So yeah I'm making a spudgun. I'm not entirely sure what the hell I'm doing, and I'm probably doing this in a pretty terrible fashion, but I don't care, because at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to launch potatoes with it.

Anyways. So I went shopping today, and I picked up the supplies. Here's the hardware, minus the ignition system:

The top two bits are 2' of SCH40 ABS plastic; one is 3" ID, the other is 1.5" ID.
From left to right in the bottom row:
1.5" male cleanout cap (which is threaded, which I'll get to in a minute)
3" cap
3" hub w/ 45 degree 1.5" branch. This is gonna be the majority of the ignition chamber.
3" to 1.5" flush bushing. This takes 3" ABS and narrows it down to 1.5" with a nice neat angular piece. Looks a lot like the exhaust nozzle on a rocket, which is just ideal as all hell.
1.5" female threaded cleanout plug.

So the basic design goes something like this:

Everything is fixed in place with ABS cement EXCEPT the threaded cleanout cap. You unscrew that, spray in the fuel, and then rapidly seal it. The 3" endcap is totally sealed in, the electrical elements (I'm homebuilding a sort of electrical-arc generator to ignite it). The end of the 1.5" ABS (the muzzle end) is gonna get ground down to a sort-of edge, so that you load it by just pushing a potato on, and then ramming the core far enough in to be properly launched.

Assembly is planned for tomorrow, so expect more (probably better quality) pictures.

Oh, and the total cost so far is about $44, and that shouldn't change. Except for the ammunition, of course.

Grif, I have only one expectation. Just one.

Lethality.

Considering you can put as much fuel in as you like (or if you play your cards right, construct "cartridges" out of balloons and whatever fuel you like) spud guns almost always have the ability to ♥♥♥♥ things up.

Looks badass, the ones I've played with have always been made of PVC pipe -> been white, this looks a touch more "hardcore".

If you are incapable of punching a hole in a brick wall with a goddamn potato,
Then you are doing it wrong.

ABS ruptures better in the event of a catastrophic pressure situation, which was my main impetus to use it. It is fairly significantly more expensive (the 3" end cap was a dollar less than the 2' section of 3" pipe) than PVC, but worth it just in case, yano?

Looks like it'll be pretty cool. A friend of mine made one pretty similar out of pvc, it launched potatoes farther than we could see them. Probably into some hapless woodland creatures.

I've always wanted to make a spudgun with a 65mm bore, [seems 2.5" stainless steel schedule 10 pipe is the closest fit] suited to launch standard 12oz beverage cans, since that would make all sorts of projectiles really easy to construct, [psedo-napalm firebombs, anyone?] but I haven't bothered yet, and an ideal pipe for the barrel would be expensive.

10 points to griffindor if you also make a conversion kit to allow it to chamber pink dildos

Yeah definitely. Playing with guns is only fun if you get to keep your hands afterwards.That is an excellent idea. Heck, unopened cans would be cool enough to fire as long as they didn't "open" inside the device.

Please modify it so you can carry it like the Heavy carries Sasha.

And engrave it with a name.

Looking rather solid, I might say. Better than my own attempts at building one, at least.


One little thing, though. Most flammable gases (I'm assuming you're going for buthane or propane) are heavier than air, and as such you'll want to keep the iginition mechanism as low as possible in the chamber, or it will pretty much refuse to fire at all. You probably know this already, but just in case.

What the ♥♥♥♥? xD

Anyway, making it for $44 sounds cheap. Depending on the results, those could become the best $44 that you have spent in your life.

THE TRUTH IS REVEALED

$44 is actually much less than I thought you'd have to spend on this. That's a pretty nice deal.

I'll give credit where credit is due, Grif, but it won't impress me until it hits the awesome level my ♥♥♥♥ cannon does.

hurr hurr shameless plug

Is that a ...gutter?