Wouldn't it seem logical that if you could fuse the propellant to the projectile that a rifle that could case, say, 500 rounds, to be fired singly or in clusters, would be the way to go?
"Wouldn't it seem logical that if you could fuse the propellant to the projectile that a rifle that could case, say, 500 rounds, to be fired singly or in clusters, would be the way to go?"
- Yes, but I guess at some point weight becomes a factor. Another element that I wasn't very clear on in my first post was the bullet accuracy issue. Solid fuel doesn't "explode" like gunpowder and release it's energy all at once. Solid propellant produces a slower burn rate so that as the bullets left the barrel, some unspent propellant would still be attached to it and providing further velocity increase. However, now that the bullet is out of the barrel, it no longer has the barrel rifling to provide spin and accuracy in flight. You end up with a bullet going through the air with a propellant providing more speed, but you have lost the ability to finely control it's trajectory.