Our readers are very fond of weapons. Among them are many people who are familiar with various types weapons: designers, testers, military, as well as those for whom sports shooting, hunting or studying weapons history has become a favorite hobby. However, among the hunters to read and talk about weapons, there are also those who have never in their lives held anything worse than a water pistol in their hands. This, of course, is a mess. We decided to arm all the faithful fans of "PM" to the teeth. Every month we will tell you how to create something with our own hands from available materials that shoots far, flies high, burns well and pleases those around you with a deafening roar and festive fireworks, having previously tested each recipe on own experience. We decided to start with an artillery piece that has long become a classic in America and is rapidly gaining popularity all over the world - the potato gun.

Pressure deficit

The first and, perhaps, the most serious obstacle on the way to our own potato gun for us was the total absence in the shops and construction markets of the capital of pressure water pipes made of polyvinyl chloride, the main building material for home-made artillery. The only PVC products, which are presented in abundance everywhere, are sewer pipes and fittings of any diameters, configurations and even colors. You can’t shoot from them - these pipes and their connections are not strong enough to work under pressure. The nature of the general concern of sellers with problems of sewerage with a complete disregard for the water supply remained a mystery to us.

You can find some materials for a potato gun right in your kitchen. Don't neglect protective equipment. 1. Pressure water pipe PVC 63X1000 mm. 2. Pressure water pipe PVC 90X400 mm. 3. Fittings. 4. Piezoelectric lighter. 5. Wires. 6. M4X40 mm screws with nuts (electrodes). 7. Travel balloon with propane-butane mixture. 8. Potato. 9. Points. 10. Gloves. 11. Headphones or ear plugs. 12. Respirator. 13. Paint. 14. Purge pump. 15. Carriage of arbitrary design.

In our area, water pipes are often laid from metal-plastic or polypropylene pipes. In terms of their properties, they are not inferior to PVC, the only difference is that polypropylene pipes and fittings cannot be glued together; an expensive welding machine with a whole arsenal of special nozzles is required to connect them. Do not succumb to the persuasion of sellers who assure that polypropylene can be welded with a lighter. We have seen from our own experience that, even with a powerful gas burner, it is impossible to connect such pipes reliably and evenly, therefore they are not suitable for building a cannon. For the sake of the experiment, we made a carriage out of polypropylene pipes.

A week-long search led us to a specialized store, where we were able to purchase two three-meter lengths of pressure PVC pipes, designed for pressures up to 10 atmospheres, as well as all the necessary fittings. Let's make a reservation right away that the construction of a potato gun requires creative flexibility: the lack of the necessary materials on sale can dictate serious structural deviations from the original project. In particular, based on the available parts, we equipped our gun with a removable barrel, and made the breech part non-separable. This design has an advantage over the traditional one, with a screw plug at the rear of a non-collapsible gun: the gun can be loaded from the breech, rather than pushing the projectile through the entire barrel. On the other hand, screwing a heavy barrel into place is more difficult than a small plug. To ensure that gas does not erode from the breech during assembly, you need to act very quickly.


Finally, in obedience to the will of circumstances, our gun turned into a howitzer. Guided by the availability of strictly defined fittings on sale, we purchased pipes with a diameter of 63 and 90 mm (internal diameters of 55 and 80 mm, respectively). At the same time, the barrel length turned out to be equal to 18 calibers, which allows us to classify our gun as a howitzer.

Working with fire

Together with the pipes, we purchased a special adhesive for PVC, as well as a solvent necessary for degreasing the surfaces to be glued. To say that these liquids smell bad is to say nothing. When working with toxic drugs, in no case should you neglect a respirator, goggles and gloves: PVC glue causes irritation of the mucous membrane of the eyes and respiratory tract, and direct contact can damage the skin. It is better to glue in a well-ventilated area. The rest of the assembly of the potato gun is very simple. Sawing off the necessary sections of pipes, one must try to make the cutting angle as close as possible to a straight line - then the joints inside the gun will turn out to be even, which contributes to uniform combustion of the mixture.

The ignition system of our gun was based on an ordinary kitchen piezoelectric lighter. This is the most affordable, but also the most capricious type of ignition. As its analogues, mechanical lighters from kerosene lamps are used, which we have not found on sale, and stun guns, which in themselves are weapons that are dangerous to use. The piezo lighter gives a very weak spark, which is not always enough even to ignite the gas mixture. The reliability of the gun depends entirely on the location and condition of the ignition electrodes.


The second critical factor in tool performance is fuel. First of all, we tried the hairspray recommended in one of the recipes. The heads of the screws screwed into the plug of the breech of the gun acted as electrodes. The tests were carried out in a barbaric way - by vertically setting the breech in the middle of the editorial office and trying to set fire to the gas injected there. The first portion of varnish flew into the air in the form of a large fireball, making a long howling sound. The audience was impressed, and the second time the cannon fired an encore. But the third time did not happen: after the combustion of the propane-butane base, the unburned part of the strong fixation hairspray covered the inner surface of the combustion chamber and the electrodes with a thick layer. The ignition stopped working, the varnish showed its complete failure as a fuel.

Tests of the deodorant also did not give the desired result. Finally, in a sports shop, we came across the perfect fuel - a pure propane-butane mixture in canisters for a camping burner. Such fuel burns completely without contaminating the electrodes. We managed to achieve truly stable operation of the gun only by sharpening the electrodes for better sparking and moving them to the center of the combustion chamber. For a weak piezoelectric lighter, sharpening the electrodes and fine-tuning the optimal distance between them is not only desirable, but a vital procedure.


Goodbye potatoes!

Finally, the day came for the first field trials of the potato howitzer. We set up a firing position in a wasteland, about a hundred meters from the metal fence, to which we hoped to throw a potato. We dismantled the gun, tightly installed potatoes into the barrel, cut off with a special caliber - a piece of pipe identical to the barrel with sharpened edges (by the way, if you make the gun non-separable, you can sharpen the barrel itself), generously injected gas into the breech, wrapped the barrel, optimistically plugged your ears and pressed on the lighter button. “Zilch,” the cannon whispered plaintively and languidly moved the projectile half a meter along the barrel.

pink camouflage

artillery gun is a complex engineering structure designed to decide the fate of people. Of course, it should not look like an extra detail from the sewer. Decorating a cannon, giving it a look that inspires fear and awe, is an obligatory stage of construction, similar in emotional intensity to painting a hot rod. Remembering the spring holiday, we dedicate our creation to beautiful ladies. Meet "Barbie from Hell", the most formidable weapon of emancipation in the spring/summer 2008 season! Lacquered pink cannon on a golden carriage will make you stunning both figuratively and literally!

It was all about mixture. The combustion of gas requires oxygen, which is contained in the air. Only combustible mixture with optimal ratio gas and air may ignite. The situation got worse cold weather(in the yard it was -50C), at which gases mix worse. Our personal experience showed that for a good shot, a second press on the canister button is enough. After each volley, the combustion chamber of the gun must be purged to remove combustion products and refill the chamber with air. For purging, we specially took with us a pump with a long hose.

In the printed edition, it is impossible to quote the comments with which we saw off the potatoes flying across the sky far beyond the fence into the unknown. According to our estimates, the projectile flew at least 200-250 m. Judging by the lack of response comments, nothing vital happened behind the fence, and we did not deny ourselves the pleasure of firing a few more volleys. Therefore, we consider the above scheme to be fully functional and boldly recommend it to readers! We ourselves sit down to design an advanced gun with metered fuel injection, multi-point ignition, forced ventilation of the combustion chamber, a quick reload system and a silencer to talk about it in one of the future issues of the magazine.



Fragment of an article from popmech.ru:
In one of the previous issues we built potato cannon- a powerful firearm capable of sending a potato on a journey of 250m. Now it's minus fifteen outside the window, and I don't feel like organizing street shootings at all. We decided to build a miniature version of a potato gun for shooting in a room from office supplies. The beauty of a mini gun is that most of the parts for it can be found in any office. An ordinary plastic bottle can serve as a combustion chamber - from under glue, putty or ink. Be prudent and do not use containers larger than 150 ml: the fuel mixture will ignite and expand in the combustion chamber, and the plastic may not withstand too much fuel. We liked the bubble bottle. It is important that the container has a securely screwed lid: it will have to be unscrewed to ensure ventilation of the combustion chamber. One hole in the barrel for purge will not be enough.

A body from a permanent marker is suitable as a barrel. As a rule, they are made collapsible and the inner surface has an even cylindrical shape - what is needed for a smooth-bore gun. In the bottom of the combustion chamber, make a hole corresponding to the diameter of the marker, and glue the barrel into it with superglue. In our case, the rubber cylinder, put on the body of the marker to improve the grip, made it possible to additionally seal the structure and make it airtight.

The ignition system is based on a piezoelectric lighter for gas stoves, for which you can run to the nearest supermarket. We were lucky: there were lighters in the shape of a gun on the counter. You won't find a better case for a mini-gun. We dismantled the body of the lighter and connected two long wires to the piezoelectric element. Wires can be soldered or simply screwed with electrical tape.

Office pins are ideal electrodes for firing guns. They should be stuck into the wall of the combustion chamber not far from each other. Due to the curvature of the walls of the jar, the needles will converge and form a gap of 1–2 mm. Wires from the piezoelectric element are connected to the pins. The pointed electrodes form a reliable spark when the trigger is pressed. It remains to attach the camera to the body of the lighter (this can be done using car clamps) - and the firearm mini-gun is ready.

The recipe for the perfect projectile is like a chapter in a cookbook. Take raw potatoes, cut into slices 1 cm thick. Using a mold, squeeze a shell out of a slice. The role of the mold can be played by a cap from the same marker, another body, or even the barrel itself. Put the projectile in the barrel and advance it with a ramrod (pencil) as close as possible to the combustion chamber. The potato projectile is good for its density and good fit to the barrel. If the projectile does not let air through, it will happily fly out like a cork from a bottle. In case you want to stay within the office arsenal, replace the potato with an eraser.

Propane is the ideal fuel for gas burners. Western gunsmiths often advise using hairspray. It is also made on the basis of petroleum products, but when the base burns out, the varnish settles on the electrodes and makes it difficult to ignite in the future.
Spray some propane into the chamber. A large outdoor gun takes 2-3 seconds to spray, so for a mini version, the jet should be really very short. A common mistake novice shooters make is over-refilling. A rich mixture does not ignite well.

Always screw the combustion chamber cap on tightly, otherwise it will fly into your eye during the shot. Do not point the weapon at people and wear protective goggles.

Thank you sister for scanning the article for me

The potato gun, as the name implies, shoots ordinary potatoes. The design of the potato gun is a simple system that can be made from. The principle of its operation is also quite simple. First, potatoes are pushed into the trunk. On the other hand, flammable gas is injected into the combustion chamber. As such, you can use hairspray. Then, with the help, a spark is fed into the combustion chamber. The gas-air mixture flares up and pushes the potato projectile out of the barrel.

When making a potato gun, you need to pay attention to the reliability of fastening the combustion chamber cover. Otherwise, the ignited gas-air mixture, instead of a charged potato, can shoot a lid into your eye. Of course, you will not get severe damage, but a bruise, or a cut, can be provided to you. And it is best to make a cover for the combustion chamber of the potato gun, set aside from the shooter.

For the manufacture of a potato gun, we will use sewer. They are light and durable, they can be made completely sealed, and also, create almost any configuration and shape. The combustion chamber can be made from a sewer tee. back close the lid, putting it on epoxy glue. For reliability, you can screw in small self-tapping screws with wide hats around the circumference, commonly called "bugs". The side branch of the tee will be used for gas injection. Therefore, it is advisable to choose a tee on which the caps are screwed with a thread in order to be able to quickly close the combustion chamber without applying special efforts. we take a thin pipe and connect it to the combustion chamber using an adapter. We will also put it on glue for complete reliability. You can buy all the parts for the potato cannon at a plumbing store. Cut a hole at the bottom of the tee and insert a stun gun into it. Fill the gaps around it with epoxy. The stun gun will serve not only as an igniter of the gas-air mixture, but also as a comfortable handle.

Agree - this is a simple and effective design that anyone can do. The most difficult thing is, perhaps, to purchase a stun gun. Other igniters of the mixture that can be adapted to this design of the potato gun, something does not come to mind. Perhaps one of the readers of our blog will be able to offer something simpler than the stun gun presented by the authors of the potato cannon design.

Such a potato gun from twenty meters easily breaks through sheet drywall, and simply breaks a melon or watermelon from the inside into small pieces. Although, of course, you can’t name it, it’s quite possible to shoot at targets for fun. Good luck.

The author of the site does not bear any responsibility for what you can do, guided by the information taken from the pages of the site. Anything you want to repeat, you do at your own peril and risk.

  • If your local hardware store didn't get the exact parts delivered, don't worry. You will probably be able to use multiple parts (e.g. gearboxes, couplings, etc.) to achieve what the listed parts do.
  • muzzle-loading firearms uses " packaging material"are patches of fabric to wrap projectiles and form a nice seal with the barrel. The same concept can be applied to potato weapons if other ammunition is used that cannot be cut. The possibilities are endless.
  • Try new ammo! Potatoes are plentiful, but if you live near a walnut...
  • After cutting the pipes, remove the burrs with sandpaper or a file.
  • There are many instructions on the internet, just google "Potato Tool Instructions". There are many uses for this weapon, so have fun and experiment, but be safe and smart!
  • The screw is inserted into the barrel where it connects to the combustion chamber, and will interfere with the cartridges, causing it to ram too far and enter the chamber.
  • The volume of the combustion chamber is proportional to the force of the shot, a long chamber produces an inefficient compression wave, make the combustion chamber small and thick.
  • If you've never worked with PVC, buy some scrap PVC and some cheap connectors so you can practice connecting before you build your grenade launcher. Rotate each glue line a quarter of a turn, as if you were pushing it together.
  • Too much propellant gas is just as bad as not enough. If too much oxygen is moved, ignition will not occur. Through trial and error, you will learn how to use the optimal amount of fuel in your individual design.
  • Pipe terminology is often confusing. Here are some of the abbreviations used: FIPT - Internal thread; MIP - External thread; JACK - slip socket; Slip - non-twisted pipe, use glue to protect the joint; PLUG - a man puts on a sleeve, etc.; Bust - outside the diameter; ID - in diameter (measurements pvc pipes usually measured in ID, so the bust will be larger than 2 inches).
  • If something needs to be sealed tightly, use duct tape. It starts out like tape, but after you've used the gun, the tape turns into a very sticky adhesive that keeps things closed.
  • The world of plumbing can be confusing and disorganized, so don't be afraid to ask the store staff for help.
  • The initial ignition in the combustion chamber must be close to the center of the chamber in order to form an effective compression wave and transfer the energy of the explosion.
  • To get maximum flow through the valve, read the directions of the valve. This is often associated with turning a knob or cuff on the valve.
  • Follow the instructions on the adhesive, and apply generously on both the pipe and socket. Do not use glue or adhesive solution on threads; wrap in a couple of layers of Teflon sealing tape.
  • The longer the barrel, the more the combustion force will accelerate the projectile. A barrel that is too short will take away power. However, if the stem too much long, expanding gases begin to lose pressure and the friction of the projectile in the barrel begins to slow it down. Find the optimal length for your own configuration by trial and error.
  • The Christie glue recommended below is a strong one step glue but requires you to work quickly. Plan carefully and be ready to join as soon as you apply the glue.