Talk:Scram cannon

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I believe that Heinlein might have had Hitler's V3 gun in mind. (http://www.google.com/search?q=v3+gun) The full size cannon would have been 140 meters in length and capable of bombing London with 140kg shells from the continent.--DevaSatyam 22:39, 29 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Could be. It's not clear to me that the staged charge guns were have any advantage over a progressive burning propellant, however, as they're still limited by speed of sound in the propellant. scot 23:21, 29 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think the suggestion that science fiction and high tech RPGs "frequently" employ scram cannons and the like is mistaken. In fact, I'd go as far as to say I've never come across a reference to such a device in a high tech RPG, and I've read almost every one made in the last fifteen years or so. I've also never come across them in science fiction and the one example given is not actually a scram cannon at all, just a staged charge gun of some kind, so again, I question whether "frequently" is appropriate. Eurhetemec 20.15, 13 June 2006 (GMT)

Hmmm, on further looking, all the "scram cannon" gaming hits I'm seeing on the web are for some utterly unrelated concept. I'm still thinking I've run across a SCRAM cannon in some SF book or story--maybe it will come back to me. Surely I didn't just imagine the term... scot 20:46, 13 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm one of the only people I've ever seen who use them as weapons in science fiction writing. Nothing else I can find details how they work or they describe a staged charge cannon of some kind. Light gas guns, scram cannons, and ram accelerators are not at all 'frequent' in most works of fiction, from my own observations. Caragaul (talk) 01:18, 1 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sound[edit]

What do they sound like? I was planning on becoming a novelist when I am older and I wanted to arm my tanks with scram cannons, so I would need to know for future reference for when they are described as firing. Is it like a regular tank gun shot or more like a stunted version of the noise made by a jet engine? Thanks. VampiricRat —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.78.183.91 (talk) 17:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's all going to happen so fast, you'll just hear it as a single "boom". The thrust all happens within the barrel, so the only sound made by the projectile after exiting the barrel will be the shockwave. Downrange it would sound much like any other artillery (which I've seen described as sounding like ripping canvas), only it would be traveling much faster, so the sound would lag the visual results by more than with a slower, but still supersonic, projectile. If you're the target, you won't hear a thing, because the projectile will be outrunning but the sound of firing and the shockwave by a lot; even from the side, the sound will lag significantly. scot (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot!VampiricRat —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.40.11 (talk) 17:19, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Articles # 3 and 4 appear to refer to "conventional gun" launched scramjet powered projectiles not scram cannons. 64.81.164.250 (talk) 06:32, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]