This Handheld 3D Printed Railgun Can Fire Projectiles At Over 500MPH

This 500MPH Handheld Railgun Is Both The Coolest And Scariest Thing We've Seen
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A man claims to have built the first 3D printed handheld railgun capable of firing projectiles at an eye-watering 500mph.

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Proving that the railgun is no longer restricted to the realm of top secret military labs or US Navy warships, YouTube user "xtamared" claims to have built his own terrifying prototype that can fire slugs made from graphite, aluminium, tungsten and even plasma.

If the sound of that scares you, then it absolutely should, because not only has the inventor managed to successfully build his prototype weapon but he's also been able to test-fire it, with impressive results.

While the gun can fire at speeds of over 500mph, this inventor has some way to go before he reaches the kind of speeds that are being tested by the military.

BAE Systems' own railgun prototype can fire a single metal slug at speeds of mach 6 over a staggering distance of 110-nautical miles.

In just a few years BAE have taken their own prototype of the weapon from large and bulky to a fully-deployed naval weapon that has now begun actual sea trials with the hope being that the US Navy will deploy railguns on all its military vessels in the next 10 years.