BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
Does anybody else have one? I just built my first! Would like to get some tips, tricks & stories
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Potato Launchers / Spud Guns
- Thread starter BaldyLochs
- Start date
mike cummings
Nitro Member
don't shoot your eye out.
I tig welded one up out of 6061 T6 aluminum years ago. The barrel was approx 55 inches by 2 in ID. The "can was 7 in X 20 and had a 2 in NPT bung on the end to evacuate the air after shooting it. If you don't get all the spent air out, it doesn't have the pop it should. A vacuum cleaner sucking in fresh air through the barrel between shots always worked the best.Make sure that you put the biggest plug in the end as possible. 2 in NPT wasn't large enough to evec easily. Aqua Net hairspray always worked good for propellant and Coleman Lantern lighters work good (for awhile until the shock shakes them apart) Make sure that you can change the igniter easily in the field. Good luck
.
Nitro Member
A friend made one a few years ago but he didn’t go the normal route…. he used compressed air instead of using propellant with an ignition source. It looked the same as all the others with a “Can” or “Tank” on one end but it had a big ball valve at the chamber end of the barrel that would release the compressed air charge.
I’ve seen many of spud guns in the past but this air powered one worked the best!!!
I’ve seen many of spud guns in the past but this air powered one worked the best!!!
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
I made a $25 typical PVC one, with 4" x 10" chamber and 1 3/4" barrell. Just a grill ignitor attached to 2 screws for spark. I heard Right Guard works well and Hairspray builds up sticky gunk???? I have to admit, I am looking for a loud report more than distance of the potato - I live in a residential area. I also read that if you take one of those neon glow sticks, and cut it open then pour it on the potato at night, it looks like a tracer / anti-aircraft fire.
Should atleast be fun for July 4th.
Should atleast be fun for July 4th.
Nitrohaulic
Nitro Member
LOL, What NOT to do might be the key question.
YouTube - exploding spudgun / potato cannon
YouTube - Potato cannon explosion
If you put potato or spud gun into youtube there's tons of results.
YouTube - exploding spudgun / potato cannon
YouTube - Potato cannon explosion
If you put potato or spud gun into youtube there's tons of results.
Last edited:
mike cummings
Nitro Member
As a safety tip I strongly suggest using High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) tubing instead of PVC. The reason is that when you have a gun detonation with PVC tubing, the PVC shrapnels into thousands of projectiles that pepper everyone and everything around. HDPE will deform and contain most of the explosion but not send out any fragments that can be lethal.
I have been quite close to 6" professional aerial firework shells that have detonated in a HDPE mortar and not received a scratch (except for a constant ringing in my ears for the next 2 days) where if the same shell detonated in a PVC mortar, I doubt I would be here today.
RMS
Nitro Member
Ive have some stories about them. I had a friend who made one with pvc pipe and used hair spray to ignite it, then i told my dad about it and hes a chassis builder and he made one out of chromoly and we used race gas to lite it and shot it at an old junker car sitting at the shop and it blew out the drivers and passenger side glas windows from about 100 feet away and did some bad damage to the fence behind the car! It was awesome! 
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
Unfortunatley with where I live in a subdivision, I'm REALLY going to be limited. I do have open space directly behind me - so the danger of hitting something - or someone - really isn't the issue. My neighbors & the HOA will call the Police pretty quickly if they start hearing that thing too often. So 4th of July will be about the only time I can get away with it repeatedly.
T.J.
Nitro Member
Chris, your gun sounds very similar to the one I built years back. I used a BBQ grill igniter also and used Aqua net hairspray on newspaper that worked great! We used to fire anything out of it if we ran out of potatoes...we even fired a leftover pot of beans out of it one time!
It looked like a shotgunblast and it all landed on the neighbor's roof behind us...didnt quite have the distance we were expecting!Here in Texas if you get caught by the police it is considered a prohibited weapon charge (same as building a homemade bomb) so we took it apart and the potato volume at our grocery store soon went up again.
Nitrohaulic
Nitro Member
LOL, all those unregistered potatoes and cans of hair spray out there. Won't be long and you'll have to sign for them, especially if they're the only items in your cart! (while you're trying to look innocent, looking away and whistling a lot)
Couldn't help being reminded of an odd story that I read about in a small PA town paper a couple or so years ago, surprised that it didn't make national news. One alcoholic homeowner actually rented part of his backyard to another fellow drunk. The guy had a big piece of carpet with a couch, coffee table etc, all out in the open! When the renter got behind on payments (and I always wanted to know how much it went for) and was snoozing on the couch, the LANDlord walked over and bashed his head in with a 2x4, killing him.
Made me wonder when we'd see background checks and waiting periods for 2x4s!
Couldn't help being reminded of an odd story that I read about in a small PA town paper a couple or so years ago, surprised that it didn't make national news. One alcoholic homeowner actually rented part of his backyard to another fellow drunk. The guy had a big piece of carpet with a couch, coffee table etc, all out in the open! When the renter got behind on payments (and I always wanted to know how much it went for) and was snoozing on the couch, the LANDlord walked over and bashed his head in with a 2x4, killing him.
Made me wonder when we'd see background checks and waiting periods for 2x4s!
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
Well, it works like a charm. Quite a loud report, too. Over the last few nights people around here are shooting off the typical "store bought" fireworks; supposedly nothing that leaves the ground is allowed; so when they hear my 'shotgun' blast and see a green glowing green object hurling 200 yards or more.... I bet that gets thier attention. I'm real careful as to where I aim though. Luckilly I have a wooded area directly behind me, even in this subdivision. This could easily take out a window or severly damage a parked car. And you're right - today I walked through Wal-Mart only carrying 2 bags of potatos and 2 twin-packs of Right Guard! Got a couple strange looks.
Sue
Nitro Member
My kids have made them. Be very careful. The police will come and take it. My boys and their friends had a great time with it. That is,tell the gun was at one of the boy's friends house and he launched it and it hit the neighors house. The cops came and asked the boy where he got the " gun" . man it was not fun. All of us got in trouble for that. 
If you are tired of the same results you get with hair spray and deoderant the step up to the plate and use this.........OXYGEN and ACITILYN gas (the stuff you use in cutting torches)OH lord.......katie bar the door......use just a little shot of oxygen.A friend of mine did this all the time,but be carefull,can hardly hang on to the gun,recoil is insane.Best if you put the gun in a support of some sort(kinda like a mortar)but be carefull,you will love the results,potato goes so far you will lose sight of it
