Muzzle flash
As a muzzle flash is called the flame , which is the firing of firearms at the mouth forms the barrel.
With muzzle flashes, a distinction is made between fire from the muzzle and the actual muzzle flash :
- The fire from the muzzle may be absent. But when it does occur, it appears immediately after the mouth. This is triggered by incompletely burned parts of the propellant .
- The actual muzzle flash is seen as a secondary phenomenon. At some distance from the muzzle, incompletely oxidized powder gases react with the oxygen in the air .
Problem
Muzzle flash and launch smoke are problematic and therefore undesirable side effects when using firearms. Both in the military as well as in the hunter's field, the muzzle flash obstructs the view, in twilight or at night even dazzling. In the military sector, the highly visible and telltale muzzle flame is an additional danger for the shooter.
Countermeasures
One tries to counteract this through various developments, such as B. the low-smoke propellant (such as smokeless nitrocellulose / gun cotton) or specially designed attachments on the muzzle, which should guide the muzzle flash away from the line of sight ( flash hider ), up to silencers . The kinetic energy of the gases exiting forward can be used by means of ingenious mouth systems to e.g. B. to reduce the recoil ( muzzle brake ), to counteract the ripping or even to drive the self-loading mechanism in gas-pressure chargers .
