3 ms·

There are fully functional coilgun prototypes out there that's (arguably) lethal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiGQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T

by desdiv 12y ago

There are fully functional coilgun prototypes out there that's (arguably) lethal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiGQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiGQ0 The fine print is that they're coilguns, not railguns; their operating principles are entirely different.

Florin_Andrei 12y ago
Well, different, but perhaps not quite entirely. It's the same "big current makes big magnetic field" principle.
ajuc 12y ago
This seems to have about the same energy of bullets as some slingshots, and is considerably more expansive and complicated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuI634RAYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuI634RAYI It also shares some problems - namely the lack of riffling, and the bad accuracy/bullet stability problems over long distances (but it also probably can't shoot with enough energy for it to matter). I think till we solve batery problem - portable railguns and coilguns will be about as realistic weapons as slingshots.
- darkmighty 12y ago
  I think the military are already using coilguns but for mortars. With small munitions a very small fraction of the nergy deliverable by the batteries/capacitors is imprinted on the actual projectile -- a lot gets lost on the coils -- and there's not enough time to use a significant amount of energy. With mortars you can use bigger projectiles which have better magnetic properties and a lot more mass (more time to gain kinetic energy).
  - desdiv 12y ago
    I think the military are already using coilguns but for mortars. It's still in early R&D stage unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective): http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA481646 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA481646 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA610358 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA610358
angersock 12y ago
I always thought that using a two-stage design, where a coilgun does the injection for a railgun, might be interesting.

by desdiv 12y ago

Florin_Andrei 12y ago

Well, different, but perhaps not quite entirely. It's the same "big current makes big magnetic field" principle.

ajuc 12y ago

This seems to have about the same energy of bullets as some slingshots, and is considerably more expansive and complicated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuI634RAYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuI634RAYI It also shares some problems - namely the lack of riffling, and the bad accuracy/bullet stability problems over long distances (but it also probably can't shoot with enough energy for it to matter). I think till we solve batery problem - portable railguns and coilguns will be about as realistic weapons as slingshots.

darkmighty 12y ago
I think the military are already using coilguns but for mortars. With small munitions a very small fraction of the nergy deliverable by the batteries/capacitors is imprinted on the actual projectile -- a lot gets lost on the coils -- and there's not enough time to use a significant amount of energy. With mortars you can use bigger projectiles which have better magnetic properties and a lot more mass (more time to gain kinetic energy).
- desdiv 12y ago
  I think the military are already using coilguns but for mortars. It's still in early R&D stage unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective): http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA481646 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA481646 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA610358 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA610358

angersock 12y ago

I always thought that using a two-stage design, where a coilgun does the injection for a railgun, might be interesting.