Blowgun or solenoid pilot

I'm thinking of trying my hand at building a pneumatic cannon again, my last one was a 30mm diameter port T piston, which worked but eventually the piston got stuck. This time I want to build a smaller one, probably a 17ish mm port 30mm piston coaxial piloted by a blowgun. However I'm not sure if the blowgun will dump the pilot well enough to get average performance. Pilot will be 30mm diameter x 10mm or hopefully shorter.
The other option I could do is try slightly bigger and use a solenoid valve as a pilot, that way I could make an electronic trigger setup, but I know very little about solenoid valves.
Any hints/tips/better input?
The other option I could do is try slightly bigger and use a solenoid valve as a pilot, that way I could make an electronic trigger setup, but I know very little about solenoid valves.
Any hints/tips/better input?