Apple Cannon: Cheap, Effective, and Simple.

I have some experience in the field of potato cannons. MY signature one can be found here, puncturing a phonebook. The problem with this one is that it is unwieldy (12 feet long at max. length), complicated (many hours of Spudfiles research), expensive ($100-$150), and it takes a while to prep it for shooting (3-5 minutes). In making the apple cannon, I wanted to solve these issues. At the sacrifice of brute force, I believe I have solved these problems. The apple cannon is small enough to fit in an athletics bag to be brought to school with (which has come in use for plugging some fellow ninth graders.) It also needs no peripherals (no pump). I can get off around 3-5 slugs a minute. Finally, it is only made up of 3-4 parts depending on which type you choose to make. All of these parts can be found at any self respecting hardware store.

Step 1 Selecting and purchasing parts:

Practically any hardware store has the parts you need.
The parts are as follows:
1x Pipe for barrel
1x Reducer (optional)
1x Repair Coupling
1x End cap

Sizing:
For my mini apple cannon, I used 1/2 inch pipe for the entire thing. (No need for a reducer eh?)
For my bigger one, I used 1 inch pipe for everything except the barrel, which was 1/2 inch. I also needed a reducer, so I got a 1X1/2 inch reducer bushing.

Thats it for parts; now you see why I say its simple.
Because of its simplicity, you can use virtually any size parts. However, since this is hand-powered, I recommend you stay on the small end. I wouldn't go above 2 inch. The repair couplings start getting sort of hard to push at larger sizes. Though if you find a good lubricant, they could potentially work.

Comments

[stevecaree]

could you tell me the length of all the pipes plz?

[ihaveguitarskills!]

the piping is cheap. probably less than 75cents for whats shown. the fittings are a bit more expansive though.

[copper tube]

are you canadian

[stevecaree]

How would you ignite the gas?, i don't have a clue...

[tater killer]

homemade paintball sniper

[clemsonguy1125]

I tried making a big spitball and using it it shot a good 20 feet also I think a potato would work

[joedynamite]

you should really just use pvc primer and cement its like $5 for a pack of the primer and cement just to be on the safe side

[gunman94]

extremely well. it goes farther than a longshot

[gunman94]

if you wrap black tape around the tip of a nrrf dart it works

[bop96]

its a potato canon

[nightninja87]

its ok but i would fix the instructions and show how to put it together to make the instruction easier