SpudFiles

i had an idea to make a small copper pneumatic hand gun. here is my basic plan.


Do you think this would work to shoot a small Nerf dart at least 50 ft, or a marble.
The barrel would be almost a foot with the valve.
sorry for bad pic i made it quik
Is there a certain size a have to make the tank for effectiveness?
and can i solder this all,(all of the joints that aren't threaded)?
thanks.

dude i guarantee someone is going to give you crap for that diagram

but anyway why copper why not pvc (its a lot cheaper) and about the valve ball valves open slowly, i would suggest you use a sprinkler valve (but if your anywhere near where i live there "out of season" and you cant buy them). i sprinkler valve would give you much better performance. the handle on my big gun is just a piece of wood taped on really tight but on all my smaller guns i modified a tee to slide over the pipe so i could have a handle. lastly for i high powered pneumatic you want a chamber to barrel ratio of 2:1 to 4:1 i believe.

ps - censorship? we cant say sh*t

Sure it will work. Just a suggestion- 1/2" PVC is a near perfect fit for micro nerf darts.

thx for the input.
could i drill a hole for the schrader in the copper with a GOOD dewalt hammerdril,(set on spin not hammer.)

also solder right?

can i cut copper pipe with a fairly good jigsaw? if not i might just end up doing this with pvc.

Don't drill into copper pipe, that's just not a good idea. Look and find a fitting to solder in that has pipe threads, and convert it to 1/8NPT from there.

I would imagine you could cut copper pipe that way, but the correct way is to use a pipe cutter. This is a special tool that you sping around the pipe while slowly tightening it, which cuts the pipe very cleanly. I bought one at Harbor Freight for like $2.

PVC would be great for this, except if you are using it in the cold.

And don't use a ball valve, either use a modded sprinkler valve, or a QEV.
For what you are doing, I'm sure a 1 inch sprinkler valve would work great.

Sprinkler valves are ok for small cannons. They just suck balls for large ones. Yea, go for a qev sprinkler or piston. (the piston valve is the fastest, most reliable valve.)

how do i make a piston?
and i totaly forgot about a pipe cutter ive seen those before.
i might make this out of pvc but i lov the look of copper

You make a piston out of anything that fits good in the chamber. try dowel rods or other wood. Also you can use a pvc end cap of a smaller diameter for the piston.

To cut copper pipe just use a pipe cutter. You can get one at home depot.

im goin to use pvc instead and im going to make a piston valve, thx for your imput.