So what about the "path of least resistance" thingy? If the weapon discharges in a loop (as it would have to to make the field) then the "extra charge" would simply loop back into the weapon without visual effect. The reason why a stun gun arcs is because it has enough go-go to blow straight across the air gap to complete the circuit. If it lacked this "oomph" then it wouldn't do anything visual until it hit something that can complete the circuit.

Hush.

You're spoiling my day dreaming.

- J.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CNldTbYy5A...feature=related

Actual man-portable rail gun being fired.

Notice the huge cloud of sparks that come out of it. Those are little bits of metal from, either the rails or the projectile that were stripped off by friction and superheated by the relatively huge electrical current passing through them.

And here is a 16KJ desktop rail gun being fired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG7A29k4Oos...feature=related

Notice the same cloud of sparks.

And here is an 8kJ pistol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdYxzn8B9z0...feature=related

Once again, cloud of sparks.

It isn't as noticeable as a muzzle flash, but someone who is looking for it will see it.


Of course, these weapons have two things in common. They're made by amateurs and probably not to exacting tolerances, so one can probably reduce the spark effect with some effort. The other thing they have in common if that you have to plug them into wall outlets, severely limiting their utility where 110 volt outlets are not available.

Just a Gauss gun (projektile has no contact with barrel) is not a Rail gun (projectile has contact with rails).

A correctly made railgun will have the projectile free floating in the accelerator after the insertion into the breech by the receiver, actually. Designing the weapon to contain the stresses from a projectile moving at railgun speeds without this free-float effect would be...problematic?

Also, the "rail" in railgun is just a moniker used to designate that the weapon doesn't have a coil around the barrel as an accelerator but rather uses a system much more like an electric motor laid out in a linear fashion.

Heh.

I noticed this on youtube. Naval Rail Gun testing. Not sure it'll be so much use in SR, given the amount of time it takes to prep the damn thing!

The pretty sparks on the slow mo footage of the target are nice.