Ah! the monkey wrench. How can I forget it. I had my share of them. One time, I put a new head gasket all by myself on my little Fiat and then found out, I had some parts left over. The car ran fine...I still do not know what happened.... Well, that is why, we need supercavitation and small but high density mass to get sufficient kinetic energy such that it will travel in a straight line (almost)...
A big rail gun could propel things into space. The Canadians built a conventional explosive cannon to launch satelites into space in the '70s or '80s. It would work you'd have to have a long barrel/rail, lots of power, and a fairly streamlined payload. Bullet-esque. Is that how esque is spelled? I don't know.
