SpudFiles

I've been looking for stuff about the dread weapon system which is an electronically powered centrifugal machine gun. However, a lot of the information I find on it tends to be advertising or debate on physics forums about how it can't possibly be "recoilless".

Obviously you don't get more energy out than you put in, however the ammunition can be accelerated fairly slowly, gaining kinetic energy until the disc is at maximum revolutions. (around 20k rpm, or more for a smaller disc).

This is really only in the rough sketching stages, but I'm thinking of a small compressed air tesla turbine to power it to fire very small lead shot (around 2mm) or airsoft bb's (Australian equivalent of course).

However I'm not sure on how to construct the ammo cage and mechanism to fire the rounds. A lack of useful patents hasn't helped. Any suggestions on the release/firing mechanism and disk construction would be appreciated.

Thanks guys

I am the tomb that rips through the night, i am the incubus, the heathen, the partisan of the battlefield. Give me oil so I may kill my enemy.

The battle cry of the mini machinegun.

inonickname wrote: However I'm not sure on how to construct the ammo cage and mechanism to fire the rounds. A lack of useful patents hasn't helped. Any suggestions on the release/firing mechanism and disk construction would be appreciated.

Thanks guys

One design I have seen uses an auger in a bin to pick up one round per revolution. These gravity held rounds then screw their way along to the disk. When they reach the disk they drop into a timing ring so only one ball in in the ring at a time. The ring has an adjustable ball stop so the delay from entering the ring until dropping into a spiral radial barrel in the disk adjusts the projectile elevation when it exits the perimeter. The operation works at full high speed. Ball screw along an auger, drop into a raceway and roll to an adjustable stop then drop into the rotating launch tube to spiral out and eject.

Sorry I don't have any drawings. The one I saw was powered by a vacuum cleaner motor for the high RPM. The only problem at high speed was to get the dancing balls to actually drop into the auger. It worked very well at lower speed.