Hey gun guys, about the "rail gun"
- Thread starter Mr Bogus
- Start date
I got my numbers wrong.. it is 5 pounds at 7X the speed of sound, range.. 200 miles..
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=39914
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=39914
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google is your friend 
here you go 
Last week at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, in Dahlgren, VA, a seven-pound bullet emerged from a truck-sized contraption at seven times the speed of sound and sent a visible shockwave through the air before crashing into a metal bunker filled with sand. With 10.6 megajoules of kinetic energy, this aluminum slug was propelled not by explosives but by an electric field, making this the most powerful electromagnetic railgun ever fired. The device is part of the navy's railgun development program.
Show of force: A shockwave is produced (above) as a supersonic bullet emerges from the navy's electromagnetic railgun, which was tested late last month.
Credit: U.S. Navy
Multimedia
• Watch the railgun fire a seven-pound bullet.
• See the flames produced by the bullet.
While propellant-driven shells have been mainstays of naval warships for the past hundred years, the cost and safety issues related to storing explosive materials have driven engineers to seek alternatives like the electromagnetic railgun. "There are physical limits to what you can do with gunpowder," says Charles Garnett, the manager at Dahlgren, referring to the maximum velocities that explosions can produce. A railgun could eventually send a 40-pound slug 200 miles in six minutes--10 times the range of the navy's primary surface support gun, the MK 45--and it could be used to support Marine troops engaged in land-based operations.
"A lot of people think a railgun is not going to make a lot of noise," Garnett says. "It's electrically fired, and they expect a whoosh and no sound." In reality, when the bullet emerges, it lets out a crack as electricity arcs through the air like lightning.
The railgun gets its name from two highly conductive rails, which form a complete electric circuit once the metal projectile and a sliding armature are put in place. When current starts flowing through the device, it creates a powerful electromagnetic field that accelerates the projectile down the barrel at 40,000 gs, launching it in a matter of milliseconds. Aerodynamic drag along with a million amps of current heats the bullet to 1,000 °C, igniting aluminum particles and leaving a trail of flame in its wake. The researchers estimate the muzzle energy based on the mass and velocity of the bullet in the barrel and from precisely timed x-ray snapshots during flight.
Last week at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, in Dahlgren, VA, a seven-pound bullet emerged from a truck-sized contraption at seven times the speed of sound and sent a visible shockwave through the air before crashing into a metal bunker filled with sand. With 10.6 megajoules of kinetic energy, this aluminum slug was propelled not by explosives but by an electric field, making this the most powerful electromagnetic railgun ever fired. The device is part of the navy's railgun development program.
Show of force: A shockwave is produced (above) as a supersonic bullet emerges from the navy's electromagnetic railgun, which was tested late last month.
Credit: U.S. Navy
Multimedia
• Watch the railgun fire a seven-pound bullet.
• See the flames produced by the bullet.
While propellant-driven shells have been mainstays of naval warships for the past hundred years, the cost and safety issues related to storing explosive materials have driven engineers to seek alternatives like the electromagnetic railgun. "There are physical limits to what you can do with gunpowder," says Charles Garnett, the manager at Dahlgren, referring to the maximum velocities that explosions can produce. A railgun could eventually send a 40-pound slug 200 miles in six minutes--10 times the range of the navy's primary surface support gun, the MK 45--and it could be used to support Marine troops engaged in land-based operations.
"A lot of people think a railgun is not going to make a lot of noise," Garnett says. "It's electrically fired, and they expect a whoosh and no sound." In reality, when the bullet emerges, it lets out a crack as electricity arcs through the air like lightning.
The railgun gets its name from two highly conductive rails, which form a complete electric circuit once the metal projectile and a sliding armature are put in place. When current starts flowing through the device, it creates a powerful electromagnetic field that accelerates the projectile down the barrel at 40,000 gs, launching it in a matter of milliseconds. Aerodynamic drag along with a million amps of current heats the bullet to 1,000 °C, igniting aluminum particles and leaving a trail of flame in its wake. The researchers estimate the muzzle energy based on the mass and velocity of the bullet in the barrel and from precisely timed x-ray snapshots during flight.
Got to love Wiki
Massive amounts of heat are created by the electricity flowing through the rails, as well as by the friction of the projectile leaving the device. The heat created by this friction itself can cause thermal expansion of the rails and projectile, further increasing the frictional heat. This causes three main problems: melting of equipment, decreased safety of personnel, and detection by enemy forces. As briefly discussed above, the stresses involved in firing this sort of device require an extremely heat-resistant material. Otherwise the rails, barrel, and all equipment attached would melt or be irreparably damaged.
In practice the rails are, with most designs of railgun, subject to erosion due to each launch; and projectiles can be subject to some degree of ablation also, and this can limit railgun life, in some cases severely.
Massive amounts of heat are created by the electricity flowing through the rails, as well as by the friction of the projectile leaving the device. The heat created by this friction itself can cause thermal expansion of the rails and projectile, further increasing the frictional heat. This causes three main problems: melting of equipment, decreased safety of personnel, and detection by enemy forces. As briefly discussed above, the stresses involved in firing this sort of device require an extremely heat-resistant material. Otherwise the rails, barrel, and all equipment attached would melt or be irreparably damaged.
In practice the rails are, with most designs of railgun, subject to erosion due to each launch; and projectiles can be subject to some degree of ablation also, and this can limit railgun life, in some cases severely.
By the way the railgun is over a hundred years old .....
now that is the coolest thing I've heard about it.
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here is the shot they declassified last year.. (short version) keeping in mind only electricity to fly this thing...I want a link to the video!!! Maybe, just maybe, they've finally invented something that can outrun the MIGHTY BLUE BUSA
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Takeuon
Registered
AWESOME! These are still highly classified. Although my Pops (ex-Navy) has some "friends" he still talks to and the word is.... the Navy may or may not have a couple attack destroyers already equipped with this very powerful weapon. Wonder where they are floatin about right now 
Takeuon
Registered
you know yer cookin' when your projectile
makes mach diamonds
cool pic!
You know yer cookin' when your projectile
makes Mach Diamonds
Projectile won't make Mach diamonds but scramjets do pretty good
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