Laser guns? Or not.
POSTED BY: Cosmoline
UPDATED: Thursday, August 25, 2005 04:32
VIEWED: 8100
PAGE 3 of 4
personally, id chalk it up to the prop master not doing his homework. if u just cant ignore it (as it is one of those little details that just bugs one to death, aint it?) id go with either it was ornamental, as has been sugessted, or perhaps it was a modified rifle. perchased as a bolt action, but tinkered, fussed, and in other ways generally ruttin messed around with untill it fires automatically. maybe he kept the bolt on cuz it made him feel cool...
"There are two infinate things in our world. The universe, and Human stupidity. I'm not too sure about the first one." Albert Einstien
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Quote:
Originally posted by TenthCrewMember:
The only thing I *REALLY* want an answer to is how does a bolt-action rifle fire automatically.
See the opening scene of Our Mrs. Reynolds. The guy on the horse who peppers the "boat" has a bolt-action rifle in his hand, yet it fires like an M-16.
WTF?
I just looked at the scene again. That is NOT a bolt action rifle. The bolt you see on the side is just a cocking lever.
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My take on that line was that she was referring to the fact that she had a working gun as opposed to a working laser gun.
Since we're on the general discussion of Firearms in the 'verse...
I had a thought / explanation, on the 'weird' noise that accompanies the cocking of the actions of the various firearms. The guns are electrically fired rather than an old fashioned hammer striking a cap at the end of the bullet. Working the action would energize the small capaciter used to fire off the electrical pulse that would ignite the proppellant.
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Dogbert: Try not to think of yourself as an organic pain collector hurtling towards oblivion
Dilbert: Too late...
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Quote:
TECHIECL
If Inara had a laser weapon, I would think she would have loaned it to the crew for their rescue of Mal during War Stories.
Enara wasn't there when they left to rescue Mal. As Zoe and Wash are arming themselves "Grenades, dear?", Kaylee comes in and says, "I just got a 'wave from Enara. No luck with the counselor . . ."
Zoe and Jane wouldn't have willingly gone into battle with a gun they'd never used or practiced with before anyway. They want a gun that feels like one more finger on your hand, if you understand the metaphor. (Where did that come from, anyway?)
kinda like I hate working on someone else's computer--nothing's where I'm used to it being and it slows me waaay down.
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein
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She might not have been their when they were assembling their gear, but she was well aware of what was going to go down. Remember, she only left to see if she could get help from that Senator.
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Dogbert: Try not to think of yourself as an organic pain collector hurtling towards oblivion
Dilbert: Too late...
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There's a deleted scene in that episode. Right after Zoe returns with Wash and Mal's ear Inara goes to her client in an attempt to get her to intervene on Mal's behalf. It's just an awful, awkward experience for her and her former client and nothing gets accomplished (except some guilt on the part of her client, which leads to the loan of the medical equipment for re-attaching the ear).
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I can see you.
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Quote:
I had a thought / explanation, on the 'weird' noise that accompanies the cocking of the actions of the various firearms. The guns are electrically fired rather than an old fashioned hammer striking a cap at the end of the bullet. Working the action would energize the small capaciter used to fire off the electrical pulse that would ignite the proppellant.
There are electrical ignition firearms around now, though they're not very popular. They make *less* noise igniting than a regular firearm. Plus, if the idea is that the rim colonists can only build and afford primitive cartridge firearms, creating an electrical priming system would make them unduly complex.
An alternate theory might be that some of the leverguns (that make the "whrrr" noise) have been modified to automate the elevator, so the lever merely frees the next cartridge and the elevator lifts on its own, thereby speeding the return stroke up and reducing the chance of jams. Sort of a high-tech jerryrig. I stopped using leverguns myself because of some very annoying experiences with bad elevators arising from weak springs.
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My take on it is that beam weapons were flashy and cool, but expensive, didn't do near the damage, and problematic.
Rance's didn't do a lot of damage in HoG. It basically just set the wall on fire whereas a projectile would've went through the wall. To kill someone, he had to be at point blank range. Then his battery died. A convential weapon could've just been reloaded...hopefully during a lull in the fighting to where he would've had nearly a full magazine at that time.
I would imagine too that the Alliance would want to limit who could own such weapons as we've seen through our own history when oppressive governments fear law abiding citizens owning weapons that could one day be used to overthrow them.
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I like Jayne. I'm going to make a t-shirt.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SUNDERWOOD:
My take on it is that beam weapons were flashy and cool, but expensive, didn't do near the damage, and problematic.
Rance's didn't do a lot of damage in HoG. It basically just set the wall on fire whereas a projectile would've went through the wall.
Laser guns (like regular guns) are designed to kill people and people sized animals, not to slice everything it touches. Wood is denser than human flesh and therefor would require less battery power to kill someone and not cause collateral damage. Smaller power drain= smaller battery= lighter gun. The laser gun Rance had just didn't have enough wattage to cut through the wall, if he hooked it up it the hovercraft's battery, he could probably cut straight through a ship.
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The real-life box droppin', man-ape gone wrong thing, now without the pesky falling boxes
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Quote:
Originally posted by techiecl:
I had a thought / explanation, on the 'weird' noise that accompanies the cocking of the actions of the various firearms. The guns are electrically fired rather than an old fashioned hammer striking a cap at the end of the bullet. Working the action would energize the small capaciter used to fire off the electrical pulse that would ignite the proppellant.
Some prototype guns today use a soleniod to strike the tiny detonator inside the cartrige. It uses a button instead of a trigger, and it's faster to fire the bullet than a regular gun. But it has the same drawback as a Laser gun: battery life.
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The real-life box droppin', man-ape gone wrong thing, now without the pesky falling boxes
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