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Originally Posted by Nowhere Man 1966
About guns working in space, IIRC, you have the oxidizer in the powder so if that is the case, an M-16 would work.
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Can you imagine the difficulties involved with shouldering a conventional rifle and trying to get proper eye relief or even a rough sight picture while wearing a space suit?
Having modified ammunition suitable for firing in a vacuum is all well and good but depending on the operating characteristics of the weapon a near total vacuum environment may cause catestrophic component failure upon firing (any auto/semi-auto system with a gas piston would need some serious reinforcing I suspect).
Remember, vacuum is just one difficulty that operating conventional weaponry in space presents. If you and your weapon are EVA then you'll also have to contend with massive temperature ranges (incredibly hot on any side in direct sunlight, incredibly cold in shadow) so any lubricants used will have to be "dry" types like graphite powder. Also parts of the weapon may expand or contract more than the designers ever allowed for in terrestrial conditions and there may be a greatly increased risk of accidental ammunition "cook offs" if the weapon's magazine is uninsulated.
And lets not forget the high levels of various kinds of radiation objects in space are exposed to.