surprised by a ball valve! Massive kick and thump.

[jhalek90]

In order to cerebrate the birthday of my country i built a spare parts gun.
I dont have any photos... so a MS paint drawing will have to suffice.

This setup is not to scale.

I used 1'' x 1' galvanized pipe for the chamber, a 3/4'' brass ball valve for the firing valve, and a copper AA battery barrel of about 2.5' in length.

the gun was pressurized to 550 psi with my fridge compressor....

ball valve held shut with a block of wood that pivots, and acts as a stop direct-ally on the ball valve handle.... press the block like a trigger... and the spring opens the valve.

Now, seeing as this is my first ball valve cannon... i had no idea what to expect... certainly not the loud crack, and massive amount of recoil that i ended up with.

After bouncing off of a plate of 1'' thick steel, the AA battery proceeded to break a 2'' diameter (best guess) limb from the top of a tree across the field. (about 100 feet from me.)

This gun actually scared me... and i almost dropped it.
Has anyone with a spring powered ball valve taken one up to 550 psi??
This is by far, my most powerful cannon yet. and the loudest.

Seeing as my stash of dead AAs is growing... what do you propose i shoot next???

[Technician1002]

Need video. Breaking out a 2 inch limb after hitting a 1 inch steel plate goes beyond my sense of plausibility. I know what AA batteries look like after impacting steel at high speed. Something that will take out a limb out of a tree on the other side of a field is stretching the plausable a little thin.

I have a good collection of splattered bettery remains.

[jhalek90]

well, i believe it more of skipped off of the steel plate, as intended, as the plate was at close to a 45 degree angle.Also, i never went to investigate the branch, as i stated with was 100 feet away and my BEST GUESS was at 2'' diameter.Now, i too have seen battery turned into pancakes... but i believe the angle of the steel plate may have caused more of a skip.


Its not the power or damage that surprised me... it was the SOUND and the kick. (admittedly still less than my .243 rifle)

I was simply commenting on the performance of a ball valve/spring combo, and attempting to see if anyone else had had such good luck with this setup.

EDIT: 100 feet is not a very large distance when talking 550 psi.
I may take a video tomorrow after i get out of work... my neighbor called the 5-0 on me I thinks. he was walking by.... on the side of my house... and heard the shot, immediately picked up his cell phone and dialed while walking home... hahahah

[maverik94]

In order to cerebrate the birthday of my country i built a spare parts gun.

It's July 4th...hmmm...what country could you possibly be from? lol
Yeah, I'd like to see some pics and videos of this gun. Many people don't realize that ball valves with springs make quite efficient and powerful release valves.

(admittedly still less than my .243 rifle)

yeeeah
I prefer larger calibers like .30-30 and .30-06 for rifles and .38 special and .44 mag rounds for handguns...but there's much to be said for .243s.
(.220 swifts ftw!! lol)

[Technician1002]

I have knocked a limb out of the top of a pine tree, but I was using something a little larger, a full soda can. The limb was about 1 inch in diameter and about 7 feet long. It takes quite a bit of punch to clip a 2 inch diameter branch.

The noise at that pressure would not surprise me at all. It would be impressive.

Just a quick note on using ball valves, using a larger ball valve will open a larger area (orifice) in less time than a small valve. Using a 1 inch valve to feed a 1/2 inch barrel may provide better performance.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Just a quick note on using ball valves, using a larger ball valve will open a larger area (orifice) in less time than a small valve. Using a 1 inch valve to feed a 1/2 inch barrel may provide better performance.

For the same rotated angle, a bigger ball valve will have higher flow than a smaller counterpart, however if using the same spring the friction will likely be higher and it will open slower.

[thedeathofall]

I was simply commenting on the performance of a ball valve/spring combo, and attempting to see if anyone else had had such good luck with this setup.

Velocity made a large bore semi-auto, tank killing, destroyer sinking, world ending weapon of mass destruction that the US needs to copy and use aboard all future carriers here. Unfortunatly he removed all pics from all his threads. It was a homemade ball valve actuated by a pneumatic cylinder and it had SERIOUS power. I remember the video where he put several 1 1/4 inch steel balls through hay bales and wood at several hundred feet with the grouping smaller than the lid of a paint can. Very impressive stuff. And you are definatly right. Ball valves can be extrememly powerful, but ONLY IF OPENED FAST ENOUGH!!!!

[Stolly32123]

wow that sounds insane. you NEED a video and some pics. i really want to see what it can do.

[Technician1002]

Steel spheres are a high mass projectile and will work fine with slower valves. Lighter projectiles need the advantage of faster valves more than heavy projectiles.

[jhalek90]

I work today until late evening... i will attempt to take a video then.

Tech... i would assume a high velocity pop can would make easy work of a 1'' limb...... well, after work today i will be sure to get photos of the branch as well as a video of the cannon.

I prefer larger calibers like .30-30 and .30-06 for rifles and .38 special and .44 mag rounds for handguns...but there's much to be said for .243s.
(.220 swifts ftw!! lol)

I like shooting my .243 due to the fact that at that caliber, ammo is still affordable... and the accuracy of this rifle is simply insane.
(New England Firearms .243)

[metalmeltr]

My friend did something against forum rules with a .243 ...



( edited by BTB)

[POLAND_SPUD]

@thedeathofall
the ball vlave was just the pilot valve on that gun...

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Worth noting (as has been pointed out several times on the forum) that a tight breech/detent will cancel out the disadvantage ball valves tend to have in terms of opening time

[twizi]

velocitys gun dosent have a pic any more i wnted to see it

[velocity3x]

Ball valves can be extrememly powerful, but ONLY IF OPENED FAST ENOUGH!!!!

I agree completely! When you couple the requirements of high volume, high flow, high pressure AND fast actuation time....
Nothing will come close to the superior performance of a powered ball valve.

twizi
velocitys gun dosent have a pic any more i wnted to see it

Currently, it's spending much time with a Plastic Surgeon getting a face/body lift.