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Handmade Airsoft Rifle

Handmade Airsoft Rifle
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A simple airgun that was made from a piece of brake line, a blowgun, assorted air-tank type connection parts, and some (unknown type of) wood that we had laying around.

The basics:
What you'll need to build a gun of any sort, whether it's this one or any other is four simple components.
1: A barrel- Without this critical piece, your gun is just going to spit air everywhere and you'll have no place to put a projectile.
2: A projectile- This flies out of the barrel and at your target. This can be just about anything that fits down the tube.
3: A propellant- This forces the projectile out. For this, we'll use air. Compressed air, to be more precise.
4: A frame- Without a frame, your gun is more a mess of pipe that looks like you threw it together in 10 minutes. You don't want that. It's great when in a pinch and you want to try it out, but not so great after a month of battling and/or target shooting when people start asking, "When are you going to finish that?"

Now, in my case, I had the first 3. I felt I wanted a frame that was different. Now, I say this because I appreciate originality, and if you want to build my rifle from pictures alone, feel free, but I wouldn't mind seeing other rifles (I call any gun with a stock that, just fyi) based on my design. Heck, build one just using my instructable as a guide if you want.

Things you'll need:

A barrel in the size of the projectile you intend to shoot and adapters to fit the blowgun.
An air-type blowgun. I found an odd one in someone's garage sale and picked it up for $3.50.
A handful of handsaws (or a few good power ones. I can't make a lot of noise or the neighbors complain)
Plenty of your favorite drink. I chose Mountain Dew and good ol' Black Coffee.
A piece of wood. any dimension works, and any type (pine, oak, spruce, maple, etc) will work. Just remember that you'll have to deal with the lovely factors of more sweat in the project if you use harder woods.
Your most comfortable pair of safety goggles/glasses. You need your eyes for this project, so protect them.
Plastic and metal plumbing parts. I used metal for the gun, and plastic works, too, if you want to lighten it.
A regulator (probably the most expensive part of my project and the one that I actually had to buy.) You need this to take the air pressure down from tank pressure and make it variable. This is a nice factor to have.
Quick Connect couplings (optional) for those of us who don't want to waste any time after we finish shooting. Nothing better than a quick connector to disconnect the gun from your air tank.
An air tank. Where else will you... well, I suppose you could pump it up with a bike pump, but I didn't like that. I prefer an airtank in the backpack, and a small electric compressor to fill the tank at times.
A marking device for making rough measurements (that's what I did, at least)
A dremel (or other brand of rotary tool). This will save your butt many times. Ours has been beaten and abused, but still works.
A work surface
Ammo
a) 2 part Epoxy (the stuff I almost swear can't have been made by mortal hands.) You'll need this to make your rifle frame bond to the barrel and the rest of it.
b) Electrical tape and superglue to hold the barrel together.
c) Extra zipties for holding the barrel together.
Zipties to hold everything together.
Teflon tape for sealing airline connections.
Wood screws to hold things together.
A screwdriver to install wood screws.
A drill might help at times. Sometimes a Dremel, while it spins faster, can't do the job.

Okay, onward!
 
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Step 1Assemble the Rifle

Assemble the Rifle
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While I didn't document this part well, I've drawn up some photoshop sketches of basically what to do.

First: Locate the barrel and cut it to just the right length. What does one do to find said length? Just basically eye-ball the piping and pick how long you want the barrel to be. If you want a shorter length barrel, then make one. If you're a sniper and want a long barrel, then do so, too.
A hint: take your marking device and mark the line. Then cut with tubing cutters, a hacksaw, coping saw, miter saw, etc. Any saw will do.

Second, take your newly cut barrel, find your adapters (Remember, I told you about those...) and attach them to the back of the barrel.

Third, take your adapted barrel and attach it to your blowgun. If you want a more trigger-like feel, add a 90 degree elbow and threaded nipple to the blowgun first.

Fourth, attach your inlet piping to the blowgun. If you used a 90 before, you'll need one again now.

Fifth, add your regulator and gauge assembly to the back of the inlet tube. Note: I used a quick-connect between the gun and regulator because originally, I had 2 guns I used.

Sixth, add quick connectors to your airline and your regulator. Teflon tape is a MUST!
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18 comments
Jun 8, 2009. 4:48 AMpirate of doom says:
oooops disregard all the pics except the last one . sorry madrias357 that is my sniper in progress
Jul 29, 2009. 1:36 PMtoxincool says:
im building a double barlle machine gun its got a small air compresser on it and hopefully it works
Jan 6, 2010. 7:44 PMtoxincool says:
have u seen those pillbottle small chine guns
that what im making only bigger
Nov 7, 2009. 10:04 PMmatthewmania says:
can u show a pic of the actuall gun thanxs
Aug 30, 2009. 5:35 PMstephenniall says:
im using this idea to make a muzzle loader rifle and pistol in one . Itll have a backpack with over 200 psi In and a Small compressor with a laptop battery to power it The tanks will be shared between guns so i can usse my rifle then quickly switch to the pistol . All im gonna need for the pistol is some hosepipe a schrader valve 2 cola bottles and some copper pipe!
Jul 7, 2009. 6:18 AMxZCodmaNZx says:
weird you get the tubeing the smallest i can find is like 10-12 mm : [
Jun 8, 2009. 4:46 AMpirate of doom says:
this is impressive , try to make a bb feeder . im making a airsoft sniper that is bolt action and has a 12" long 1.5" air tank. i may put up an instrucatable still deciding . if you would likewhat you see of the unfinished gun shoot me up at laggger.saf@gmail.com
Apr 25, 2009. 12:27 PMKaelessin says:
heh you oughta take some video of it in action some time too!
May 18, 2009. 5:55 PMmarshman19 says:
where do u live that u hav 2 wait 2 weeks 4 a good day?

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Author:Madrias357
Where to start.... Well, I like building stuff. Simply put, I'll take random junk from around the house and fudge it together into something that just looks cool. I specialize in junk collection, f...
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