The Penetrator

[foilboy]

Here's my first pneumatic build. It has a Fastenall QEV (1/2" IIRC) and the barrel is a Cold Steel .625 caliber Big Bore Blowgun. The pilot is a compressed air blow gun that I re-worked to give it some better ergonomics. The results are very impressive. I already lost 2 darts because they completely embedded themselves in a tree stump. I'll try to shoot something metal soon and put up damage pictures.

[far_cry]

amazing quality and nicely build, probably you read a lot of topics before you start the build.

what pressure you worked with ?

and video will be nice

and the barrel is a Cold Steel .625 caliber Big Bore Blowgun

maybe you meant big bore air gun!!

[far_cry]

and what that brown stuff you used instead Teflon tape ?

[jakethebeast]

in finland we cal it hamp it seals much better than teflon tape nice gun, but i like my bigbore blowgun as a blowgun

[Mr.Tallahassee]

I believe its called pipe dope in here America. Basically a mix of various oils and teflon in a thick goo. It's all I use anymore really. Best sealant ever.

[foilboy]

Thank you far_cry. I definitely did read a LOT of topics on here before building. The brown stuff is pipe joint compound. It's great! I don't know exactly what pressure it was operating at, but I can certainly find out. I was kicking myself for not putting a gauge on the launcher.

Also for anyone considering using a cold steel big bore blowgun as their barrel, if you sleeve it in 3/4 ID 1" OD plastic tubing, it will fit very well inside a piece of 1" SCH 40 PVC pipe

[Zeus]

Well I'll be the first to recommend a much smaller steel chamber, take this to a few hundred psi and you'll be much happier with the performance.

Otherwise well done, nice to see someone post a good first launcher.

[foilboy]

Hello Lieutenant Colonel sir. Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely remember that. I did at one point have a paintball tank as my chamber but the tiny air holes on the tank and tank adaptor (the piece that went from the tank into a standard pipe fitting) were my undoing. I also don't think we have a very powerful air compressor at my house. I swapped out the paintball tank for the PVC chamber to increase airflow in order to maximize the effect of the PSI I did have, and I immediately noticed a major difference.

I definitely appreciate the recommendations, keep them coming!

[saefroch]

Wow. Quite a good first build, but with Zeus; the chamber volume is simply excessive, unless you're using a very high-flow compressor.

How long is that barrel?

[Zeus]

Well regarding compressors, can I point you towards this thread, and this thread.

They're both quite long, but there's all the information you could ever want about fridge compressors there. And regarding the CO₂ tank, if you add a small chamber in front of the outlet of the tank, you'll notice a marked increase in performance.

I hope that's of some help to you.

[Gaderelguitarist]

You could probably half that chamber and still see no performance drop. Still looks very nice, and I like how you set up your blowgun. You might as well continue the 1" PVC to the end of the blowgun barrel. At first glance I thought it was a harpoon gun

[mattyzip77]

nice build dude!! is your chamber 3 inch and about how long is it?? also, I like the valve. In my opinion this is a awesome gun for your first. Keep it up and bring on the damage pics!!

[foilboy]

Saefroch: The barrel is 4' long. Thanks for the suggestion about reducing chamber size.

Zeus: I hadn't thought of that, but it does make sense now that you mention it. Thanks!

Gaderelguitarist: Thanks! I did at one point have the pvc down the full length of the barrel, but the extra weight of it caused the barrel to droop a bit toward the muzzle. I'm still planning on making a support bracket to go between the chamber and the barrel for improved accuracy.

mattyzip77: The chamber is 2" schedule 80 PVC. I don't really know how long it is. I just eyeballed it.

I will certainly try to get some damage pictures up and perhaps even a video.

Thanks,
Sean

[mattyzip77]

also where did you get that valve from and how much did you pay for it? my next pneumatic is going to be like this one in some ways, so any feedback you could give me would be greatly appreciated

[foilboy]

Here you are mattyzip77: http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/de ... 206&ucst=t