Someone making a homemade copy of a sci-fi weapon? Not newsworthy. Making the weapon functional? Potentially newsworthy. Here we have a German feller who made a replica of the “Gauss Gun” from a video game, and went to the bother of making it a functional electromagnetic slug-thrower. It accelerates 5.7 mm diameter steel “bullets” to a claimed 100 meters per second. Certainly not in the category of a good firearm, but it’s respectable.
[youtube nVgbtqsmx54]
And here’s the actually exciting part: much of the limitation in muzzle velocity, rate of fire and rounds-per-recharge is wrapped up in the battery. And since numerous governments are pushing electric cars, battery capability is bound to improve… which means that homemade Gauss guns like this will be able to improve alongside ’em. Nothing here would seem to be restrictable as a firearm; so coupling battery advancements with rapid prototyping/3D printing, it’s conceivable that before too long the average enthusiast will be able to go to Walmart and buy some batteries and plug them into their home-printed full-auto, 900 fps Gauss assault rifle.