Let's say, for the purpose of discussion, that gold was as cheap and plentiful as copper/brass, and tungsten was as cheap and plentiful (and unreulated) as lead. Would it make sense to make ammunition using gold and tungsten?
In other words, does gold make a better jacketing material than copper? Or could gold/zinc alloy cases be superior to brass ones? And as a far is tungsten, it is even denser than lead so you could fit heavier bullets in the same cartridge and twist rate and pretty much make all ammunition inherently AP.
I haven't found any actual scientific(™) data regarding the subject.
tungsten literally has the highest melting point of all the elements so good luck casting bullets
Gold? fuck no. it's a super soft metal that would probably just turn into a hot slag jet and ruin the barrel.
Tungsten on the other hand would be a great metal. It's incredibly heavy and dense, and can be cut into either AP rounds or ball ammo. only problem is it's also super expensive, and a real bitch to cut and laith into a bullet. That's primarily why it's used as tank rounds.
>does gold make a better jacketing material than copper
Not appreciably. But it makes a hell of a lot better bullet than lead given that it is so much denser.
>And as a far is tungsten, it is even denser than lead so you could fit heavier bullets in the same cartridge and twist rate and pretty much make all ammunition inherently AP.
Yes, and that was a thing. Speer used to make the African Grand Slam bullets with tungsten cores.
>Gold? fuck no. it's a super soft metal
Lead is super soft too, you solve the problem the same way: alloy small amounts of other metals into the soft stuff. That's why lead bullets contain small % of Tin and Antimony.
>African Grand Slam bullets with tungsten cores.
forgot pic.
Hella gay.
>Core
>Solid
Words have meanings asshole you can't be a solid if you have a different metal core.
"solid" in the african hunting sense should be understood to mean "non expanding". Many so-called "solids" are FMJs.
>Gold? fuck no. it's a super soft metal that would probably just turn into a hot slag jet and ruin the barrel.
Leads melting point is about 600f. Gold is about 1950f. Pure gold is harder than lead, 2.5 vs 1.5 on the hardness scale.
Yeah it's a one shot kill. Don't listen to these unlearn'd zoomers
Let's see
>softer than steel
>heavier than copper
>lighter than lead
You could certainly make heavier loads per equivalent volume compared to a copper jacketed steel core round. Without proper testing I cannot say for certain how it'd behave in a soft target but I want to agree with especially since I'm short enough to do an oddball cosplay
than lead
Gold is nearly twice as dense as lead you fucking retard, and its hardness is entirely dependent on what you alloy it with, just like lead.
Why make this comment when it's clear you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Gold has the same useful properties as lead when it comes to bullets, it's just rare as fuck hence Op's question.
gold is to soft
Lead is softer, lighter and its been used for hundreds of years for bullets. If gold was as abundant as lead would be used instead.
>Muh heavier bullets
Speed is king until you're at tank scale.
Yes. And the higher density of gold would allow the same mass bullet to have better b.c. and higher sectional density making it advantageous over lead. It's the same reason why tungsten shotgun shot outperforms lead.
We're not at the limits of speed in common cartridges and shotguns are irrelevant.
We're going to be going lighter and lighter. Aluminum core mach four rifle rounds. Mach three pistol rounds. Synthetic gemstones in the noses of bullets. Polymer hulls with light metal penetrators.
The future is fast.
here's your low density mach four bullet bro
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A low caliber high velocity intermediate rifle round designed around cheap gold cores could kick ass. Low drag, easy frag.
>tungsten was as cheap and plentiful (and unreulated [sic]) as lead
Quell your nonsense, boob.
Anonymous poster commits minor typographical error, thousands dead, more on this story at 10.
I was making an old-ass movie joke and not a typo joke