Comments on: Bolt-action coil gun

By: Spindoc

Spindoc — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:50:27 +0000

To add rotational force add a rotational motor where the projectile is contained ( like the ones on a hotwheels track ). Though the projectile would have to be both lightweight and cylindrical to be effective. Food for thought

By: deluxe

deluxe — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:23:07 +0000

rifling would only work if it was using a gaseous pressurized system as far as i know its magnetic though. I’m looking to make a gauss rifle myself, but can’t figure out how to rig continuous fire. I want to use permanent magnets to reduce the heat emitted, but this seems impossible without electromagnets. any suggestions?

By: GetLo

GetLo — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:15:26 +0000

Someone mentioned rifling… I found some website that sells rifled PVC pipes:

http://www.spudtech.com/detail.asp?id=32

By: Ru

Ru — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:07:03 +0000

Whoever said a gun needed rifling to stabilise its rounds? Modern high velocity tank cannon are smoothbore, and fire balanced, finned rounds.

Grinding a little mass off the back end of a rod projectile and leaving the surface rough might move its centre of mass far enough forward of its centre of drag that it will fly (more or less) straight.

It doesn’t take an engineering genius to come up with something a little more effective than that, if you felt the need.

By: SplodgeOfDoom

SplodgeOfDoom — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:05:27 +0000

It would be interesting to see someone make a multi-stage (6-7 maybe?) coilgun.

nice project.

By: Dingus

Dingus — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:39:49 +0000

With a coilgun like this, it would be possible to use a Sears–Haack shaped bullet that wouldn’t be practical with a regular gun.

By: paul

paul — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:02:08 +0000

I’ve built two coilguns so far, One is found here:
http://www.coilgun.ru/ (section 5mm, #5.3)

I am currently working on a 3 stage coilgun with 8.8 joule -> 35.2 joule -> 50.8 joule stages respectively, using IR transistors for triggering and a 12 V relay for the “injector” stage.

coilguns, although powerful and cool have a very low efficiency rating and also have no way of magnetically inducing a significant amount of spin on the projectile… its new tech, getting better all the time ^_^

By: luke

luke — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:53:23 +0000

make it look like the 40k tau rail rifle
its close, but it could be so much closer

By: xrazorwirex

xrazorwirex — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:23:23 +0000

“i wich he would use his intelligens for Humen health Project not for guns…”

HAHHHAAAA!! Just the kind of ‘intelligens’ I would expect from someone saying something like this….

By: xrazorwirex

xrazorwirex — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:20:48 +0000

lol, I love it when stuff that’s actually worth reading still gets hit with the “WTF THIS NO HACK! ME WANT HACK!” comments.

What do you want, a japanese tutorial on replacing a netbooks screen hinges with spaghetti and hotglue using only tweezers and homemade materials??

By: joel

joel — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:59:20 +0000

Coil guns are pretty cool, but people need to start shooting cooler things. I’ve seen tons of videos of a shooting empty pop cans with a coil gun.

Just some ideas:
Full pop cans
Through rings of fire
Apple off head (didn’t get the idea from me though)
Glass bottles

By: Taehl

Taehl — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:48:29 +0000

From a military point of view:

Pros:
- No sound or flash, without need for a suppressor (due to no expanding gasses)
- Ammunition is very simple and easy to mass produce (much more so than a regular bullet)
- No moving parts (which makes it easier to manufacture, easier to clean, and more resistant to dust and dirt)

Cons:
- Low refire rate (I’m not saying “omg it isnt machinegun”, I’m saying that one round per second semiautomatic cycling rate would be preferred)
- Portability (how many pounds of batteries would it take to fire 150 rounds?)
- Sensitivity to moisture (how could the weapon be airtight, and yet still be able to be opened for cleaning?)
- How many rounds can it fire before burning out something or another? (that is, how often would parts need replacing?)
- Weight (the lower, the better, and that prototype doesn’t look very light)

Just my two cents. As always, I reserve the right to be wrong. That being said, it sure looks like a fun project, and must be quite a conversation piece.

By: polymath

polymath — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:17:14 +0000

to the detractors: its a prototype. of course it looks rough. and while it is a gun, it is also equally easy to kill someone with a rough end hammer as it is a gun. guns are tool just like hammers, humans are soft fleshy critters, get used to it.

its an excellent proof of concept especially for a single stage coil gun. if you think you could do better then do so. or at least make helpful suggestions.

By: Morden

Morden — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:43:26 +0000

I saw the cover photo and the phrase “bolt action rail gun” and fell all over myself reading up on it.

Then was disappointed

Damn

By: Arthur Grumbine

Arthur Grumbine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:42:35 +0000

@kj
The “iWich”?! Is that the Apple-branded sandwich that makes your intestines “Just Work”?