Historical Inquiry

[Yoda]

I have a major headache just trying to stay with this thread...

[X-ffdo]

How we got into this......Beats me!

[WKC]

Originally Posted by X-ffdo

How we got into this......Beats me!

Who started this thread? It's all his fault.

Talk about a tangent! (Don't start a discussion on the Trigonometry!)

[Justaguy]

Originally Posted by libertarian

Colts have left twist, S&W have right twist. The direction doesn't seem to matter.

Leave it to a libertarian to favor neither the right or the left....

[Justaguy]

Originally Posted by X-ffdo

Don't know...ground frictional force tends to slow down Coriolis force, it is also increased by buildings and ground obstructions, ground frictional force drags against Coreolis force.
In a strong crosswind landing, this may be noticeable, as you will have a last minute wind correction adjustment as you get close to the ground. Specially when you have large hangars and you are landing on the leeward side of them with a strong wind flow, like the Santa Ana winds. A bit of turbulence due to disrupted flow would be usual then. At the last minute, when you are very close to the ground, when you least want it.

Also quite noticable on the 14 freeway when passing roadcuts.
Stay out of the righthand lane during high wind conditions or you will be making unplanned lane changes...

[Dan M.]

Originally Posted by Justaguy

Also quite noticable on the 14 freeway when passing roadcuts.
Stay out of the righthand lane during high wind conditions or you will be making unplanned lane changes...

What if I'm going the other way?

[Justaguy]

Originally Posted by Dan M.

What if I'm going the other way?

Wait till the wind shifts....

[NikNak]

Originally Posted by OIS

This is regarding the right vs. left turn of the barrel. I mean is there any reason or advantage between the two? Anyone know when the first barrel was turned? Perhaps aboard a ship of the line?

Is there a formula: number of turns, weight of projectile, FPS from barrel that will yield degree of projectile drop?

Here's a thought ... Harry Pope ... old-time rifle barrel manufacturer for single shot target rifles actually rifled the barrels in both twists .. depending on if you were right or left handed. It related to recoil, barrel time, balance etc ... these were in single shot breech loaded rifles with cast bullets that were incredibly accurate.... Scheutzen style

His thought was that when the recoil hit you in the shoulder(standing), he wanted the rifling to spin the bullet towards your body ..... he also was a proponent of "gain twist" rifling.

No one could ever argue as he was THE barrel maker of his time and the results proved him out. It could just be that he was a great barrel/gun maker.

[Ken_In_Colo]

OK, so up here in the Northern Hemisphere, which person is more suited to play quarterback, a lefty or a righty?

[Dan M.]

Originally Posted by Ken_In_Colo

OK, so up here in the Northern Hemisphere, which person is more suited to play quarterback, a lefty or a righty?

That's a trick question -- they don't have quarterbacks in the Southern Hemisphere.

This isn't off topic. Footballs spin AND they have threads. This is a thread; footballs have threads. See how that works?

[Tom98915]

Originally Posted by Dan M.

That's a trick question -- they don't have quarterbacks in the Southern Hemisphere.

This isn't off topic. Footballs spin AND they have threads. This is a thread; footballs have threads. See how that works?

I thought footballs had a big white lace.

[X-ffdo]

"Gain twist".......Better ask Chubby Checker?

[Ken_In_Colo]

Originally Posted by Dan M.

That's a trick question -- they don't have quarterbacks in the Southern Hemisphere.

This isn't off topic. Footballs spin AND they have threads. This is a thread; footballs have threads. See how that works?

Definately not off topic. Footballs spin, except the passes thrown by Joe Kapp!

[Quietpi]

Hee hee! Love it!

I think it would be fair to say that physics is the study of everything!

Re: rifling not being widely used until the time of the civil war -- not exactly, but close. The American's "squirrel rifles," "Kentucky rifles," "Pennsylvania rifles," etc. were in wide use among the colonists before the American revolution. Rifles were not popular for military purposes because they were much harder to manufacture, and much slower to reload. Also, the European form of warfare at that time gave significant advantage to massed fires rather than accurate fires. Therefore, accuracy wasn't such a big deal, even at long range. And European - style warfare died a fitting death (No pun intended) (Well, yeah) among the wooded hills of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

Muzzle-loading rifles came into use during the Civil War, largely after the invention of the "minie ball," which greatly speeded up reloading time. Also the minie ball with a zinc washer, that periodically scraped the barrel "clean" on its way out.

All that changed with the advent of breech loaders and metallic cartridges. Those things became viable during the Civil War. Also, manufacturing methods had advanced to the point where rifles could more easily be produced in significant quantities. Even then, especially early in the use of rifles, often a unit's commander bought rifles for his troops out of his own pocket.

Want to look at something else, very closely related? Study the evolution of the bayonet. And then try to figure out why on earth anybody in their right mind would put a bayonet on a handgun. I recall in bayonet class in Basic Training, our drill sergeant saying, "any fool who is out of ammunition, and charges me with a bayonet, is welcome, because if I'm still sticking around, I won't be out of ammunition." But I digress…