Re: [SG2][DS2] Gauss Weapons vs. CPR

Robert W. Hofrichter wrote:

>I suspect the reason no one makes 10:1 ratio small arms rounds has >to
do with structural failure of the round as it is being violently
>accelerated out of the barrel.  Remember, the round is being PUSHED
>out, and all that force is concentrated at the pushing end of the
>projectile,

The sabot of a long rod projectile (or flechette, for small arms)
supports the rod all along its length, so the structural integrity of
the rod isn't a serious problem during the in-bore phase of the shot.
The real problems arise when the rod hits something hard, like a metal
helmet :-/

Flechettes tend to go pretty much straight through a human without
tumbling. Because of this a flechette wound is usually less damaging 
than a wound from a normal bullet. However, I don't know how a
hyperfelocity flechette would behave - the ones I know anything to
speak of about are fired from artillery shells and beehive rounds, not
from gauss rifles or railguns <g>

I haven't been able to find the flechette-firing Steyr ACR in our old
JIWs, but their Anti-Matériel Rifle firing 15.2mm APFSDS rounds is
still listed. It doesn't seem to have a smashing success though, and
was explicitly designed for use against vehicles and similar
lightly-armoured point targets - not against infantry.

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry