Recoil Brake 2D — Orifice Damping, Spring & Peak Force

This 2D companion draws the same hydraulic-orifice recoil brake as the 3D version as a labelled side-view cross-section: the barrel slides along the cradle rails, a piston travels inside a transparent hydraulic cylinder whose oil tint darkens with pressure, and the recuperator spring visibly compresses and stretches. A live position/velocity graph beside the schematic plots the current shot from muzzle flash to full arrest and return, making the trade-off between orifice size — fast damping but a higher peak force spike — and spring stiffness — how quickly the barrel is pushed back to battery — directly readable instead of implied by a single number. A fourth slider for barrel-and-breech mass shows why heavier guns need proportionally more orifice damping to arrest in the same travel distance.