The Coil Gun
In response to Cavutto's comment on my last entry, guns are absolutely more fun to shoot than to blog about. But here's another entry anyway about the "coil gun".
They're mostly science fiction for now, requiring too much energy too fast to be light and powerful enough for carrying by an infantryman. For those that don't know what a coil gun is, it's a gun that relies on magnetism and electricity to move a bullet rather than the explosive force of a cartridge filled with gunpowder.
The barrel of the gun is as usual, but in several places along the barrel is a coil of metal that acts as an electromagnet, pulling the bullet toward it. As the bullet gets close to the first coil that coil shuts off and the next one in line pulls it along further, continuing the velocity. A diagram is here ( http://www.global-defence.com/1997/High-speed/CoilgunLG.jpg ).
It is possible to make these with things from a simple electronics store, but it would be relatively low-powered, not even as strong as a store-bought BB gun most likely, but probably a fun project.
As technology advances we may see the coil gun see more interest, but it's impractical for now as anything but a toy or in a laboratory. But possible advantages are: it would be much quieter than a firearm and could, in theory, work well in outer space if for whatever reason someone had to shoot something in space.
The moon men will never know what hit them.
~S
They're mostly science fiction for now, requiring too much energy too fast to be light and powerful enough for carrying by an infantryman. For those that don't know what a coil gun is, it's a gun that relies on magnetism and electricity to move a bullet rather than the explosive force of a cartridge filled with gunpowder.
The barrel of the gun is as usual, but in several places along the barrel is a coil of metal that acts as an electromagnet, pulling the bullet toward it. As the bullet gets close to the first coil that coil shuts off and the next one in line pulls it along further, continuing the velocity. A diagram is here ( http://www.global-defence.com/1997/High-speed/CoilgunLG.jpg ).
It is possible to make these with things from a simple electronics store, but it would be relatively low-powered, not even as strong as a store-bought BB gun most likely, but probably a fun project.
As technology advances we may see the coil gun see more interest, but it's impractical for now as anything but a toy or in a laboratory. But possible advantages are: it would be much quieter than a firearm and could, in theory, work well in outer space if for whatever reason someone had to shoot something in space.
The moon men will never know what hit them.
~S
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