SpudFiles

Hello guys. I just wanted to share with you my first prototype for my spud gun and also share my
ideas.

I made a prototype for my first spud gun but the ammunition is a nail dart instead of a potato.
The barrel is about 3ft (approx.) and the diameter is 1/2 inch and it is a blue pvc.
The combustion chamber is 82.55 clean out of 3 yellow pvc pipe.
The ignition is a $2 plasma lighter.
And my fuel is Denatured Alcohol.

My ignition as of right now is faulty since if I push the button it will either not work or go off.
The ignition worked well at the first 3 or 4 months but overtime showed some problems

I tested this first outside at the forest with a rope tied to the trigger.
at first the bottom came off, I found out that the epoxy is not really good for this.
so I just bough a resin that if it dries it becomes plastic and welded to the pvc.
When I try it for the second time it went well.

I also test it to see how well does the projectile penetrate.
I used the trunk of a banana tree as a target and I fired it like 5m (approx.) went thru the back.
I also used the trunk of an ordinary tree and fired like 20m (approx.) and it just got stuck like a dart in sports.
I also fired at the tree at close range 5m (approx.) and the nail was stuck in the tree trunk.

My future plans to improve this is to make it a bolt action and I will just put the ammo one by one.
another thing is that I will need to find a way to put fuel and air in the combustion chamber
without opening it.

That is all, Thank you for your time.

The Spud Gun:
Ammo:
Trigger/Ignition:

Notice that there are rust at the ignition

Pretty good for a nailgun! :p

I have a few recommendations for the next one, though. That chamber is pretty massive for a 1/2" barrel. If you were to use a smaller pipe size for the chamber (say 40-50mm) you could probably find some better pipe which is either rated for pressure or will hold up better because it's thicker relative to its diameter. For ignition you can use the piezo element from an "electronic" cigarette lighter and wire a spark gap in the chamber using screws as well. And for the fuel alcohol is pretty good if you're not interested in building a fuel meter.