The thing is, spin-stabilization of the sort being discussed depends on an atmosphere. What happens is:

1) The projectile leaves the barrel, pointy end aligned with velocity, spin axis aligned with the direction of motion.
2) Turbulence and slight asymmetries apply torque to the projectile along an axis perpendicular to the direction of motion.
3) The gyroscope effect turns that torque into a "sideways" push that makes the point precess slightly around the direction of travel, rather than veering away from it at an ever-increasing rate.
4) Aerodynamic effects tend to bring the body back into pointy-end-first alignment if the perturbations are sufficiently dampened by the gyroscope effect.

The whole thing is a rather beautiful dynamic dance between aerodynamic and gyroscopic effects. In space, nothing like steps 2 and 4 can occur.

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 2:40 PM, Ethan McKinney <ethan.mckinney@gmail.com> wrote:


On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 11:45 AM, Grimmund <grimmund@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 12:47 PM, Greg Nokes <greg@nokes.name> wrote:

> Of course at high enough speed, who cares if it’s tumbling, ass backward or
> what ever when it impacts.


Kinetic penetrators have a pointy end because, you know, driving a
nail through something works better if you start with the pointy end
of the nail rather than the head or the side.

This is the important thing--long-rod penetrators are  inevitably going to be more effective than cannonballs.

At many velocities, a spun projectile also helps prevent the penetrator from skidding along sloped armor and skipping away instead of penetrating a depth that's within its theoretical capacity. Apparently, the gyroscopic effect somehow tends keep the nose of the penetrator against the armor.
-----
The Traveller Mailing List
Archives at http://archives.simplelists.com/tml
Report problems to listmom@travellercentral.com
To unsubscribe from this list please goto 
http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=PltOdItWBSgOP4y0Q6abkGbDI1eus0lz



--
Craig Berry (http://google.com/+CraigBerry)
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time." - William Blake