It’s not a matter of if, but when gunpowder will be succeeded. It’s a one thousand year old technology. It works fine. But we think we’ve got something better. There’s tremendous potential here, but the technology is still in its infancy.
David Wirth, Co-Founder of Arcflash Labs
BASIC STATS (from website): 20 pounds unloaded; 75m/s muzzle velocity; $3690.
"Forgotten Weapons" comments:
NOTE: "Gun Jesus" here opposed Trump, and acts like an asshole when you point that out in the comments. Mine are blocked from being seen. Like I said, he's an asshole. But his comments are valid. (Video at link above shows field trial.)
This is accurately identified as a gauss rifle, coil gun, or linear accelerator (although gauss "rifle" is a bit misleading, as it is a smoothbore launcher). It functions by using a series of coils energized to produce electromagnetic fields and pull a ferrous projectile down a barrel.
Fundamentally, the GR-1 is an alpha sort of prototype. It is the equivalent to the first Wright Flyer - a technology demonstrator and a way to gain experience and expertise in building coil guns. As capacitor technology continues to improve, we will see coil gun capability improve from the level of airguns to that of handguns and eventually true rifles and beyond.
Legal details: The GR-1, and coil guns in general, are not federally regulated as firearms. Under the law, "firearms" are specifically defined as propelling a projectile by combustion, and coil guns do not do this. Arcflash treats their coil guns as airguns out of an abundance of legal caution, and as a result there are several places where the GR-1 is not shipped because of state or local regulation on muzzle energy of airguns."
FUDD THOUGHTS: This goes to the Heller weakness discussed in TDF 17. Because this is obviously not in "common use" in the civilian world, courts could readily rule that it can be relatively freely regulated. "Firefly"-type visions develop, whereby government forces will have a descendant of this weapon, while we're still running around with "fire"arms. How things actually shake out remains to be seen.
TDF INDEX: Cats, Guns, and National Security: THE DAILY FUDD index. https://catsgunsandnationalsecurity.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-daily-fudd-index.html
