my first pneumatic cannon

[the_beaver689]

I designed this cannon for woodsball. The field we play on is somewhat small so I did not need to make the cannon much larger. Its launches paintballs wrapped in saran wrap, the occasional potato, and (my friend has a heat sealer) plastic bags filled with colored water. You might be wondering why there are so many fittings that I used to go from 3" to 1". Well my grandpa gave my a fair amount of different fittings, so the only thing i had to buy was the valve (the bike pump i found in the garbage)
Here are some pictures:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/ ... annon1.jpg

Soon i will be permanently attaching the hose from the bike pump the the chamber via a 1/4" threaded hose barb screwed into the chamber and the a hose clamp will secure the hose. But what I have now will have to do for the game I have on Saturday.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/ ... annon2.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/ ... annon3.jpg

To attach the stock I first made the stock, and then I notched the end with my dremmel, and attached it. The electrical tape does not hold on the stock, it covers up the hose clamps i used.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/ ... annon4.jpg

The business end of the cannon. Tonight I will finish the paint job.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g125/ ... annon5.jpg

My friend wishes to purchase this cannon so the next one I plan to build will be slightly larger and instead of a bike pump I plan on using co2.



Any comments and ideas or suggestions for my next cannon are greatly appreciated.

[pyromaniac]

I like the cannon but i see soem dwv on there next time get soem pressure rated parts. how far did it shoot the potatoe.

700th post yay.

[the_beaver689]

At 60 psi it shoots about 100ft, and at 100psi it is somewhere around 250ft. The distance at 60 is perfect for the field I play on, and it takes me about 30 seconds to load and pressurize it. Thanks for the comment.

[ShowNoMercy]

So when you shoot paintballs does the package break open or is it just one big paintball?

[the_beaver689]

It depends on how it is wrapped. The heat sealed bags break on impact, and sometimes coming out of the barrel. The paintballs: if they are wrapped tight the will stay together and burst on impact, before the game I plan to shoot this ammo at my old mask. I know the mask can probably take it fine but it doesn't hurt to be safe. If you partially wrap the paintballs you get a shot gun effect with a wide pattern. I will post the results after this weekends game.

[noname]

Great looking gun, although the DWV reducer(s?) needs to go. They aren't pressure rated and could possibly blow out over time. This would be especially bad if you were paintballing, because you would most likely get sued from the shrapnel hitting other people and injuring/killing them.