The rails of electromagnetic railgun can be ablated by the temperature rise due to current concentration.The current distributions on the rails and armature are not only affected by the skin effect,but also influenced by the proximity effect which is rarely mentioned.This paper illustrated the difference between skin effect and proximity effect,and the influencing factors of proximity effect were investigated.Results show that the current is concentrated on the surface around rails due to the skin effect,and the proximity effect exacerbates the current density on the inner surfaces of rails.Decrease in distance from rails enhances the proximity effect,but has nothing to do with the skin effect,which also augments the rail resistance,resulting in temperature rise.It can explain the reason why the ablation is often detected in the small caliber railgun.Research results in this paper can provide support for design and optimization of electromagnetic railgun. The rails of electromagnetic railgun can be ablated by the temperature rise due to the current concentration. The current distributions on the rails and armature are not only affected by the skin effect, but also influenced by the proximity effect which is even mentioned.This paper illustrated the difference between skin effect and proximity effect, and the influencing factors of proximity effect were investigated. Results show that the current is concentrated on the surface around rails due to the skin effect, and the proximity effect exacerbates the current density on the inner surfaces of rails .Decrease in distance from rails enhances the proximity effect, but has nothing to do with the skin effect, which also augments the rail resistance, resulting in temperature rise. It can explain the reason why the ablation is often detected in the small caliber railgun. Research results in this paper can provide support for design and optimization of electromagnetic railgun.