DREAD Weapon System: 120,000 rpm, silent, no recoil.

[smegs]

Why are they firing balls? Why aren't they firing slivers?

I would hazard a guess that balls are the only thing that could be fired from it. Delivery and pickup and all that.

 

[Gollnick]

Why aren't they firing slivers?

Because Tim Herman can't make Slivers fast enough to keep up.

Besides, it would be very expensive.

 

[Ken C.]

Gonna send this over to Gadgets & Gear.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Ken, Ken, Ken. The man mentioned TIM HERMAN! Why not just send it over to Whine & Cheese right now?

Because Tim Herman can't make Slivers fast enough to keep up.

Besides, it would be very expensive.

This is cutting-edge technology. Cost is no object. Too bad the Sliver never made it into production ...

 

[mschwoeb]

They probably use balls because of ease of loading, just hook up a hopper and away you go.

 

[johnniet]

When you fire a regular firearm, does most of the noise come from the gas reaction in the chamber, or does it come from the sonic boom of the bullet?

 

[thatmguy]

Since Ohio just passed their CCW law, I'll wait til the pocket model comes out....

 

[fruitbat]

Since Ohio just passed their CCW law, I'll wait til the pocket model comes out....

I'd like to get one just to keep the cats off my truck.

 

[Diamond Cut II]

How would you know if you're out?

 

[Xian]

I vote for the Magnetic Rail gun . Silent and fast.

Except they aren't silent. Tear themselves up upon firing. And take loads of power to operate (replacement "barrels" compounds the problem and negates any space/weight advantage too). Nifty single shot science projects though.

 

[Quiet Storm]

When you fire a regular firearm, does most of the noise come from the gas reaction in the chamber, or does it come from the sonic boom of the bullet?

Most of it comes from the gas leaving the muzzle right after the bullet leaves the barrel. The sonic boom can be eliminated by using sub-sonic ammo (that's what government agencies with silenced guns use, but this kind of ammunition is readily available on the civilian market as well), but the regular sonic boom of a bullet is not extremely loud anyway.

A small fraction of the overall "bang" when firing a revolver stems from the gas that leaves the small gap between the cylinder and frame that enables the cylinder to rotate. That's why silencing revolvers doesn't work all that well.