If you’re familiar with popular video games like Fallout and Quake, you’ve probably seen a Gauss rifle, also known as a coilgun. While Gauss rifles are actually a thing in real life, they’re not all too common and are usually pretty expensive. Now an advanced weapons startup Arcflash Labs has built an alpha version of a handheld Gauss rifle that could be yours for $3,375.
But what exactly is a Gauss rifle and what sets it apart from a railgun? Even though both guns use magnetic accelerators, their working principles are different. Simply put, a Gauss rifle is a linear magnetic accelerator that consists of back-to-back electromagnets that carry a metal rod to the end of the barrel with less energy compared to a railgun. While a railgun features two magnetic parallel rails for magnetic acceleration and offers more precision.
Source: A New Futuristic Gauss Rifle Looks Straight Out of a Video Game