Well the target he was using was a regular bullseye style with a grid on it.
The card board it is mounted on is from shooting sports and is the standard target used in IPSC and USPSA (International Practical Shooting Confederation and United States Practical Shooting Association). While some of the divisions are anything but “practical” with high end race guns, both of those sports have their roots in “practical” shooting, hence man sized/shaped targets. But because of these common, standardized targets and all the systems made to set them up, it is why they are the most commonly seen.
Forgotten Weapons is the one channel where I don’t have a problem sharing, because Ian is good at exploring weapons from a historic and engineering perspective. Even though he will take them out to the range sometimes to try it out, he leaves out the macho yucks more common on others sites.
Being an electrical engineer, I was hoping for some information on the electrical engineering aspect, as that’s a significant part of this gizmo. I was left disappointed. So many questions!
Edit: I found the user manual, so some questions are answered.
Does the thing use Hall sensors to know when to turn the coils on and off? no, optical sensors.
If so, wouldn’t a computer just get in the way? It does timing and records data, useful.
How many milliseconds is each coil actuated for?
What sort of transistors are used to switch the HV? SCRs.
I learned that the capacitors are 3300 uF 500V which sell for under $100 each.
Also, why are there no bleeder resistors on these capacitors for safety?
The capacitor-coil-SCR design uses parts that have been available for 40 years. That has room for improvement.
The power supply is a prototype also, so it could be made smaller and more capable.
But I don’t see it improving more than 3X in a few years. Power density doesn’t grow anywhere nearly as fast as information density.
Hey, I know that that is, sorta. This paintball gun, the X-Mag by Airgun Designs, had a magnet in the trigger and when it got close to the grip body from pulling the trigger it activated the solenoid.
This is not “first generation”. First generation was the solenoid guns we build 60+ years ago when we were kids. We could stick a nail 1/4" or so into a wood plank back then.
He turns off the rifle, removes the magazine (and the errant pellet).
Then walks down to the target.
Am I crazy for thinking he should also have turned the gun away from pointing towards the target?
I think that would be protocol at a gun range, even “unloaded” and “safetied” guns shouldnt ever be pointing at you.
Ian also took the Gauss rifle to a shooting match (one where he usually shows up with eg. impractical French revolvers from 1894) to test it in the real world.
I enjoyed that. Ian does not seem as toxic as the usual fat, white gunbois, and I can think about the physics and not have to worry about why they all want a gun so badly.
I don’t know much 'bout guns but I have worked with pulse power. This isn’t a rail gun. A rail gun passes current through the round, and the expanding magnetic field throws it forward. This uses a magnetic slug and the coils draw the slug into them, giving the acceleration.
The low muzzle velocity is a bit silly. Conventional guns have a limit on muzzle velocity - you can’t go any faster than the expanding gases are going, Thing like rail-guns and Gauss guns do not have this limit. But batteries and capacitors have been coming on a lot lately.
I wonder why they don’t make the first coil a bit different. This is the only one where the slug is stationary. They could get the bullet spinning using a conventional motor, and then perhaps give it a mechanical kick using a core that never goes far from the first coil. Gut feeling says that would be more efficient, but I may well be wrong.
Or, you could have a Gauss extension for a conventional rifle - get it spinning and going fast, then use the Gauss bit to get it going faster.
It depends on the range. I have been to ranges that have a rifle rack by the bench and you do store it there before going down range.
I have been to smaller ranges where they don’t have those, so really the safest thing is to remove the magazine, if there is one, lock the action open and leave it on the bench. No one is allowed to mess with it while people are down range. Chamber flags are a good idea too.
This method is 100% safe as guns don’t just “go off” lying on a bench. It takes human interaction. You are the one walking in front of it, so you will make sure it is 100% clear.
So - now - where is it pointing? At the range, you have it pointing down range at all times. There are berms and sometimes baffles to make sure any errant shot is in the direction of the range equipped to handle it. You point it somewhere else and now where is it pointing? Down the firing line? A different direction that won’t catch the bullet?
I suppose he may have angled it 20 degrees or so and still be pointing at the berm, but again, if cleared and no one else is touching it, it is 100% safe.
Oh, I should check that out. Yeah, it didn’t look ready for prime time in the review.
Hmm yeah, if you could get it spinning and then send it, that would stabilize it in flight. Maybe something we see in the future.
You could point it down. You could point it 10 degrees away from the target. Which is not “pointing at someone else checking their target” because there is no “someone else”, just him. (And if it were “dangerous” to aim it 10 degrees because its aimed at “someone else” now-- then how is it “safe” to instead have it aimed at yourself? Your logic is all over the place.)
He is standing at the target. His gun is pointed at the target. It’s just needless. There is no downside to not having the gun aiming directly at you.
(If its 100% safe and guns dont go off lying on a bench, you can point it any direction, just not at yourself when you are downrange.)
