How to build a simple Plasma Rifle aka Electrothermal Rifle

Step 3: Solid state plasma generation

Another configuration that we tested was using a trigatron to initiate the plasma discharge. Basically we built a small chamber with 3 electrodes. 2 were connected directly to the capacitor bank. the 3rd was connected to the 20 kv output of a flyback transformer. The ground of the transformer was connected to the negative electrode of the capacitor. The terminals are positioned sufficiently close together so that the hv arc lowers the resistance enough for the capacitors to discharge. The key issue with this setup is that the electrodes ablate fairly quickly and they must be adjusted every few shots. Also this setup works best with a 500v capacitor bank at around 500 joules. The Plasma generated actually sears the back of the bb turning it a dark black.