Every year, when spring rolls around, I get a boost in creativity, and I actually go out and build stuff instead of conceptualizing all the time.
It also helps that I found all the sizes of FBR, finally.
After I got back from HD today, I decided to revive an old, newbish, air cannon of mine.
It uses a ball valve *GASP*, but it's not just a plain old ball valve. It's one of those y-shaped double ball valves for garden hose. The trigger valve makes a very nice trigger, and the chamber comes off at a 45 degree angle, making for a pretty good grip.
This has a PEX barrel, which is pretty much the same size as CPVC, for micros, and the occasional nano. It has a simple breech made with a section cut out of the barrel and a 1/2" PVC cover that pops on and off.
The mounted pump has decent volume, so it only takes about 10 pumps to fill the chamber.
That big ugly tube on the top is a larger chamber. It connects through the other ball valve (this is why the y-valve is cool). I can leave that valve open while pumping to fill this as well as the firing chamber, then close it, fire, open it, fire for two quick shots.
There is a side-folding stock. It's really nothing much, but I suck at explaining things. I could spend 3 paragraphs describing it and you wouldn't get how it worked, but if you actually had the gun in your hands, you would understand immediately.
It's definitely not my favorite gun, but it does get very good range. My micros generally don't have enough weight, so they just fishtail out of control, but on the rare one with enough weight and almost perfect straightness, this gun shoots FAR. There's little to no noticeable drop in about 110', at which point the dart enters the forest never to be seen again.
