First commercial Gauss Rifle available.

[catsmate]

By the time one is positing space marines, who is to say they're not built in orbit? And it's possible that the ammunition mass would be less than, say even caseless rounds, although I guess recoilless rifles* might be easier with chemical propellants.

*not artillery but actual infantry rifles

If rocket firing small arms, like the 70s AAI 12 gauge rocket machine -shotgun.

 

[jimbob]

If rocket firing small arms, like the 70s AAI 12 gauge rocket machine -shotgun.

Do you have any more information about that?

 

[theprestige]

It seems like it generates quite an electromagnetic pulse when fired. Firing it in your house might do more expensive damage in broken tech than in anything it hit.

Where are you getting that?

Like the captain said, it's in the video. The range safety procedure has the unusual step of asking everyone present if they have a pacemaker and making sure the guy who does keeps a good distance from the gun while it's used.

You don't think maybe that's hype? Or (more charitably) an overabundance of caution?

Your original impression seems to be something more like a Hollywood EMP weapon. Just zapping all the electronics in a ten foot radius or whatever. But that doesn't sound like a serious concern for them. Otherwise, why just the guy with the pacemaker? Why wasn't everyone making sure their cell phones and smart watches were at a safe distance? Why didn't the cameraman record his video from a safe distance, to protect the camera? Did the camera even record any kind of electronic interference during the demonstration? (If it were a Hollywood EMP, we'd expect to see a burst of static or other disruption in the footage, every time they pulled the trigger.)

From what little I know about the susceptibility of pacemakers to outside interference, I'm inclined to think this is probably an overabundance of caution on their part. It doesn't sound like there's any serious concern about "do more expensive damage in broken tech than in anything it hit". I wouldn't be surprised if they don't even know how much and what kind of interference it actually produces when fired.

 

[theprestige]

Do you have any more information about that?

https://guns.fandom.com/wiki/AAI_CAWS

Prototype automatic shotgun. The manufacturer anticipated a range of proprietary 12-gauge ammunition, including explosive and flechette rounds. No rocket rounds, though.

Apparently in the early 80s there was some curiosity about combining the hitting power of a shotgun with the rapid fire of a submachine gun. Several examples were developed by various manufacturers participating in various development programs. History has decided that at the moment there's no real need for such weapons, though. Instead, the trend has been towards lighter and more ergonomic submachine guns, firing rounds optimized for piercing body armor, like the P90 and MP7.

 

[Andy_Ross]

https://guns.fandom.com/wiki/AAI_CAWS

Prototype automatic shotgun. The manufacturer anticipated a range of proprietary 12-gauge ammunition, including explosive and flechette rounds. No rocket rounds, though.

Apparently in the early 80s there was some curiosity about combining the hitting power of a shotgun with the rapid fire of a submachine gun. Several examples were developed by various manufacturers participating in various development programs. History has decided that at the moment there's no real need for such weapons, though. Instead, the trend has been towards lighter and more ergonomic submachine guns, firing rounds optimized for piercing body armor, like the P90 and MP7.

Forgotten Weapons did a whole series of videos on the various SPIW trials.

 

[catsmate]

Do you have any more information about that?

Here you go.
It's not their CAWS entry, which was a more-more-less conventional shotgun, though it recycled the Scimitar ammunition concept.

ETA: remember rocket ammunition was very trendy in the seventies, Gyrojet is the best known example. Just look at the sci-fi and spyfi of the period, they're littered with rocket firing small arms, Harrison's "recoilless .75" , Tubb's sprom guns at cetera. Interestingly, Harrison invented the term "Gauss rifle" back in 1970.

 

[jimbob]

Here you go.
It's not their CAWS entry, which was a more-more-less conventional shotgun, though it recycled the Scimitar ammunition concept.

ETA: remember rocket ammunition was very trendy in the seventies, Gyrojet is the best known example. Just look at the sci-fi and spyfi of the period, they're littered with rocket firing small arms, Harrison's "recoilless .75" , Tubb's sprom guns at cetera. Interestingly, Harrison invented the term "Gauss rifle" back in 1970.

Thanks

I loved the Stainless Steel Rat as a teenager after stumbling across The Stainless Steel Rat for President just about the time of the Philippines People's Power revolution and Marcos' blatant poll fixing so was thinking about his recoilless .75 in this thread.

I think I recall seeing him mention Gauss rifles in some of his books, but didn't realise he coined the name.

 

[catsmate]

Thanks

I loved the Stainless Steel Rat as a teenager after stumbling across The Stainless Steel Rat for President just about the time of the Philippines People's Power revolution and Marcos' blatant poll fixing so was thinking about his recoilless .75 in this thread.

I think I recall seeing him mention Gauss rifles in some of his books, but didn't realise he coined the name.

No problem. If you're interested I have some scandocs about the AAI 12 gauge rocket programme (and the associated rocket-propelled, saboted, DU penetrator round for the 40mm grenade launchers) somewhere.

Like many authors Harrison reused bits of his own work; the recoilless rocket guns appear in a number of his stories.
The gauss rifle appeared in Revenge, where it was known only to the SC by rumour.

 

[Armitage72]

I think that is the line they are perusing. There was mention in the interview of using the same method as an electric motor uses to spin the rotor. That would make the ammunition a lot more complex and expensive though. At the moment any steel bar of the right diameter can be used.

That reminds me of one of the Battletech novels. A character was piloting a Battlemech armed with a gauss rifle, but he was out of ammunition. He shoved a steel I-beam into the barrel and fired it at his opponent. It wrecked the weapon in the process, but he destroyed the enemy unit.