Musket Paintball

A friend and I were talking about picking up paintball as a hobby. We got to talking about it and we got the idea of Musket Paintball for two main reasons. One, we didn't have money. Two, we thought it would be more challenging to modify the rules of paintball a bit.

The core of the idea is to make your own paintball gun for cheap. We also didn't want to be spending money on refilling CO2 canisters. Again with the cheap.

The first part of this instructable is how to build a spud gun style paintball musket. If you're familiar with a spud gun or have already built one, this will be simple for you. There are only a few simple changes to make for paintball.

We did try compressed air but it didn't have the range we wanted. However we were only trying at +/- 100 psi. Some portable compressors say they can go to 300 psi which might work much better.

This isn't an absolutely unique idea obviously. There are others that have done similar projects.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Areosol-powered-paintball-gun-in-action/ 
http://www.instructables.com/id/paintball-air-cannon/
http://www.instructables.com/id/homemade-paintball-gun/

The main idea is to convey how to and then introduce the idea of a different class of paintball contest.

Step 1: Materials

The main idea here is to make a spud gun that will take a paintball. The design of this gun is to make loading the paintball and propellent easier.

These are the parts that have important dimensions.

3/4 inch CPVC pipe <- this is the barrel
2 inch PVC pipe <- this is the combustion chamber
1 1/2 inch cleanout adaptor
1 1/2 inch threaded adaptor to screw into the cleanout
2 inch end cap

The other parts that are variable based on availability. This is what I used.
1/2 inch to 3/4 inch adaptor
3/4 inch to 1 1/4 inch adaptor
1 1/4 inch to 1 1/2 inch threaded adaptor <- this is an odd part and may not be available

Other important parts
pushbutton grill lighter
2 short (1-1 1/2 inch) screws
PVC cement
Paintballs

Tools
Saw for cutting PVC
A drill
A screwdriver that works with your screws

Comments

[mabster]

is there a video?

[EmmettO]

We'll be coming out with the feature film next year. . . ok just kidding. I haven't made any video. What would you like to see in a video? A firing? The making?

[mabster]

the firing

[EmmettO]

I'll see what I can make. I haven't done any video for ibles yet but I have the ability.

[lemminggenocide]

also, if you're looking for a high pressure hand pump, get a shock pump. They're used for suspension forks on bikes, and are made with a one way valve that can go up to 400 psi. They will attach to schrader (bike tyre) valves.

[lemminggenocide]

Piston valves are more effective for smaller calibres, and can be actuated with a ball valve. Hammer valves will give you multi shot capability, like this one http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/paintball-hammer-valve-prototype-t14690.html hammer valves are fairly simple to construct too. http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/hammer-valve-now-with-vid-t17843.html I'd say a hammer valve would be easier than modding a sprinkler valve.

[samdaman]

well i've never made anything like this before and i have always wanted to. i have come up with about 20 trillion different ideas ranging from basic pvc ball valve guns to semi automatic magazine fed paintball snipers with a realistic looking wooden body over the pvc. i will try a ball valve before a sprinkler valve just so i know what im doing

[samdaman]

so do you think i could just build a basic paintball air rifle ( oxygen chamber filled up by use of a bike pump) and it would work as a good paintball gun just as a beginner project? it would of course be muzzle loaded and use a ball valve

[EmmettO]

I'd say try it. Ball valves are too slow. You need to get a sprinkler valve and modify it so it can be triggered either electrically or by a smaller air canister.

[samdaman]

ok thanks. also do you think it would be possible to make a bolt action type paintball sniper that you hand load into where you pull the bolt back. it may be sort of like a breech loading sniper.

[EmmettO]

There was a guy that built a breach loader like a bolt action for a Nerf gun. He used compressed air. It maybe could work for paintball but like I wrote, I couldn't get good range with 90-100 psi air. CO2 canisters range from 300 to 900 psi (at least from what I've read) so 100 psi is a little wimpy. I don't know if it would be practical for a spud gun. I load the propellant and the ball at the same time using this design. Adding a step would be counterproductive.

[samdaman]

i come from new zealand and the sizing of the pvc is done in mm. if i were to build one would it be good to use 20mm pvc pipe which leves 1.5mm extra on each side because paintballs (.68) are 17mm diameter? the smaller size is 15mm which wouldnt work and i cant find any odd sizes

[EmmettO]

If you use the larger size you'd have to put some kind of wadding behind it or it won't stay in place. How I figured out what to use was to buy some paintballs. I put one in my pocket and tested it's size in the store. It needs to be snug in the barrel or gas will just escape around it and it won't go very far. The internal diameter of the pipes is not always as stated. As an example here 3/4 inch CPVC is the right size but 3/4 inch PVC is way too big.

[tomtortoise]

what caliber paint balls did you use .43?

[EmmettO]

No, I use .68

[tomtortoise]

and those are the right size or are they snug like do they have any room to slide?

[EmmettO]

They fit snugly so that they won't move at all even if the musket is handled roughly. CPVC may have very slightly different internal diameters from one manufacturer to another.