SpudFiles

Hi there, I'm new to your neighborhood, so pardon the dumb questions I may ask. The first one is obvious...WHY make a spud gun from PVC pipe (or any of dat other plastic stiff) when one can do it with galvanized pipe, or other some similiar substance that will not explode when exposed to tremendous pressures? HUH??

Well one reason why PVC is used over Steel or galvanized pipe is Price PVC is Cheaper. Another reason is Metal Pipe usually weighs ALOT more then PVC.

First people have made them from metal. As the above poster said it is cheaper. It is also easier to machine and tap into. It is also lighter in wieght. Tradition has alot to do with it since this started out as a "ghetto" hobby, im sure thats why PVC was used while keeping the cheap roots.

"when exposed to <i>tremendous</i> pressures?"

That's the ticket right there. Most of us don't deal with such pressures, and thus have no need to shell out extra money and weight for the higher pressure rating metal provides.
This is mostly a pressure generation thing; most air compressors don't go above 150 and only a couple above 250, and combustion spudguns generate 60 psi on the high end of the estimations.

Hybrids (and pneumatics running on unregulated CO2 or dry ice, I geuss) are a different beast, being limited to an estimated 500 psi (900 psi for CO2) that you'd get from a 7x mix. (the highest mix you can do with propane)
Finding PVC unions rated to that pressure isn't going to happen, even in small sizes, so canons operating at such mixes would have to be metal.

BoomerGer wrote:Hi there, I'm new to your neighborhood, so pardon the dumb questions I may ask. The first one is obvious...WHY make a spud gun from PVC pipe (or any of dat other plastic stiff) when one can do it with galvanized pipe, or other some similiar substance that will not explode when exposed to tremendous pressures? HUH??

The same reason you dont use a 50 cal beowolfs for plinking.<br>
.50 cal are good for some purposes,yes they work for plinking but a .22 or .177 will work just as good at a lower cost.

When you look at it in the grand scheme of industry, 100 PSI is like a fart in a balloon.

If you feel like using metal, then you've got my vote. But if I'm not going over 150 PSI, I'll just stick with PVC thank you.