Futuristic Rifle Under Consideration by US Army

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The U.S. Army has ordered a prototype of a weapon which is electrically fired, has four barrels and can fire all four rounds at once in a single devastating salvo. The new “ribbon gun” can theoretically have a firing rate of 250 rounds per second.

The prototype designed in a garage in Colorado Springs by inventor Martin Grier can send four bullets simultaneously whizzing toward an enemy at more than 2,500 mph. Grier has built the gun and patented the technology behind it. Now his garage-based company, FD munitions, is hoping the US Army will buy it, as reported by gazette.com.

“A multibore firearm, with several bores within a single barrel, could potentially exhibit many of the advantages of a multibarrel design, while reducing the size, weight and complexity disadvantages,” as written in the patent application.

The trigger is an electronic switch that sends a signal to an electromagnetic actuator behind the block of bullets. The four bullets in the block of rounds each has its actuator. That means you fire the rounds individually or simultaneously. Selecting the “power shot” option fires all four bullets at once.

The barrels are cut by electricity that runs between a pair of electrodes through a thin wire. The high-tech method offers an incredible degree of precision thanks to computer control.

The prototype weapon showcased recently indicates the ammunition blocks are fed horizontally through the gun and can be attached to one another, creating magazines of varying sizes, according to pupularmechanics.com.