Mega Rad Gun Thread

I would love a modern Steyr-Hahn, but 5.7 doesn't seem worth the meme in this case.
Though I do see why they went with it, even for a carry gun. No worries about loading magazines, 5.7 has little recoil, 20 rounds on tap, rotating barrels don't suck and no theoretical worries about accidentally hitting the mag release.

It seems like a good gun but doubling the value by loading one magazine with glorified .22 magnum is not the best selling point for me.
 
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Ok so weird question I got stuck in my head recently.

I was looking at old MGs and LMGs, like pre and mid WW1 stuff. A lot of them were water cooled and air cooling only really began to take off mid war. By the interwar period almost all watercooling was abandoned and aircooling was the rule of the day and it still is today.

Nowadays pretty much all LMGs and MGs have air cooling, and if you run them for long enough to actually weaken the barrel from overheating you are expected to quick swap the barrel right? Like how the MG42 / MG3 does it and the SAW and such and so.

My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
Ok so weird question I got stuck in my head recently.

I was looking at old MGs and LMGs, like pre and mid WW1 stuff. A lot of them were water cooled and air cooling only really began to take off mid war. By the interwar period almost all watercooling was abandoned and aircooling was the rule of the day and it still is today.

Nowadays pretty much all LMGs and MGs have air cooling, and if you run them for long enough to actually weaken the barrel from overheating you are expected to quick swap the barrel right? Like how the MG42 / MG3 does it and the SAW and such and so.

My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
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My knowledge of metallurgy is sufficient only to know that I know fuck-all, but I'd imagine it'd mostly work. It'd take some unholy redneck engineering to accomplish, though. Maybe there's something with barrel profile making it flex differently water cooled versus air cooled, but that's the only issue I can think of. The obvious answer is that it's more valuable to have the quick-change than to dissipate enough heat that you can absolutely obliterate one barrel's throat in one go.
 
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Here's another Genuinely Retarded Idea For A Gun If Money Was No Object from me.

I'd like to see an modernized LeMat. Say, 9-10 rounds of .44 Magnum revolving around a 12 gauge barrel with a swing-out cylinder. Sure it would require a tax stamp and only a roid-monkey like Kentucky Ballistics would be able to fire it one-handed, but it would make for one HELL of a fun range toy.

(Obviously, it would also require a great deal of engineering to build a heavy-duty crane on the gun to support such a massive cylinder and under barrel assembly.)
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
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I mean you could if you really wanted to do so but in the end there's no benefit. The light machine guns you want to theoretically convert to water cooled are designed for air cooling and barrel swaps for a reason and you'd only get more problems than you'd ever solve by do8ng so. The MG3 and SAW are meant to move with the infantry they're assigned to, water cooling them would just bog them down to being fixed emplacement. Water cooling is only really beneficial for fixed positions or mounted one where a logistics system can keep them regularly supplied with water for the most part. That's much harder when troops are out in the field away from supply lines with your proposal.
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
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In my highly intellectual mockup here, you can see that my hypothetical cooling line (heat exchangers are probably easier to retrofit than entire jackets) still weighs more than spare barrels do.

So that's the answer: Yes, you can do it, but it is suboptimal if you own more than 1 barrel (and most militaries do)
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
if you run them for long enough to actually weaken the barrel from overheating you are expected to quick swap the barrel right?
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you swap barrels every other belt or 200ish rounds. if the barrel is hot enough to glow, it's ruined and you may as well shoot it through. the one and only exception were stellite barrels for the M60 where you can could go 500+ rounds without a swap if needed which is well beyond doctrine typically.

General Emílio Médici said:
My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
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with modern grenade launchers and vehicles it's also pointless to do.

water cooling is obsolete tech for weapons these days because the water has to either have a condenser unit or it'll evaporate off. air jackets were used on the vickers and some others that use a heat pump effect and that was also unnecessary anymore since long strings of fire and walking fire aren't in anyone's doctrine. it's certain possible to add another dozen lbs of water and metal to an already heavy "light" machinegun, sacrificing mobility and possibly ammo capacity (carrying the condenser, extra water, ammo itself by the gunner since you've turned a 25lb gun into a 30+ lb gun for negligible benefit). the issue was never metallurgy, but practicality.

old doctrines used MG fire as a suppression to cross fields and long strings of fire were common for places like no man's land. modern warfare is "combined arms" warfare. it isn't like the old school base and maneuver or walking fire or bombardment warefare anymore and armor is easily available. the modern battlescape favors letting the enemy waste ammo while you're in cover or have them jump at shadows or at stuff that isn't really damaged much, use short strings at area targets, and then use decap strikes (point targets for rifles, airstrikes, indirect fire like grenades or mortars) to destroy the enemy - maneuver elements to close with the enemy are really a thing in pitched battles that get bogged down in fighting like Fallujah or Ramadi. places that are built up where enemies use as strongpoints. open ground = death since the 60's.

often flanking isn't necessary either with pressure from vehicles to push up on a target and soak fire for infantry, allowing better base of fire elements to engage with vehicle mounted weapons - weapons that are far more stable and have plenty of ammo while sticking to the doctrine of short, frequent bursts at an area target like a building with windows or a field. when suppressing an open area, the barrel on an MG, especially a heavy barrel (as this was a primary upgrade for many pintle mounted MGs), allow sustained bursts for hundreds of rounds, more than enough to move a vehicle to a superior position while a maneuver element engages the enemy.
 
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Agares said:
$400 MSRP for a 5.7 isn't that bad and it's probably legal in some ban states. Seethe all you want but I like it. Might get one if I get a fat tax refund.
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I'd be all over this & willing to pay a lot more than $400, if it was made by (almost) anyone other than Keltec. Sad.
(:_(
A Russian shows off his field-expedient integral AK trench periscope:
 
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POWER IN MISERY said:
i don't know what the fuck is going on any more and i don't want to get a tax stamp
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Again, the ATF retains the opinion that all braces are stocks. HOWEVER, the courts overturned that. The ATF is appealing this. The appeal process is dragging on, so the ATF cannot act upon braces, specifically. HOWEVER, if you attach a brace with the intent of using it as a stock, they are obligated to prosecute.

Again, nothing has changed. Grifters are collecting your attention and donations.
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
My question: could someone jury rig a watercooling jacket for a MG3/SAW and have it work like a old school watercooled gun? Like if I put a jacket and filled it with water would it just work and be heavier and less mobile with longer times between needing to stop firing / barrel warping? Or are modern guns of this type simply built different in a way that trying to push water cooling wouldn't result in improvements or cause malfunction (like idk heat stress cracks or some shit)?
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It's the 21st century, skip the water cooling and use thermoelectric cooling. Theoretically, one could manufacture a composite barrel that allows taking advantage of the Peltier effect when you pump some voltage into it. You'll need something like heat fins on the outside for the hot part, but the inside barrel can be the cold part.

If anyone actually makes it, name it after me.
 
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