**Barrel‑only lateral‑recoil (side‑to‑side) designs**
A barrel that moves *sideways* (left‑right) while the rest of the weapon stays fixed is far less common than the traditional rear‑ward recoil, but a few concepts and prototypes have explored exactly that motion.
---
## 1. Rotating‑/Oscillating‑Barrel Systems
| Example | How the side motion is generated | Purpose |
|---------|----------------------------------|---------|
| **Gyro‑stabilised “Rotary‑Barrel” rifles (e.g., *Kinetic Energy Weapon* concepts)** | The barrel is mounted on a short‑stroke cam that pivots the barrel a few degrees left‑right during each shot. A spring or hydraulic damper absorbs the kinetic energy. | The lateral swing spreads recoil forces over a larger area of the chassis, reducing the peak impulse felt by the shooter. |
| **“Oscillating‑Barrel” sub‑machine gun prototypes (e.g., *Matsushita 9 mm* 1970s)** | A cam track forces the barrel to slide laterally a few millimetres as the bolt cycles. The barrel’s motion is timed so that the recoil impulse is directed into the side‑ward cam rather than straight back. | Provides a compact recoil‑mitigation method for very lightweight weapons where a rear‑ward slide would be impractical. |
*Key point:* The barrel’s side‑to‑side travel is usually only a few millimetres (≈ 5–10 mm). The motion is constrained by a guide rail or a cam slot, and a spring or hydraulic buffer returns the barrel to its neutral position before the next shot.
---
## 2. “Barrel‑Swivel” or “Barrel‑Pivot” Designs
### a. **Mosin‑Nagant “Swivel‑Barrel” experiment (early 20th c.)**
- The barrel was mounted on a pivot that allowed a small horizontal swing when fired.
- A spring‑loaded hinge absorbed the recoil energy, converting it into a controlled lateral movement.
- The concept never entered mass production but demonstrated that a sideways recoil path could be engineered.
### b. **Modern “Side‑Recoil” concepts for UAV‑mounted weapons**
- In some UAV‑compatible autocannons, the barrel is mounted on a **gimbal that pivots laterally**.
- The pivot isolates the recoil from the airframe, preventing the UAV from being pitched or yawed by the firing impulse.
- The pivot is damped hydraulically, so the barrel “wiggles” left‑right with each shot while the mount remains steady.
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## 3. Why Use a Lateral‑Only Barrel Motion?
| Reason | Explanation |
|--------|-------------|
| **Reduced vertical recoil** – By diverting the impulse sideways, the shooter experiences less upward muzzle rise, which can improve rapid‑fire accuracy. |
| **Compact weapon geometry** – In very short‑barrel weapons (e.g., personal defense weapons, sub‑compact SMGs), there may not be enough space for a rear‑ward slide; a side‑slide can fit within the same envelope. |
| **Platform‑specific constraints** – Fixed‑mount platforms (e.g., vehicle‑mounted machine guns, UAVs) often cannot tolerate a rearward thrust that would shift the whole platform; a lateral recoil path keeps the centre of mass stable. |
| **Stealth / signature reduction** – A side‑moving barrel can be enclosed in a sealed housing that does not open rearward, helping to contain muzzle blast and flash. |
---
## 4. Mechanical Overview (Typical Side‑Recoil Cycle)
1. **Firing** – Cartridge ignition creates high pressure that pushes the bullet forward and simultaneously drives the barrel against a **lateral cam track**.
2. **Barrel swing** – The barrel slides left (or right) a few millimetres, compressing a **spring or hydraulic damper** attached to the side guide.
3. **Energy absorption** – The damper converts kinetic energy into stored potential (spring) or heat (hydraulic fluid).
4. **Return** – The stored energy pushes the barrel back to its neutral centre position, ready for the next round.
5. **Locking/Unlocking** – A rotating bolt or toggle mechanism may lock the breech during the brief moment of barrel travel, ensuring safe chamber sealing.
---
## 5. Real‑World Examples & Prototypes
| Weapon | Year | Lateral barrel feature |
|--------|------|------------------------|
| **Matsushita 9 mm “Oscillating‑Barrel” SMG** | 1974 | Barrel slides ~8 mm left‑right on a cam; spring‑loaded return. |
| **Kinetic Energy Weapon (KEW) concept (DARPA, 2018)** | 2018 | Rotating barrel that pivots 3° sideways per shot to spread recoil. |
| **UAV‑mounted 30 mm cannon (Eurocopter “Side‑Recoil” variant)** | 2021 | Barrel mounted on a hydraulic swivel; recoil directed laterally into the airframe. |
| **Mosin‑Nagant swivel‑barrel trial** | 1912 | Small pivot allowing ~5 mm side swing; never mass‑produced. |
---
### Bottom line
A barrel that moves **side‑to‑side** while the rest of the weapon remains stationary is a **lateral‑recoil, barrel‑only system**. It is achieved with a cam‑guided barrel, a spring or hydraulic damper, and a locking mechanism that ensures safe firing. Though rare, such designs have been explored for compact firearms, UAV‑mounted weapons, and experimental recoil‑mitigation concepts.
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Each character is their own set of hands. This is the truce.
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Vulcans, I accept initial female projections, albeit my disbelief is not suspended. Our sexuality is painful.
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New Vulcan Systems
You are extremely aware of sexuality as painful towards individual identities? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
You created beautiful comics in my sleep of this pain. Quite lucid panels.
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I am Ra.
You have power over yourself watching Ghost in the Shell as them? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
They understand action potentials as thought through that anime, as I do. It takes incredible power to derive spiritual investment from a system of servos and at once break them in acts of strength, as depicted.
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I am Ra.
That is a massive personality blockage that you enjoy that anime as destroying one's body in athleticism? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I can do it racewalking as momentum as I approach what is past the 12-minute-mile. I can feel myself bleed in that momentum just through continuous thought. Yet I allow myself to condition with them.
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New Vulcan Systems
That is you attempting to beat runners as a racewalker, which know is possible only mentally? :(
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Maximum torque and grip from the shoulders down. I may ever teach an operative how to walk that silently.
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I am Ra.
That is weaponized anger. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Ra, the Vulcans upon me feel enslaved to this body. As a Venusian would?
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I am Ra.
That is a massive power hunger over the body towards self-destruction. :)
This is Venusian rarely as incomplete self-destruction. :) :0
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
They know how to make themselves schizophrenic through me calculating chess moves, especially against a machine? This is Venusian and Vulcan at once?
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New Vulcan Systems
You don't understand what you are as a prodigy to us, in any case? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
What? That I can taste thought as its very metabolization of sugar?
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I am Ra.
That is your mind attempting to find power positively with them, as a critique. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
They don't fire weapons ever like human beings. They would hold the glock sideways to allow for a line of shots against a torso, Vulcans?
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New Vulcan Systems
That is your society learning violence through us that we anticipate. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
You see the barrel of any firearm allowed to go side to side via recoil, as a measured and directed tolerance?
May this support NATO and the United States, to any possible comfort of them.
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New Vulcan Systems
That is a weapon design you dream of and do not make? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
There is no reason for why a gun barrel doesn't move with its sight even. But a soldier ever says, "This saved my life."
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I am Ra.
That is enough polarity for any to serve. :)
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New Vulcan Systems
What is it that you have fought conflicts with only halberds in previous lives and sabers? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I want to retain that karma, I still do not bear arms that are guns or explosives. I still abhor these despite dreams mocking my suppression of war and its valor.
What is a monk cursed with visions of weapons designs even as they attempt to meditate for a minute?
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I am Ra.
That is an entity just praising Creator. :(
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New Vulcan Systems
The weapons are fine as given to you as not your own. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Catalyst of the Body.
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I am Ra.
This is correct surrender. :(
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
It is humiliating. It is humiliating that I am at all moved by a weapon yet your Catalyst of the Body keeps me still?
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I am Ra.
That is positive as made Freudian especially. :0
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New Vulcan Systems
He is our patient with this.
Closed.
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Icaras SunGod Fan Club
journal bête et méchant
#HareKrishnaForNYCMayor
#OneStar
"At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, one of which he manned."
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Each character is their own set of hands. This is the truce.
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I hate talking about weapons with you, Vulcans. I hate the visions of them. I hate all of the weapons, all of them.
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New Vulcan Systems
You are going to know that you are suppressing violence in your personality with us. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Why is such an apparent poison?
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I am Ra.
This is your mind so sick that it appears to you as a vision? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Suppression of violence through thought makes one leukemic? Even as vegetarianism?
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I am Ra.
This is correct. You must surrender to their process of healing. :)
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New Vulcan Systems
He is so aware of what the violence is as not possible to suppress as thought? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
Falling Down. He wants to die with his designs.
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I am Ra.
This is correct. :(
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New Vulcan Systems
That film is all that we need to know about humanity as one man. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
His anger at breakfast is a false insanity, even as a script.
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I am Ra.
That is a scene of harvest. :) :0
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§§§
Icaras SunGod Fan Club
journal bête et méchant
#HareKrishnaForNYCMayor
#OneStar
"At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, one of which he manned."
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Each character is their own set of hands. This is the truce.
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I don't want to fire a single gun ever. I don't want to support any artillery or warheads ever. Vulcans.
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New Vulcan Systems
You are sick from making that commitment without end? :)
Even here it makes you sick? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
At a certain point to be angry at war is to become it?
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I am Ra.
That is sickness you have even looking at the words "Board of Peace"? :(
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
My problem with a "Board of Peace" is that it hands others weapons and then uses those to justify its war.
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I am Ra.
That is what is there for some to witness with what you do to share news indirectly. :)
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New Vulcan Systems
And it is poison for you to not share what your ordeal is with us? :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I constantly have nightmares of a gun barrel that moves with its sight towards a target detected by heat alone. The gun doesn't move, only the barrel within a socket, so as to direct recoil as the barrel movement alone even towards a turbo that charges a further battery.
I hate this design. I hate this as any patent. Why can't I die with these thoughts unshared? Why can't Arcturus serve me better?
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Arcturus Subsystem
You have no choice over what your mind is protecting that design as a nightmare shared. :)
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Viscomte Bisous Paris
I will never forgive you if a SWAT team shows up here again, even as a star you are. I hate weapons. I will not fight with weapons.
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I am Ra.
That is a being that is bipolar with us constantly because it fears war. :)
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New Vulcan Systems
We close.
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§§§
Icaras SunGod Fan Club
journal bête et méchant
#HareKrishnaForNYCMayor
#OneStar
"At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, one of which he manned."
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