Firing rate of a semi

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Just for my curiousity. We know the cyclic rate of full auto guns. But, if you had superspeed, how fast could one fire something like a Glock, if you could pull the trigger as fast as necessary? What rate does the mechanics of the gun limit it too?

 

[lcpiper]

Since I always hit my target and never need more then one shot, I am only limited by acquisition and number of foolish targets.

 

[Technosavant]

This probably isn't what you're looking for, but I remember once reading something talking about the cyclic rate of the 1911, and the final word was that it spends WAY more time waiting on the shooter than it does cycling.

I'd imagine the cyclic rate would be surprisingly high for most handguns... you'd need superhuman strength and reflexes to fire them as fast as they're capable of running.

 

[TxFlyFish]

My guess would be 1100-1300rpm like the glock 18 and beretta 93r. Maybe a tad bit higher if you want to push the limits

 

[David the Gnome]

The Glock 18 fires ~1,100-1,200 rounds per minute. Given that the only difference between the 18 and 17 is the sear I would say the firing rate would be the same for the Glock 17, assuming one had super-human speed and could pull the trigger that quickly.

 

[scottl]

Watched Jerry Mickuleck and a 1911 vs. his wife with an Uzi on Impossible Shots one night.Was pretty close in RPM.

I also remember Bob Munden fanning a six gun quicker than a 1911 could fire six.

 

[loose_holster_dan]

just take your glock and file down the sear until it goes full auto. then you will know.

DISCLAIMER - DO NOT DO THIS

 

[Nitesites]

Not sure what parts differ between a Semi-Auto Glock and a Full-Auto Glock but I don't think there is a difference in mechanical speed. Probably more dependant on the user. For example...

True Full-Auto Glock...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhhvwkLhb8E&feature=watch_response
Bump-Firing a Semi-Auto Glock (NOT RECOMMENDED!)...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zRmP8q5T-4

 

[TunnelRat]

I will build a robot to test this out. I was thinking about names, and Skynet seemed appropriate.

 

[jhenry]

When we transitioned to the Glock we ran a little race. 5 shots into the B27 at probably 5 yards. I was able to do it in 1.53 seconds from the holster to the last shot and from concealment. I should say we were permitted to have our hands on the butt of the weapon. So, that equals 214 rounds per minute unless we make allowances for the draw and sight acquisition and remove it, which we should for this equation. I will venture an educated guess that the time not pulling the trigger was about 3/4 of a second, I don't really know and am just guessing here. This gives 384.6 rounds per minute. A full auto Glock will do multiples of that. I am quite sure a pro shooter can do far better than I can. I will guess that 450 rpm+ is attainable while keeping lead on a largish target.

 

[RickB]

Top competition shooters have shot splits as low as .11 second. That's splits for fairly close, "easy" targets and while maintaining accuracy; that's about one-tenth the cyclic rate of the gun?

 

[Coyote_Buster700]

I was watching a show on the Military channel called "Triggers: Change" and they were going over WWII weapons. IIRC they said that the Thompson and the 1911 had similar rates of fire. Thompson runs in the high 700's.

 

[kraigwy]

I wondered the same thing, more toward the difference in rate of fire between a revolver and semis.

I don't shoot a Glock but I compared my Model 64 Smith with my Colt Gold Cup and Beretta. Only shot 6 rounds of each but you get the ideal.

The first col. is the gun, then the time needed to fire six shots, Avg. time per shot and the last is the rate of fire in Rounds per minute.

Model 64 1.53 0.26 235.29
Gold Cup 1.47 0.25 244.90
Beretta 1.42 0.24 253.52

I did this starting from the buzard on a shot timer. Maybe some younger folks can do it better but this is the best I could come up with.

 

[dsk]

This probably isn't what you're looking for, but I remember once reading something talking about the cyclic rate of the 1911, and the final word was that it spends WAY more time waiting on the shooter than it does cycling.

I once had a brand-new Kimber that unexpectedly went full auto on me at the range. Fortunately there were only three rounds in the mag, but they went off in one single long bang. It went back to the factory in a hurry!

 

[AK103K]

Its always been my understanding that revolvers actually have a higher rate of fire than the autos, simply because they dont have to wait for the slide to cycle.

A mini gun pretty much proves this out too.

 

[Auto426]

Just about every handgun out there will fire faster than the shooter is able to. The actual cyclic rate of fire is going to depend on the pistol being used. Things like the mass of the recoiling assembly are going to effect lock times and the rate of fire.

 

[SW-14]

Top competition shooters have shot splits as low as .11 second. That's splits for fairly close, "easy" targets and while maintaining accuracy; that's about one-tenth the cyclic rate of the gun?

If that 1100 RPM number above is correct, then the gun would cycle in about .055 seconds.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've read that the cyclical rate of a High Power is nearly 1,500 rounds per minute.

 

[robmkivseries70]

It's the trigger reset that limits most of us, the 1911s reset is short. Best,
Rob

 

[Slopemeno]

fastest "splits" I ever saw in my league were .11's, so that would work out to 545 rpm. The gun is easily capable of faster, IMHO.