Potato Gun = Cheap Fun

[magsite20 1,664]

My son did his 1^st gun build, not a 1911 or AR he went all vegetarian with his first time out.

Built the basic model of a potato gun, PVC and a grill igniter, add a can of hair spray, a potato, and a wooden dowel and you’re ready for action.

When he called and said they were coming up I was thinking it was something that we might be able to use to launch a target for the shotgun, wrong. This thing would hurl a hunk of potato at least 150 yards too fast and far to think about popping with birdshot.

It was kind of like loading a black powder gun and was a butt load of fun for about $30.00.

Photos not Jr’s but the same basic model. If some rainy day you need a project this was a pretty good way to get a fun toy for cheap.

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

These are cool indeed but be advised are illegal in many areas and even considered destructive devises. Once again stupid politicians deem that people are too stupid to possess anything that they need to be protected from or that they can tax.

Mr. Potato head is an über criminal.

[magsite20 1,664]

These are cool indeed but be advised are illegal in many areas and even considered destructive devises. Once again stupid politicians deem that people are too stupid to possess anything that they need to be protected from or that they can tax.

Mr. Potato head is an über criminal.

Damn I didn't know or even think in those terms. One of those great are you shitting me moments.

With this thought in mind I now say I lied, it never happened, I never had any children, and was just thinking about the killer hash browns at waffle house flying around real fast.

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

Yes my friend, vegetables are just as dangerous as bayonet lugs

[SHOTGUN MESIAH 855]

 

These are cool indeed but be advised are illegal in many areas and even considered destructive devises. Once again stupid politicians deem that people are too stupid to possess anything that they need to be protected from or that they can tax.

Mr. Potato head is an über criminal.

Damn I didn't know or even think in those terms. One of those great are you shitting me moments.

With this thought in mind I now say I lied, it never happened, I never had any children, and was just thinking about the killer hash browns at waffle house flying around real fast.

 

Too late, the man should be busting your door down in.....3......2.....1.......................

[David Mark 2,452]

Doctor: "THIS SPUDS FOR YOU"

[kevinfreel 215]

Now if you used compressed air would it be less of a no no?

[Eric Pate 478]

IIRC, as long as you don't put anything in it other than a potato you're good. Kinda like how a flare gun is just a flare gun but becomes a DD if you make a baton round for it.

 

Couldn't find an official determination letter but this is what Wiki had to say on the subject:

 

Spud guns are not federally regulated, although the ATF offers a classification.^[1] Legislation varies widely by state, county, and township. One would have to check with local authorities to determine local spud gun legality.

• Spud guns are illegal to possess by persons under the age of 16 in New York.
• In Glendale, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona combustion spud guns are not considered firearms.
• In Madison, Wisconsin and in Illinois spud guns are not considered firearms.
• Combustion spud guns are considered firearms in the state of Texas.
• Spud guns are considered firearms in Winter Springs, FL.
• Spud guns are not considered firearms in the state of Maryland.
• Owning or using spud guns in Florida is illegal pursuant to Florida Statute 790.161 Making, possessing, throwing, projecting, placing, or discharging any destructive device or attempt so to do, felony; penalties.^[2]
  • Fla. Stat. § 790.001 (4) states that: a “Destructive device" does not include: (a) A device which is not designed, redesigned, used, or intended for use as a weapon ... " ^[3]

[csspecs 1,987]

I'm in FL and reading the law in the above does not actually seem to cover spud guns as they are not actually guns with fixed ammo. Nor is the propane exploding, its combustion.

 

 

 

 

790.001 Definitions

(4) “Destructive device” means any bomb, grenade, mine, rocket, missile, pipebomb, or similar device containing an explosive, incendiary, or poison gas and includes any frangible container filled with an explosive, incendiary, explosive gas, or expanding gas, which is designed or so constructed as to explode by such filler and is capable of causing bodily harm or property damage; any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into a destructive device and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled; any device declared a destructive device by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; above is unrelated to launchers.

 

any type of weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of any explosive and which has a barrel with a bore of one-half inch or more in diameter; and ammunition for such destructive devices, but not including shotgun shells or any other ammunition designed for use in a firearm other than a destructive device. “Destructive device” does not include:

(a) A device which is not designed, redesigned, used, or intended for use as a weapon;

( Any device, although originally designed as a weapon, which is redesigned so that it may be used solely as a signaling, line-throwing, safety, or similar device;

© Any shotgun other than a short-barreled shotgun; or

(d) Any nonautomatic rifle (other than a short-barreled rifle) generally recognized or particularly suitable for use for the hunting of big game.

 

So I'd read that to be, don't shoot people and its not a DD.

 

Most areas airguns are OK, but its always wise to check.

 

Air is actually more powerful if done right. Propane is actually the flammable part of most hair spray, the water soluble glues are generally not all that flammable.

 

Biggest tater gun I've ever shot was a 10 feet long and had a 6 inch diameter chamber 4 feet long, with a 2 inch diameter barrel. Which was run on oxygen and acetylene. It could actually cut down small trees.

 

I've seen smaller pneumatic ones that actually out preformed that. Most of the challange with pnumatic is getting the air into the barrel fast enough.

[belt fed frog 56]

Here we have a link to the letter and web site of one of the largest sellers of parts for Potato launchers http://www.spudtech.com/content.asp?id=13

[magsite20 1,664]

it would take a pretty stupid freaking gooberment to turn a toy for a Saturday picnic into a life and death struggle with calls of destruction.

what I saw was a "toy" (to my way of thinking) while I won't enjoy getting hit by a hunk of spud shot out of this model if I saw a kid with one I wouldn't call 911.

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

it would take a pretty stupid freaking gooberment to turn a toy for a Saturday picnic into a life and death struggle with calls of destruction.

what I saw was a "toy" (to my way of thinking) while I won't enjoy getting hit by a hunk of spud shot out of this model if I saw a kid with one I wouldn't call 911.

Just paint it black. That will make it sooo much more scary.

[magsite20 1,664]

no black I'm going the other way, "operation harmless spud"

[netpackrat 566]

I built one of those once. I gave it away before I moved to Anchorage; figured I would just get in trouble with it here.

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

no black I'm going the other way, "operation harmless spud"

Man, that's a zip gun bro!

[Capt Nemo 882]

I've seen microcontroller controlled mapp versions.

 

Would love to do a Gatling version! But 50# sacks probably wouldn't last too long!

 

Hash browns anyone?

[gunfun 3,931]

Pretty cool. I've played with a few, and finding a propellant which is easy to meter consistently is tricky. It's way too easy with most of them to flood it and get a weak ignition.

 

Check out spudtech.com. They sell cheap rifled pipe for barrels, or way over priced fully built guns. They also have links to full discussion of legal stuff. No need to speculate about it when there is a specific forum.

 

Generally compressed gas versions do better, but the tricky part is a valve that opens instantly. They have a few designs using a sprinkler solenoid or a ball valve as a pressurized instant dump valve. Otherwise the projectile exits the barrel before the valve is all the way open and most of your stored gas and pressure is wasted.

[sccritterkiller 473]

Thanks that pic brings back some great memories. My old man and I used to make them all the time . We got a short piece of pipe the same diameter of the "barrel" and sharpend one end so we could produce "ammo" that would fit exactly. Really increased our distance.

Edited August 20, 2013 by sccritterkiller

[Big John! 2,062]

My tater gun hasn't been used in a bit. Gonna hafta fix that.

 

I made an air powered marshmallow gun complete with ball valve "breech" to load marshmallow and a ball valve firing system. My best shot with it was over 75 yards. My kids left chunks of hardened marshmallow in the breech and I ended up trashing it. Oh well... It was fun while it lasted and building it was fun as hell.

[DrThunder88 912]

Modified sprinkler valve is how I went with mine.

 

[6500rpm 670]

The grey pipe fits a tennis ball perfect and you can get Passload fuel for a airless nail gun at most HomeDepot/ Lowes. The Passload fuel is clean and probably contains just a hint of oil, best of all it has a metering valve built in that gives a precise amount of fuel for each time it's depressed. I made one years ago that would put a tennis ball out of sight when shot straight up for about 5 seconds when the fuel source was pressed 7x.

[Spacehog 2,218]

no black I'm going the other way, "operation harmless spud"

http://forum.saiga-12.com/uploads/monthly_08_2013/post-26137-0-03648300-1377025979.jpg

 

Knowing how the left operates, they will now probably accuse you of marketing it children just to get them hooked on spud gun fun.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Spacehog

[Shandlanos 1,470]

A muzzle-loading black powder cannon is not, by federal law, a DD. Neither is that. If it used a fixed cartridge, you might be in felony territory. Reading into your state's laws is a must.

[jmzzl 146]

I made one that ran off of paintball CO2 tanks. Had 3 different sized barrels, and ran around $100 to make.

[magsite20 1,664]

a food item being projected would be hard to outlaw completely:

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=animal+house+food+fight+scene&view=detail&mid=612245B34FF293187675612245B34FF293187675&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

[belt fed frog 56]

try this ammo

even if you accidentally hit someone it would have them laughing it is only paper ,cardboard, hot glue and electrical tape .

 

Way back in the day it was steel pop or beer cans ,duct tape and lighter fluid (Naphtha) using only tennis balls for ammo and strike anywhere matches for ignition ! More cans longer range but you had to church key the bottom two cans just right for best effect ! We kept the local 7-11 drained of lighter fluid and matches to keep the fun going !!!

 

P.S. I am no stranger to pneumatic launchers i found metal 1/4 turn ball valves work well or my BB MG i built out of an old pellet gun barrel (break action ) , an 18 wheeler horn valve and a PVC BB feeder (Pressurized )

now that was expensive to feed 20K of BB and 4 scuba tanks( 80 Cf at $2 a load) per outing for about 20 min of fun

Edited August 21, 2013 by belt fed frog

[gunfun 3,931]

Apples are a good projectile too. Although now I am wondering about the drag coefficient of corn on the cob.

[mancat 2,368]

When the plans for these things first showed up on the web in the late 90s, some friends and I built one.. I'm almost ashamed to admit some of the things we did with it and a pair of binoculars.

[gunfun 3,931]

Ok, you got me. Where do binoculars come in?

 

My dad found a couple at the end of a fishing season that someone threw out. He took them for pipe fittings. I replaced the ignition and made them work. With a bit of cork , you could launch a 2" rock a few hundred yards even at sub optimal propellant mix. It was fun, because the added mass gives it more of a parrot gun sort of recoil. Very satisfying.

Edited August 21, 2013 by GunFun

[mancat 2,368]

The friend who was in possession of the spud gun that we build lived in a nice place on a hillside above a small lake. There was a cookie-cutter construction project on the other side of the lake going up, but it was summer time and the crews weren't always there on weekends. Neither were my friends' parents. So we bought a sack of potatoes and made a game of walking in the shots to hit the new construction by firing the potato gun a few hundred yards across the lake. Even though the construction was pretty much line of sight, we had to run it like a mortar to get any hits, but we could eventually hit the plywood on the construction pretty reliably. It was easy to spot with binocs because the spuds would make a big splat when they hit the construction - no damage done so far as we could tell, but still some pretty stupid teenage delinquent shit.

Edited August 21, 2013 by mancat