hmmm interesting. This has been done before I think. I wonder what his muzzle velocity is?

I wonder what his muzzle velocity is?

It can't be very great. I've never heard of a linear accelerator (which that thing basically is) that could accelerate an object to bullet speeds in so short of a distance.

I also wonder about the power pack. Linear accelerators require a lot of juice

Railguns are being researched as weapons with projectiles that do not contain explosives, but are given extremely great velocities: 3,500 m/s (11,500 ft/s, approximately Mach 10 at sea level

If this had happened in the US the boy would have been expelled, taken away from his parents and put in a mental institution.

In Mother Russia, rifle shoots you.

When I was 15 I was putting my brainpower into such endeavors as breaking off the tip of my pencils in locked classroom keyholes in order to avoid taking quizes by making the doors impossible to open.

So I was at about this kid's level of maturity and intelligence.....

Railguns are being researched as weapons with projectiles that do not contain explosives...

yes, a railgun was what I was thinking but I thought they were pretty good sized and required large power supplies like the Goatman points out.

So I don't think this is a new invention at all but if he achieved a high enough muzzle velocity in a small package it could be a major improvement.

Otherwise, it just is a cool pellet gun.

When I was 15 I had a chemistry set and I was already making gunpowder and lighter fluid tennis ball cannons. Almost blew up my house one day with the gunpowder mixture but fortunately I only made flash powder that day and it only melted through metal tray and into the top of my mom's dresser and blackened the walls.

I also had wired my bedroom so everything (lights tv radio) was controlled by a switch panel and that anyone who entered would trigger a silent alarm and get recorded by the cam corder... I also made my own free albums from the radio on friday album night.

Today I would probably have been arrested as a Terrorist by the FBI or for copyright infringement by RIAA at least a Belligerent by John McCain.

#7 Donnerboy> Otherwise, it just is a cool pellet gun.

I am wondering how much 'hype' there is compared to the facts. If it can propel a bullet of some sort at anything approaching centerfire rifle speeds, then it is a huge accomplishment. Perhaps a U.S. arms manufacturer can license the technology at some point.

But if it is nothing more than a 'cool pellet gun', I wouldn't mind owning one if somebody like Daisy was allowed to manufacture them. Then again, my current pellet rifle is pretty quiet, inexpensive and a good training tool for younger shooters.

re#9

Yeah I have a nice .177 rifle w/scope and my pellet gun doesn't require magnetized bullets or a power supply.

A.J. Pfister (the p is silent) invented that back in 1968...

Muzzle velocity must be pretty low if it is silent. Anything over the speed of sound and the shock wave from the bullet would make a lot of noise, regardless of how silent the propulsion system is.

Anything over the speed of sound and the shock wave from the bullet would make a lot of noise, regardless of how silent the propulsion system is.

Not quite true. A supersonic bullet is be audible, but could hardly be described as "a lot of noise". Google it if you don't believe me

A.J. Pfister (the p is silent) invented that back in 1968...

Not one Get Smart fan here?