small breech loading gun mounted on homemade tank

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
Runningman5
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Tue May 31, 2011 1:20 am

[youtube]

After searching the internet and not finding what I wanted; I built this cannon for the tank I am putting together. Has anyone seen anything like this? this is the first prototype that I put together and I was wondering about upgrades. more videos once I build some ammo.[/youtube]
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Doctore
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Tue May 31, 2011 5:09 am

Looks good :D

What about range?And if you can post pictures of your tank when you finish it.
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Labtecpower
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Tue May 31, 2011 8:27 am

[youtube][/youtube]

Nice :) I like the tank style 360 degree travel.

I see you use propane as propellant. Do you meter it ?

Also, according to other members, adding a chamber fan will increase performance noticeably. It will probably have trouble with your loading system however.
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wyz2285
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Tue May 31, 2011 1:11 pm

I have a friend that's buiding the same thing but he uses hydrogen and automatic reload. Any way very nice :)
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cammyd32
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Tue May 31, 2011 1:19 pm

That is painfully epic. I look forward too seeing it when it is finished. :D
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pipeboyswe
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Tue May 31, 2011 1:58 pm

Wow that looks awesome! What are the specs of the gun? barrel length etc, etc.
Runningman5
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Tue May 31, 2011 6:52 pm

the barrel is a 2inch piece that's 44inches long. it's volume is about 1-1 with the combustion chamber. I have heard that the ideal ratio is 1.5-1, but I have been getting more than enough power with the current barrel. just the other day I launched a lemon at least 180yds uphill (not entirely sure cause I couldn't see the landing point).
the Propane has a one-way valve attached going into the combustion chamber, had to build it myself. for the breach I used a threaded end cap and cut off about half of the threads and ground down the rest. the whole door assembly is something I welded up. the ignitor is a rewired stun gun (fairly easy to do, but make sure everything is properly insulated!!!)

Pics and more vids soon
Runningman5
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Tue May 31, 2011 8:50 pm

slideshow of pics showing new ammo:


Vids of new ammo:
and
warhead052
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:28 am

If thats an airsoft tank, I would suggest NOT using that ammo. Just for safety reasons. Just try a paper towel wadding, then bbs and then more paper towels. Then fire away.
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cammyd32
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:49 am

That is a point, if you hit someone with that not only will it get them out, it will knock them out.
warhead052
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:52 am

Since it goes through plywood, it will kill them. Unless its a 2liter bottle airburst shell, I don't think its safe to use.
Runningman5
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:50 pm

Yeah, I kind of figured that something that could put a nice round hole in plywood is not something that I want to shoot at people. considering the power that I am getting I don't want to shoot anything at anyone with this gun. I may try making a lower power version; with a 3inch combustion chamber or something. in the meantime I will just attach one of my airsoft rifles, that was the original idea anyway. Definitely going to keep the cannon for messing around though.
warhead052
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:59 pm

Well, using a nerf football or something would work, but be sure to tell everyone to watch out for it. Call a 30 foot radius "kill" zone or something for the foot ball.
Runningman5
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:56 pm

for target practice I marked out a 15ft circle around the plywood, it was a pretty big circle. from 150ft I was able to get 2/3 shots inside the circle, so 30ft might be a bit too much. I am hesitant to try nerf footballs because of the price, anyone know where I could buy them in bulk? otherwise they're like $8 each
warhead052
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:06 pm

Try ebay, or try the paper towels and bb rounds.
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