True Gauss Weapons

[RyuaNesha]

I like Gauss weapons, a gun that works just with electricity and does not use a small explosion to shoot a bullet or something similar. Most games make a big mistake with them, such as Stalker: clear sky. Gauss guns do not shoot a blast of electromagnetic energy disabling electronics and somehow killing people. Gauss guns, commonly known as coil guns, pulls a bullet through the barrel using electromagnets in stead of an explosion pushing it out of the barrel. Just so less people make Gauss weapon mods that shoot electromagnetic beams of energy.

 

 

*Not paid for by the non-existent organization for accurate mods*

[Moraelin]

Just for the record: there is no such thing as a Gauss gun.

 

Coil guns like what you described have been tried, and they're weak and inefficient. Plus the kind of electromagnetic field that would actually pull a bullet hard enough and fast enough, would also cause a heck of a Tesla-coil kinda discharge, and probably zap the tooth fillings in your mouth and pull your belt buckle through your chest. But that's a moot point, because without superconductors and a high voltage line as a source, you're not going to generate that kind of field anyway. Not the least because the coil itself acts as a low pass filter (guess why you have those bulges on some cables?), preventing the pulse from rising fast enough.

 

Just about the only electromagnetic weapon that actually works is a rail gun. There the "coil" is made of the two rails and the "bullet" between them closing the circuit, and as long as the "bullet" moves, the induction pretty much keeps accelerating it. Downside: it has to be already moving (e.g., having been shot by more conventional means) when it touches the rails and closes the circuit, or the only effect will be welding it to both rails.

 

There have been experiments with infantry rail-guns, but the gun is either too heavy, or it warps itself after the first shot. It also needs one heck of a battery pack.

 

And that has been a paid announcement from the "arguing about the realism of fictive SF weapons is silly" organization ;)

[Tagaziel]

I'd like to remind you that in Fallout the war happened in 2077, so they quite probably developed the necessary technology to create powerful coil guns. Ah, those crazy Germans...

[ZableBlaze]

I like this idea. The Guass Weapons would be the ideal stealth killing tool (I'd imagine as they would be silent (I'd imagine)), without the need for silencers.

[Baelkin]

I'd like to remind you that in Fallout the war happened in 2077, so they quite probably developed the necessary technology to create powerful coil guns. Ah, those crazy Germans...

 

Not to mention that the cars run on miniaturized nuclear fission cells, laser technology is powerful enough to zap a man to a crisp, plasma weapons are a reality (Apparently Russian Scientists have already made a working prototype, though not a handheld device and not used to make people into green globs of goo) and artificial intelligence has been developed to a point where robots and computers can gain self-awareness. :D

 

So Gauss Weapons are not unrealistic to have in Fallout 3, it's just a matter of modders using the correct term when they make weapons and not label them "Gauss", when they in fact function differently than what the term "Gauss" covers - ie. inert projectiles accelerated through a magnetic coil to high speed. I know it's not a biggie, but from my point of view it doesn't hurt to actually do some research and think about what the concept behind your imaginary weapon is, the actual mechanics behind it and name it appropriately according to already known terms or, if such a concept does not exist, define a new one. It's the SCIENCE! 'tific approach we are talking here. :)

[Sephlyn]

I also wish people would look up the difference between a Guass rifle and a Railgun that crap drives me insane. Btw Bullet Trains prove that this kind of weaponry is very promising.

[Moraelin]

Bullet Trains don't prove jack squat about any weapon, because they're very different technologies. Bullet trains "prove" aerodynamics, that's all. Even maglev trains have exactly zero to do with how a Gauss gun would work. They have about as much in common with a Gauss gun as my cat has with the chinese dragons.

[Tagaziel]

Not to mention that the cars run on miniaturized nuclear fission cells

 

They don't. That's Bethesda's idiotic idea that's purely non-canon - cars have been repeatedly stated in the originals to run on electrical engines, charged with SEC or MFC. That's actually a much more high tech solution, as it implies that efficent electrical motors have been developed.

 

 

laser technology is powerful enough to zap a man to a crisp,

 

See above. Bethesda doesn't understand how a laser works it seems, or have confused the pulse weapons with layzers.

 

plasma weapons are a reality (Apparently Russian Scientists have already made a working prototype, though not a handheld device and not used to make people into green globs of goo) and artificial intelligence has been developed to a point where robots and computers can gain self-awareness. :D

 

Aye.

 

So Gauss Weapons are not unrealistic to have in Fallout 3, it's just a matter of modders using the correct term when they make weapons and not label them "Gauss", when they in fact function differently than what the term "Gauss" covers - ie. inert projectiles accelerated through a magnetic coil to high speed. I know it's not a biggie, but from my point of view it doesn't hurt to actually do some research and think about what the concept behind your imaginary weapon is, the actual mechanics behind it and name it appropriately according to already known terms or, if such a concept does not exist, define a new one. It's the SCIENCE! 'tific approach we are talking here. :)

 

Actually, I think the PPK12 and M72 worked in that way, accelerating an inert 2mm EC (ElectroConductive?) to extreme velocities...

[furtim]

Spend some time on Wikipedia, guys. ;) Gauss guns and coil guns are in fact the same thing. But they are, actually, fairly similar to maglev motors. Both use magnetic induction to move metallic projectiles. On the other hand, maglev motors are tuned for low acceleration, but the same principle is at work.

 

This is distinct from railguns, which actually pass current through the projectile. Wikipedia has a pretty cool diagram showing how that generates a force.

 

Oh, also, about the OP's pet peeve in depicting big, flashy electromagnetic disturbances flying through the air whenever gauss guns are used. I so blame that crappy Eraser movie for that one. And also for the whole "near the speed of light" thing. :P

[Moraelin]

Actually, I think the PPK12 and M72 worked in that way, accelerating an inert 2mm EC (ElectroConductive?) to extreme velocities...

 

Indeed, there's that. Fallout 2 already had the 2mm Gauss guns and they do look more like coil guns than rail guns. So I'm not opposed to them, mind you. Just saying that it's silly to debade the realism of SF weapons, and doubly so to see people come and make a fuss that someone modded the wrong thing. It's not like anyone is forced to use anyone else's mod, way I see it.

 

Gauss guns and coil guns are in fact the same thing.

 

Nobody said they aren't. Well, not in this thread anyway.

 

But they are, actually, fairly similar to maglev motors. Both use magnetic induction to move metallic projectiles.

 

Only in as much as your car is similar to the space shuttle. I mean, both burn fuel.

 

Additionally, there's a reason why I mentioned maglev in a separate sentence. The originally mentioned Japanese Bullet Trains aren't, in fact, maglev. They're normal trains with wheels, on rails. They're just very aerodynamic.

 

On the other hand, maglev motors are tuned for low acceleration, but the same principle is at work.

 

Again, only in as much you can say with a straight face that a car's engine is conceptually the same as a jet engine, because they both burn hydrocarbons to generate thrust. You'll find that the challenges of making it accelerate that hard and that abruptly in that limited a space (and considering that the closer you get to the coil's center, the less of that acceleration you are seeing) are in a whole other class of engineering by themselves. As I was saying, that quick and powerful a change of EM field, would cause lightning in the air and one heck of an induction in anything conductive nearby, including a human body or nerves. And that's just the start of your problems.