Gauss' GP-219 electromagnetic pistol fires steel projectiles silently

Sure, mechanical sentries and AirSoft turrets are novel, but there's nothing like whipping out an electromagnetic pistol to show folks you mean business. The Gauss GP-219 looks like it came straight from level 5 of Duke Nukem 3D, and rocks a PIC microcontroller, dual coils with "precision pulsing" to fire steel projectiles, twin infrared sensors to assist in positioning, and even a laser sight to keep your enemies pegged. Powered by an NiCd battery pack, this bad boy also features a bar display to track "capacitor bank charge progress," battery and fault LED indicators, and is "completely silent" when fired. The wildest part about this science-fiction dream come true is how effective it actually is, so be sure to click on for a few more pictures, and hit the read links for all the nitty gritty and even a few live action videos.

Read - Gauss Pistol GP-219
Read - Pistol whipping in action, Nukem-style

[4cr JaXs @ Dec 26th 2006 12:45PM]

Firefox + Adblock Plus + Filter set = TEH R0XSORz

[iamsoinsane @ Dec 23rd 2006 10:21PM]

dag yo, thats sweet

[johnnieblue @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:02PM]

That's awesome.

[uclatommy @ Dec 23rd 2006 10:49PM]

That is just about the coolest thing I have ever seen. I wonder if you could accelerate the bullet in a circle by having it travel through a barrel bent into a circle. You could accelerate the bullet by pulsing the coils over and over and then releasing the projectile on a tangent path once it reaches killing velocity.

[aliencam @ Dec 25th 2006 3:41PM]

no you can't do it in a circle, that would be like a perpetual motion device. you loose a lot of energy to the sides of the circle, as it still pushes against the sides, it doesn't automatically travel in the circle shape. It would make it slightly faster, but only because it increases the length, you would get the same (actually, better) effect if you just increased the length of the barrel (eg. a Gauss Coil Rifle).
i built a gauss rifle (not a coil rifle) for my IB Extended Essay Project. but i did experiment a bit with the coil rifle stuff, so i know this from experience.

[Farris @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:07PM]

Looks like the first link has been "shot" down by the readers.

HAHAHA.

Seriously, though. This looks like a cool project. I agree with UCLA Tommy about this being sped in a circle to increase velocity, but I think that unless you're using a BB or something really small, you would have to have a large diameter acceleration tube.

[LukeA @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:22PM]

They should have used Google Pages. Then they would have gotten more than zero bandwidth.

[Mischa Lockton @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:39PM]

"That is just about the coolest thing I have ever seen."

A sad statement to approach the holidaze on. Many of us starve to death while geeks invent an EM gun.

[LandMineHare @ Dec 24th 2006 1:24AM]

Maybe you should have bought some food instead of a computer and internets?

[len @ Dec 24th 2006 11:33AM]

A sad statement to approach the holidaze on. Many of us starve to death while geeks invent an EM gun.

I think it's a great way to keep you from stealing my food.

[Mike @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:42PM]

This is cool technology, I wont argue that. "Silent" is not a very large accomplishment however.

I don't doubt for one second that you couldn't unleash a fury of .22 Short rounds in an urban center without anyone noticing, and that is being generous.

Furthermore when it comes to standard munitions aside from the muzzle report, which can be deadened by suppressors, there is still the matter of the rather tell tale super sonic crack of an object passing the sound barrier.

[Brian Paul Ehni @ Dec 24th 2006 9:59AM]

A .22 short is still a full-power round (though maybe a little less so than a .22 long or long rifle) and is supersonic in flight.

If you want quiet sub-sonic .22 ammo, try .22 CB caps. Used in a rifle, they are slightly louder than an air rifle, yet pack the almost the same punch as a standard .22!

Certainly enough for squirrels, raccoons, and other unwanted pests.

[Matt B. @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:46PM]

ok - the military has had some company developing something like this for a few years now - I saw it on the military channel just a few weeks back. they've got modified glocks using this technology firing faster than m249s!

[Dean Lowe @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:51PM]

http://www.gausspistol.com/faq.html
"Can I buy one?

I will be offering plans, parts, and kits by April 1, 2007. First I have to make sure I'm covered
liability-wise. If you think you might be interested then feel free to contact me and let me
know."

[CHIOU CHUAN TIAN @ Mar 17th 2008 3:31AM]

Dear Sirs:

I want to buy the gauss pistol GP-219 kit. Should payment by what?

Please know well to add the explanation.

Thanks!!

CHIOU CHUAN TIAN

[CHIOU CHUAN TIAN @ Jul 13th 2007 9:08PM]

I want to buy the Gauss pistol kits GP-219seses.Its purpose; is the related organization function that is academic sex research Electromagnetic coil, change into other kinetic energies, far from and in order to hurt the others.
Consult how you purchase?
Thanks!!

[William Harriss @ Dec 24th 2006 12:05AM]

Thanks to those of you who are interested in my project!

Mischa Lockton said:

'Their site says " Finally, the device the whole world has been yearning for since the beginning of time!"
Speak for yourselves, A-holes.'

I have removed the offending bullet point from the website. I should probably remove all other attempts at humor on the site, or at least simplify them for the, um, masses.

'Many of us starve to death while geeks invent an EM gun.'

Sorry, the 'starving masses'.

[Mischa Lockton @ Dec 24th 2006 1:02AM]

"I have removed the offending bullet point from the website."

Thank you. It was evil.

Congratulations on all of the positive response. It just kind of creeps me out.

[Alexander @ Dec 24th 2006 12:09AM]

Yes, we all know the tech is out there--and declassified too--so 'quitcherbitchin' about that. This is not meant to be that. It's meant to be a kit, so that you can have some fun making electronics things--and plink some cans.

Having said that, the previous post about a glock-sized device capable of sending a projectile faster than a m249 is absolute bunk. You'd need many coils, packed very, very close together along with a very large powersource to supply high-energy to all of them. So unless you can put some money where your mouth is, just stop making up stuff. It makes you look dumb.

The closest thing that I've seen WITH MY OWN EYES in the military was a very, very large gun that was essentially a flat-bed truck with a big-assed disel generator and bunches of capacitors that fired something along the lines of film-canister sized projectiles about 500y with no accuracy at all. The problem comes down to the fact that you can't spin a projectile that you send through a gauss rifle becuase the friction of the projectile on the rifiling slows it down too much for it to be of any use.

[nonex @ Jan 30th 2007 5:49PM]

the glock-sized device mentioned is not a coil gun at all; however, it uses electronics to fire regular pistol ammunition, stacked in the barrel like quarters in a roll of change, at blazingly fast speeds. there is also a full size sentry-type version: http://www.metalstorm.com/

[Korgmeister @ Dec 24th 2006 12:21AM]

Wow, this thing is awesome! I totally want to make one of my own once I get better at electronics.

I don't know whether to be dissapointed or relieved that it's useless as an antipersonnel weapon. Being able to build my own real gun would be cool, but I'm also glad that if the cops ever caught me with it, I could say "I know I don't have a liscence for it, but it's more of a target shooting pistol than a real gun".

[wahoo scott @ Dec 24th 2006 2:37AM]

it wasn't evil, it was just marketing bs.

lighten up, francis.

[shashikant baranga @ Dec 24th 2006 1:15AM]

should we not restrain ourselves to "publisize" such tools & technologies which can be copied by mindless "monkeys" who hate personal and social leberties?
it can be copied easily, even a crude copy can be dangerous! earlier pistols needed at least special steel in barrel!

[JP @ Dec 24th 2006 7:55PM]

Your concerns are valid, but anyone who would want to do this to hurt people would be better off modding a BB gun. I have not had a chance to look at the documentation, but rail guns such as this can not have the power to do significant damage, at least not with a Ni-Cad power source.

This is Just a cool thing, and people should not have to be responsible for the stupidity of others. You can not legislate intelligence, or morality, and we need to not act like we can, it just removes responsibility from those who need to take it. Those who act to harm.

"Security through obscurity, is no security at all"

[Ignatius @ Dec 24th 2006 1:25AM]

Wow. Um... got any other format other than .mov? QuickTime blows. I use QuickTime Alternative to get rid of all the garbage that normal QuickTime spews across my machine, and surprise, it doesn't work with browsers.

[Chris @ Dec 24th 2006 10:58AM]

actualy the yahoo site it's hosted on is giving a "999" error, whatever the hell that is. it's not your player or the QT format.

[Cameron @ Dec 24th 2006 1:26AM]

That looks exactly like the pistol from Unreal (not unreal tournament..the FPS unreal)

[pyro @ Dec 24th 2006 1:47AM]

haven't played that but it looks exactly like the pistol from the sin games.

[BrandonLehman @ Dec 24th 2006 1:33AM]

That looks just like the pistol from the original Sin game from the late 90's. Rock on.

[Crazylink @ Dec 24th 2006 1:34AM]

Looks very familiar, has this been on Hack-a-day?

[William Harriss @ Dec 24th 2006 3:05AM]

Mischa Lockton said:
"Many of us starve to death while geeks invent an EM gun."
and "It was evil".

Shashikant Baranga said
"should we not restrain ourselves to "publisize" such tools & technologies which can be copied by mindless "monkeys" who hate personal and social leberties?
it can be copied easily, even a crude copy can be dangerous! earlier pistols needed at least special steel in barrel!"

LandMineHare said:
"Maybe you should have bought some food instead of a computer and internets?"

I am seeing a theme here, but maybe it's over my head. Would any of you mind expanding on your posts, and clue me in what you're referring to?

[Will @ Dec 24th 2006 9:39AM]

Oh, don't let those naysayers get to you. I think this looks like an awesome project. Maybe I'll even buy a kit if you ever release one (assuming it's cheap). In fact, as opposed to their objection of this, I say you should build a bigger one. Let's get a gauss rifle out there!

God speed, Mr. Harriss.

[Korgmeister @ Dec 24th 2006 3:22AM]

Boy it sure seems like we've got some serious hoplophobes here.

I mean, they're freaking out just because the thing even looks like a weapon. The inventor made it quite clear on the website that it's useless as an antipersonnel weapon. It's a nail gun on steroids that's functional as a target shooting pistol at best and isn't dangerous unless you unload it into someone's eye.

Now, if someone is going to be THAT stupid, they don't need to go to the effort of building a coil gun from publically available blueprints. Not when pointy sticks are cheap and plentiful.

[William Harriss @ Dec 24th 2006 3:53AM]

It is MUCH easier to make a real pistol, no "special steel in barrel" required, just a few common machine tools. Inmates manage to build working firearms in prison all the time, they're known as "zip guns". The gauss pistol on the other hand is more like a rube goldberg slingshot.

[Eric @ Dec 24th 2006 4:04AM]

@ Mischa Lockton

waaaaa

[Cam @ Dec 24th 2006 7:09AM]

Powered by a Ni-Cad battery?! You think they'd use a modern power source to market modern technology. Granted with all the paranoia regarding Li-Ion batteries but come on... how about a little Ni-MH action at the very least!

[Korgmeister @ Dec 24th 2006 7:52AM]

Ni-Cad, despite the inferior energy density, is better for high-current applications. That's why they use it on power drills and that's why it was used in this.

[DeepKeeper @ Dec 24th 2006 9:38AM]

http://www.coilgun.ru/

site (in English) that contains many different gauss-rifle's associated links)

[RTFM @ Dec 24th 2006 9:51AM]

Whats the muzzle velocity? Most hand held versions of a 'rail gun' have had the problem of power to load. US navy actually had a massive rail gun working on a ship 20+ years ago. You could find the DEA beating your door down soon. Especially selling kits. I hope you checked out local and federal statutes on firearm maufacturing. Best of luck to you and I hope you avoid the feredal pound ya in the ass prisons.

[PEZ @ Dec 24th 2006 10:22AM]

This is quite old. And, I bough one from Amazing1 several months ago.

Hes been saying he will offer plans forever, at this point. Probably wont happen - but if it does........ ill be there!

[Alexander @ Dec 24th 2006 10:34AM]

Also, the price of the kit with all the parts will be almost $400 bucks. That's a bit stumbling block right there, for most people wanting to make the kit.

[ex-casio @ Dec 24th 2006 10:58AM]

I question the ethics of promoting a product that has been engineered for the primary purpose of killing human lives.

[Mischa Lockton @ Dec 24th 2006 11:00AM]

Guns aren't so cool when someone you know gets shot. At least you won't be going to boards saying "this looks like the coolest thing ever and I'll buy 10" Hopefully it won't come to that.

but right on! cool, awesome! go buy one, and then kill your cat! friucking sweet. Yeah anyone who questions futuristic guns is SUCH A TURD. What is Mischa talking about when this is obviously a product with such great potential for fun times- no ethical questions at all?

Yeah actually, come to reckon it, I would totally shoot my neighbor's dog and neighborhood birds if I could scrape together that serious amount of $400. I have never seen that kind of money, but if I did, this gun would be my very first purchase. Take that, "scrapples" and the best part is the neighbors wont hear the shots.

Have an angry ballastic Christmas ya'll WOO HOO!

I do believe in the right to bear arms, just hate all the ignorant selfish LOVE of weapons. We have a shotgun, but I don't whack off about it. It is a terrible thing.

[MattB @ Dec 24th 2006 11:40AM]

He said it fires projectiles at 30% of the velocity of a CO2 gun.

What the hell are you children getting so uppity about? "Oh snibble, gauss guns killed my uncle! I hope you go to jail."

[qhartman @ Dec 24th 2006 12:32PM]

damn, you guys need to relax. If the statement that this thing has 30% the power of a CO2 gun is accurate, that's less muzzle velocity than a typical outdoor paintball gun. You know, the kind people let themselves get shot with all the time because it's fun. Just because it looks like a weapon doesn't mean it is.

[Pingspike @ Dec 24th 2006 1:35PM]

For the chronicly dead of humour: pull up your knickers ya damn scenic.

Its a cool idea and great to see an idea actually realised in a working device. Either way you look at it, its cool/good.

For those complaining about starving ppl (wtf? relevance ?) and so on. How about you give up your iternet subscription (for which you are clearly wasting it looking up 'junk' like this anyways) and donate that cash to providing food for the starving ?
Damn drama queens.

p.s. the videos ad site dont work. gief vid plox :)

[junyo @ Dec 24th 2006 1:38PM]

I would totally shoot my neighbor's dog and neighborhood birds if I could scrape together that serious amount of $400.

I'd think the better use of the $400 bucks would be to stop bitching about other people's work on the Internet, and get some help figuring out either a) why you have a desire to kill things, or b) why you're so easily suggestible that owning something capable of killing would simply compel you to kill things. I mean really, if that's the case forget the gauss gun, we can't properly trust you with a car or most heavy machinery can we?

And as to the whole "geeks spend money developing this while people starve" argument, unless you can demonstrate how your Internet posting and/or misc hobbies are feeding the starving masses, that makes you a bit of a hypocrite doesn't it. I'm pretty confident that all of the offended posters do something in their day, not devoted to their own immediate survival, that doesn't benefit the malnourished hordes. So condemning other people's hobbies/work/effort is just holier-than-thou pretensiousness.

[William Harriss @ Dec 24th 2006 2:03PM]

Facts aren't important as long as one is shrill and self-righteous enough.

[steven sanders @ Dec 24th 2006 10:23PM]

I havent seen the site since it was overloaded, butI wonder if you could get the kit for the control circuits, and scale it up to a rifle, maybe with a backpack power source. Give it some serious kick.

[Grey Acumen @ Dec 24th 2006 10:25PM]

I love you guys so much. It's just really great to see the polarity of how stupid, ignorant and hypocritical the people are who are against guns when compared to the logical, rational, and relatively mellow gun owners.

Oh yeah, gun owners are obviously the most irresponsible lot.

If we didn't have guns, we'd use swords, without swords, we'd use clubs, without clubs, we'd use rocks, without rocks, we'd use our hands, without hands, we'd use our teeth. It's easy to blame guns for people dying, it's a lot harder to blame yourself for not owning a gun to protect yourself with.

Continue the good work, I've always enjoyed the concept of magnet guns. Has a really fun technopunk feel to it.

When I get one of these, my battlecry shall be:
"I shall smite thee... with science!"