattern. That's probably NOT a real science issue (after all, if one can "dial a shot" and use variable level power - would that affect magnetic field strengths and such?) But it is sort of interesting to figure out the ramifications of the new technology approaches. Might not the same forensic techniques that work on bullets - also work on the sabot sleeves after they leave the barrel?

Also - if the Chinese Navy gets a working prototype Rail gun for their navy within say, the next five years - does that make their weapon a TL 9 weapon in late TL 8 society, or does it mean that Rail Gun Technology should be deemed a TL 8 innovation, and Gauss guns that are man portable should be considered TL 9?
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