Gold bullets

[Anders]

Gold is a bit harder than lead, and about twice as dense. Price aside, would it be good material for bullets, filling the same function as lead?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Anders

Gold is a bit harder than lead, and about twice as dense. Price aside, would it be good material for bullets, filling the same function as lead?

It's enough heavier than lead, copper, or steel that it might cause problems trying to use it in a gun designed to use lighter metals, but otherwise seems like it would work fine.

[Imbicatus]

You’d likely have shorter ranges due to the denser rounds, and it would be horribly expensive. It should work, but unless you are fighting something supernatural with a vulnerability to gold, I can’t imagine a scenario where you would choose to make them.

[Dr. Beckenstein]

Wouldn't have somebody used it if it would be worth the effort?


BTW, High Tech states (p. 168) that gold would do normal damage.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Dr. Beckenstein

Wouldn't have somebody used it if it would be worth the effort?

There's the occasional historical mention of someone experimenting with gold bullets as a vanity or out of desperation (I remember reading something about a chieftain in West Africa loading his guns with bits of gold once he had run out of lead shot to fire at the Dutch who were attacking him), but given the immense cost of gold ammunition, I doubt it's possible that they would have been so good as to be, as you say, worth the effort.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Dr. Beckenstein

Wouldn't have somebody used it if it would be worth the effort?

'Worth the effort' means 'enough better to cover the difference in cost'. Which for gold is almost certainly no. That doesn't mean it doesn't work for basic bullet purposes.

[Varyon]

I considered this for a possible setting in which gold was markedly more plentiful, but ultimately decided the military would probably be better off using longer bullets made of lead. Without some special property, gold bullets are simply heavy for their size. All else being equal, a gold bullet will be slower but effectively experience reduced air resistance, giving it a longer effective range and making it less susceptible to deflection by wind (and possibly solid barriers like windows, doors, etc).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Imbicatus

You’d likely have shorter ranges due to the denser rounds, and it would be horribly expensive. It should work, but unless you are fighting something supernatural with a vulnerability to gold, I can’t imagine a scenario where you would choose to make them.

Denser rounds will only shorten your range if they lower your muzzle velocity - and if they do that they may also impact your damage. And in some weapons, malfunction chance.

High density is a useful quality for projectile construction.

[AlexanderHowl]

Of course, if supernatural predators have Regeneration (Very Rapid; Bane, Gold, -5%) [95] and Unkillable 2 (Achilles Heel, Gold, -10%) [90], a civilization may find gold bullets very useful, as they otherwise cannot kill the supernatural predators off.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Of course, if supernatural predators have Regeneration (Very Rapid; Bane, Gold, -5%) [95] and Unkillable 2 (Achilles Heel, Gold, -10%) [90], a civilization may find gold bullets very useful, as they otherwise cannot kill the supernatural predators off.

They need gold something to kill them, but regular bullets with an assault rifle and a gold bayonet might be better.