- #1
thetexan
- 269
- 13
My understanding is this...
a. The force acting to recoil the mass of the rifle and the mass of the shooter combined is equal (give or take small other masses such as gas) to the force acting to push the bullet down the barrel.
b. This means that all of that force you feel in your shoulder is the same as that acting on the tip end of that bullet as it enters the target (minus loss of energy during flight).
c. Since the the expanding gas is what is driving the bullet down the barrel you would think, at first, that the longer the barrel the more opportunity the gas has to accelerate the bullet. However, there comes a point where, when considering the friction between the bullet and the barrel, the gas no longer can accelerate the bullet and at that point the friction becomes a slowing factor. Therefore the point where this occurs determines the ideal length of the barrel...any shorter and the gas escapes before it finishes it acceleration...any longer and the friction of the barrel begins to decelerate the bullet absent the push from the gas.
Am I thinking correctly?
thanks,
tex
a. The force acting to recoil the mass of the rifle and the mass of the shooter combined is equal (give or take small other masses such as gas) to the force acting to push the bullet down the barrel.
b. This means that all of that force you feel in your shoulder is the same as that acting on the tip end of that bullet as it enters the target (minus loss of energy during flight).
c. Since the the expanding gas is what is driving the bullet down the barrel you would think, at first, that the longer the barrel the more opportunity the gas has to accelerate the bullet. However, there comes a point where, when considering the friction between the bullet and the barrel, the gas no longer can accelerate the bullet and at that point the friction becomes a slowing factor. Therefore the point where this occurs determines the ideal length of the barrel...any shorter and the gas escapes before it finishes it acceleration...any longer and the friction of the barrel begins to decelerate the bullet absent the push from the gas.
Am I thinking correctly?
thanks,
tex