Introduction: Side-opening Shotgun

This is just a prop, and does not shoot

This is a side opening single shot shotgun i put together in a few hours. It did take a very long time, even if you were to subtract glue drying time, so please allow yourself enough time to do this. the longer it takes, the better it'll turn out!

Step 1: Food for Thought

First off, the best way to start a project is with some Nutritional food, to get your brain going. if you eat healthy, you'll have more energy to build, and have the brain energy to keep up with these steps!

Step 2: Schematics

heres the plan layout and some measurements.

Step 3: Materials

I  provided you with a scanned drawing of my plan for the gun. a few measurements are included on it, and other measurements will be given on the step associated with the piece. the required and recommended materials are:

-time... lots
-Very large work space, I used my bedroom floor.
-Cardboard. also a lot.
-Duct tape
-Pvc:
--2 pieces of 1" diameter pvc, included on Schem sheet
--1 pvc "dead end piece"(the round piece that stops a pipe)
-glue
-ruler
-sharpie / other marker
-razor blade knife (scissors work too, but a knife is better)
-drill
-Bullet (far left. orange thing)
--this bullet shell came from the "BuzzBee Double shot" found in stores.

Step 4: Make the Gun-stock

The gun stock, if made a rectangle, is 6.5" x 11". go ahead and make your own stock shape, as long as the very front part is 1.5 " tall (by tall, i mean on the Y axis of the cardboard). if you arent confident in your abilities (which you should be, dont be afraid to experiment!) you can follow my shape. again, the front should be 1.5" tall, thats the only req. on the Stock

Step 5: Cut Them Out

my cardboard was 1/8 of an inch thick. and i wanted the gun to be 1 inch thick. therefore, i cut out 8 pieces of the same shape using the razor knife it doesnt need to be 1 inch thick, but its a good starting point

make one of these using the measurements i stated, cut one out, and use that to trace all the others, so they are the same size.

Step 6: Glu Them Together

put the glu on the top side of one piece, lay the next one on and put down a layer of glu after that. keep repeating 'till your done. put the ruler up against the side to check the height.

Step 7: Assemble the Shell

grab the "Dead end" PVC piece and the short PVC pipe, and connect the two. to simplify our process, lets call this combo, the "shell" grab whatever it is you want to use as a bullet and call it the "shot". check the size of the fitting by placing the shot in the shell. if it has a hard time coming back out, it is probably due to air suction. to fix this, drill a small hole in the Dead End of the Shell. this allows air in and will make the Shot slide out much easier.

Step 8: Assemble the Shell Cover

take a piece of cardboard roughly 4" by 3". this will become the "Shell cover"

Step 9: Shell Cover 2

roll up the Shell cover from so that it is a cyllinder 3" tall

duct tape this together

Step 10: FullShell

take the shell, and insert the Dead End into one side of the Shell Cover. you want AS MUCH ROOM AS POSSIBLE!!! so what you should do is stick the Shell into the Cover just enough so the Dead End is covered, and no more. duct tape these together. this is the "Full Shell"

Step 11: Hinge Time!

For my hinge, i used a dead pen, mostly because i dont have any metal pins layin around. i  feel that either is acceptable, if you have a spare pin, by all means use it. Once you've chosen what we'll call your "hinge", find the diameter, so that you can drill the right size hinge-holes. drill the hinge hole straight through both sides of your Shell Cover, but not all the way down, or all the way up. (see picture)

Step 12: Try Out the Hinge

Heres how my Full Shell looked with the Hinge through it.

Step 13: Hinge Plates

Cut out two pieces of Cardboard 6.5"  by 1.5 " Drill holes that are the SAME DIAMETER as the holes in the Full Shell.

We are going to call these the Hinge Plates

Step 14: Check the Hinge Plates

Put the Hinge Plates onto the Hinge, see if it fits

this ENTIRE being, we shall call the Hinged Shell

Step 15: Fit the HS on the Stock

place the Hinged Shell where the over-hangin parts of the Hinge Plates line up with the 1.5 inch high (remember this?) part of the Stock. push everything together so you can find the places where everything fits well

Step 16: Gluing the HPs

take off one of the Hinge plates, and put a dab of glu on the Hinge. slide the HP back on, and rub the glu on the inside of the hole. try your very best not to get glu on the Shell Cover, because this part is not meant to be fixated. once you have the HP back in place, put a small amount of glu around the Hinge to get better fixation. make sure to put WAAAAYYY less than what is shown in the second picture. Instead, put a small amount, then when it dries, put a little more. too much runny glu is a disaster and takes forever to dry

do the same on the other side

Step 17: Stock + FullShell

once the glu on the HingePlate - Hinge bonds are dried, put the Full shell over the Stock the same way as in step 13 (this is why we did the fitting. there is a method to my madness) I used a little bit of glu, but decided to wrap tape around the bond to strengthen it.

Step 18: We Are Gettin Someware!

Now that our evil deed is done, you should start to see the forming of a gun. heres what it looks like FPS style right now. there is also a top view

Step 19: Lets Start the Barrel

take the other piece of pipe. this can be between 2 and 6 inches long, or fully nonexistant! if you dont want a barrel, you dont need one for this to work. sure helps give you a better handle though

Step 20: Put the Barrel On.

put the barrel into the front end of the FullShell, and start wrapin duct tape around it to secure it.

Step 21: Kongratz!!

You are now finished with your gun! be it a single-shot sniper rifle, a hunting shotgun, or a handheld grenade launcher, it is finished! feel free to decorate it any way you wish, personalize it!

technically, you can leave this page right now, but please wait! there are more pictures to see!

Step 22: FPS Views

here are some of the FPS views of the finished gun closed and open.

Step 23: Put 'er to Yoose

My little brother got hungry and tried to steal my chips. good thing i just made this new weapon!!!

Step 24: Cherrash [Ch Rash]

there will be an extensive amount of trash from this project. lookit!

Step 25: Thank You!

Thank you for viewing my instructable. whether or not you acually built the gun, i hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as i enjoyed making it! make sure to get creative. if you wanna mess with the recipe (life goal = complete) feel free to do so!

Thanks :D

no, my actual life goal is not to use "recipe" in reference to building a shotgun, but it sounds funny :D