Here is a picture of my two homemades.
By kashmunni
I'll start with the top. My old beginner gun before I got into AEGs (A $30 springer m4 replica) broke a while back. The peice that pulls back the Air nozzle to let a BB in from the mag broke in cold weather because it became brittle. Well the cocking handle and piston and trigger still worked, so I decided to make it into a nerf gun. After doing some research, I decided on a nested Crayola barrel. So basically it is just the receiver portion of an Armalite style rifle. It's like an M4 pistol. It’s simple to operate, just pull back the T-handle to charge it and load a dart through the muzzle and fire. As of now it gets about 45 feet flat with single 4.5mm BB weighted stefans.
The way I did it was removing the barrel and stock they way it was supposed to disassemble, and dremeling out some plastic bits inside so that the barrel could fit inside. I then hot-glued the barrel in. Simple as that.
My plans for that gun are to:
Increase the airflow, by drilling into the air nozzle with a decent sized drill bit. (airsoft guns have constricted air flow, hence the nozzle, since the ammo is so small)
Switch to a better barrel material if I can find some brass tubing at Hobby Lobby, Lowes, or Home Depot. Or maybe some PETG if they have it at the plastics shop near my house.
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On the Bottom, is my baby. It's a simple ball valve trigger compressed air cannon, but with a twist. I used a hand pump designed for inflating balls. It is pretty big for a ball pump, and it only takes 5 pumps to get some really nice shots out there. The ball valve is steel, which I like because it is nice and smooth with a bit of WD-40. I have learned to open it pretty darn fast. What I like most about this gun is there are no external parts. No other pumps or tanks. All you need to fire it is right there. The barrel is just Sch-80 PVC. It is loose on my stefans, but it still shoots nicely. It gets about 90 feet flat on only 5 pumps. I know I could get more, but I don't want to risk bending the pump shaft (even though it it metal). The barrel is removable so i can put in thin wall PVC to shoot bigger stuff, as well as load anything that would need a ramrod through the back.
My plans for this gun:
Perhaps nest some tighter fitting brass in the PVC for accuracy and efficiency.
I made a video about this gun:
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Finally, my latest build:
So I got bored a few nights ago... I was all "Hey, I have a pump, a hose handle and some pvc. 8)" So needless to say, I threw this together in about 20 minutes not counting the time it took for the glue to dry, and about $0.
My parents had an old hose handle that was broken, so I found it and took it apart to find that the spring was all rusted to hell and completely destroyed. I replaced the spring that was in it with a spring from an old broken airsoft pistol, and it fit perfectly. Then, going through the box of old plumbing bits and pieces, I found a 3/4 CPVC threaded adapter and screwed that into the hose handle. Then I found that a 90 degree PVC 3/4" elbow fit snugly over the CPVC adapter, so I cemented that on then put some 3/4" and a coupler into the other side of the elbow. Then came the pump. I really couldn't find a way to attach the pump securely, but since the pump and 3/4" coupler had nearly the same diameter, I super glued the pump to the coupler. Then I put hot glue around it to create an air seal, then finally duct taped the crap out of it for strength. I know it is getto and not a perfect way to attach it, but this thing doesn't deal with alot of pressure at all, so it holds up fine. I then machined out a bit of the inside of a 1/2" pvc coupler until it fit over the nozzle of the hose handle and did the super and hot glue combo on it too. Voila! Gun!
The barrel is 1/2" cpvc nested in 1/2" thin wall PVC. It is a really right fit on the darts, the cpvc, but I suppose it's best that way. Loading is easy: The small air tank only gets two pumps before the pump shaft starts flexing badly, so pump twice, pull out barrel and stuff the dart in. Ranges: My results were a bit inconsistent, but with stefans weighted with 3 steel 4.5mm BBs, some of the shots flew over 70 feet across my backyard into the trees, and some dropped at around 50. This might be a dart thing or a valve opening speed inconsistency, but overall I am very pleased. The ones that went across my backyard could have gone farther but they hit a thick treeline.
Questions, comments, concerns? I'm all ears.
