Topic: Firearms
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π Shot tower
A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of small diameter shot balls by freefall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is primarily used for projectiles in shotguns, and also for ballast, radiation shielding and other applications where small lead balls are useful.
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- "Shot tower" | 2013-09-12 | 269 Upvotes 79 Comments
π TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol
The TP-82 (Russian: Π’Π-82) was a triple-barrelled Soviet pistol that was carried by cosmonauts on space missions.
It was intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness. The TP-82 was the result of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov's concerns after being stranded in the Siberian wilderness when his Voskhod capsule malfunctioned. He feared that the 9mm pistol that was provided in the survival kit would be ineffective against the Siberian wildlife, namely bears and wolves.
The upper two shotgun barrels used 12.5Γ70Β mm ammunition (40 gauge), and the lower rifled barrel used 5.45Γ39mm ammunition developed for the AK-74 assault rifle. The TP-82 has a large lever on the left side of the receiver that opens the action and a small grip-safety under the trigger-guard that resembles a secondary trigger.
The pistol could be used for hunting, to defend against predators and for visible and audible distress signals. The detachable buttstock was also a machete that came with a canvas sheath. TP-82s were carried regularly on Soviet and Russian space missions from 1986 to 2007. They were part of the Soyuz Portable Emergency-Survival Kit (ΠΠΎΡΠΈΠΌΡΠΉ Π°Π²Π°ΡΠΈΠΉΠ½ΡΠΉ Π·Π°ΠΏΠ°Ρ, Nosimyi Avariynyi Zapas, NAZ). In 2007, the media reported that the remaining ammunition for the TP-82 had become unusable and that a regular semi-automatic pistol would be used on future missions.
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- "TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol" | 2019-09-05 | 174 Upvotes 74 Comments
π Davy Crockett (nuclear device)
The M-28 or M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System was the tactical nuclear recoilless gun (smoothbore) for firing the M-388 nuclear projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. It was one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, with a yield between 10 and 20 tons TNT equivalent (40β80 gigajoules). It is named after American folk hero, soldier, and congressman Davy Crockett.
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- "Davy Crockett (nuclear device)" | 2018-09-15 | 58 Upvotes 59 Comments
π Relativistic kill vehicle
A projectile is any object thrown into space (empty or not) by the exertion of a force. Although any object in motion through space (for example a thrown baseball) may be called a projectile, the term more commonly refers to a ranged weapon. Mathematical equations of motion are used to analyze projectile trajectory. An object projected at an angle to the horizontal has both the vertical and horizontal components of velocity. The vertical component of the velocity on the y-axis given as Vy=USin(teta) while the horizontal component of the velocity Vx=UCos(teta). There are various terms used in projectiles at specific angle teta 1. Time to reach maximum height. It is symbolized as (t), which is the time taken for the projectile to reach the maximum height from the plane of projection. Mathematically, it is given as t=USin(teta)/g Where g=acceleration due to gravity(app 9.81m/sΒ²) U= initial velocity (m/s) teta= angle made by the projectile with the horizontal axis.
2. Time of flight (T): this is the total time taken for the projectile to fall back to the same plane from which it was projected. Mathematically it is given as T=2USin(teta)/g
3. Maximum Height (H): this is the maximum height attained by the projectile OR the maximum displacement on the vertical axis(y-axis) covered by the projectile. It is given as H= UΒ²SinΒ²(teta)/2g
4. Range(R): The Range of a projectile is the horizontal distance covered (on the x-axis) by the projectile. Mathematically, R= UΒ²Sin2(teta)/g. The Range is maximum when angle teta= 45Β° I.e Sin2(teta)=1.
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- "Relativistic kill vehicle" | 2015-04-13 | 38 Upvotes 52 Comments
π Synchronization gear
A synchronization gear, or a gun synchronizer, sometimes rather less accurately called an interrupter, is attached to the armament of a single-engine tractor-configuration aircraft so it can fire through the arc of its spinning propeller without bullets striking the blades. The idea presupposes a fixed armament directed by aiming the aircraft in which it is fitted at the target, rather than aiming the gun independently.
There are many practical problems, mostly arising from the inherently imprecise nature of an automatic gun's firing, the great (and varying) velocity of the blades of a spinning propeller, and the very high speed at which any gear synchronizing the two has to operate.
Design and experimentation with gun synchronization had been underway in France and Germany in 1913β1914, following the ideas of August Euler, who seems to have been the first to suggest mounting a fixed armament firing in the direction of flight (in 1910). However, the first practicalβif far from reliableβgear to enter operational service was that fitted to the Eindecker monoplane fighters, which entered squadron service with the German Air Service in mid-1915. The success of the Eindecker led to numerous gun synchronization devices, culminating in the reasonably reliable hydraulic British Constantinesco gear of 1917. By the end of the war German engineers were well on the way to perfecting a gear using an electrical rather than a mechanical or hydraulic link between the engine and the gun, with the gun being triggered by a solenoid rather than by a mechanical "trigger motor".
From 1918 to the mid-1930s the standard armament for a fighter aircraft remained two synchronized rifle-calibre machine guns, firing forward through the arc of the propeller. During the late 1930s, however, the main role of the fighter was increasingly seen as the destruction of large, all-metal bombers, for which the "traditional" light armament was inadequate.
Since it was impractical to try to fit more than one or two extra guns in the limited space available in the front of a single-engine aircraft's fuselage, this led to an increasing proportion of the armament being mounted in the wings, firing outside the arc of the propeller. There were in fact some advantages in dispensing with centrally mounted guns altogether. Nevertheless, the conclusive redundancy of synchronization gears did not finally come until the introduction of jet propulsion and the absence of a propeller for guns to be synchronized with.
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- "Synchronization gear" | 2020-01-19 | 54 Upvotes 15 Comments
π Welrod
The Welrod is a British bolt-action, magazine-fed pistol with an integrated silencer which was devised for covert operations during the Second World War by Major Hugh Reeves at the Inter-Services Research Bureau (later Station IX).
Station IX, being based in Welwyn, gave the Welrod its unusual name, being derived from "Wel" from "Welwyn" (a prefix used by covert equipment designed by Station IX) and "rod", gangland slang for gun, as a way to obscure its purpose.
Designed for use by irregular forces and resistance groups, the Welrod is an extremely quiet gun thanks to its integrated silencer. Approximately 2,800 were made in wartime and perhaps 14,000 in total when post-war examples are included.
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- "Welrod" | 2024-12-08 | 12 Upvotes 4 Comments
π Heckler and Koch P 11, underwater firearm from 1976
The Heckler & Koch P11 is an underwater firearm developed in 1976 by Heckler & Koch. It has five barrels and each fires a 7.62Γ36mm dart electrically. Loading is by means of a five-round case. The design resembles that of a pepper-box firearm.