Steel Pipe QEV air gun

Show us your pneumatic spud gun! Discuss pneumatic (compressed gas) powered potato guns and related accessories. Valve types, actuation, pipe, materials, fittings, compressors, safety, gas choices, and more.
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MCRKilljoy
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Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:04 pm

I built this air gun out of steel pipe. The tank is 1 inch steel pipe, the barrel (not shown) is 1/2 inch copper pipe or 1/2" SCH 80 PVC pipe. The ball valve is the pilot, and you fill with the quick disconnect. I also made a brass adapter to use a bike pump instead of an air compressor. Barrels are interchangeable and I have a 1/2 inch PVC plug as a dust cap when no barrel is installed. Barrels are just screwed in hand tight. This air gun is very loud and makes a big bang when it goes off. Ammo is AA batteries and 1/2 inch dowel sections. I also have a custom machined brass projectile. Corks are also a good option, and corks can be supersonic. In the first picture you can see a brass street elbow, it was later replaced with a galvanized one as you can see in the second picture.
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Last edited by MCRKilljoy on Sun Dec 18, 2016 2:09 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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auxiliary
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Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:18 pm

I like the ergonomics so you can hold the tank with one hand and use the elbow as a pistol grip and the ball valve handle as a trigger. Did you try out different pilot valves? It seems like you could get away with a smaller valve than a 1/2" ball valve.
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MCRKilljoy
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Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:21 pm

Auxiliary, I used the 1/2" ball valve because I had it lying around. I hold the tank with one hand and pull the valve with the other. The elbow does not make a good pistol grip. The top port of the QEV is where you hook up the barrel. At 150 PSI I shot an AA battery through thick plywood using the 1/2" copper barrel.
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