23 replies to this topic

[Shotty Master]

The basic ballvalve as seen in the homemeades section of this site is what I need information on. Does anyone have a good estimate of ranges? If anyone can offer up other basic information about it, I'd appreciate it.

[SKIZ]

Dude i dont no ranges as such but i would NOT go for a ball valve. SLOW and you get much better out of a soloid. If however you dont want to take the advice put a log piece of wood on the valve so that the mechanical advantage is greater thus opening the valve quicker.

P.S. I no from experience that a soloniod is better as i have the ball valve gun and after breaking the ball valve i replaced it with a solonoid and i couldnt be happier.

[pigeon4]

It all depends on the size of the tank and the air preassure, but because of the slow release time on a ball valve. I'd say 20'-40' average for my guns.

[m15399]

20-40? That's ridiculously low for an air pressure homemade. What size is your chamber? Barrel?

He's right about the size and pressure, though. Take a look at 3DBBQ's homemades for examples of ball valve homemades. Most of those probably get about 50'-60', but with a larger PC, you should be able to get 100'.

[notorious oxide]

I have made a ballvalva homemade. It involved 20mm pvc and 20mm steel ballvalve, i got a non pressure rated valve because they were $4 cheaper. At around 20 psi i would clear my houes with a level shot and no fall in the dart, the hallway is 30' long and thats what i was shooting down. I know it could easily clean 60-80' but not sure about 100'. Although with a much longer barrel (48") and around 30-60 psi it could make it much farther. The ballvalve was also highy lubricated with WD-40 (lube of choice) which cannot be done with a pvc valve due to it not being steel and the plastic will swell. Very easy and quick ballvalve it was, but now it is deceased.

[blinkycc13]

I don't reccomend a ball valve. I reccomend the hose handle homemade over the ball valve. Yesterday I finished an airsoft homemade with a hose handle and it works very well.

[Shotty Master]

Just so everyone knows, I intend to mass produce the gun. So, to alter my first question a bit more to the point, doea the ball valve gun in the homemade section get upwards of 35-40 feet?

[duce]

Just so everyone knows, I intend to mass produce the gun. So, to alter my first question a bit more to the point, doea the ball valve gun in the homemade section get upwards of 35-40 feet?

If made correctly, yes.

[m15399]

I would have to say... possibly. I would make the chamber bigger if I was making it.

I finished an airsoft homemade with a hose handle and it works very well.

Any airsoft homemade is going to work very well compared to manufactured guns. A nerf gun could shoot a BB 120'+. Hose handles won't let the air out as fast, but the valve will be comfortable to hold.

[DX-Robert]

35-40 is terrible. My worst ball valve homemade has ranges around 130, and my best will put a dart up around 200 [angled] at only 70 PSI. Then again, mine use a different design than normal Nerf ball valve homemades due to my experience with pneumatic water balloon launchers. I personally would never use the design on the site, or a PVC ball valve. If you must use a ball valve, go with the metal ones, which are often cheaper than their PVC counterparts and open much, much faster. Plus, they are threaded unlike normal PVC valves and therefore you can screw on and off different barrels and air chambers.

Please reconsider your design, since anyone who buys a homemade that only fires 40ft is being completely ripped off. The ball valve homemades I make could get more range than that with only 10 PSI in the air chamber. They could clear 40ft even with a massive air leak. 40 is really, really, really bad.

You should also think about a bigger air chamber. I personally build air chambers of 3" pipe and at least a foot long for good performance.

[davidbowie]

You can get great power out of a ball valve gun, but it will be less efficient than, say, a modded sprinkler or homemade piston valve. To get good power, it will most likely take quite a bit of work to pump up, which isn't really so good for a single-shot gun. I kinda doubt people will be in a mad dash to buy these things when a NF, 2k, etc. would do a better job, with more comfort, for less money.

[Shotty Master]

I'm mass producing them for some of the guys in my neghborhood. I'm trying to get them into nerf, and I think a homemade would do it. Thank you all for your input.

[Sponge Nerfer]

Ive made a few guns that use ball valves from the basic rifle I got ranges from 70-80ft which was a great surprise to me. I also made a large "cannon" which could get ranges of like 180ft. The cannon had a much larger tank than the rifle and thus had more air and shot the bullet farther, but due to the massive size of the tank (four feet of four inch PVC) it has a horrible rof so I exchanged rof for range. I use a hand pump with the cannon and I have been wanting to hook it up to an electrical pump for a very long time but have never gotten around to buying a pump and cannont find a tire valve, this would help, if not solve, the rof problem with the cannon and add even more power. That basicly is the extent of my expierementing with ball valves I have been thinking of a way to modify a ball valve to make it more trigger-like but I wont get into that now, I hope this helps.

[sniper25]

Sorry to post late but I have made the gun in the homemade section. Here are the ranges.
max: 200 ft
best range for use is about 110 ft
oh yea that is with ONE pump from my bike pump

[blinkycc13]

Those are nice results! I must say I am surprised. Sponge, 4 feet of 4"? That is enormous! I remember a picture in the homemade picture thread of a huge cannon. Is that yours?

Edited by blinkycc13, 26 May 2006 - 05:40 PM.

[m15399]

How did you measure ranges? I'm tired of people saying "200 feet" when they haven't even measured it.

1 pump from a bike pump into 4 feet of 4" PVC will make less than 5 PSI. There is no way in heck that you can get 200 feet with a ball valve homemade with 5 PSI in the tank, even with a tank that big.

[Carbon]

How did you measure ranges? I'm tired of people saying "200 feet" when they haven't even measured it.

1 pump from a bike pump into 4 feet of 4" PVC will make less than 5 PSI. There is no way in heck that you can get 200 feet with a ball valve homemade with 5 PSI in the tank, even with a tank that big.

SpongeNerfer had the 4' of 4", and sniper25 had the 200 foot ranges with one pump; they weren't from the same post. But I'm still curious about the dimensions of the ball valve tank for loser, or the size of the pump being used...it's still insanely good range.

[m15399]

Oops, sorry.

Still, there's no way with any sized tank you could do that.

[Flaming Hilt]

Still, there's no way with any sized tank you could do that.

I disagree. I think that technically, you could shoot as far as you wanted.

You see, when you pump up an At2k, you are going to have to stop pumping eventually because either A) the pressure maxes out, or B ) the range maxes out.

The way to fix the pressure maxing out is, obviously, to put on a bigger tank.

The way to fix the range maxing out is to add a longer barrel. Don't believe me? Take any pump gun and remove your barrel. Put on something 2" long. Now try shooting with different amounts of pumps. Very quickly, the range will level off at a very short distance. Even if you pump it 30 times. Now, put your barrel back on and try it again. The range levels off at a higher number, but still doesn't go any higher if you pump it, say, 100 times.

The only thing to fix after you get those two down is the dart. Most darts aren't made to go farther than about 100 ft. But, buy making them longer and adding more ballast...

[m15399]

He said with 1 pump from a bike pump. With enough to max out pressure, 200 could be acheived, but there's no way 1 bike pump can propel a nerf dart 200 feet... Unless your bike pump is insane.

[davidbowie]

If you have a high-volume stand up bike pump, it's possible. He's exaggerating, but it's still possible.

[sniper25]

I use the home made ball valve air gun in the homemade section. I have gone to a football field and it shot about 60 yards. I have currently a 20 inch barrel on it, and sorry if this disapoints it was at an angle. I was as shocked as hell when it went over my neibors house I thuoght it would go a couple of feet and stop.

EDIT: I just whent out and shot it. DISASTER the end cap were the bike valve is located blew off and put a dent in my mailbox and hit me in the leg. im ok but i have a huge bruse

Edited by sniper25, 30 May 2006 - 08:15 PM.

[m15399]

Could you take a pic? If you build it exactly like in the homemades section, you would NOT have been able to get 60 yards, but if you made a huge tank...

[sniper25]

I will include video when i fix the gun.