Ebook: Efficiency of guns from the technical point of view

Defence Science Journal, 1953, 3(1), pp. 1-11.From the engineering point of view, a gun or machine gun is a heat engine very similar to a Diesel or petrol engine. It has to do work when-operated by a soldier. A fuel is burnt, namely the propellant, and certain power (energy per unit time) is obtained, namely the kinetic energy of the projectile for each interval of rounds fired.