Testing GYROJET Rocket Guns - Why were they a commercial failure

[chrislognshot]

[KMDPB]

I have seriously been considering making a modern gyrojet to sell to ellon and the spaceforce. interesting how all the engineering is in the projectile and not in the mechanics of the gun itself unlike traditional firearms.

[dukie]

I have seriously been considering making a modern gyrojet to sell to ellon and the spaceforce. interesting how all the engineering is in the projectile and not in the mechanics of the gun itself unlike traditional firearms.

OR you could just rebrand litterally any other gun on the market. they will fire in a vacuum. More exciting than gyro jets, bullets = boost!

[KMDPB]

OR you could just rebrand litterally any other gun on the market. they will fire in a vacuum. More exciting than gyro jets, bullets = boost!

Yeah but the recoil would launch you into the infinite abyss. And an accidental discharge in a space ship would be catastrophic from decompression. And most importantly a rocket gun is 10x more badass and futuristic.

[dukie]

dude, im flyin around like ironman! much more futuristic than fart rockets!

[KMDPB]

Can you hit my box with your fart rockets?

[russc]

Another cool thing about the gyrojet is I believe the ammunition is caseless. Honestly, they'd probably work great in space.

[KMDPB]

Caseless In a way, the case is part of the projectile so no need to eject it from the gun. The gyrojet gun is incredibly simple in function, all the complexity is In the rocket.

[bored383]

they had accuracy issues . . . and the gyrojet rocket rounds really are US Civil War tech level - go look at some of the rocket artillery shells from that era, you'll see it. so while the guns look all space age, the projectiles they were firing were very much not.

want a funky atomic punk weapon from that same era? go check out the Dardick

[flyweightnate]

Now I'm curious... by moving the COG forward, could accuracy be improved? With modern manufacturing methods, could the jets be more precisely symmetric? I still don't see these being competitors at 1000 yards, but a quiet, low recoil round with that sort of energy could be handy between, say, 20 and 100 yards (you know, typical carbine distances). I bet they would be good candidates for some cool additive or electrochemical manufacturing, given the size.

Also, at point blank range, are they not relevant at all, or just less lethal?

[KMDPB]

Now I'm curious... by moving the COG forward, could accuracy be improved? With modern manufacturing methods, could the jets be more precisely symmetric? I still don't see these being competitors at 1000 yards, but a quiet, low recoil round with that sort of energy could be handy between, say, 20 and 100 yards (you know, typical carbine distances). I bet they would be good candidates for some cool additive or electrochemical manufacturing, given the size.

Also, at point blank range, are they not relevant at all, or just less lethal?

They were actually quite accurate, it is a misconception that they weren't, this is because of people testing the rockets years after manufacture. Solid rocket fuel is hydroscopic, it pulls in moisture from the air over time and makes the fuel not burn as hot and burn erratically, making them inaccurate. the military did testing on them during Vietnam and found that they were very accurate, they were even used in Vietnam by some officers. The angled nozzles caused the projectile to spin stabilize just like a bullet fired from a traditional firearm. The biggest reason they were a commercial failure is the fact that the ammunition was too expensive and there was no efficient way of mass production, each rocket had to be precision machined.

[flyweightnate]

Ah, very cool.
I'm willing to bet the efficient manufacture issue would have improved since then, but nothing quite as cheap as drawn and stamped casings.

[Deus Machina]

Also, they had a minimum range.
As a rocket, it takes time for them to build up speed. Something like 20 yards or so, IIRC.
Inside that, they ranged from 'less penetration' down to 'moderate bruise'.

[boarder2k7]

Very interesting, I had no idea these existed!