Anybody ever made a spud gun. They are made of PVC pipe. Around a 3" peice for the barrel and an 8" peice for the cahmber. It is a little more comlicated but I'm sure that you will get the picture. The end of the chamber is unscrewable with a propane stove starter. You jam a potato into the barrel, spray a litte bit of something flammable into it, screw on the cap, and hit the igniter. You can usually launch a potato about 250 yards. I've found that Aqua Net hair spray works the best for propellant. What is everybody elses experiences?

I have a few.
An excellent site is
www.xinventions.com

I HAVE 1 KNIGHT. MY FRIEND HARLEY WAS BUILDIN THEM A FEW YRS AGO. THEY ARE A BLAST I SHOOT APPLES OUT OF MINE. LIKE YOU I.VE FOUND THAT CHEAPER HAIR SPRAY HAS THE MOST PROPELLING POWER.

A .357 MAG CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND.........

air powered is far more powerful. They are also considered an air rifle Not a firearm like a fuel propellent gun

IF YOU CAN FIND SOME (JUST WONDERFUL) HAIR SPRAY THATS THE STUFF TO USE FOR PROPELANT AS THE FIRST 2 INGREDENTS ON THE LIST ARE PROPANE AND BUTANE. MY SPUDZOOKA WILL LAUNCH APPLES ABOUT 250 YDS ON THAT FUEL.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL........

The funniest thing to do is experiment with shooting other things out of the spud gun. I think the best was a D flash light battery saboted with enough duck tape to fit tightly in the bore of the spud gun. I once made this penetrate a car radiator, also would easily go through the hood of a car. Don't worry these where juck cars we had at my dad's place. the thing that I found shot the furthest was a golfball again saboted with duck tape, this would launch it out of sight straight up into the air. I also found that the guns that i made with larger breechs seem to shoot much better, make the breech 9inches long with 4" pvc, have it neck down to 2" pipe for the barrel. I aways wanted to try smaller barrel pipe but didn't get the chance

We used to muck around with them, till one friend of mine was out shooting tennis balls for his dog through a similar cannon on a football oval, the cops came by and took him in...
Apparently under Australian legislation it is a catagory "somingthing" weapon, the same category a bazooka falls into. They let him off with a stern warning.

Just be careful. I had made one when I was in college. I didn't chamfer the end of the barrel, which I highly recomend doing. If you chamfer the end of the barrel so that it cuts the potatoe to the correct barrel diameter, it will also lube the barrel because the meat is touching the barrel, not the skin. You also don't have to sort through a whole bag to find ones that fit, They automatically are cut to the correct size. Before I chamfered mine, I tried to shoot a spud that was to tight for the barrel. It was a hand held model with a 6" chamber that had a 2" y used for the handle. It blew the cleaning cap right off of the back and propelled it straight at me. It hit me in the arm and then in the ear. My arm had a bruise on it for about 2 weeks and my ear was numb for about 3 or 4 days. If my arm didn't soften the blow to my face, it would of probably killed me. These things are fun, but be careful.

My spud gun used a lantern igniter in the cap and I used 1 1/2 for the barrel. I would cut the spude in 1/2 and then stuff them down the barrel and it would then cut them to size like mentioned in the post above. Works good.

I just built one today but the damn thing won't work!! I made the firing chamber out of 3" pvc, about a foot long, then necked it down to 2" for a couple of inches, then necked it down again to a three foot 1 1/2" barrel. I drilled a hole in the back to stuff a fireplace lighter in as an ignition source. My son and I tried carb cleaner, WD-40, the wife's hair spray, and even MAPP gas. Nothing! Not so much as a burp. The best we got was a flashback out the match hole when my son didn't hold the lighter in all the way. Any ideas what we are doing wrong?

they still can hurt you. the back flew off the one on my buddy. he was holding it awkward, took the flame in his eye, and the cap in the shoulder.
turns out, dirt got into the threads...
but he had a hard time seeing for an hour or so..
so be careful.

When I built my spud gun I put 2 screws in it and attached the ignighter to one of the screws, it gives a nice spark. Here is a web site for those guys that are out of there minds.

www.spudtech.com

Bought a book called Backyard Ballistics by a fellow whose last name starts with Gu .. something. It read like a documentary of my childhood (Dad was an ordnance physicist )

Redial

HARLEY FOUND A WAY TO TAKE A PRETTY GOOD DIA. PIECE OF COPPER WIRE AN STRIP OFF THE INSULATION AND WRAP IT AROUND THE IGNITER AN RUN IT DOWN TO THE END OF THE IGNITER LIKE A SPARK PLUG YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THAT OTHER CRAP INSIDE THERE. THE NUT THAT KEEPS THE INGNITER ATTACHED TO THE CHAMBER HOLDS THE WIRE ON TOO.

DOES THE SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECT SPUD CANNONERES.............?????

JohnK007,

Remember the fire triangle: heat, oxygen, fuel. You're probably putting in too much fuel, or not giving it time to mix with the air. Or either not getting a spark, but that's trivial to verify.

You really need very little fuel. Less is more.

Two-hundred yards, and an ear ringing bang (literally) should be your goal.

Pertinax

JOHNK I HAVE AT TIMES JUST PUT THE SPUD INTO THE MUZZLE THEN TWISTED OFF THE CAP AND SPRAYED IN MY PROPELANT PUT THE CAP BACK ON THEN SHOVED THE SPUD HOME WHICH SEEMS TO MIX THE AIR IN BARREL WITH THE FUEL IN THE CHAMBER. HAD SOME SUCCESS THAT WAY WITH A STUBBORN LOAD.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL.......

You guys should try this
http://www.punkinchunkin.com/index1.htm
It is complete fun
Back to cooking
Turtle

back in high school we were shooting one during shop class, (outside the door of course). anyway the end cap blew off, bounced off the ground and hit my buddy in the head. it cracked his skull and and put him in a coma for a couple days. screwed him up for awhile. they are fun though

Woo-hoo!

Spent the weekend assembling and firing one with my 5-year-old. BIG FUN.

The fumes from the primer and cement will knock you loopy - do this out in the toolshed, not on the kitchen table!

Sunday morning after everything had dried, my son and I were accompanied on the lawn by several brothers-in-law and an army of young boys (cousins). The wives all sat inside, drank coffee and rolled their eyes. We launched 20lbs of spuds into the pasture before the kids got cold.

Cheap, bucolic amusement - perfect for a boring winter weekend in Montana.

I've already started on the compressed-air version.

Redial

Redial,

My son built the compressed air version after I built my standard fuel-air type. I've got to tell you, you WILL be impressed with the compressed air type! Although we haven't had a real "shoot off" yet, I suspect his will provide the same ballistics as mine. The only downside to the compressed air type is that you are married to the air compressor. I think my next one will be this type but with two air chambers (magnum?)

To those who offered assistance when I couldn't get the damn thing to work: Thanks !! As many of you suggested, I was using too much fuel. I have experimented with various concoctions and have had a lot of fun with this thing, even if it is a push feed. Just wish it'd warm up so I can use it more.

Still contemplating the bowling ball mortar

OK, now how anal-retentive is this - this weekend I was out in the yard CHRONOGRAPHING my spudgun. Gee-zuss!! More eye-rolling and sighing from the lovely missus.

Redial

120 - 128 fps for the equally anal among us... that's almost 85 mph!

REDIAL VERY COOL. I WONDERED WHAT THE VELOCITY WAS ON ONE OF THEM PROJECTILES......

THE 2ND AMENDMENT DOSEN'T APPLY TO SPUDZOOKAS AS THEY ARE JUST TOYS..... AREN'T THEY?????

It's amazing how quickly one can lose his common sense when fooling with these things. My buddy and I built two of them one day. We couldn't get the first one to work, so my buddy unscrews the cap and checks the spark. The igniter was mounted on the side of the chamber (we later redesigned this). Appearantly it needed more air 'cause the darn thing backfired all over my buddy! Not letting a little mishap stand in our way, we continued with the project until we had a misfire in a less than appropriate direction. No damage but that was pure luck (incriminating details omitted) Fortunately we have both learned from our mistakes but we still play with the spud guns on occasion.

Well dang. There ya go with all the disclaimers, warnings and whatnot. Killjoy.

Seriously, I was kinda antsy when I testfired my first one too! If I could've figured a way to fire it remotely, I probably would have. Oh well!

I demonstrated one for two local science teachers (acquaintences) the other day and they were somewhat apprehensive about the whole spectacle. They were soon converted!

Redial

Tasco 74 writes....

quote:

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THE 2ND AMENDMENT DOSEN'T APPLY TO SPUDZOOKAS AS THEY ARE JUST TOYS..... AREN'T THEY?????

---

Somewhere recently I read a letter from the ATF that basically affirms just what you say. ATF's postition was that potatoe launchers are not firearms.

I tried to find that letter again so that I could post a link to it, but so far haven't had any luck. I'll find it eventually though and will post it.

THANXS JOHNK.

Here's one link I found that addresses ATF's position. It's not the one I was originally looking for but says the same thing. ATF letter . Knowing as we all do how much BS takes place over the net, I can't attest to it's validity but it does seem like a reasonable response from ATF. With world events being what they are today, I'd enjoy these while we can before they're re-classified as "Weapons of Mash Destruction".

They can have my potato when they pry it from my hot, greasy fingers!

Now if we can only rig a HE Spud-Scud warhead with a PD fuze ....

OK,OK, going too far, I know

I seen a cat shot out of one. kinda neat

Try mixing in a bit of ether with your hairspray. Really works well.

I read the other day that some kids were trying to launch a frog from a spud gun. the gun failed to fire, and one of the kids looked into the barrel, when it went off. the frog caught him in the face and blinded him.

I LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE STUPID YOU GOTTA BE TOUGH.

I would not use ether in a spudgun; it is extremely explosive. I was once told a story by a fellow trucker who witnessed a truck run off the road and come to rest in a field, right side up. Everything looked fine; my friend called the driver on the CB radio and asked the driver if he was okay. He said yes and right at that moment the truck exploded in a big ball of flame. I asked why the rig exploded and he told me that back in those days the trucks were equipped with on-board ether bottles to aid in starting the truck on cold days. Moral of the story: don't use ether in a spud gun unless you want to be called Lefty or Dead Eye someday.

Just a note: I've always used ether ("Thrust" brand starting fluid) since I was making tennis ball cannons from soda cans in the 70's. It just seems to be the best all-around fuel I've tried.

During a heavy mouse infestation we made a mouse launcher from small pvc tube.