The Raptor I set out to build a pneumatic sniper rifle for paintballs, but due to lack of funding and some slight redesigning I have ended up with something a little more powerful and, in all honesty, fun!
The barrel and chamber are both 1m long, the barrel is 25mm diameter and the chamber is 40mm diameter. The valve is a modified sprinkler valve. Unfortunately the particular devise that i purchased has a guide rod so I had to drill off to the side which caused quite a problem when it came to sealing the cannon. Because the barrel is slightly too big for a paintball it also allows for some more inventive ammo choices. Hows the penetration of rocks (no wadding) through this 3mm aluminium?
I decided to test the accuracy by setting up a cradle 20m away from a large piece of cardboard. The chamber was filled to approximately 80psi and fired. The problem is that the valve had quite a severe leak during the testing so the air pressure was no always the same. The picture shows a line of four shots, between 60cm of each other as well as a single shot 30cm off to the left. My guess is the differences can be accounted for by slight differences in pressure and paintball shape (I use second-hand paintballs from a skirmish joint next door to us) as well as a shot where the gun was not properly in its cradle.
I have had one accident already. At 6m and 40psi a paintball shattered a car window despite it only hitting the very bottom of glass. Since then I have decided to not fire anything over 60psi due to the risk in the case of an accident.
You may have noticed that the cannon does not have a butt however it uses t-pieces instead of 90 degree elbows. This is because it will get a mini-butt later.
The Raptor was a fast, silent and deadly creature, lacking the brute strength of a t-rex or sheer size of a brachiosaurus, without sacrificing any of its power. I see this weapon the same way as opposed to the massive combustion that a friend has built.
If you would like to ask anymore questions please e-mail me at: sodman2k@hotmail.com
