Suppressor idea

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
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boilingleadbath
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:37 pm

Forgive me if this concept has already been discussed, I don't follow the suppressor discussions as well as I should.
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It seems that most of the suppressor designs that people come up with are designed and function in the same manner as firearm silencers: they put a large expansion chamber on the end of their barrel.

This doesn't work so well, because we have a very large quantity of low pressure gas, rather than a small quantity of high-pressure gas.

The resulting contraption is huge and heavy, and looks like a silencer... which is quasi-legal in the United States.
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Here's my solution:
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/ ... uieter.png">

Total length would be on the order of 3".
The orange grill represents wire cloth. McMaster has some... prices are reasonable.
The holes would be very small; 1/16 to 1/32", and very numerous.

You add one of these contraptions... perhaps a foot from the end of the barrel, and the wire cloth cools the hot (~700*C) gases which are expelled through it. This accomplishes several things:
1) Lengthens the time over which these gases are exausted, making the potato launcher sound less like a gun.
2) Cools the gases, lowering their speed of sound.
3) Cools the gases, reducing their volume.

Net effect is to make the gun quieter, with a small device that doesn't look nefarious.
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SpudUke5
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:54 pm

So would this apply to pneumatic because usually different materials are used in pneumatics rather than wire cloth, or steel wool (what most people use in combustions). But i see your design is interesting and you have various reasons to back up your information. Holes have been discussed in a suppressor and it has been concluded that holes do not make it quieter (according to JSR, im always referring back to you :D ). But as for the volume and the material inside are practically the same as any suppressor.

Look here for more info on suppressor's.

This is where i based my info off of.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:04 pm

Using wire mesh to cool the gasses is an idea that is sometimes used in firearm suppressors too and has the same effect in combustions, but I don't know how effective your concept would be when compared to an expansion chamber that would contain the gasses briefly while cooling them.
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POLAND_SPUD
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:15 pm

So what if I add a pipe under the barrel that serves as an extended expansion chamber for a silencer. Would it work ?? and how good it would work when compared to a normally built silencer with the same volume as the silencer+expansion chamber combination?
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:24 pm

Image

Expansion chamber etc.

Maybe have a bit of steel wool/cotton in bettween the baffles?
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Hailfire753
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:58 pm

Poland spud, what do you mean? I don't know if this is what you were thinking, but it sparked an idea for me.

Instead of the silencer surrounding the barrel end, perhaps in could be on one side only? This may be hard to implement, but the silencer tube would go underneath the barrel, and many holes would be drilled on that side, so the holes would line up.

Hmm... that is kind of hard to picture, and I am too lazy to draw it up (I'm on a mac at the moment!)
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Eddbot
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:37 pm

why do people use steel wool in combustions if it's FLAMMABLE!! :angryfire:
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Hailfire753
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:52 pm

LOL, I like the avatar Edd! It is familiar...
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POLAND_SPUD
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:27 pm

yes Hailfire753. My idea is that a silencer tube is connected to the tube under the barrel. It increases the silencer volume and as a result its effectivness.
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Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:57 pm

If you mean something like the attachment, it will work, but while it will have greater volume than a coaxial silencer of the same diameter, since the holes in the barrel cover a smaller area you'll have less gas coming into the tube, so it might not be that much more effective.
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hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:01 am

Eddbot wrote:why do people use steel wool in combustions if it's FLAMMABLE!! :angryfire:
ANYTHING is flammable under the right conditions. The heat from combustion lasts only in the order of .25 of a second, to burn stainless you need constant heat, much greater than the average combustion produces.
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Eddbot
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:50 am

oh... but you can light up some steel wool with a 9 volt, a giant muzzle flash ain't gonna do anything?

edit: alot of the stuff in this forum is NOT average
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Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:22 am

Eddbot wrote:oh... but you can light up some steel wool with a 9 volt, a giant muzzle flash ain't gonna do anything?

edit: alot of the stuff in this forum is NOT average
I agree that a lot of launchers contained within the fine walls of Spudfiles are not average, however there are plenty that are below (some of mine included).
Having said that i will now say this.
UNLESS YOU HAVE A BIG ASS HYBRID AND DECIDE TO STUFF FINE STAINLESS WOOL INTO THE BARREL..........YOU HAVE NO CHANCE OF IT BURNING, OR EVEN CHANGING COLOR FOR THAT MATTER :x
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When you fill your car with refined oil remember that it has been paid for with blood and guts, some from your own countrymen, most not.
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