Message to AGD:

[Toll]

Iirc the use of a railgun in military applications was more a less to fling artillery shells rather than the more quakish slug. Artillery shells being "freak'n 'uge" it would make sense. Kruger brings up alot of good points


I think we could all safely say that the tank weight would not be removed, only substituted.


I am all for the idea and development of a paintball railgun...If I had any background in this, what so ever, I would gladly help.

[SR_matt]

i think one of the big power things people are forgetting is that on ships most of them are running of nuclear power so power is not as issue to them seeing as one aircraft carrier can power a city almost.


with the thing about mechanical items not increasing as fast as electronics true but, think how far engines have come in such a short time, given the increases of computers have happened 100 times faster but mechanical breakthroughs can come much faster than they do just because not as many people are pushing to get such high performance from mechanical stuff.

about how much pressure ends up behind a ball, its nowhere near 850 psi. first off most guns regulate the psi in the reservoir down a lot (mags have it in the 400-500 range IIRC) then P1*V1=P2*V2 so that small amount of higher pressure air going into a large area becomes a much lower psi. in teh resources thing about barrels tom has gone over the actual pressures in different guns and where a ball startes to break and its around 150ish IIRC

-matt

[MadPSIence]

I think the railgun topic can take a break. It's not happening in paintball. I hate to be abrasive but it's rather stupid.

[kruger]

And, I agree with you. But, it is an interesting subject atm.

[MadPSIence]

And, I agree with you. But, it is an interesting subject atm.

Applied to paintball it really isn't

[Ratt]

Applied to paintball it really isn't

This thread isn't a "is a rail gun paintball interesting?" thread. It was a thread started to see what TK thought about the idea, and if there was any feasablility in it.. If you don't think it is 'interesting' to talk about...then go post somewhere else! Nobody asked you...

I still would like to hear what TK thinks about the idea

[SR_matt]

just because a rail gun is not feasible doesnt mean that the talk is pointless, it has opened up a lot of other ideas about using electro magnets to move things around in the guns, while those might not be extremely feasible now either it opens up a lot more designs than what we have now.

-matt

[RvB Caboose]

How much of a reciprocal force would the user of a paintball railgun experience? Compared to most railgun projectiles, are paintballs larger or smaller? I know whenever somebody brings up an orbital railgun on a tech forum somebody mentions that Newton's Third Law of Motion would push the satellite out of orbit.

[questionful]

It would take only as much force as today's paintguns use to launch 3grams at 300fps.

But I still think the whole rail-gun thing is extremely far-fetched. Too much money and too many problems for just launching a little ball.

[Coralis]

what about using spining wheels similar to what a pitching machine uses, again i think you will be trading a big ole honking battery for a air source but since we are on the subject and all.

[kruger]

Applied to paintball it really isn't

Well, then if it is not interesting to you, there are other threads that you can read........

I, however, do find that it is interesting to read about and discuss. That is the main reason that I posted in this thread. If you will notice, there are many threads in the AO forums that I have not posted in. Care to guess why?

[LK-13]

Well, then if it is not interesting to you, there are other threads that you can read........

I, however, do find that it is interesting to read about and discuss. That is the main reason that I posted in this thread. If you will notice, there are many threads in the AO forums that I have not posted in. Care to guess why?

Kruger,
at the same time you should keep in mind that you did not start this particular thread Ratt did,
and he did not suggest anything even remotely similar to a Rail Gun.

Tom, I have an idea that I would like to share with you. Could you please contact me? [email protected]

from a physics point of view and economics; applying Rail Gun type operating technology is impractical and cost prohibitive.
even to move a small mass at the needed velocity the energy requirements far out stretch the portable power supplies currently available.

now if someone some where invents a Super Conductor that can and will remain Super Conductive at and above room temperature;
this type of operating system becomes more reasonable.
but so do particle energy weapons,
collimated energy weapons and a host of other technologies that may well replace the Paintball entirely.

but until someone decides that we can have that Super Conductor at the civilian level,
we are stuck with the tried and true Steam Engine technology of Pressurized Gas Cylinders and Valves combined with the turn of the Century Technology of Electrical Switches.

as TK may well tell you, Rocket Science this is not.

now all things being equal,
something i personally would like to see is a step away from electronics of any kind in the mechanism of a Paintball launch platform.
a finely tuned mechanical system is far more dependable and robust than any other.
additionally i would like to see provision made for both Co2 and HPA as the propellant source.
should one be needed at all.
reaching back to the ages old technology of Hunting Air Guns,
shouldn't it be possible to build a Paintball gun with a mechanism similar to the Pump Action Single Shot Pellet/BB Gun?
Hunting Air Guns can shoot .22 cal Pellets at 1000 FPS and above,
the mass of a Paintball is very close to that of a .22 cal Lead Pellet,
so why can't these 2 branches of the same tree be joined?
think of a .68 cal Pump Action (Lever Action would be better) Paintball Gun that requires no outside Air Source.
the pump piston would need to be of large diameter and short stroke to ease the load of the pump stroke while still delivering the needed energy to the ball in the chamber.
but this system should be at least plausible.
From there it's only a matter of engineering a way to automate cycling the mechanism and the Paintball world will beat a path to your door.

[questionful]

[kruger]

LK-13, I think that Ratt did sorta mention a railgun, as he posted here:

Okay...now for the real reason this thread was created...My idea:

It may not even be feasable (due to the SP patent crap), but I still feel it is worth looking into. I am sure you have read or heard about the Navy's plan to build and install a Rail Gun on its ships. I have been wondering for a while if that concept could be scaled down and utilized in a paintball gun. I am not an engineer, so there are a myriad of specifics that I do not have, but the basic concept is this: a bolt sits between two rails (an anode and a cathode). When the trigger is pulled, electrical current runs from the positive terminal of the power supply up the positive rail, through the bolt, and down the negative rail, back to the power supply. This flow of current makes the railgun act like an electromagnet, creating a powerful magnetic field in the region of the rails up to the position of the bolt. In accordance with the right-hand rule, the created magnetic field circulates around each conductor. Since the current flows in opposite direction along each rail, the net magnetic field between the rails is directed vertically. In combination with the current flowing across the bolt, this produces a Lorentz force which accelerates the bolt along the rails. There are also forces acting on the rails attempting to push them apart, but since the rails are firmly mounted they cannot move. The bolt slides up the rails away from the end with the power supply, resulting in the paintball (which is sitting in front of the bolt) to shoot out of the barrel. The bolt can be returned to the pre-firing condition by a spring.

One positive aspect I can think of is that the gun would be airless (no more bulky tank on the back of your gun). I am guessing that one major obstacle would be power - having a system that uses electricity to create the magnetic opposing force needed to move the bolt forward at @280 fps may require a lot of juice, meaning a big battery, or small batteries with less life. Like I said, I am not an engineer, so I don't really have a lot of specifics. But, I am sure that someone with the time and money it would take to R&D this might be able to pull it of. I figure, if anyone has the means or knowledge to do it, it might be you. What do you think?

Devil - Nah, I haven't managed to make it out to Tama Hills. We have been underway a lot. We are just about finished with our summer cruise. I am going to try to set something up for October or November, and see if I can drag some of the guys out there with me. In the past 8 months, I have bought about 4 guns that I have yet to take out on the field. I really would like to get some paint through them.

And to the butthole idiot who said AGD is dead, and to take my idea somewhere else: I really don't have anything to say to you. Just go away.