PVC or copper?

[Stolly32123]

Im planning on making a 6mm Pneumatic rifle. im not sure if i should make it mainly out of copper or pvc. What would be the differences in using either?

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

For 6mm, your best bet for decent power with single shots is to use a relatively small chamber but high pressure, so copper would be the way to go in my opinion.

[jakethebeast]

use copper, it dont blow up so easyly

[lemming124]

depends on what you what you want to get out of the material:
higher pressures - copper
easier to work with, lower pressures, cheaper (?) - pvc

[jor2daje]

In small diameters it doesnt really matter, 1/2 pvc is rated to like 400 psi or something and the actual burst pressure is 1900 so I think you would be fine. However you could build a much more aesthetically pleasing gun if you use copper because its much more compact.

For just a 6mm rifle if you dont care about looks, you could whip something up for less than 5 bucks with a 3 ft coxail with brass or aluminium barrel, pvc chamber, shrader exhaust, and everything cast in epoxy. (just look at jsr )

[Labtecpower]

Go with copper! it is very strong, and when you have made a nice launcher with it, it will last a lifetime (if well made) i like the advantage of being easy to solder, as i dont like epoxy. sorry, jsr.
sorry if i made some typos, im on my sisters cellphone

[urgle the danish cow]

pvc is easy to work with and cheap in bulk compared to copper and pvc doesnt cuase african genocides or cause the congo to be overthrown by a small militia. BUT copper can take higher pressure and has a wider range of fittings for it. downsides are that cutting copper easily causes the end of the pipe to have that weird indentation. keep in mind that if your launcher did explode and give you shrapnel the hospital will be able to find the copper shards in your body with x-ray, you wont be so lucky with pvc

[Crna Legija]

copper wont make shrapnel, it rips open.

[Stolly32123]

Thanks guys. i think ill go with copper.

[i-will]

copper. smaller, thinner, and stronger parts. easier to make compact.

[jimmy101]

copper wont make shrapnel, it rips open.

And may well launch a thumb side hunk with enough force to punch right through your body.

Any failure at 100 (or a couple hundred) PSI is a serious threat to life and limb.

BTW, PVC can be seen in x-rays.

Like jor2daje said, if you are talking about diameters of less than say 1/2" then the only advantage of cooper would be if you had a compressor that can reach several hundred PSI. Since most shop compressors top out at ~120 PSIG the copper is really not needed.