The science of small arms ballistics is seriously underdeveloped and underappreciated. This unique and different book is a comprehensive study that fills a legitimate need for a work that covers the engineering and theory of small arms ballistics. The author shares his extensive research on working out the science of small arm ballistics mathematically and explains his theories, such as the field-effect and the field-effect over trajectory and time, along with new theories on interior, exterior, and terminal ballistics. Each equation describes a mathematical relationship, such as transfer of energy, and has an engineering application to help solve a design problem. Some equations, such as the calculation of bullet length with a given muzzle velocity and rate of twist, represent manipulations of those equations. Some other equations represent a set of mathematical instructions to resolve a technical problem, such as the computation of trajectory or depth of penetration of living tissue in real-time.
The science of small arms ballistics is seriously underdeveloped and underappreciated. This unique and different book is a comprehensive study that fills a legitimate need for a work that covers the engineering and theory of small arms ballistics. The author shares his extensive research on working out the science of small arm ballistics mathematically and explains his theories, such as the field-effect and the field-effect over trajectory and time, along with new theories on interior, exterior, and terminal ballistics. Each equation describes a mathematical relationship, such as transfer of energy, and has an engineering application to help solve a design problem. Some equations, such as the calculation of bullet length with a given muzzle velocity and rate of twist, represent manipulations of those equations. Some other equations represent a set of mathematical instructions to resolve a technical problem, such as the computation of trajectory or depth of penetration of living tissue in real-time.
This book initiates with the story of the evolution of firearms to enable the reader to appreciate the sequence of the development of firearms. It discusses different classes of small arms, their mechanics, internal and external ballistics. Further, it covers the design idea of barrels and actions, various operating principles and relevant discussion on ammunition and propellants. The principle of quality in the design of the small arms is also elaborated in the desired degree. The book brings out the relevance of modern manufacturing technologies like MIM and various surface treatments, and polymers for enhancement of product quality. To appreciate the sophistication of the architecture, the book presents the anatomical details of a few small arms of reputes. Provides complete understanding of overall small weapon systems Explores mechanics and physics of small arms Discusses proper design, quality control, and manufacturing process selections for a good weapon Covers common type of weapon failures and catastrophic failure Includes relevance of manufacturing processes The book is aimed at professionals and graduate students in Mechanical Design, Armament Design, Gun Design including personnel in the military, paramilitary, police, and all other armed forces and their maintenance crews.
This engaging and accessible book explains the scientific principles behind guns, both ancient and modern. It connects their evolution to advances in science, as well as tracing the developments of projectiles and propellants. It is not limited to small arms but also looks at the science of enormous guns such the Paris Gun, for example, and reviews the efforts to build a gun to launch projectiles into space. Extremely fast guns are also covered, such as two-stage guns and rail guns. Further, the book provides insight into the science of terminal ballistics and wound ballistics as well as the challenging subject of gun control. It is full of interesting facts for all who are curious about the science and history of guns, as well as those for whom the gun is an accessory of their profession.
This book represents the second edition of the Science of Small Arms Ballistics as a more complete and comprehensive text for members of the Academia and as well as for the recreational shooting communities throughout the world. As was true with the first edition, its purpose is not to intimidate anyone, but to communicate the theories, patterns and relationships between the physical variables and their real-world engineering applications in a way most anyone will understand if he wants to understand. Hopefully, at the same time, it will also provide a history of early man from his beginning, perhaps more than 200,000 years ago, to our present level of development of Physics and the Science of Small Arms Ballistics. It should allow for a more comprehensive grasp of Human development. It was not easy as we will see! It took a long time to get this far and was difficult and dangerous! A lot of people were destroyed or wasted through a lack of resources or opportunity. A cursory examination of the titles in the Table of Contents, for anyone familiar with this Science, will readily single out this second edition, as well as the first, as very different to anything else on the market, either now or in the past.
With new chapters, homework problems, case studies, figures, and examples, Ballistics: Theory and Design of Guns and Ammunition, Third Edition encourages superior design and innovative applications in the field of ballistics. It examines the analytical and computational tools for predicting a weapon’s behavior in terms of pressure, stress, and velocity, demonstrating their applications in ammunition and weapons design. New coverage in the Third Edition includes gas-powered guns, and naval ordinance. With its thorough coverage of interior, exterior and terminal ballistics, this new edition continues to be the standard resource for those studying the technology of guns and ammunition.
Modern Exterior Ballistics is a comprehensive text covering the basic free flight dynamics of symmetric projectiles. The book provides a historical perspective of early developments in the 19th century, the technology leading to World War I and that through World War II into the modern post-war era. Historical topics include the first ballistic firing tables, early wind tunnel experiments, the development of free flight spark ranges and the first supercomputer, ENIAC, which was designed to compute artillery trajectories for the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory. The level of the text requires an undergraduate education in mathematics, physics, and mechanical or aerospace engineering. The basic principles of ballistic science are developed from a comprehensive definition of the aerodynamic forces that control the flight dynamics of symmetric projectiles. The author carefully starts with the basic vacuum point mass trajectory, adds the effects of drag, discusses the action of winds, simple flat fire approximations, Coriolis effects and concludes with the classic modified point mass trajectories. Included in the discussion are analytical methods, change of variables from time to distance, numerical solutions and a chapter on the Siacci Method. The Siacci Method provides a historical perspective for computing flat fire trajectories by simple quadrature and is used in the sporting arms industy. The final six chapters of the book present an extensive physical and mathematical analysis of the motion of symmetric projectiles. The linearized equations of angular and swerving motion are derived in detail. The effects of mass asymmetry, in-bore yaw, cross wind and launch in a slipstream are discussed. Special consideration is given to the derivation and explanation of aerodynamic jump. These subjects are then expanded to include a complete chapter on nonlinear aerodynamic forces and moments. The final chapter in the book presents an overview of experimental methods for measuring the flight dynamics of projectiles. The great forte of Modern Exterior Ballistics is the author's effort to provide many fine specific examples of projectile motion illustrating key flight behaviors. The extensive collection of data on projectiles from small arms to artillery used to substantiate calculations and examples is alone a valuable reference. The ultimate joy of the book is the incomparable comprehensive set of flow field shadow graphs illustrating the entire spectrum of projectile flight from subsonic, through transonic and supersonic. The volume is a necessary addition to any undergraduate or graduate course in flight dynamics.
Type “Mikhail Kalashnikov” into Google and the biography of the inventor will come back to you almost at the speed of light. Squeeze the trigger of a Kalashnikov and a bullet is kicked up the barrel by an archaic chemical explosion that would have been quite familiar to Oliver Cromwell or General Custer. The gun—antique, yet contemporary—still dominates the world. Geopolitical events and even consumer culture have been molded by the often-unseen research that firearms evoked. The new science of Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton owed much to the Renaissance study of ballistics. But research into making guns and aiming them also brought on the more recent invention of mass production and kickstarted the contemporary field of artificial intelligence. This book follows the history of the gun and its often-unsuspected wider linkages, looking from the first cannons to modern gunnery, and to the yet-to-be-realized electrical futures of rays and beams.
