senior design pistol project

MiketheAnimal · 09-22-2004, 11:08 AM

Hi all,

Well, I am a senior at the University of Miami (FL), and my major is mechanical engineering. I am beginning to decide on my capstone senior design project, and since I am very much into shooting and rifles, I want to direct my design to those areas. The project can't be too expensive, as funding comes from the students, and a working prototype must be built by the end of April. Here is a thought I just had while in my Vibrations class, what if there was someway to lessen the recoil of highpower rifles, for example the M14/M1A, by using some sort of spring and damper setup. There would be a cushioned plate which you would position as you would the buttplate of your rifle, and attached to this plate would be some sort of spring and damper system which would then attach to the rifle. It couldnt be too long because that can affect the shooters natural aiming and firing routine, and it has to be somewhat modular so it could attach to just about any rifle. The whole premise would be that the damper would dissipate hopefully a lot of the energy created by the recoil so that the shooter's shoulder doesn't bear the grunt of it. This would allow women, bigger children, or smaller guys to shoot some of the higher powered rifles they may not normally be able to shoot. It would also be great for shooters with bad shoulders, because I know that over the years the shoulders get alot of wear and tear from shooting. If a spring and damper wouldn't be powerful enough, maybe some sort of hydraulic or pneumatic setup to cause the necessary deceleration of the rifle into the shoulder. Maybe this could help or prevent that? I'm not sure if this sort of thing has already been thought of?? Let me know what you guys think....or any other suggestions that might be feasible. TIA...

800mZero · 09-22-2004, 11:49 AM

As shooters we're always looking for new inventions to help us as we shoot, and many of us love gadgets. Items have been invented and reinvented thousands of times over but as long as they work, or work better people will buy them---I say go for it---see what you come up with and who knows you may be the next brookfield.

--800mZero

30Cal · 09-22-2004, 11:53 AM

There is a mercury filled recoil buffer that fits in the buttstock (which IMO would lessen felt recoil only slightly better than an equal weight of lead).

I think for your project, they're going to want to see more than simply re-confirming that adding weight adds inertia.

You obviously would need to get your buffer/dashpot mechanism somewhere between the shoulder and the locking lug recesses on the receiver. Getting something between the action and the stock might be very complicated. The other possibility would be to maybe get something between the buttplate and the stock and this would have one obvious advantage--you'd already have the two buttplate cavities to work with. I think this would be the quickest way to mod the rifle with the least amount of intrusion. I think you could work it into a pretty cool project (and if you're clever, it might be a viable commercial product).

Ty

delloro · 09-22-2004, 11:57 AM

brownell's already sells such a system.

Hitzy · 09-22-2004, 11:59 AM

Just make sure you don't infringe on any patents........
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... IL+REDUCER

Scotty · 09-22-2004, 06:35 PM

You can't really reduce actual recoil besides adding more weight or a muzzle brake. What you can do is alter the felt recoil by increasing the duration of the impulse. There's a couple systems already on the market. Hey, you are suppose to research this as part of your senior project so I won't go into detail of the various systems out there. I will tell you to look into recoil pads, Tubb 2000 rifle, and the HK G11 rifle. You might want to look into mountain bike suspension forks as they have gone through quite an evolution on dampening shock.

If you want to look at an alternative project, try designing a more effecient muzzle brake. You will need access to a CFD program like Fluent.

I wanted to do something firearm related with my senior project, but ended up doing the SAE Mini Baja contest where we designed and built an off-road vehicle.

CJM · 09-22-2004, 06:59 PM

i say you come up with some sort of flashider or muzzlebreak

David Gorzsas · 09-23-2004, 02:23 AM

Increasing the inertia of the system is the proven way to reduce felt recoil. That's why match shooters use heavy rifles.

View Poll Results: Do you think there's a market for this kinda thing...(i.e. Would you guys be interested?)
Yes...go for it!	1	25.00%
No....not feasible/already invented	3	75.00%
Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll

09-22-2004, 11:08 AM	#1
MiketheAnimal Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 210	Senior Design Hi all, Well, I am a senior at the University of Miami (FL), and my major is mechanical engineering. I am beginning to decide on my capstone senior design project, and since I am very much into shooting and rifles, I want to direct my design to those areas. The project can't be too expensive, as funding comes from the students, and a working prototype must be built by the end of April. Here is a thought I just had while in my Vibrations class, what if there was someway to lessen the recoil of highpower rifles, for example the M14/M1A, by using some sort of spring and damper setup. There would be a cushioned plate which you would position as you would the buttplate of your rifle, and attached to this plate would be some sort of spring and damper system which would then attach to the rifle. It couldnt be too long because that can affect the shooters natural aiming and firing routine, and it has to be somewhat modular so it could attach to just about any rifle. The whole premise would be that the damper would dissipate hopefully a lot of the energy created by the recoil so that the shooter's shoulder doesn't bear the grunt of it. This would allow women, bigger children, or smaller guys to shoot some of the higher powered rifles they may not normally be able to shoot. It would also be great for shooters with bad shoulders, because I know that over the years the shoulders get alot of wear and tear from shooting. If a spring and damper wouldn't be powerful enough, maybe some sort of hydraulic or pneumatic setup to cause the necessary deceleration of the rifle into the shoulder. Maybe this could help or prevent that? I'm not sure if this sort of thing has already been thought of?? Let me know what you guys think....or any other suggestions that might be feasible. TIA...

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09-22-2004, 11:49 AM	#2
800mZero Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 894	As shooters we're always looking for new inventions to help us as we shoot, and many of us love gadgets. Items have been invented and reinvented thousands of times over but as long as they work, or work better people will buy them---I say go for it---see what you come up with and who knows you may be the next brookfield. --800mZero

09-22-2004, 11:53 AM	#3
30Cal Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,131	There is a mercury filled recoil buffer that fits in the buttstock (which IMO would lessen felt recoil only slightly better than an equal weight of lead). I think for your project, they're going to want to see more than simply re-confirming that adding weight adds inertia. You obviously would need to get your buffer/dashpot mechanism somewhere between the shoulder and the locking lug recesses on the receiver. Getting something between the action and the stock might be very complicated. The other possibility would be to maybe get something between the buttplate and the stock and this would have one obvious advantage--you'd already have the two buttplate cavities to work with. I think this would be the quickest way to mod the rifle with the least amount of intrusion. I think you could work it into a pretty cool project (and if you're clever, it might be a viable commercial product). Ty

09-22-2004, 11:57 AM	#4
delloro Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 4,716	brownell's already sells such a system.

09-22-2004, 11:59 AM	#5
Hitzy Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 420	Just make sure you don't infringe on any patents........ http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... IL+REDUCER

09-22-2004, 06:35 PM	#6
Scotty Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 363	You can't really reduce actual recoil besides adding more weight or a muzzle brake. What you can do is alter the felt recoil by increasing the duration of the impulse. There's a couple systems already on the market. Hey, you are suppose to research this as part of your senior project so I won't go into detail of the various systems out there. I will tell you to look into recoil pads, Tubb 2000 rifle, and the HK G11 rifle. You might want to look into mountain bike suspension forks as they have gone through quite an evolution on dampening shock. If you want to look at an alternative project, try designing a more effecient muzzle brake. You will need access to a CFD program like Fluent. I wanted to do something firearm related with my senior project, but ended up doing the SAE Mini Baja contest where we designed and built an off-road vehicle.

09-22-2004, 06:59 PM	#7
CJM Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 687	i say you come up with some sort of flashider or muzzlebreak

09-23-2004, 02:23 AM	#8
David Gorzsas Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 641	Increasing the inertia of the system is the proven way to reduce felt recoil. That's why match shooters use heavy rifles.