A dum-dum round is really the most effective method. High velocity projectiles almost always have this issue, no matter whats propelling them. If your target is armored like a tank then a smaller round at high velocity is fine. Take for example the M829 Anti-Tank round used by the US Army, its little more then a uranium rod, it transfers its energy because modern tank armor is very very hard therefore it absorbs more of the energy on impact.

Flesh on the other hand is soft and doesn't offer much resistance. Its all about the transfer of energy. A Hollow Point (real life version of a dum-dum) round expands apon entering therefore doesn't penetrate as far and thus expends all of its energy in the first target. Between the force of the hit, the physical bullet impact, and the hydrostatic shock its much more lethal then a Armor Piercing round.


So long story short, with a Gauss rifle your going to need some sort of Hollow Point round or REALLY good aim or its just not going to be very effective against people. Armored targets? Sure. Personnel? No.

Much obliged. Although I suppose in the end, the weapon is only as good as the capacitor/battery. Much like conventional firearms and the powder.

Unless there is some fundamental break through in our understanding of energy storage I can't see a personal gauss rifle existing. Most likely you'll need an armored vehicle to house the power generation equipment.

Indeed.
If I've learned nothing from Firefly, it's that batteries are unreliable for weapon systems.