Talk:Winans Steam Gun

Is this technically a firearm? Sure it uses fire to power the steam engine but that still seems like a bit of a stretch. -Anonymous

It's does fire projectiles and is a "real world" weapon as opposed to the whole "steam punk" genre of weapons but it does fall outside of the parameters of what is listed on this web site. --Charon68 00:27, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

But it doesn't use gunpowder to fire anything. It's like making a page with crossbows. Excalibur01 01:42, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

I think it's more appropriate than a crossbow being as it does use fire at some point in the firing sequence and is a weapon, and thus is a "fire"-"arm", but being as the fire only indirectly launches the projectiles I think this is borderline acceptable. -Anonymous

Ok, now you are talking about semantics between what counts as a firearm. A firearm is a device which projects either single or multiple projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion. The firing occurs by the gases produced through rapid, confined burning of a propellant. This process of rapid burning is technically known as deflagration. In older firearms, this propellant was typically black powder, but modern firearms use smokeless powder, cordite, or other propellants. Most modern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore shotguns) have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stability. A howitzer counts as a firearm. A Rocket launcher counts to a degree. But something like this is just a novelty. Excalibur01 02:45, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm more worried about the possibility of this article being the start of a slippery slope. If we allow it just because it propels an object intended to be lethal upon impact, next thing you know someone will use that excuse to create a catapult article or something.--PistolJunkie 03:29, 26 October 2010 (UTC)