Ammunition

Introduction and Formatting

(See also the Common Ammos page) Ammunition can be describe as anything that can be fired out of a cannon or launcher. This broad definition leads to a list of possible projectiles that could stretch on nearly forever. This article will list the more common ammunitions used in the spudding world, as well as provide some useful information regarding their physical properties and performance characteristics. The information will be listed in the following format:


Ammo Type

The section directly under the name of the ammunition will provide you will all the general information on using and procuring the round. This is also where any points of interest are located, as well as tips, advice, and modifications.


Mass

Here the mass of the ammo will be listed. Please help out everybody overseas by providing masses in both ounces and grams whenever possible.


Diameter

This is the diameter of the round, again offered in both Imperial and Metric units. For ammunition cut by the barrel, this will be equivalent to the barrel's inside diameter. For other ammo (such as golf balls, marbles, etc.) it will be the average observed diameter, or the regulation diameter where applicable. (Such as in sports balls)


Cd

Coefficient of drag. The Cd of a particular ammo is usually dependent on the velocity of the ammo and whether or not it is spinning or tumbling.


Terminal Velocity

Defined as the point at which wind resistance is equal to the force from gravity observed by an object in free fall. This number will depend largely on the density of an object, and it's Cd. Terminal Velocity represents the highest speed an object can reach when dropped from adequate height.


Common Barrels

A list of barrel sizes commonly used with the specified ammunition. This is primarily useful for objects with a defined diameter, such as a regulation sports ball.


Upon Impact

A description of what is likely to be observed when the ammunition impacts certain types of objects.


Common Ammunitions

Potatoes

The humble potato is the original ammunition of spud guns and still enjoys widespread use today, though it is quickly losing favor to other ammunition types, such as golf balls. When a spud is muzzle loaded the tip of the barrel (often times sharped into a muzzle knife) trims it to size, resulting in a nearly air tight fit.


Mass

The mass of a potato projectile will depend on the type of spud used, as well as the length the slug is cut to, and what diameter barrel it is made for. Many spudders have assigned the common potato a density of 1.1g/cm3, but this is only to be used as a rough estimate for calculating projectile mass.


Diameter

Potatoes are usually cut by the barrel of the launcher as they are loaded, and thus will have a diameter equal to that of the barrel's inside.


Common Barrels

While any barrel sized smaller than the spud can be used to launch a potato without a sabot, 1.5" and 2" Sch. 40 are the most commonly observed sizes on launchers designed primarily for shooting potatoes.


Upon Impact

Potatoes usually break into dozens of large chunks when they impact a medium hardness surface, and will 'vaporize' upon striking hard surfaces (such as wood or steel) at high velocities.

Golf Ball

Golf balls lend themselves well to use as launcher ammunition for a number of reasons. Not only are they uniform in their shape and size, they enjoy the benefit of having received hundreds of thousands of dollars in research. The fact they are purpose built for stable, aerodynamic flight, coupled with widespread availability make golf balls one of the most commonly used modern launcher rounds.


Mass

Regulations set a golf ball's mass at 46g, or 1.56oz.


Diameter

Regulations set a golf ball's diameter at 1.68", or 427mm.


Cd

0.299


Terminal Velocity

The terminal velocity for a regulation golf ball is 132fps, or 40mps.


Common Barrels

Golf balls have a near perfect fit in both SDR 21 (1.70" ID) and SDR 26 (1.73" ID) in the 1.5" variety. Though these barrels fit a golf ball well, their thin walls (.090" and .073" respectively) makes them too weak to act as a barrel over a couple feet in length. To create stronger barrels capable of lengths past 2 feet, SDR pipe is often slid into 2" Sch. 80 PVC. The 2.05" ID of the 2" pipe makes a very good fit with the 1.09" OD of the 1.5" SDR. More information can be found in the article on Sleeving.


Upon Impact

A golf ball will survive most mid speed impact with relatively hard objects. The primary concern when shooting golf balls at hard objects is the chance of dangerous ricochets. At high speeds golf balls can burst into fragments upon contacting a hard target.

Ammo

Mass

Diameter

Cd

Terminal Velocity

Common Barrels

Upon Impact



Ammo Construction