2" Golf/Tennis Ball Shoulder Launched Cannon + Damage!

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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Jabingo19
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:43 pm

Alright, so this is my second pneumatic gun, the first one I made was a 1.5" piston valve gun which was... well, quite frankly, it was crap. Now, I present the fruits of my labor:

2" piston valve with 1.5" porting, piloted by 3/4" sprinkler
~5' chamber, 2" PVC
Interchangeable barrels
-4' 2.5" Tennis ball barrel with 1.5" female adapter in the base
-4'8" 1.5" SDR-21 barrel, threads into the tennis ball barrel for support
Ergonomic to hold
Pressure gauge (yeah, it goes to 300 psi... It was for an older gun I had planned :wink: )
Quick disconnect with a check valve (might replace it with a ball valve, haven't decided)

And now, pictures (+ some damage shots!)


EDIT: Videos!!!

[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]
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Shoulder Launched, Very Ergonomic
Shoulder Launched, Very Ergonomic
Entire gun
Entire gun
Left side and both barrels
Left side and both barrels
Right side and both barrels
Right side and both barrels
Piston face (my camera hates focusing on what I want it to) I would take out the piston but I just tightened everything up, nylon piston with half a tennis ball bumper
Piston face (my camera hates focusing on what I want it to) I would take out the piston but I just tightened everything up, nylon piston with half a tennis ball bumper
Modded Orbit 3/4" sprinkler
Modded Orbit 3/4" sprinkler
Pressure gauge and quick disconnect
Pressure gauge and quick disconnect
Tennis ball actually took out an entire board. This really surprised me.
Tennis ball actually took out an entire board. This really surprised me.
Solid-ish shot
Solid-ish shot
Golf ball just hit an edge
Golf ball just hit an edge
Thickness of pallet shot at
Thickness of pallet shot at
Distance of shots (you can see the gun next to my garage)
Distance of shots (you can see the gun next to my garage)
Back of piston bored out to save weight
Back of piston bored out to save weight
Equalization hole
Equalization hole
Here's the new bumper I will be using, so that the back hopefully doesn't come flying off the gun again. The top layer is a thick plastic-type styrafoam that doesn't break apart into annoying little balls, and the bottom is a dense rubber foam.
Here's the new bumper I will be using, so that the back hopefully doesn't come flying off the gun again. The top layer is a thick plastic-type styrafoam that doesn't break apart into annoying little balls, and the bottom is a dense rubber foam.
Figured that while I had the gun apart to make the repairs (just need a PVC tee, should be done tomorrow night) I would post some pictures of my piston.
Figured that while I had the gun apart to make the repairs (just need a PVC tee, should be done tomorrow night) I would post some pictures of my piston.
New paint job and everything put back together. Looks super slick (at least I think so :D)
New paint job and everything put back together. Looks super slick (at least I think so :D)
Last edited by Jabingo19 on Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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saefroch
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:58 pm

Wow... that's... amazing. Don't know what else to say. Incredible all-around build. Awkward chamber dimensions may be hampering flow, but that's the best I can come up with for helpful suggestions.
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Technician1002
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:13 pm

Piston face (my camera hates focusing on what I want it to) I would take out the piston but I just tightened everything up, nylon piston with half a tennis ball bumper
Edit found better photo
Camera trick. Move the camera away from what you want by the distance it is improperly auto focusing. For example if it is focusing on the end of the pipe, let it. Half press the shutter to lock the focus, and move the camera back closer so it focuses on the desired piston, then finish pressing the shutter. Many of my QDV piston and port photos were taken that way.
Sample photo taken by focusing on the end of the pipe and then moving the camera in close to move the focus to the piston.
Image

The cannon looks to be made with a bunch of short socket DWV fittings. The street elbows and other parts is a serious safety item. There is no sign of primer. Was that used? Other than problems with materials used, it is looking good.
Last edited by Technician1002 on Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:06 am, edited 2 times in total.
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mattyzip77
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:16 pm

Holy crap dude, that thing has more fittings on it than McMasters has in stock, lol!!! Awesome build though. How many p s i are you running that at?? Now you just need to paint it and give it a name!! Scale of 1 to 10 I give it a 8!! You may be losing power with that long length of hose you got there!!!
Last edited by mattyzip77 on Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jabingo19
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:17 pm

I actually work at a swimming pool distributor, and all of the PVC we get is required by state law to be pressure rated, so they are pressure rated street elbows and all of the fittings are correct length. This also explains the primer issue, everything is clear primered. Appreciate the concerns though (that sounded really sarcastic, I'm not trying to be :lol: )
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Jabingo19
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:19 pm

And matty my compressor goes up to 115 psi, that what I'm running at.
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saefroch
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:33 pm

Probably no power loss at all due to the long hose, since that's the pilot's pilot volume. :p
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Jabingo19
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:35 pm

Haha yeah I'm not too worried about the pilot's pilot causing a loss of power, and oh and sorry I forgot to thank you for your comments before saefroch, appreciate it.
daniel0663
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:28 pm

Yeeeh man, looks really good.
Never really seen this kind of shape and design before, on a spudgun. :wink:

Not bad at all for a second cannon. :P
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Jabingo19
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:34 pm

Thanks daniel yeah I was trying to do something that both made sense and I hadn't seen before.
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MrCrowley
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:52 pm

Nice build. Unique design, must've cost a lot in fittings :wink:

Looking forward to a damage video.
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Jabingo19
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:12 am

Yeah luckily at my job spare fittings are readily available, the whole gun only ended up costing me $50, which I don't think is bad at all for the (okay slightly ridiculous) amount of fittings I have. And I will get a damage vid up when I can, problem is that I work early to late (sunlight) most days of the week. But I'll do what I can for sure.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:47 am

All that for $50? Good job if you're into spudguns :)

Nicely put together, and well thought out ergonomics. With those specs it has a lot more destructive potential than simply perforating relatively weak pine boards.

Remember, the joy of pneumatics is that practically anything which fits in the barrel is suitable as a projectile ;)

With a side-mounted scope, muzzle brake and suitable paint job... just sayin'

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hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Jabingo19
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:33 am

Yeah trust me, I know how lucky I am to work there. But yes, I would hope it would have more destructive potential than a few pine boards with the muzzle energy of a colt peacemaker :lol:

And I absolutely plan on painting it up and a side mounted scope would be amazing.

Also jsr, when you say anything that fits down the barrel, do you mean something...
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... like this?  ;)
... like this? ;)
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Jabingo19
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:31 pm

Bump for damage videos!
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