Will a bullet fire in outer space?

[techs]

Just saw a tv show where some soldiers took their machine guns on to a spaceship that was open to space and the soldiers were wearing space suits.
And I wondered what would happen if they fired their guns?
Assuming they didn't wait too long and the temperature of the guns got really low, would the bullet ignite?
I guess I am wondering if bullets have their own oxidizer in the gunpowder or would the bullets powder fail to ignite?

 

[apac]

no oxygen = no kaboom

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: apac
no oxygen = no kaboom

atmospheric oxygen isn't needed.

 

[zerocool84]

The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

In the post I pointed out they fire the gun before it has time to cool down very much.

 

[randay]

yes

 

[Praxis1452]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

You don't freeze in space that quickly. It still takes a while.

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: techs

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

In the post I pointed out they fire the gun before it has time to cool down very much.

You mean i 3-10 seconds after they leave the airlock?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: randay
yes

this

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: apac
no oxygen = no kaboom

atmospheric oxygen isn't needed.

So you are saying there is an oxidizer in the gun powder? (and there would also have to be some in the fulminate of mercury, or whatever they are using nowadays as the primer)

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: apac
no oxygen = no kaboom

gunpowder contains its own oxidizer.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

except there's nothing to transfer heat away from the gun, so it just radiates. radiating heat is a very slow process.

 

[sandorski]

Freezing shouldn't be an issue, since there's no water to jam things up. Things will get very Cold, which might cause problems with Expansion/Contraction when Firing, but things won't just stop working.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: techs

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: apac
no oxygen = no kaboom

atmospheric oxygen isn't needed.

So you are saying there is an oxidizer in the gun powder? (and there would also have to be some in the fulminate of mercury, or whatever they are using nowadays as the primer)

even black powder has it's own oxidizer. saltpeter.

i dont know what the oxidizer used in smokeless powder is, though.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

There's no medium to transfer this coldness other than radiation, so it won't freeze instantly. Cold in a vacuum is not like cold in a gaseous environment.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Freezing shouldn't be an issue, since there's no water to jam things up. Things will get very Cold, which might cause problems with Expansion/Contraction when Firing, but things won't just stop working.

yeah, and tolerances for guns generally arent *that* tight.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Fayd

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

except there's nothing to transfer heat away from the gun, so it just radiates. radiating heat is a very slow process.

I'm no expert but wouldn't the sliding mechanism not function with a change of temp that quickly assuming it's made out of metal of course???

 

[foghorn67]

You'd get a bad sun tan on one side.

 

[sandorski]

The big question is: Plane on a Treadmill in Space, does it take off?

 

[So]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

There's no medium to transfer this coldness other than radiation, so it won't freeze instantly. Cold in a vacuum is not like cold in a gaseous environment.

Actually, a much more realistic problem you would have is with COOLING. After a few shots the gun would start to heat up and not cool too quickly. Eventually, it would be too hot to hold. Not sure how quickly though.

 

[joesmoke]

i dunno, spike spiegel did it pretty easily...

 

[nageov3t]

clearly, it's time for mythbusters to arrange a trip to space.

 

[Modelworks]

Yes.
They will fire under water too.

The bigger issue for me would be the effect of recoil of something like a machine gun in space to an astronaut who isn't anchored to something.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: Fayd

Originally posted by: zerocool84
The gun would freeze before they even shot it. It's -455*F/-270*C out there.

except there's nothing to transfer heat away from the gun, so it just radiates. radiating heat is a very slow process.

I'm no expert but wouldn't the sliding mechanism not function with a change of temp that quickly assuming it's made out of metal of course???

sliding mechanisms still have some thousandths of an inch of play. it'd be impossible to have a gun with zero play.

some guns have looser tolerances than others.

for example, an ak-47 has ridiculously loose tolerances, in order to deal with the fouling and whatnot that is an inevitable part of battlefield warfare. looser tolerances, all else being equal, has a detrimental effect on accuracy, but a beneficial effect on reliability.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: foghorn67
You'd get a bad sun tan on one side.

oh, that too. if you're working in the sun's glare, then sun rays will hit the gun as well. this may outdo the heat radiating away.