Coolest Guns

[raj]

Yeah, I thought about that gun, but it just seemed too ostentatious for me.
The Walther is much nicer.  Of course, I'd love to have a Luger (shown in many a movie)

As for phasers, to me they just seem too perfect, though in Enterprise the crew is a bit wary of the new fangled things.  Nice touch.

[J.R.]

Phasers are crap. They look like somewhat less threatening stun guns in TNG and DS9, and hot glue guns in the original seres.. And they're pretty inefficient. They fire a long, extended beam. What, the Federation couldn't come up with single-shot or automatic weapons?

[AndyC]

J.R. wrote:
> What, the Federation couldn't come up with
> single-shot or automatic weapons?

Funny that Star Trek showed virtually no projectile weapons in the future, at least not in the hands of any advanced cultures. I suppose it looks more "futuristic" to have the Federation use nothing but ray guns, but there are surely some applications for a weapon that shoots bullets or explosive shells.

There also seems to be some thinking that beam weapons are less violent, or at least less realistically violent, than projectile weapons. I think that's why all the rifles on GI Joe shot laser beams, even if the shooter had a couple of bandoliers full of bullets.

Great comment about the hot glue gun, and I agree that the TNG phasers are hardly threatening, with their ergonomic design, soft beam and wussy sound effect. Looks like it would tickle. I still think the phasers in Wrath of Khan were cool, even if the others weren't

[Chadzilla]

BlackAngel wrote:
>
> Hey, Andrew.  Would you belive I thew a granade but forgot to
> pull the pin?

Hey, Joey did that in Deep Rising.

"PULL THE PIN?  YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT PULLING THE PIN!  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME TO PULL THE PIN!?!"

[J.R.]

Laser beams are always used in kids' action shows, because apparently they're less violent than normal guns. Like in the Spider-Man cartoon from the 90's. Everything's the same but the cops and crooks have super laser guns. It's like it's set in the future but the only thing that has progressed is gun technology. But, as every little boy knows, guns and violence are cool.

[Evan3]

How about that, I guess you would call it a pulse gun, in Minority Report that Cruise uses to blast people backwards. That was sweet. Almost as cool as the sick sticks.

And The Preadator had that cool laser guided exploding razor gun, which was cool.

[Redcell]

The gun used in the movie " The Dogs Of War"

[AndyC]

When you think about it, a laser really wouldn't be an effective weapon, even if one could be built that was both compact and powerful. I mean, it's going to bounce right off reflective surfaces, and be less effective on light-coloured targets. Rain, snow, smoke and fog will all diminish its effectiveness. All that aside, when it does hit a target, it burns a clean hole right through. In the case of a human target, it would even cauterize the wound. No shock to blow the target apart, no loss of blood. Unless you hit just the right spot, it wouldn't be much good. Or you could put it on a steady beam and move it around, cutting pieces off your foe. Of course, the laser pistols in movies and on TV aren't used that way.

Phasers seem to be a different animal altogether, in that the energy spreads through the target to some degree. Anybody ever hear an explanation of how that was supposed to work?

[ahab]

Silencers do not  make that cool movie noise. One of my friends dads has a gun shop and a license for class 3 items. a silencer will reduce the noise of a gunshot but not entirely. the lower the caliber the less noise generally. small caliber guns will sound like a soft clap and larger caliber will sound like a loud clap. if i am wrong someone correct me as i said i only have a limited experience with suppressors.



Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.

[Andrew]

Fearless Freep wrote:
>
> Grenades are pretty simple.
>
> Well, mechanically yeah, but I have no idea what the effect
> would be.  How big a boom, how loud?  How long, really?

By the book, it will kill more than half the people within 5 meters and wound more than half within 15 meters.  Despite the attempts of some nervous young Marines, I have managed not to test that out.  I can say that the fragments will put up to 1 inch deep furrows in cinder block, toss old tires twenty or so feet, and completely destroy a snowman.  We, ah, built snowmen (yes, it was my idea) and then shot grenades at them from M203 launchers once.  Oh, the carnage...
 
> Shotguns, too.  I really don't know what they're effective
> range is, or what something looks like when shot by one
> (whether a human or drywall) or...really anything about what
> shooting one entails as far as the results.

Depends on the shot and the shotgun.  When shooting deer you are aiming near the shoulder.  Hit it with 00 buckshot from say 30 yards and it leaves a couple of holes in the deer.  You can stick a finger into each.

[raj]

Good points, I suspect that's why the Star Wars storm troopers used white armor.  So why did they get shot so easily?

As for damage, if you get a laser shot to the torso, there probably will be damage to/ failure of a major organ or two.  That'll cause death in a few unpleasant minutes.
At least that's a rationalization I can accept.
AndyC wrote:
>
> When you think about it, a laser really wouldn't be an
> effective weapon, even if one could be built that was both
> compact and powerful. I mean, it's going to bounce right off
> reflective surfaces, and be less effective on light-coloured
> targets. Rain, snow, smoke and fog will all diminish its
> effectiveness. All that aside, when it does hit a target, it
> burns a clean hole right through. In the case of a human
> target, it would even cauterize the wound. No shock to blow
> the target apart, no loss of blood. Unless you hit just the
> right spot, it wouldn't be much good. Or you could put it on
> a steady beam and move it around, cutting pieces off your
> foe. Of course, the laser pistols in movies and on TV aren't
> used that way.
>

[Fearless Freep]

I always thought spaceships should be all chromed up, for that reason

[Flangepart]

Any energy wepon with high thermal output, like a power rifle (Hammers Slammers< for example), could flash boil the water content of a human/animal body. The fast boiling of tissue to the side of the beam path, and the resaultant shock effect to the system, would put you down NOW!.
....Not a nice image to ponder......

[Dano]

Good points, I suspect that's why the Star Wars storm troopers used white armor. So why did they get shot so easily?
*****  The best way to deflect a laser would be with mirror armor, not white.  Nevertheless, they WERE NOT LASERS, they were "blasters."  At no point did anyone in Star Wars ever call those guns (picture Dr. Evil doing air quotes) "lasers."  Blasters fired visible bolts that you could track from muzzle to target with your eye... a laser would fire a bolt at the speed of light, which would drop the stormtrooper or blow up the X-wing as soon as you squeezed the trigger with no perceptable time between.  We must therefore assume that blasters fired some other form of energy bolt.  Plasma maybe?

[raj]

OK, but whatever they were, they didn't really seem to help the storm troopers all that much.  (And don't get me started on the damned Ewoks)