Author Archives: The Clockwork Doctor

About The Clockwork Doctor

Steampunk Plague Doctor, Costumer, and Lover of SciFi. Real life Weapons Technician, and Writer's Tech Consultant. Founder of the Dead Tree Society. I'm also known as Tek in the Nutty Debates on Nutty Bites.

An Introduction to Ballistics for Geeks, Writers, and Geeky Writers: Part 1 of Many

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To the point

Photo by BWJones (Bryan Jones) on flickr

So what is ballistics, and why should I care, right? What could this possibly have to do with me, you ask?  It is an interesting science, and one that I have devoted many hours to studying. My goal in writing this down is simple: To keep learning as I write, and to share what I’ve learned with you all. I’m not trying to turn you all into ballisticians or long-range shooters, merely to give you nuggets of knowledge to tuck away in the back of your brain. I’m also not claiming to be the be all and end all expert on all matters related to physics, guns and ballistics.  I’m merely your guide on this journey, through a topic I happen to study passionately.  I’ve spent years studying and working in this field, and have learned a lot, with decades of learning still ahead of me.  As a teacher of mine once said after a long, hard course, “Congratulations, you now know enough to be dangerous.”

Plus, you never know when in your next story/book/audio drama one character might pick up a gun, and one of these little nuggets of knowledge will shove their way to the front of your brain and help complete a scene in a believable way. Or at the very least, maybe your next game of trivial pursuit will ask you some physics question and you win! Let’s dive into it then, and see where we end up.

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The Clockwork Doctor: An introduction.

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Greetings Nutcases, this is the Clockwork Doctor.  Nuchtchas has been kind enough to grant me some space on her blog, so this will act as my quaint little home, nestled in between the tubes of the Internet; My little oasis in the digital aether.

A brief introduction then, yes?  I’ve been known on the internet as Tek for over a decade now.  I’m happily married to the Mighty Nuchtchas herself, and live in New Brunswick Canada in my geeky paradise of a house.  Computers, models, NERF guns, real guns, more computers, a ~lot~ of video games, and a growing collection of steampunk accessories fill the house and threaten to take over more than a few rooms.  Honestly, who knew a mechanical Italian doctor would come with so much luggage?

I am a Sergeant (E6 for the Americans in the audience) Weapons Technician with the Canadian Armed Forces.  I’ve served for 14 years, had 2 tours to Afghanistan, and have worked on everything from pistols to tanks to gatling guns, and almost everything in between.  Deep in my heart though, I’ll always be a geek.  I love machines, I love guns, and I love talking about machines and guns.  This is what I hope to share with you all in these little posts: My passion.

So what am I going to talk about exactly? I don’t know yet, I haven’t thought that far ahead.  My first thought is to write a bit of a beginner ballistics guide.  I’ll discuss some terms, some myths, and show you all some neat math, I hope.  I certainly don’t expect this to be everyone’s cup of tea.  Discussing ballistics, or physics or engineering is a dry topic at the best of times, so I’ll try to keep it light, and fun.

Hopefully you’ll stick around and watch what happens, Stay tuned!