Firing Something Other Than Lasers...

[steve-o]

Duck!!!!!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[buffo]

Is there a range near newton-conover? We should have SESHOOT before SELEM.

That's not a bad idea, Steve... I can check into that. My guess is that there are probably quite a few firing ranges in the area. That's prime hunting country, after all.

Need to dig a long water filled ditch, as buffo will bring 21" Mk 48 ammo :-)

I *wish* I had access to that sort of hardware... Though it would have to be one hell of a long ditch. Mark 48 Mod IV torpedos had 30,000 yards of trailing wire. The actual propulsion mechanism could push it a lot farther than that though. (I want to say there was enough otto fuel on board for something like 40 minutes of continuous run time. I forget the specifics - it's been 20 years after all...)

Not sure that the range safety officer would be all that pleased with us detonating something as large as a Mark 48 warhead either. That might re-arrange things a little too much for his liking...

I could always bring a couple "Powerballs" with me. Or maybe one of my potato guns... (Ever shoot a golf ball out of a potato gun? They fly for miles!)

Adam

[steve-o]

Ohhh!! A golf ball gun I'd like to build one of those! Does it operate from the basic pvc pipe/ hairspray principle?

[buffo]

Yeah - same idea. I don't use hairspray though... Too unreliable. I prefer "Static Guard" as a potato gun fuel. Works great!

For those that are curious:

Make the combustion chamber out of 4 inch Sch 40 PVC. Put a threaded clean-out fitting at one end, and a 4x2 reducer at the other. (Alternately, you can use a 4 x 1.5 reducer if you want a smaller barrel.) Make the combustion chamber about 6 inches long (that's more than you'll need). Make the barrel at least 3 feet long. 5 ft works really well, especially if you use 1.5 inch pipe vs 2 inch. (2 inch gives you more velocity... Greater surface area to push against! Also a 2 inch barrel sounds better.)

Glue all the PVC together and let it dry overnight. While you're waiting, drill a hole in the cap for the clean-out and glue in a piezio-electric grill ignitor. (Standard 2-part epoxy works well for this.) Be sure to attach a wire rod to the base and run it out to near the tip to create something that looks like a spark plug. A coat hanger is ideal.

To fire a golf ball, first wad up a couple paper towels and stuff them down the barrel. Then insert the golf ball, and follow it up with another wad of paper towels. Use a ram-rod (broom handle) to push the whole mess down to within a few inches of the top of the reducer fitting. Spray the static guard spray into the combustion chamber for aprox 1 second. Quickly screw the cap on hand-tight only. Aim in a safe direction and click the ignitor to fire.

On a good day it will shoot a golf ball high enough that it will be in the air for 30 seconds or more. On a long par 5, I believe you could easily drive the green with one of these... (Of course, calling a potato gun a "driver" is quite the stretch...) Don't blame me if you get banned from your local country club for having this in your golf bag!

If it won't fire after several clicks of the ignitor, unscrew the cap and let the combustion chamber air out. Check the ignitor by pressing the button while looking for a spark to jump the gap between the tip and the wire you installed. If the ignitor is OK, then your problem is related to your fuel/air mixture. 99% of the time it will be TOO MUCH FUEL. So try using less fuel first, before you try more.

To launch a potato, you don't need any wadding. Just ram the potato down the barrel. The sharp edge of the PVC will shave the potato to exactly the right size. Use your broomstick ram-rod to push the potato "slug" down to within an inch or two of the reducer. Then spray in your fuel, quickly screw in the cap, and fire! (Note: Potato firings will produce a pronounced "kick" that you won't notice when firing a golf ball. It's not hard to handle at all, but be prepared for it.)

You will probably need a large pair of lock-jaw pliers (Channel-locks) to unscrew the clean-out cap after each firing. It tends to get pretty tight. Also, once you've fired it, click the ignitor a couple of times before you unscrew the cap. Sometimes you'll have enough fuel for a second "puff". This looks cool at night. (Doesn't make much noise, but the blue flame coming out the barrel is neat.)

A note about safety: using standard hairspray (or Static Guard, for that matter) as a fuel will generate a peak pressure of around 40 to 50 PSI during the initial combustion. (Assuming you follow the dimensions above.) This is well within the safety limits for Sch 40 PVC pipe. I've fired both my potato guns 100's of times with no signs of stress cracks.

Some people will tell you to use MAPP gas, or even an oxy-acetylene mix, in order to get more power. This is downright stupid. You can easily exceed the burst strength of PVC using those fuels, and when PVC fails, it shatters. (Think fragmentation grenade.) If you need a potato gun that has more power that what you can get with static guard, you need to switch to an all-pneumatic design where you can control the firing pressure.

Adam

[mixedgas]

A former co-worker of mine has a letter hanging framed on his office wall.
Its a letter from the BATF on stationary replying to a request of his on if his ultra long range patato gun was a weapon. Reply, as long as your not shooting a explosive projectile or using powder for the propellent its out of our jusidiction. Next Line, have fun, be safe, and send us pictures, best regards, the Feds.......

:-)

My personal favorite is the M4-M16-AR15 screw on golfball driver. Just add a 223 blank and a golf ball. Shoot it ballistic, not horizontal.
Steve

[300EVIL]

I like my potato gun too. I made a couple of vynil cement slugs to fit the PVC barrel. WOW! that thing really punches holes in stuff. AquaNet is still the best propellant in my opinion though, I'd like to try acetylene sometime. (with just plain air, not pure oxygen!)

[frank_1257]

I do mis my .177 dania people used to laugh at me when I told them the rifle exceeded .22 cal velocities and shot little balls of blue flame (parrafin wax on pellets combusts) I stored in a cabin and the roof started leaking and it was hopelessly rusted really mis er. well that and my HK .308 had to get rid of that one a neighbors pregnant wife threw fits about my weekly shooting, I miss that gun drool it was so sweet.

Whoa, this is my sort of thread

I used to be into match target pistol shooting big time. I had a S&W .357 magnum and a FAS 604 .22 RF. I also have some air weapons, a Steyr LP10, an Air Arms S410k and up until recently a Steyr LG100 Field Target rifle and a Steyr LP5.

The law changed in the UK and we had to hand over our firearms for destruction. It broke my heart seeing the S&W go. It was a blueprint model and handled like silk.

So now all that's left for us is air pistols. Having said that though, I think the target sport enthusiasts have pulled together and the sport has grown stronger. Getting rid of all the 'big' stuff also got rid of all the people who just liked owning the biggest baddest guns money could buy. What's left now are people who love the sport.

I've shot up to County level, sadly, I was never good enough for the national squad

Those are great pictures and bring back some great memories, thanks for posting them.

Cheers

Jem

[frank_1257]

We would get a heavy wall steel pipe and about 1 inch plus id.

We would slam one end into concrete ground to flare the end.

For ammo we used either in those days used CO2 or now used NO2 cartridgess we would use sissors to cut match heads off of books of paper matches.

Then we would hammer a 10 penny nail into opening of the used CO2, this made the opening big enough to push match heads in one at a time.

Into the cartridge went enough match tips to fill loosely.

Next we would get two pieces of 22ga phone wire and strip 2 pieces back an inch and a quarter.

We would take a toothpick a round one and pinch a piece of 000 steel wool and spiral down the tooth pick we would wrap the copper wire in a tight spiral around each end of the toothpick and lay one flat and twist these together into a ignitor squib.

Now we would carefully spiral the toothpick into the cartridge.

A 2x4 was carved into a stock a few batteries a push button and some alligator clips . A pair of glasses or goggles and a closed mouth were important for back blast.

We had to walk through a very bad neighbor hood after desegregation interschool busing was implemented in the mid 70's this was our own little make it to school through the ghetto self defensive weapon but mainly used for FUN.

These go a long ways straight up in incredible rocket flights. Please infer no racial conotations it was just a bad area not uncommon to be shook down (unarmed) for money on foot to school.

OH BTW this is VERY dangerous we often launched the CO2 rounds from a sand pile like rockets the back blast would start fires occasionally so sand was a LOT SAFER

I had some passing thought of trying to use some of my much bigger paint ball gun disposable CO2 cartridges to try this one day with a much larger od launch tube and a LOT!!!! of wire between me and the projectile.

Now all I need is a bit of fuming nitric acid, some sulfuric and an old mercury bulb thermostat and a 3 day reaction time oh there is nothing like homemade fulminate of mercury.Makes one Xell of a war head.

Yes I was formally interrogated by an FBI arson/ bombsquad investigator before I turned 16.

Yeah - same idea. I don't use hairspray though... Too unreliable. I prefer "Static Guard" as a potato gun fuel. Works great!

For those that are curious:

Make the combustion chamber out of 4 inch Sch 40 PVC. Put a threaded clean-out fitting at one end, and a 4x2 reducer at the other. (Alternately, you can use a 4 x 1.5 reducer if you want a smaller barrel.) Make the combustion chamber about 6 inches long (that's more than you'll need). Make the barrel at least 3 feet long. 5 ft works really well, especially if you use 1.5 inch pipe vs 2 inch. (2 inch gives you more velocity... Greater surface area to push against! Also a 2 inch barrel sounds better.)

Glue all the PVC together and let it dry overnight. While you're waiting, drill a hole in the cap for the clean-out and glue in a piezio-electric grill ignitor. (Standard 2-part epoxy works well for this.) Be sure to attach a wire rod to the base and run it out to near the tip to create something that looks like a spark plug. A coat hanger is ideal.

To fire a golf ball, first wad up a couple paper towels and stuff them down the barrel. Then insert the golf ball, and follow it up with another wad of paper towels. Use a ram-rod (broom handle) to push the whole mess down to within a few inches of the top of the reducer fitting. Spray the static guard spray into the combustion chamber for aprox 1 second. Quickly screw the cap on hand-tight only. Aim in a safe direction and click the ignitor to fire.

On a good day it will shoot a golf ball high enough that it will be in the air for 30 seconds or more. On a long par 5, I believe you could easily drive the green with one of these... (Of course, calling a potato gun a "driver" is quite the stretch...) Don't blame me if you get banned from your local country club for having this in your golf bag!

If it won't fire after several clicks of the ignitor, unscrew the cap and let the combustion chamber air out. Check the ignitor by pressing the button while looking for a spark to jump the gap between the tip and the wire you installed. If the ignitor is OK, then your problem is related to your fuel/air mixture. 99% of the time it will be TOO MUCH FUEL. So try using less fuel first, before you try more.

To launch a potato, you don't need any wadding. Just ram the potato down the barrel. The sharp edge of the PVC will shave the potato to exactly the right size. Use your broomstick ram-rod to push the potato "slug" down to within an inch or two of the reducer. Then spray in your fuel, quickly screw in the cap, and fire! (Note: Potato firings will produce a pronounced "kick" that you won't notice when firing a golf ball. It's not hard to handle at all, but be prepared for it.)

You will probably need a large pair of lock-jaw pliers (Channel-locks) to unscrew the clean-out cap after each firing. It tends to get pretty tight. Also, once you've fired it, click the ignitor a couple of times before you unscrew the cap. Sometimes you'll have enough fuel for a second "puff". This looks cool at night. (Doesn't make much noise, but the blue flame coming out the barrel is neat.)

A note about safety: using standard hairspray (or Static Guard, for that matter) as a fuel will generate a peak pressure of around 40 to 50 PSI during the initial combustion. (Assuming you follow the dimensions above.) This is well within the safety limits for Sch 40 PVC pipe. I've fired both my potato guns 100's of times with no signs of stress cracks.

Some people will tell you to use MAPP gas, or even an oxy-acetylene mix, in order to get more power. This is downright stupid. You can easily exceed the burst strength of PVC using those fuels, and when PVC fails, it shatters. (Think fragmentation grenade.) If you need a potato gun that has more power that what you can get with static guard, you need to switch to an all-pneumatic design where you can control the firing pressure.

Adam

[frank_1257]

He was a sick puppy decorated military commander forget his rank died when I was 12.

This guy made a fortune selling tires at a Firestone dealership,

I have early memories of being on his ranch and he would pull mortar rounds from his collection they were declared with two part tags he would detonate and send in a tag that the ordinance had been destroyed or detonated.

He used to love to show off his captured panzerfaust rocket launchers and other collectible weaponry, way, way, way too much was live stuff!

He was a sick puupy used to make me try to shoot old german ? WWI? II old .22 rifles the damn things weighed like 30+pounds, when I was 8-9 I could hardly hold up to aim the thing.

That's not a bad idea, Steve... I can check into that. My guess is that there are probably quite a few firing ranges in the area. That's prime hunting country, after all.

I *wish* I had access to that sort of hardware... Though it would have to be one hell of a long ditch. Mark 48 Mod IV torpedos had 30,000 yards of trailing wire. The actual propulsion mechanism could push it a lot farther than that though. (I want to say there was enough otto fuel on board for something like 40 minutes of continuous run time. I forget the specifics - it's been 20 years after all...)

Not sure that the range safety officer would be all that pleased with us detonating something as large as a Mark 48 warhead either. That might re-arrange things a little too much for his liking...

I could always bring a couple "Powerballs" with me. Or maybe one of my potato guns... (Ever shoot a golf ball out of a potato gun? They fly for miles!)

Adam

[DZ]

He used to love to show off his captured panzerfaust rocket launchers and other collectible weaponry, way, way, way too much was live stuff!

He was a sick puupy used to make me try to shoot old german ? WWI? II old .22 rifles the damn things weighed like 30+pounds, when I was 8-9 I could hardly hold up to aim the thing.

Damn! Nothing like having a panzerfaust just laying around the house! I heard recently in the news that a few live grenades were found in someones attic, here in the town I live it. Old left overs from WWII. I also heard something about an old German grenade being found in a sack of potatoes, I think in the UK. Aparently, a potato farm in Europe using machines to dig up the potatoes. Well one day it picked up a grenade as well, went right into the packaging and sent off.

Oh, and you can put me down for a SESHOOT! Heck, there's a decent outdoor range about 2 hours from FLEM.