Can you fire a gun on the Moon?

“A gun “fires” because of a sudden impulse delivered to the gunpowder by the trigger. The gun powder then explodes, imparting a lot of energy to the bullet which shoots out of the gun’s barrel. In order to trigger the explosion of the gun powder, you need an oxidizer that will initiate the chemical reaction. On Earth, a common oxidizer is, well, oxygen: that’s what makes fires burn and cars rust! Despite the abundance of oxygen on Earth, however, most gun ammunition comes with its own oxidizer “built in”, so to speak. The result is that a gun can fire even in the absence of oxygen, such as on the Moon. ” Source

You can fire a gun under water, so sure.

Has the War on the Moon begun already?

“You can fire a gun under water”
Until that oxidizer gets replaced by water. And, the barrel now filled with water would not be a nice experience. Worse yet would be a dry barrel and the bullet exiting into a watery environment.

You could fire a gun on the moon. As long as you fire it within the confines of the lunar lander.

Nope. NASA can’t afford the trip.

“given that its Oxygen level is that much lower than the Earth’s”

There is Oxygen on the moon?

There would be nothing to stop the powder in the cartridge from igniting, presuming the gun would not jam due to the vacuum and the cold. My experience with guns is that you have to keep them clean and oiled or they tend to have problems. At some temperature the oil will become sticky. If it becomes sticky enough, the gun won’t work. A revolver would probably work, but an automatic might not.

@ChazMaz Yes there is oxygen on the moon. Not much admitedly, but it is there.

Is there gaseous oxygen on the moon?

@ChazMaz Yes there is gaseous oxygen on the moon. Not much admitedly, but it is there.

Maybe 1 or 2 molecules per cubic centimeter of atmosphere

It is in the form of mineral deposits. Not a gaseous state. What ever gets released goes away rather quickly.

But, I guess that does count. Breathing easier all ready. ;-)

Learn something everyday! I was thinking no till now. :)

@jfos , there are trace amounts of oxygen and other common gasses on the moon. The Appolo astronauts left instruments there that were able to detect them. There is not anywhere near enough oxygen to collect for breathing, but the recent discovery of water ice would make it possible for enough oxygen to be produced there to support a long-term surface mission or even a base.

However, the composition of gunpowder and most other explosives don’t require oxygen to burn. Most are nitrates which are chemically unstable and will break their molecular bonds when heated quickly.

The oxidizer is self-contained in gunpowder, so yes, you could fire a gun in a vacuum.

I have to ask. What did the man on the moon do to you?

@Shuttle128 – Yep, that is right. Disregard everything I said. Except about the water.

Once the primer and the power gets wet. There will not be enough oxidizer for it to ignite.

@ChazMaz _Once the primer and the power gets wet. _

It doesn’t get wet unless it is a very sloppy reload or similar. I use powerheads when diving, have since the my teens (in the sixties). I have several, the two most used are a twelve gauge with SSGs and a .308 Winchester. Neither have ever failed to fire and they use standard ammunition. I have sprayed the regular ammunition with a teflon spray, but I have also used ammo straight out of the box. I have killed sharks with ammo that has spent a total time (several dives a month over a number of years.) of several weeks under water.

@DarkScribe – You are in Australia, right? You people have all the fun. :-)

@ChazMaz You are in Australia, right? You people have all the fun. :-)

Yep. In Tropical Queensland. Where it is currently raining so hard that some areas have been declared disaster areas. (We are having fun…) ;)

Well, nothing is perfect. :-)

you could fire a rail gun…powered by Magnetism

only if you are a member of the Moon Militia

Who remembers the Moonraker Laser?

Of course you could, who would be there to stop you?

I’d be careful it doesn’t shoot up uranus.

guns are not banned on the moon yet? i guess the brady group are slacking.

Modern gunpowder charges contain their own oxidant, the reaction triggered by the primer. The weapon would fire, but a different bullet drop would be experienced due to the moons 1/6 earth normal gravity (the bullet would fly on a flatter trajectory). Also windage could be ignored (no wind). Accurate shooting would be greatly simplified once sighting elevations were adjusted.

Hmmm. Think about the recoil in light gravity. Whoops – there goes another rubbery astronaut.

@DarkScribe “Fire all of your guns at once and explode into space”

An interesting question might be whether or not the bullet would achieve escape velocity, and if it did, where would it end up?

2.4Km/s = 7874 ft/s. Anything with a muzzle velocity that high?

@IchtheosaurusRex Nothing standard. That’s about twice the mv of an M2 .50 BMG round.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land , I think it would have to be something bigger, like a cannon, or exotic, like a railgun.

@IchtheosaurusRex Actually a railgun is one of the proposals for delivering lunar ore, etc. back to earth. Fire it into a low earth orbit, then a parachute-braked water landing.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land , that would work well in the vacuum of the moon. I take it from your nick you read Heinlein. He used something like that in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It would make a hell of a weapon, which is why they’d never get clearance to build such a thing.

@IchtheosaurusRex Whoever gets there first can build whatever they like.

As long as you give said gun 2 weeks severance fire, you can fire it on any planet you want. However, if the gun is a member of a labor union, then you need to have to put it on disciplinary leave with pay before you can fire it.