Sir Chad carries a twelve pounder hand cannon, and when he ignites the powder the ball sails true into the main deck of the pirate, but the recoil capsizes his vessel.

[–] PugJesus 9 points 6 days ago

So, a derringer is a small pistol, usually with two shots, made for close-range self-defense. Normally they use, well, pistol rounds, like a 9mm, which has like, 700 joules of energy or someshit like that. When you fire a lightweight gun, you definitely get some kickback from it, even with a pistol round.

A 45-70 is a big-ass rifle round with something like 4000 joules of energy behind it. You uh, you put that in a little derringer and pull the trigger, both you and your target are gonna feel it.

This also might help put it into perspective

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The Energy of the .45-70 is 3867 J. For comparison: 9 × 19 mm NATO, used in guns, has 481 J, 5.56 × 45 mm NATO and 7.62 × 51 mm NATO, both used in rifles, have 1800 J and ~ 3600 J, respectively.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

i don't understand it myself.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago

A very energetic rifle round (where the mass of the rifle helps control the powerful recoil) being fired from a very low mass handgun would feel quite a bit like holding onto an exploding grenade.