barrel and sabot question

[shimmer]

I'm wanting to make a launcher that would be able to fire 2" ice balls. I realize they have 2" pvc, but the ID is barely greater (2.067) than 2 inches on them. I'm worried my 2" balls would get stuck. Is that a reasonable concern? Is there a slightly larger barrel I could use?

However, I am also wanting to fire 1.5" balls. Would a sabot allow me to accurately fire something with such a large difference in diameter from the barrel? If the 2" ice balls do get stuck, I might have to go up to 2.5" ID.

[jrrdw]

You should be fine with the 2" barrel. As long as you keep your ammo centered it should be as accurite as it can be for ball ammo.

Welcome to Spudfiles.

[shimmer]

Thank you! I appreciate the help. This will be my first attempt at making one, and I have definitely learned a lot from this website along the way.

Also, as a follow up question: I was considering setting my launcher onto a somewhat heavy duty camera tripod that I'm assuming will have to be weighted so it doesn't topple over. I've tried to figure this out from watching videos, but would there be too much kick for a tripod to handle?

[jrrdw]

Depends on how "heavy duty" the tripod really is. Most members that build turrents, build them custom for the cannon due to size and recoil. From what I've seen the smaller turrents have a shock asorbor set up of some kind.

Click on the "Album" button at the top of the page and go through the cannon pictures, you will see a bunch of different set ups etc...