To all you crazed gun-nuts out there, have you ever shot a gun from a bicycle?  If not, how hard do you think it would be per gun type?  Could you shoot a small automatic handgun, like a 9 or .35 sideways and not get pushed over?  How about something more powerful straight ahead?  Could it actually stop you or push you off the bike if you were going fast enough?

Accurately firing a gun from a bicycle is pretty much impossible except under the most tightly controlled circumstances.  It shouldn't knock you over or cause you to fall -- but it will cause you to wobble, and you'll be trying to control the bike with one hand.  The end result of this is that you can't really aim, so your chances of hitting anything is ridiculously small.  Basically if you hit what you were firing at, it will be a fluke, a freak accident.

A ride-by with a small fully automatic weapon is certainly possible, and I don't think the recoil could knock you over, but controlling the bike will be almost impossible so I would expect such an action to almost always end in a crash.

All in all, it's a pretty bad idea.

Most handguns aren't that much of a problem for a reasonably skilled rider. Just google on bicycle shootings and you'll get some drive-by reports from the real world.

Rifles would take more skill (either bike, or weapon) from the rider as you'd be either riding with no hands or shooting a longarm with only one. A bit of math will tell you what the rider is dealing with.

Velocity * Mass is the basic momentum being applied from the rifle. On the other side you have the mass of the rider plus bike. Run the math for the rifle of your choice and you'll see that you'd need on heck of a rife to make it a issue.

So like much in firearms, it's more a psychological matter of the rider being both prepared and skilled enough to pull it off.

But for reference, little Annie used to fire a carbine and hit (and hit well) while standing on the back of a moving horse.


Edit: This shouldn't be necessary, but none of the above should be read as a suggestion to go out and do this. It's silly unless you have a reason. Becoming a tick shot is a reason- and there are safe ways of doing so. Seek professional advice.

The recoil wouldn't really be a problem.  Most guns don't kick THAT much, especially handguns, remember you do have to be able to hold the damn thing normally anyway.

More importantly though, is that you wouldn't really be able to aim for shit doing it.  It'd actually be kind of comical to watch now than I think of it, because I can't imagine the process being anything but awkward.  Bikes can be kinda rickety fuckers even in the hands of the best of riders.  In game terms (Dark Heresy wise anyway), I'd probably give at LEAST a -20% to hit, and force a check to keep the thing from wobbling all over.

Now, across the handlebars would probably be a little better.  but it still seems like a rather impractical thing to attempt.

I'd give it a -20 on general principles. I don't reward idiocy. Get thee out of my gene pool!

-clash

Thanks for all the great input.  

I'm thinking in terms of urban hits, riding up behind someone's car in traffic and squeezing off a couple of rounds. It seems quite doable with a handgun.  Clearly, you'd have to be a good shot already and practice doing it on a bike.  But with training, I think you could have a pretty cool squad of bike assassins.  

Also, I think a fixed gear would be advantageous as you could control speed with no hands (and lateral movement to some degree better than on a bike with a freewheel).

Well, more likely for your senario, they'd pull up next to the car at a light or something, and cap them from the stationary, essentially standing, postion, then ride off on their rapid escape vehicle (er... bicycle)...

Though there is a ride by hit in the very beginning of Grosse Point Blank where the hitman was using the momentum of going downhill to stabilize and control the bike while he focused on shooting. He's sniped before he fires, but the principle is there.

Quote from: walkerp;245797Thanks for all the great input.  

I'm thinking in terms of urban hits, riding up behind someone's car in traffic and squeezing off a couple of rounds. It seems quite doable with a handgun.  

Yes, very.

Depending upon the system, all your modifiers will likely already be there. HERO for example provides them and also provides a method for buying the skill necessary to counter any negative modifiers if one desired.

Btw, I don't think this was really off topic given your reason for wanting the information.

Not enough information. It will depend on the strength and experience of the rider, the direction of the shot relative to the direction of the bike, the caliber and load of the weapon, and the speed the bike is traveling, among a ton of other factors. But briefly, a small-caliber weapon fired along the direction of travel won't be particularly difficult; hell, I could fire a .22LR rifle in pretty much any direction I wanted from about 20MPH, with no hands on the bike. But a .50 handgun, sideways, while moving slowly? I'd enjoy the spectacle.

Quote from: walkerp;245797I'm thinking in terms of urban hits, riding up behind someone's car in traffic and squeezing off a couple of rounds. It seems quite doable with a handgun.

That would be a pretty optimal situation.  The car stops at a light, you roll quietly into it's blindspot, fire a few shots from a stationary position at the occupants.  You're less than five feet, through light to moderate cover.  You can then easily pull away and disappear.  With a pick up vehicle down the street you're golden.

QuoteClearly, you'd have to be a good shot already and practice doing it on a bike.  But with training, I think you could have a pretty cool squad of bike assassins.

There's going to be a huge difference between someone who actually practices and trains specific combat maneuvers on a bike, and someone who just jumps on a bike and tries to start shooting.

The difference between you or I just throwing ourselves down a flight of stairs, or a professionally trained stuntman doing it.  I'm assuming, of course, that you aren't a trained stuntman (I'm not).

And Engine and gleichman are both right, firing straight forward is a lot easier than firing sideways, which is what I (perhaps wrongly) assumed in my original comment.

I was looking for answers to all angles of fire, all ranges of speed and trained or untrained.  Just wanted to get a general idea.  So all speculation is welcome.  I'd love to actually try it sometime (on a range, of course) but I guess I should learn to shoot while stationery first!

I posted this in off-topic because it doesn't apply to any specific gaming situation currently.  Though it certainly may.  I was just thinking about it while riding to work and passing a cop pushing a guy's stalled car off the road (I could have reached out and touched the butt of his gun).