Is there any way to rifle my potato gun
i was thinking about taking one of those drill bits that have a spade looking head. (the ines for larger holes but are flat, not like the conventional bits)
using a bit that fits my barrell, then **slightly** bend the two horns on the end of the bit outwards. then attach the bit to a long rod of some sort and slowly twist and push it down the barrell, i think this should remove a good line of pvc. do it twice for a 4 line rifling.
using a bit that fits my barrell, then **slightly** bend the two horns on the end of the bit outwards. then attach the bit to a long rod of some sort and slowly twist and push it down the barrell, i think this should remove a good line of pvc. do it twice for a 4 line rifling.
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PCGUY
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jdp, I think you mean a butterfly bit.
It would be easiest to buy some from Joel on Spudtech.com because even if you *can* get it rifled, it won't be as good as a professional and pro machine doing it.
It would be easiest to buy some from Joel on Spudtech.com because even if you *can* get it rifled, it won't be as good as a professional and pro machine doing it.
Yes, I am the guy that owns & operates SpudFiles (along with our extremely helpful moderators).
first of all i want to rifle my own barrel because i get a sense of saitsfaction of doing it myself and it would be a fun project. Why pay some one else to do it 
good idea JDP but how do you get the bit to turn slowly without basically boring out the barrel. If anybody has any other ideas please write cause i want to do this.
good idea JDP but how do you get the bit to turn slowly without basically boring out the barrel. If anybody has any other ideas please write cause i want to do this.-
PCGUY
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Maybe if you could make some type of custom drill bit... aside from that I don't know how you could.
Yes, I am the guy that owns & operates SpudFiles (along with our extremely helpful moderators).
hmmm. i like my butterfly bit idea best, because its really sharp and probabally more exact than a stick full o nails. i have an idea for the turning part also. its probabally not the best i can come up with but i am quite tired. get like a one inch wide strip of iluminum thats slighly longer than your barrel. now put one end in a vice and and grab the other end with some of those clamping pliers. now twist fully around a few times so the strip is twisted evenly. now go buy an end cap the fits your barrell, and right in the center of it slcie a hole with a drelmell that fits your drill strip of metal. push the stip of metal into the slit in the cap, attach drill bit, put the end cap on the barral and push all the way through, this horribly complicated design should result in an evenly rifled barrell, but dont try it onluess you really want to, because it probabally wont work. now that i think about it its a horribly idea.
an easier method, the one i am going to try, is get a trustworthy friend with you,fasten your barrell down to something so that it wont slide back and forth but will be able to rotate. now attach your butterfly bit with bent out sides to a piece of pipe that fits well inside your barrell. slide the pipe into your barrell with the bit end of the pipe facing out. now grab the end of the pipe sticking out of your barrell ( the end without the bit on it) and begin to pull it through your barrell while your friend slowly and evenly rotates the barrell.x2
i probabally wrote that in a way that you couldnt understand it, but i might try it if i feel like it, but i never shoot spuds and i dont really see how a rifled barrell would increase my shots with my golf ball arrows. mabye they would. but i hope that works out for ya, let me know how your results go.
jdp
ps: ignore the first method
an easier method, the one i am going to try, is get a trustworthy friend with you,fasten your barrell down to something so that it wont slide back and forth but will be able to rotate. now attach your butterfly bit with bent out sides to a piece of pipe that fits well inside your barrell. slide the pipe into your barrell with the bit end of the pipe facing out. now grab the end of the pipe sticking out of your barrell ( the end without the bit on it) and begin to pull it through your barrell while your friend slowly and evenly rotates the barrell.x2
i probabally wrote that in a way that you couldnt understand it, but i might try it if i feel like it, but i never shoot spuds and i dont really see how a rifled barrell would increase my shots with my golf ball arrows. mabye they would. but i hope that works out for ya, let me know how your results go.
jdp
ps: ignore the first method
For one thing there not clamping pleirs there vise grips but seeing as that doesnt matter. But i got a better idea from your idea 
. What if you got a pipe that fit perfectly in your barrel then get two nails (or four) equally spaced and nail them from the inside so they barley stick out and then do the same as you just spin the pipe and turn at the same time. I would think that i would be hard to anchor the bit so that i didnt fall out when you pull on it then would be hard to center the drill bit and how would you hold it in. Thats basically the same as your idea just a little different. Dont worry though im thinking constintently of a better and bigger idea. Pimpmann22 signing out.
. What if you got a pipe that fit perfectly in your barrel then get two nails (or four) equally spaced and nail them from the inside so they barley stick out and then do the same as you just spin the pipe and turn at the same time. I would think that i would be hard to anchor the bit so that i didnt fall out when you pull on it then would be hard to center the drill bit and how would you hold it in. Thats basically the same as your idea just a little different. Dont worry though im thinking constintently of a better and bigger idea. Pimpmann22 signing out.I saw a picture of how they used to make riflings in old fashion guns and planning to do the same to my potato gun barrel. What is a good ratio for a spud gun barrel and how do you measure these ratios
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boilingleadbath
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This is going to be a multi-pass operation. I mean, it will take dozens or even hundreds of trips down the barrel to get nice groves. As such, don't even attempt it by hand. Get the twisted guide rod, and push it over it repeatedly.
I would recement cutting 3 or more groves at once, to keep the boring rod centered in the barrel.
Adjust the cutting bits with bolts of some kind. After a few pases, turn it a bit, repeat. Make sure the threads are closley spaced.
Riffeling groves (lands) are a different matter. I would recomend many wide and deep groves. Because of the softness of the ammo (potato) you can't have very aggressive riffeling, you'll shread it. This turn rate is measured in inches per rotation. In a typical gun, this is 30-40 inches/rotation, however, in a spudgun, you want a 'slow' rotation - joel uses 1:60" and 6 groves, but because of the lower quality of your lands, you might want to go slower.
Oh, and incidentaly, nails will produce narrow and deep groves - exactly what you want to avoid. I'd try file-ing off a bolt at a ~20 degree angle with a sharp edge, or a custom bit of sharp sheet metal. Broken razor blades, maybe?
I would recement cutting 3 or more groves at once, to keep the boring rod centered in the barrel.
Adjust the cutting bits with bolts of some kind. After a few pases, turn it a bit, repeat. Make sure the threads are closley spaced.
Riffeling groves (lands) are a different matter. I would recomend many wide and deep groves. Because of the softness of the ammo (potato) you can't have very aggressive riffeling, you'll shread it. This turn rate is measured in inches per rotation. In a typical gun, this is 30-40 inches/rotation, however, in a spudgun, you want a 'slow' rotation - joel uses 1:60" and 6 groves, but because of the lower quality of your lands, you might want to go slower.
Oh, and incidentaly, nails will produce narrow and deep groves - exactly what you want to avoid. I'd try file-ing off a bolt at a ~20 degree angle with a sharp edge, or a custom bit of sharp sheet metal. Broken razor blades, maybe?
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boilingleadbath
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Well, it won't really shread the potatoe, but the potatoe that sticks into the groves will break off.
Ok, here's an attempt to explain why the potatoe bits in the narrow-deep cuts will break off:
Think of these peices of potatoe sticking into the groves as sticks stuck in a vice. You push down on the end of the stick to simulate the inertia of the potatoe resisting the change from stationary to spinning. This allows for the representation of the variables involved here:
Force - how hard you push on the stick - the rate of the riffleing divided by the # of groves.
Length of the stick - deepness of the grove.
Bigness of the stick - width of the grove.
If you think about it for a minute, the following is obvious:
A big stick is hard to break.
A long stick is easier to break.
For a certain stick, you have to push X hard to break it.
Thus, you want a big short stick that you don't push on very hard. If you want to make sure you don't break it. This translates into wide, shallow, and multiple groves.
Also, deep groves weaken the barrel. I would not recomend more than 50-30% of the wall thickness for the deepness of the grove.
Ok, here's an attempt to explain why the potatoe bits in the narrow-deep cuts will break off:
Think of these peices of potatoe sticking into the groves as sticks stuck in a vice. You push down on the end of the stick to simulate the inertia of the potatoe resisting the change from stationary to spinning. This allows for the representation of the variables involved here:
Force - how hard you push on the stick - the rate of the riffleing divided by the # of groves.
Length of the stick - deepness of the grove.
Bigness of the stick - width of the grove.
If you think about it for a minute, the following is obvious:
A big stick is hard to break.
A long stick is easier to break.
For a certain stick, you have to push X hard to break it.
Thus, you want a big short stick that you don't push on very hard. If you want to make sure you don't break it. This translates into wide, shallow, and multiple groves.
Also, deep groves weaken the barrel. I would not recomend more than 50-30% of the wall thickness for the deepness of the grove.
Sorry but a couple more questions how many grooves should i make and how wide is wide for the grooves. What ever it turns out like i plan on using your bolt idea with the 20 deegre thing. The other thing is should i use a bit with a round(dome) top or should i use one that comes to a point? Because i thought joel used a round bit or bur.[/code]