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The Gyrojet Rocket Gun


Eric
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6 minutes ago, Boogieman said:

I've seen waaaaaaay more Gyrojets in person that I have ammunition.

Now that I’m recalling it, I do remember ammoless gyrogets were significantly lower priced than ones that had 10-12 rockets. 

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BATFE doesn't allow rocket powered ammunition any longer.

What killed it was the fact that the projectile was slow upon leaving the barrel and it had to accelerate up to maximum speed, so at close range, it wasn't exactly a paragon of effectiveness.

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2 minutes ago, blueiron said:

BATFE doesn't allow rocket powered ammunition any longer.

What killed it was the fact that the projectile was slow upon leaving the barrel and it had to accelerate up to maximum speed, so at close range, it wasn't exactly a paragon of effectiveness.

Makes sense. Still, it is too bad that the idea’s development wasn’t pursued. I wonder where it could have gone?

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Just now, blueiron said:

The military played with the concept for small arms in the 1960's, but even they gave up.

I want one of those guided missile pistols like Gene Simmons carried in that Tom Selleck movie, Runaway. 

 

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BATFE doesn't allow rocket powered ammunition any longer.

What killed it was the fact that the projectile was slow upon leaving the barrel and it had to accelerate up to maximum speed, so at close range, it wasn't exactly a paragon of effectiveness.

That, and accuracy wasn’t exactly great. No rifled barrel as the jets caused the rotation in the smooth bore. I watched the video earlier today, and the Gyrojet still fascinates after all the years.


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14 hours ago, Eric said:

That was really forward-thinking, for that era. I had never heard of it. Thanks. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket

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In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the line "rockets' red glare" while held captive on a British ship that was laying siege to Fort McHenry. The rockets he witnessed were an invention of William Congreve, who built a compressed-powder rocket encased in metal, increasing the effective range from 100 to 2,000 yards, first used in the Napoleonic Wars.

And, a Hale rocket is basically a modified Congreve rocket with no stick attached.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rockets

Quote

The accuracy problem was greatly improved in 1844 when William Hale[53] modified the rocket design so that thrust was slightly vectored, causing the rocket to spin along its axis of travel like a bullet. The Hale rocket removed the need for a rocket stick, travelled further due to reduced air resistance, and was far more accurate.

 

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Used to put bottle rockets down the barrel of an old cork gun when I was a kid...maybe the inventor got his idea the same way.??

We used PVC pipe...quite effectively.


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  • 2 weeks later...

I recall reading one of Ian Fleming's James Bond novellas that featured a Gyrojet.  Bond blasted a hole through his protagonist and saw daylight for a moment through the hole.  I learned later that Fleming was another anti-gun liberal (whose vast fortune was built on the back of a character using a gun repeatedly) and the Gyrojet was cool in concept but lame in reality.

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Saw one of these in a gun store with my father back in the day; it intrigued me, but it was the only one I ever saw/handled. They just disappeared.

 

Anybody remember it from James Bond?

 

 

gyrojet.jpeg.7865a67553b3dc172061ec4455965861.jpeg

 

Edited by willie-pete
edit for photo
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