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Ball Valve Breech Loader for GB's?

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:36 pm
by Pete Zaria
I've seen people drill out the side of a small ball valve to create a simple breech loader mechanism for spherical projectiles.

Has anyone tried this with a 2" PVC ball valve for golf balls?

I'm considering drilling a 1.68" hole centered in the side of a 2" ball valve so that when the valve is "closed", this hole is exposed (and a GB is dropped in), and when the valve is "open" the ball is in-line with the barrel.

My concerns are, could the golf ball possibly get "stuck" on the lip of the SDR21 pipe protruding into the ball valve? I could dremel it smooth like the ramp on a semiauto pistol's chamber, and fill the gap between the SDR21 and the inside wall of the ball valve with epoxy to create a seamless gap.

Screws or epoxy will easily keep the ball from rolling backwards into the chamber, but what could be used to keep the ball from rolling down the barrel before being fired? I was thinking about a pencil eraser or strip of rubber that would provide just a small amount of friction to hold the ball in place.

Opinions are much appreciated.

In case you couldn't tell, I finally found a local supplier of SDR21 pipe and am now having lots of fun with a huge box of golf balls.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:40 pm
by Maniac
actually ive been thinking of doing that two if want to wait for some results and not spend the money ill do it this weekend and tell you what happened

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:46 pm
by Pete Zaria
@Maniac,

Thanks, sounds like a plan.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:50 pm
by mopherman
It seems to work with smaller projectiles, i dont see why it wont work here.
I would just dremmel out the sdr 21 to make a smooth ramp.
The only problem I see is that the ball valve would be realy stiff.

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:52 pm
by Hubb
In a ball valve, the flow is restricted. I haven't measured the interior of a 2" pvc ball valve, nor have a measured a golf ball, but I would be concerned about the golf ball actually fitting in the valve.

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:22 pm
by clide
Pics are broken, but leav did it with golf balls back on spudtech
http://www.spudfiles.com/spudtech_archi ... php?t=6896

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:28 pm
by knappengineering
I've done it on 1" pipe, and it works great, in theory it should work fine for a large size pipe. :wink:

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:26 pm
by Pete Zaria
I'm waiting to hear back from Maniac before I try this myself, but I've been thinking about it a bit.

Assuming a golf ball WILL fit through a 2" ball valve (with any stops dremeled out)...

I'm going to use a 1.5" hole saw in a drill press, and then a dremel to bore out the hole to 1.68" unless anyone has a better idea.

I'll use epoxy to center the 1.5" SDR21 in the ball valve, and then shape the epoxy and first half inch of the pipe with a dremel to form a smooth "ramp" for the golf ball.

Could someone either measure the inside diameter of a 2" ball valve, or drop a GB in one and see if it falls through for me?

Any other ideas/comments here before I potentially destroy a $15 valve? (I know, 2" ball valves are more than 1.5" sprinklers at home depot....)

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 7:00 pm
by Maniac
dremmeling right now dremel problems ahhh hurry maniac hurry :!: :!:

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:39 pm
by Maniac
boohooboohooo it didnt work :cry: :cry: im sorry. ill get he pics up in two secs.

Actually it sould work just not on this ball valve. the sealing part was just to small i could get he ball in with a good whack but i didnt roll out. I got the valve from ace so if you do this dont buy it from there. i might shave the o ring down a little worth a shot. if it doesnt work the valve was already ruined before

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:48 pm
by cwazy1
arent all pvc ball valves essentually the same whether it came from ace or anywhere else??

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:21 pm
by Maniac
i got it to work yyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D :D :D

here are the picsImagethis is what happens to your work station when you do this :shock:
these next two are of the not working valve Image
Image
these next three are of the working one. note on the last picture where th valve is straight up it is in the valve not at the bottom of the table because a little of the valve is turned in so it doesnt roll bak for it rolling forward i have no clueImage
Image
Image

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:26 pm
by sandman
lol, top flight, just be glad you shooting that ball and not playing with it :wink:

but hole looks little sloppy, but i bet u can clean it up nicely

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:32 pm
by Maniac
yea when i found it i thought i had stolen it out of a putt putt shop yea its sloppy because i used a dremel and i was rushing

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:10 am
by Pete Zaria
YAY!

Does it feed smoothly into the barrel? That's the only other part I'm worried about.

I'll pick up a 2" valve on my way home from work tomorrow (Yes, I'm working Veterans Day... :( )

Thanks so much for your effort here, Maniac.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.