Posted on 10/26/2015 7:49:57 AM PDT by w1n1
If you think the image above looks frightening, you’re right. The crazy contraption pictured in the image is the first portable railgun, a futuristic projectile launcher associated most commonly with the military or NASA. The man in the image above isn’t in the military, and he’s not a NASA engineer. Instead, he’s a civilian who used some engineering smarts, some widely available parts and a 3D printer to create a functioning weapon that can fire graphite, aluminum, tungsten and even plasma projectiles at speeds of more than 560 mph.
Using a combination of 3D printing and widely available components, the man built a functioning handheld railgun that houses six capacitors and delivers more than 1.8 kilojoules of energy per shot. What does it shoot, you might be wondering? So far he has tested the gun using metal rods made of graphite, aluminum and copper-coated tungsten. Go here to see the video shot of this railgun.
Wow, the plasma rifles from Aliens is really happening!!??
That’s about 821 FPS. While it is an impressive first step, It’s a little light on power at this stage. He needs to get that weapon into the 2,500+ FPS range.
But is it a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range?
Also, is it equipped with a flux capacitor? If not it’s useless.
I’d bet you a dollar that touching those charged capacitors would leave a mark...
This just goes to show that attempts at gun control are futile. It’s already quite relatively easy to make a firearm with common shop tools. Before too long some inventive guy is going to create a 3D printed electronic pistol that everyone can produce at home. “Phasers set to stun.”
Stun guns will be the most frightening then to happen. Eventually the criminals would get their hands on it and would stun every woman they want to rape, and stun homeowners and take their time ransacking the home. Unless of course people have a gun to blast them away if they don’t catch them by surprise
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.