Powerful Rubber Band Gun Made From Paper

Here are the steps to build a durable rubber band shooter that's surprisingly powerful and can shoot really far.

It's really easy to make and is made entirely of paper and glue.

Have fun!

Supplies

A4 Paper (6 sheets, one of them can be colored paper if you like. You can print out a solid color on your printer)
Hot glue gun
Super glue (optional, but really improves durability)
Q-tips/cotton buds
Tape

Step 1: Watch the Video!

Check out the video for a step-by-step demonstration showing how to make and assemble the entire gun and a look at how it shoots!

Step 2: Rolling the Inner Tube

Grab an A4 sheet of paper and roll your finger forward and back over one corner until it starts to roll up. This can be a little awkward at first but after a few tries it gets so much easier.

Your goal here is to roll the paper up as tightly as possible.

Once all the way rolled, use a small piece of tape to seal it in the middle.

Then cut a few inches off both of the ends.

Step 3: Rolling the Bigger Tubes

Using the tightly rolled tube from the previous step, roll another sheet of paper tightly around it and keep rolling all the way.

Remove the inner roll, making sure it's not too tight. If it is, gently release the pressure on the outer roll and it should loosen a bit.

The inner roll should fit snuggly inside the outer one but needs to be able to move freely.

Tape the middle and both ends of this outer roll to make sure it doesn't unravel, then get a strip of tape the length of the roll and seal the entire length of it.

You need to make 4 of these outer rolls and 2 of the tightly rolled ones.

Once made, cut them to the lengths shown in the last image of this step (although they really don't need to be exact).

Step 4: Glue It All Together

Using a hot glue gun (or other strong glue) glue the 3 small pieces together as shown, then the slightly longer one, then the longest (see above images).

Step 5: Making the Trigger

Grab one of the tightly rolled papers made earlier and insert it into the top tube of your gun until it sticks out about half an inch (see image).

Use your thumb to mark this position at the other side (see image), holding it in place while removing the tightly rolled sheet.

Bend here at 90 degrees, then about half an inch from this bend it again another 90 degrees.

This should now fit nicely into the first two tubes.

Make sure that it pokes out of the other end a bit when it is fully inserted.

Now use scissors or clippers to cut the part that sticks out (you need to cut it at an angle, this is so when you press the trigger it'll push the elastic band up and release it).

See photos for the angle.

Step 6: Attaching the Band Holder

Use a bit of tape to go around the end of one of the tightly rolled sheets a few times, then cut this off.

It should be about an inch long.

(Just FYI, In these photos I used a white sheet of paper, but swap to a red one later on).

Use hot glue to glue it onto the top of the gun at the trigger side.

You want to use a good amount of glue here, and glue all around it.

Step 7: Making the Casing

Grab one of the outer rolls made in step 3 (I use a red one here) and flatten it out.

Holding it up to the gun as a guide, bend it in the necessary places so that it fits around the 3 small rolls and the bottom of the next one (see image).

After cutting off any excess, hot glue it to the gun, making sure to not block the trigger.

This casing will make it much more comfortable to hold and keep everything together better.

Step 8: Strengthening the Paper

Use super glue on a Q-tip/cotton bud to coat the places shown in the pictures above.

This is an amazing trick that strengthens the paper drastically, making sure it won't wear away after a few uses!

Step 9: Preparing the Rubber Band

Any rubber band can be used, but if you want to get full strength out of it, place the gun down and use it as a guide to find the optimal length of the rubber band like so:

Stretch the rubber band to almost its limit and mark the position the same length as the gun (see above images).

Tie a knot at this position (making sure it's tight) and cut off the other side of the band.

This will ensure that the elastic band will be stretched to its limit when loaded onto the gun.