The $6 marshmallow musket

Built like a small potato cannon, this mini-marshmallow-firing musket is not a thing of engineering beauty but its ultra-low cost and easy assembly make it good for mass production.

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Step 1: Gather tools and materials

tools (available at any hardware store):

PVC cement
PVC primer
a PVC pipe cutter, hacksaw, or some other way to cut through PVC pipe
a power drill
a 3/32" drill bit (just a tiny bit larger than the needle of a ball pump)
a file or knife to clean the ends of the PVC pipes

materials from the hardware store:

about 3' of 1/2" schedule 40 PVC
about 2' of 1" schedule 40 PVC
1 1" PVC ball valve
1 1" PVC cap
1 1" --> 1/2" threaded PVC reducer bushing
1 1/2" --> 1/2" threaded adapter

materials from the dollar store:

plumber's tape
1 ball pump
4 zip ties

Colonel88 says: Nov 13, 2009. 2:11 PM

Can anyone think of some effective ammunition for air guns? I want to make a custom one, but I also want to make it fire as many as possible different types of ammo. I'm thinking marshmallows or snowballs or something.

151

l8nite in reply to Colonel88Oct 16, 2012. 8:26 PM

there are all kinds of ammo but you have to be careful even with "JUST" an air gun, A few years ago my then 45yo brother made an air rifle that shot steel marbles or ball bearings, he set up a bunch of boxes in the drive way as a target, the pellet went thru the boxes, the fiberglass garage door and put a HUGE dent in his wifes BRAND NEW car...

151

l8nite in reply to Colonel88Oct 16, 2012. 8:26 PM

Andriffic in reply to Colonel88Jun 19, 2011. 1:59 AM

I was thinking of:

Ice cubes
(cut off a section of pvc, plug it up, fill with water, freeze = perfect sized bullet)
Pop-its
(http://chemistry.about.com/od/4thofjulychemistry/f/howpopitswork.htm)
Paintballs,
marshmallows,
Nerf darts,
lit smokebombs,
confetti,
and possibly nails.
Actually nails would probably be a bad idea. But the list goes on!

freeza36 in reply to AndrifficOct 16, 2012. 7:23 PM

I shoot pop its out of my blowgun (never tried my airgun) and they hurt terribly to get hit by. And I got a nail shot thru my hand. Ow.

lasermaster3531 in reply to Colonel88May 6, 2010. 10:44 AM

I wo0uld definitely recommend interchangeable barrels. maybe a 1/2" CPVC barrel for darts and small stuff, and a 1/2" PVC(its bigger) barrel for Nerf darts and paintballs, a 1" PVC barrel for potatoes and mega spitwads.

somebody12345 says: Mar 10, 2012. 9:14 AM

if you cut off a peice of the barrel or pipe that size you could make foam sabos

polaris 250 says: Oct 12, 2011. 7:07 AM

Made this gun in 1'' shoots 250 yards

noahh says: Jun 19, 2007. 2:06 PM

I just got back from the hardware store and man it was madness. they didnt have a one inch valve but instead a 3/4 valve. So they paired it with 2 nipples and 2 something elses. Instead of 6$, just on pvc gear alone i spent... TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!

beehard44 in reply to noahhOct 28, 2010. 3:47 AM

hehe i spent only 1 dollar for a valve, endcap and a PVC nipple. It's a micro air cannon lol

Kryptonite in reply to noahhOct 14, 2008. 2:46 AM

Ouch... Oh well u won't do that again... hopefully.

chickenliver123 in reply to noahhSep 28, 2007. 9:29 PM

same here....

CrazyKommie says: Jan 20, 2008. 12:18 PM

I couldn't get the thing to work at all, tapering the needle was hard, but when i finally finished.. it just spat out barly any air and didnt even move the piece of paper that i made into a ball is there something im missing?

imkwl12345 in reply to CrazyKommieOct 26, 2008. 11:53 PM

ummm you have to turn the ball valve as FAST as u can

beehard44 in reply to imkwl12345Oct 28, 2010. 3:42 AM

and pump more air

beehard44 says: Oct 28, 2010. 3:36 AM

hehe, i had a lucky find! i just found a plastic bottle that fits nicely on your shoulder and it held 2L of soda before. All i need is some PVC pipe and some PVC hardware...

yardkarter says: Oct 25, 2009. 5:05 PM

I think the design is AWESOME for safely shooting marshmallows across a room. However, it is NOT $6. It was not so expensive just becase I used $5 extra of brass parts. Even though I used a cheaper valve, previously owned pvc primer and cement, AND owned the pump, it still cost around $20!

sgt. frog says: Jul 28, 2009. 3:41 AM

hey i made this in 1 in. pipe to fire full sized marshmallows. it works great thanks!

amarsar says: Jun 21, 2009. 1:12 PM

I attached a bike tube valve with strong epoxy. it can hold 200 psi and nothing leaks :) and when i load it with a marble it shoots 600 feet :) its amazing. just use epoxy to keep the valve in place. oh, and my tubing is tested to 450 psi so it's safe.

slayermonk says: Mar 26, 2009. 6:20 PM

I made something quite similar, only difference being that, with the end cap of the 1" pvc, i drilled a 1/2" hole in it and inserted a schrader valve (tire valve) the valve cost me a dollar. i cemented it in place so it can hold 80+ psi (i havent dared go beyond that). I use an electric tire pump to charge it and i get quite some power out of it. the gun itself (not including pump) cost me around $5-$6 so it fits pretty much any budget.

amarsar in reply to slayermonkJun 21, 2009. 1:05 PM

its easy to just cut a valve off an old bike tire. saves you a trip to the store :)

skimboarder33 in reply to slayermonkApr 13, 2009. 5:12 PM

WHERE DID YOU BUY THE SCHRADER VALVE!!! thanks!!

robert the robot in reply to skimboarder33Apr 26, 2009. 9:54 AM

Check out my how to get a FREE Schrader valve instructable @
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Get-a-FREE-Schrader-Valve/

geek27 in reply to skimboarder33Apr 23, 2009. 7:13 PM

Schrader valves can be found at a couple of stores. You may have found one by now, but they can be found at stores that sell auto parts. Schrader is also just the company name that makes the valves. The real name for the product is "tubeless tire valve." Hence the name, these things are found in bikes, car tires, and possibly more. There are multiple sizes, but I recommend a .453" tubeless tire valve. You can drill out either a 3/8" or 7/16" (7/16" is a better size, but 3/8" will work.) in the PVC endcap. the tire valve can then be inserted into the endcap. Since the valve is coated with rubber on the outside, simply pulling it through the drilled hole nice and tight will make it airtight. You may want to apply epoxy around it, but it's not necessary. The one drawback, however, is the fact that if you use a tubeless tire valve on this gun, it will be hooked up to a bike pump. The pump will be very difficult to attach to the musket due to the large sizes of bike pumps, so you will probably need to keep it separate from the musket. Below is a picture of the valve, and I hope that it works for you! (The picture is of a common tubeless tire valve, but they often come in various shapes, sizes, and often look a little different)

pyro4226 says: May 24, 2009. 6:12 AM

yea, add a video of the gun firing!!

robert the robot says: Apr 26, 2009. 9:50 AM

Can you post a video of this gun firing?

Warlrosity says: Apr 12, 2009. 3:57 AM

In wanna make one woth a ajjustable valve and a trigger

sgt. frog says: Mar 24, 2009. 4:25 PM

I am a marshmallow gun arms dealer for the wee ones of the camp I work at. I have been trying to hit upon the formula for a marshmallow gun that can fire the large marshmallows effectively. in your plans, I have created the perfect design for this. I plan to shorten the barrel to maybe 1ft and muzzle load the mallows. (using a 1 in diameter pipe instead of a 1/2 in one.)

photis22 says: Jan 24, 2009. 2:47 PM

you sould use an explosive release valve, theres a realy good instructable on here somewhere if you search it

Kryptonite says: Feb 14, 2008. 1:59 AM

Dude that's pretty awesome!

What i did though was to hot glue around the outside of the pump's pin, then i stuck it in, it's been goin with some pretty solid use and the pin hasn't moved at all. Another good idea is to use an irrigation switch, which is loads quicker than a ball valve, so =move power â˜º

Where u said that you could unscrew the barrel and insert something, i personally cut a small gap in the front of my barrel and slid a rubber pen grip over it to insert items, a personal favourite is grubs, found every where and make a satisfying *SPLAT* when it hits. if u think the pen grip wud let the air out, u'd be saprised, it doesn't.

â˜º â™¥â™¦â™£â™ â˜º

imkwl12345 in reply to KryptoniteOct 26, 2008. 11:50 PM

i dont like 2 use grubs... i use ice >=D of course it is alot more dangerous. u get some pipe the same diameter as ur barrel and the fill it with water leaving 3cm at the top. freeze it and cut ur ice to ur desiered length and load. but be carefull these will pack a huge punch and can do some damage!

Kryptonite in reply to imkwl12345Oct 29, 2008. 1:36 AM

I used to have a friend that had a spud gun, but shot oranges. Frozen oranges. He shot windows of houses and cars. It was ultimately cool, cuz the police found him, and sorta said "well, all evidence points to you, we know you did it, so... Well, If you keep going we'll have to pull you in."

So they new it was him and didn't really even give him an official warning! Meh, I like the sound of ice, but grubs are really readily available (at my place we got a bin of them.) and you can shoot anything! people, cars, houses, anything and no one will be tooo ticked off, just don't let them see you. *splat* yay!