Tuesday 26 August 2014

Under-Water Guns:

The most successful underwater 'pistol' seems to be accepted as the Russian SPP-1 and later SPP-1M designed by Vladimir Siminov, - made by TOZ (Tula Arms Plant)

This gun fires 4.5 inch darts loaded from four round clips.


It's a break action smooth-bore and is claimed to have a maximum effective underwater range of 17m (approx17 yards). - Compare this to a 9mm NATO cartridge that when fired underwater is only considered to be lethal under one metre.


The reason why normal rounds are  so ineffective in water is simply that it is a medium that is 784 times denser than air and the friction/drag on bullets rapidly robs their velocity - whereas a dart will hold its forward momentum for much longer.


There is a Heckler & Koch 5-barrel pepper-pot design, the HK P-11 that works, but it is electrically fired and once all five 4 inch dart rounds are expended it must be returned to the factory to be re-loaded - unlike the Russian clip loaded 'TOZ'.


H & K P11 Underwater Dart Gun.

I knew there was something useful about 'pepper-pot' designs - for a start there is no 'cylinder gap'!

It's drawing a very long bow to link an ancient arrow firing gun with modern specialist gear - but there is some small link between this gun maker Peter Peck design and them.


A three barrel 'wheel-lock' revolver that is said to have fired short arrows - it was made for Holy Roman Emperor CHARLES V in 1540-1550. the barrels are rotated by twisting a 'wing-nut' at the end of the butt. The arrows are held in the bores by tension - made by the rear section of each seven inch steel  arrow being split apart to act as Y springs pressing against the bore to stop them just falling out.


This gun is held in the Armeria Real Museum in Turin, Italy.

Marty K.
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