I originally intended it to be a nerf rifle that would also have the power (if needed) to shoot "other" projectiles, and that would bear slight size reference to my Daisy 1848 Carbine BB gun. The end result is a gun that shoots nerf ridiculously well, but has slow ROF. Oh well. Did I mention it launches drumsticks?
Sorry the pictures don't show more, I had a family member take them (the gun is at my house, I am at my apartment 2 hours away) and I was lucky to get even these!
Anywho, the gun is basically a really small air cannon, using a blowgun as the trigger. The pump right now is just dangling off of where it connects to the tank, hence the term "unfinished". I just haven't found a good place for it yet.
The cannon takes about 10 pumps to get to 20psi or so, which is more than enough to nearly kill a mega stefan (or at least whatever the stefan hits). I haven't range tested it with exact measurments, but I can say this: it shoots from the edge of my backyard, across a neighbor's yard, and on average lands on the far edge of the NEXT neighbor's yard. All-in-all, about 100-120 ft, maybe more. I've found that the gun at 10 pumps is a little too powerful, and that sometimes the dart flounders in the air (which can also be attributed to poor quality stefans).
Anywho, the main point of making this gun was for accurate, and it serves that purpose. It's also easy to fire.
The pictures don't show it but I did have a breech consisting of a half-circle of PVC dremeled out of the barrel, covered with a sliding sealer thing. One of these days, I'll try one of those clip mods.
I'm also trying to get my brother to take a picture of it with him holding it, so you can see how well it fits in the hand. The blowgun looks awkward, but it's at the perfect place for your pointer finger to grab it.
And the pics: like I said, a family member took these... also, combine images 1-3 for an idea of the whole thing. It's rather compact, measuring about 2 1/2 feet or so...
The butt/tank of the gun, notice the air input hose tapped into the PVC. Also, there is a pressure gauge that is tapped into the top of the tank that is non-visible from this picture. It is directly in-line with the barrel, and does not interfere at all with either holding or sighting.
The trigger and valve, notice the red ball pump that is "hanging" near the top of the pic.
The barrel, which is 1/2 SCH 40 PVC. This particular barrel is used to shoot drumsticks for a prototype drum accessory I'm developing. Notice also the large white tablet that has the label of "French Hovercraft Plans"... Someday I will build it, I swear!
"Close-Up" of the trigger and valve. Notice the grey epoxy in the solinoid hole, and that I had to cut the blowgun down to allow it to fit. It originally had about and inch more on the output end. You can also see the ball pump more clearly here.
So, I believe this gun proves that you CAN use a sprinkler setup for a nerf gun. Also, the original intent was to make this thing prime with one or two pumps. I goofed by making the air chamber too large. I could fix this in a number of ways. If I would have made it smaller, it would prime in one or two pumps (while the output would have gone from high pressure high volume to high pressure low volume, which is what a nerf gun is). I suppose I could also find some super super high volume pump or something...
Anywho, enjoy, and if you have any questions, ask!
Copy!
Edited by KirbySaysHi, 05 December 2005 - 12:15 AM.
