| From: | Kevin Dole kdole@***.vsc.edu |
|---|---|
| Subject: | People from another world |
| Date: | Fri, 19 Mar 1999 14:27:18 EST5EDT |
> Can you burn anything in a total vacuum, without the presence of oxygen in any
> form?
If the oxygen comes from within the compound, and you supply
enough heat to initiate the combustion, yes, you can. Things can
burn in space if they contain enough oxygen. They run out of ox,
they just char, but if they have enough, they will combust.
Why do you think the Russians are so uptight about sparks in
amd around Mir- the thing uses a LOT of liquid ox.
> SO ... without some means of delivering oxygen to the propellant, a firearm
> could not function in a vacuum any better than it could underwater.
Uh...
Hate to burst your bubble, but guns that work under water do
exist. H&K made/makes a special pepperbox that could work
underwater, that used caseless ammunition. The Tula armoury in
the former USSR (I think in Russia, but it might now be in the
Ukraine) makes pistols and rifles/SMGs/somekind-of-odd-longarm
that works above or below water (either caseless or a super light
plastic case, which may be combustive). Glock sells a special
"Aqua-fire" action to certified buyers (SBS, SEALs, etc) that works
underwater (the modifications allow it work reliably underwater), and
I understand H&K is working on something similiar for the Mk23.
The SEALs had/have a very small number of M-16s that had been
modified to fire underwater (for test purposes), along with some MP-
5s, but I understand that they got a "thumbs down" because bullets
were to un-hydrodynamic and the water is too dense.
Translation: if you have the right gear, you can shoot a gun
underwater. But you need to make sure the barrel is completely
flooded before firing, and then completely drained after surfacing
and before firing.
> Remember, folks, it takes OXYGEN, which is _not_ already part of the
> chemical,
Most, if not all, nitrate compounds (explosives) contain a great
deal of oygen. For example, saltpeter is almost completely oxygen.
It just isn't bonded very well to the rest of the compound. C-4 is
something like 25% oxygen, which is not at all well held to the rest of
the various molecules. (I don't have my books with me, so I can't tell
you exactly.)
Ammunition MUST be gas tight, otherwise it won't work. Modern
ammunition can be submerged for months and still be fired, so long
as the primers don't crap out and it was properly crimped. (A
couple years ago, I fired some old German 9mm ammo that had
been found in the bottom of a lake in Italy. Relatively reliable
sources (like the Germans who dumped it in there) say it when
underwater in 1944. It wasn't hauled out until 1994. About 10% of it
was junk, but the rest of it worked just fine. And before anyone
asks, shotshells are kind of odd in that the projectile sometimes isn't
gas tight, but the area with powder is.) The only reasons I can see
firing in space being impossible is (a) the pressure in the loaded
case might be high enough to actually cause the cartridge to
decompress by popping out the bullet, and (b, and most significant)
is something called Newtonian Physics.
Kevin Dole /:|
kdole@***.vsc.edu
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/4151/welcome.html
"Once again, we have spat in the face of Death, and his second cousin,
Dismemberment."
