Spud Gun

It has many names: spud gun, potato cannon, spudzooka, spudchucker, etc. Regardless, launching produce hundreds of yards will leave you smiling. This classic version is quite simple yet very powerful.

spud gun instructions: potatoes, pvc pipe, igniter

danger level

  • negligible
  • moderate
  • high
  • do not do this

tools

  • K. Drill
  • L. Hand saw
  • M. File

materials

  • A. Flint igniter (lantern lighter)
  • B. 4" PVC cleanout plug
  • C. 4" PVC fitting cleanout adapter
  • D. 4" PVC coupling
  • E. 4" x 24" PVC pipe
  • F. 2" x 4" PVC increaser reducer
  • G. 2" x 48" PVC pipe
  • H. PVC cleaner, primer, & cement
  • I. Sack of potatoes
  • J. Hair spray (aerosol)

how-to

  1. Cut the PVC components to length and clean and prime the joints. Cement components C thru G together.
  2. Drill a hole for the lantern lighter in the middle of pipe E and then install the lighter with its included hardware. These lighters are very compact and use flint to produce a strong spark. You can find them in the camping section of large department stores.
  3. With the file, sharpen the circumference of pipe G. This makes shoving the potato in easier because the pipe will cut off the excess potato.
  4. You’re ready to launch!
    1. i. Find a very large, open area to launch the gun.
    2. ii. Load a potato. Use a stick or rod to plunge it most of the way down the barrel.
    3. iii. Spray the hair spray (make sure it’s flamable) into the fat end of the gun. If you use too little the potato won’t go far; too much and it won’t launch at all because there isn’t enough oxygen in the chamber.
    4. iv. Quickly screw on the plug (part B).
    5. v. Hold the gun at your side, aiming in a safe direction. Give the lighter a quick flick, as if you’re snapping your fingers.

163 Comments:

  1. Sep 5, 2006 | 11:04 pm

    Paul wrote:

    You may want to recommend several layers of Fiber Reinforced shipping tape, in several directions, especially around the ignition chamber. PVC shards when it fractures, and can get nasty. Also, there are piezo igniters (for camp stoves, etc) that work well in this context, and you don’t have to change a flint.

  2. Sep 7, 2006 | 10:46 am

    Sam wrote:

    The internal combustion spud gun is nice, especially for portability purposes. However, a pneumatic spud gun greatly decreases reloading times, maintenance times, and mess. It takes a wider range of projectiles. The form is basically the same - just eliminate the spark, add an automatic sprinkler valve between the combustion chamber and the barrel, and change the end cap to a diameter reducer with an air compressor attachment nipple. You may need a couple of diameter reducers to get down to the same size as the nipple depending on the size of the pipe you start with.

  3. Sep 24, 2006 | 9:51 am

    TB wrote:

    I was looking at the plans for the spudgun and I would like to point-out an important safety tip. When trying different propellants; you should be extremely careful about using petroleum based propellants and NEVER use gasoline because it will weaken or dissolve the PVC.

  4. Oct 4, 2006 | 8:14 pm

    Keith wrote:

    It is important to point out to people that the aim of your spud gun is increased by the length of your barrel. You also need to note that the compustion chamber has to be enlarged if you are using a longer barrel or are looking for more distance. The best models I have seen so far have a shorter combustion chamber with a wide diameter, an electric ignition off of a portable camping stove, a sharpened barrel edge (for faster loading of potatoes), a shoulder strap for easier aiming, and an under-barrel ram rod similar to those used on muskets and antique rifles. Oh, and I almost forgot, never fire a potato gun from on top of your shoulder. A misfire by your ribs can do some damage, but a misfire next to your face can kill you.

  5. Dec 11, 2006 | 5:52 pm

    Kyle wrote:

    Experience tells me:

    0: Water test your cannon first (put it under water and make sure it’s not leaking). If you do really well, and your sparker is well sealed, you can even fire it with the chamber/sparker submerged.
    1: Alcohol is about the best propellant you can get for this
    2: Experiment with the aeration time (spray a second of hairspray into the chamber, then play with the time you give it to evaporate before closing). I recall 3 seconds being ideal for mine, but it had a complex chamber.
    3: propane and butane produce very disappointing results compared to a well timed hairspray.
    4: fresh (non soggy) apples compress and then expand when shoved in, so if your gun doesn’t explode on you, they will be more powerful projectiles

    And for fun, try unused paint roller brushes stuffed with paper towel! Do it on on wet day so you don’t start any fires though.

  6. Dec 22, 2006 | 9:21 am

    Greg wrote:

    I use Right Guard spray as fuel. It does not leave as much sticky residue as hair spray. If you do use hair spray, use Aquanet. For some reason it’s just works better. Additionally, I agree with Paul on the tape. Personally I use duct tape, but the reinforced shipping tape is a great idea as well. Finally, if you bevel the inside edge of the barrel, you’ll create a better fitting projectile.

  7. Dec 26, 2006 | 6:49 am

    Tom wrote:

    Just built one to your specs. It is awesome! I wrapped chamber with nylon rope but that was overkill. Didn’t want any pvc shards!
    Thanks

  8. Dec 28, 2006 | 10:47 am

    Les wrote:

    I use black ABS pipe and gasoline as the propellant. Dispensing a gasoline mist from a pump style spray bottle is clean, economical, and effective (I have experimented with several brands of hairspray and propane). I consider ABS more shock tolerant than PVC and therefore safer. Neither material is degraded by gasoline. I recommend cementing a pin across the barrel near reducer F to prevent projectiles from entering the combustion chamber.

  9. Jan 30, 2007 | 2:38 am

    Tony wrote:

    I just found out that if you could fire a soapy water baloon without poping during launching, you could even clean your car without getting out of your house!

  10. Jan 31, 2007 | 11:11 am

    TJ wrote:

    When you file a bevel on the barrel make the sharp or cutting edge the outside edge so as you push the potato in the barrel its slightly larger than the inside diameter of the pipe. compressing to give you a good seal.
    Also, shoot it with the combustion chamber well back on your hip, just it case. Never between your legs guys.

  11. Jan 31, 2007 | 11:45 am

    varmint1 wrote:

    I have found that the best combo of propelant is Aquanet hair spray. If you really want to shoot this thing a country mile you could a use a some Aquanet with a short blast of Oxygen. be warned that you have to freeze the potatos or they just turn to mush comeing out the muzzle.

  12. Jan 31, 2007 | 3:22 pm

    balistic mike wrote:

    Use schedule 40 pvc not the cheap stuff, if you use anything less then schedule 40 then you will have to wrap the gun becuase it will eventually give way. And you sissys out there using hairspray and gunking up your barrell need to be a man and try starter fluid, its a high consentration of ether and requires less then a split second spray. Also potatoes may be nice but onions can be more fun….

  13. Jan 31, 2007 | 6:13 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    I’ve made several of these and always out of sched 40 PVC. I also highly recommend using the gas grill ignighter and wraping with strapping tape is an execllent idea. I’ve also used starter fluid but be very careful of how much, it is VERY explosive.

  14. Jan 31, 2007 | 7:16 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    use a 45 degree 4″ elbow for chamber,multistrike grilligniter and 2 foot barral nasty combo

  15. Jan 31, 2007 | 10:34 pm

    bah wrote:

    Use Vaseline on the threads of the end cap. This will take care of the hairspray gunking up the threads.

  16. Feb 2, 2007 | 6:42 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    Make sure you use good glue. A friend of mine built one but he used cheap glue (not sure if perhaps it just wasn’t the right kind), and after it sat in the sun all day at our campsite, he decided to try it… and all the pieces blew apart. He got a nice bruise on his hip, and the potato didn’t leave the chamber.

  17. Feb 7, 2007 | 3:44 pm

    asdfdd wrote:

    use ABS piping its high impact and high pressure. that way you dont shoot urself in the face with pvc. abs also does not get weakened and brittle in the sun as fast.

  18. Feb 17, 2007 | 12:44 pm

    KIBBLEZ wrote:

    a nice mechanism is one of those long cooking lighters, and they last hella long without needing to replace anything. all you do is open it up, take out the butane chamber and snap off the metal neck, once you’ve done that just feed the wires through the hole in thee gas chamber, if it’s mounted on the side, it makes a pretty comfortable trigger. (you may want to put some hot glue in the hole so you don’t get any nasty burns.)

  19. Feb 20, 2007 | 2:25 am

    Tyger_soldier wrote:

    Personally, mine is made with 2ft pf 4″ ABS and 5ft of 2″ abs, optimizing the 1:1.5 chamber to barrel ratio. I use Starting fluid (Prestone) because it is much more powerful (requiring less than 1/2 second of spray with a new can) and the only residue is a little carbon that must be cleaned out after several hundred shots. A good firing system is to screw in two metal screws until the points are about 1/4 inch apart or less, then attach a gas grill igniter’s wires to the screws. This saves the time of trying to seal the chamber back up. So far, I have had no problems with pressure weakness or anything besides cleaning the screws after every several hundred shots to keep them sparking. Oh, and if yours does not fire with starting fluid and the igniter works, it is probably because there is too much fluid, and must use less to get the ideal fuel to Oxygen ratio. To clear a gun of too much fuel, take odd the end cap, be sure the backblast area is clear, and fire the igniter. The projectile will go nowhere, and the fuel will ignite, sending out a blast of flame, and burning off the excess fuel. blow out the remaining non-combustible air, and try again. Good luck, and be safe.

  20. Feb 20, 2007 | 2:00 pm

    Taylor wrote:

    ive made a couple of these and had more sucess with the smaller ones, we tried to make a big one and well it just dosent work as well, And also getting the air mixture just right helps, dont spray to much or it dosent work.

  21. Feb 22, 2007 | 3:37 am

    Tater salad….. wrote:

    Air preasure is better, Gas loses its kick due to rapid exspansion. Try a punamic set up and watch those taters fly.

  22. Feb 23, 2007 | 2:48 am

    Zaphod & tdbpayne wrote:

    Hint 1: Making a huge 6″ combustion chamber w/ a 4″ barrel, about 8 feet long (2.5 feet for chamber, 5.5 feet for barrel), sounds like a cool monster spud gun… but it’s real hard to find 4 inch spuds. (Now gasoline propellant and 3 lb. dog food cans, well, we think we have a world distance record, but more on that some other day.)

    Hint 2: Now straping tape is a cool idea, but fiberglass may not be shock tolerant (c’mon, it’s glass). Even though big bertha (our gun’s name) uses dangerous gasoline, we are not worried. Instead, being into performance engines, the idea of kevlar straps on blowers came to mind. So we found some kevlar tape, and wrapped the barrel & combustion 3 times with it, once tightly, once very loosely, and once tightly again. This made for a very heavy gun (no worries about little cousin timmy playing with it), but a very very safe gun at that.

    FYI, kevlar is the same stuff they make bullet proof vests out of, and is the ultimate in shock tolerance.

  23. Feb 28, 2007 | 11:00 pm

    Tony wrote:

    Is there any way to modify this into a jetpack?

  24. Mar 4, 2007 | 7:03 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    Tony, I’ve been accused of some unusual ideas. You on the other hand need physchological help

  25. Mar 6, 2007 | 10:45 am

    spudder wrote:

    Ya im just working on my first spud gun and just cant get it to fire. My igniter sparks perfectly but i just can get a bang out of it. I use starting fluid, highly explosive so i think it should work. any sugestions?

  26. Mar 7, 2007 | 7:28 am

    Jared wrote:

    I mace one out of a clothes detergent bottle once. The cap to the detergent fit perfectly inside of the pvc pipe and all i had to do was put the igniter in the detergent bottle.

  27. Mar 10, 2007 | 4:53 pm

    Travis reppin GilleteWyoming wrote:

    I just made two spudd killers two days ago. I let them cure all the way and today about 3 hours ago i tested them out. I figured out that you need to put the screws really close together to get a spark every time. I used Aquanet and it works perfect, just like 1 1/2 seconds of spray is perfect for me. I have a 3 inch combustion chamber with a 1.5 inch barrel that is about 3 feet long. In all, my guns are about 4 feet tall. O yeah, just take three shots of WD40 and spray it on the side of the chamber and then load up the hair spray. For more fun i would try puttin a screw driver right on top of the potato before launch, fun stuff.

  28. Mar 14, 2007 | 1:15 pm

    KlugeBoy wrote:

    Nice simple design. If you want to get serious visit SpudTech.com for a bunch of good safety info and tons of great designs and advice on the Forum. I prefer the Propane powered guns as they’re very consistant and portable but the Pneumatics are more powerful and simpler to build in may respects. Either way these things ar a ball!

  29. Mar 14, 2007 | 4:59 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    Use green tomatoes inserted into the large end of the gun……ie take off the 4″ cleanout cap…..put a green tomatoe in and let it settle into the reducing area where it goes from 4″ to 2″.
    Take a hockey stick or similar and gently press the tomatoe into the first inch or so of the barrel.
    Hold the gun up to the sun to see if there is any light coming through……….remember, you MUST have an airtight (or very close) seal for the gun to fire.

  30. Mar 14, 2007 | 10:02 pm

    jimmy wrote:

    instead of hairspray we use oxy-acetylene from a torch. makes for a good distance!

  31. Mar 15, 2007 | 10:09 am

    Sowee wrote:

    WoW! great experiment! i must do it today. It will be funny.

  32. Mar 17, 2007 | 8:32 am

    cadders wrote:

    will a spud gun with the same diameter barrel work? ive tried it but the hairspray only ignites very rarely in about 50/60 times its ignited once and that time the potato didn’t even come out of the barrel!

  33. Mar 17, 2007 | 6:42 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    make your gun the same basic design as the diagram……the reason you are not getting a shot is one of several things.
    A) too much hairspray….put the nozzle of the hairspray in the comb. chamber and count 1. no more.
    B) your ammo is not sealing the barrel…as stated above, the ammo must seal the barrel airtight, or else the fuel will just flame and blowby the ammo.
    C) your sparker is not working….I used a BBQ push button piezo-electric lighter mounted right in the square end of the clean out plug (B above).seal it up with silicone from the inside.

  34. Mar 18, 2007 | 2:59 pm

    jiffy wrote:

    my friends built one and tried butane and that didnt work at all. We brainstormed about what else is flammable and got some axe, works perfectly now. Was launching potatoes constantly 500 feet

  35. Mar 29, 2007 | 12:16 pm

    a Dood wrote:

    Unfortunately, air powered spud guns do work better/go farther. BUT THEY ARE NOT NEARLY AS MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, come on! You have to pump it up for a few minutes and then just turn the valve and it goes POOSH! No explosion, fire, bang, or ANYTHIng THE LEAST PYROMATIC! It’s not evne as dangerous to use air!
    Whats the fun in that????
    You get the point…

  36. Apr 6, 2007 | 9:58 am

    Jon wrote:

    What i did was put the lantern lighter in the end cap and ignited it from that end. is there any difference between doing it that way or putting it closer to the barrel?

  37. Apr 7, 2007 | 8:55 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    Use an ignition from a gas grill, you can run the wires extra long if you’d like, build a base for the thing (like a real cannon has) that way you can stand back a bit. I used wd-40.

  38. Apr 8, 2007 | 7:51 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    If somebody starts a company that rifles PVC pipe they’re going to be a millionaire

  39. Apr 8, 2007 | 10:51 pm

    I-R-GOOD@XPLODE wrote:

    For the strongest impact of expanding gas against the potato, try slicing large potatoes in half. Put the flat side toward the explosion chamber (it should look like a bullet)
    This way, the gas will not expend it’s force by going past the protruding part of the potato.

    You can even try caving the rear of the potato so that the gas is trapped.

    ALSO: there is a certain optimum size/weight of a potato that would allow for it to be shot farthest.
    Half of a potato (a large one) seems about right; it is not too heavy.

  40. Apr 10, 2007 | 5:25 am

    hazuse wrote:

    for a better way of ignition using the inside of a electric cooker lighter place the wires inside the combustion chamber (you will need to drill holes for this) make sure there is a gap inbetween wires about 1/3 inch when u press the triggfer it creates a spark igniteing the hairspray and booom spudtastic

  41. Apr 10, 2007 | 2:05 pm

    cjb wrote:

    I found for a well launched spud you should try using butane or propane. But don’t over do it. It wont gunk up the ignition like hair spray.

  42. Apr 12, 2007 | 9:52 pm

    paully wrote:

    if u use a screw on barrel will it work the same as a glued or cemented on one?

  43. Apr 15, 2007 | 11:59 am

    chudykGT wrote:

    The laws where I am now prevent us from using ABS and shedual 40 PVC for venting natural gas fired appliances, because over time they become brittle. The new codes make us use TYPE 636 PVC wich is stronger and more temp. resistant. It doesn’t cost much more than schedual 40, but its probably safer to use.

  44. Apr 15, 2007 | 10:26 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    im not getting distance on my spud gun, i have good combustion but a weak blow….what am i doing wrong?

  45. Apr 18, 2007 | 11:14 am

    sman wrote:

    this works much better with right guard deoderant spray. open the end , spray 2 three second bursts then resume as before. also, it is an extremely good idea to criss-cross tape as mentioned before. also, if you take apart a lighter, you can get the eletric ignitoer. or you can use a grill ignior, which i have found at home depot.

  46. Apr 20, 2007 | 7:01 am

    Nick)o wrote:

    Instead of putting you lanter lighter in the middle of the chamber drill a small whole in the screw plug of the cleanout and place the lighter in the hole.that way you dont get hair spray all over lighter……

  47. Apr 24, 2007 | 2:36 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    Use a spark plug from a motercycle and use a car batery

  48. Apr 25, 2007 | 4:07 am

    joker wrote:

    looks like fun, will be shootin spuds into space shortly

  49. Apr 25, 2007 | 2:36 pm

    Oscar wrote:

    what if i use some hydrogen from the electrolysis machine?

  50. Apr 25, 2007 | 7:09 pm

    Dark_Templar wrote:

    Dear future spud gunners…
    If your looking for some tips i got some for you. Instead of using aquanet hairspray or any hairspray, use rite guard deodorant spray, it doesnt leave the sticky residue and doesnt burn the cap onto the combustion chamber. You will need a pair of channel locks to take off the cap. (Beileve me i know fomr experiance) It will also mess up ur ignitor if ur using a bbq ignitor.
    I hope my tips work out for you.
    GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!

  51. Apr 28, 2007 | 3:27 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    I made 2 of these last year, being in pennsylvania theres plenty of room to use it. one was for me and my friend. it was very sucessful but the tourists took a second look at two 13 year old girls walking down the street with potato cannons

  52. Apr 30, 2007 | 9:44 pm

    spudjustice wrote:

    I found that Oust is way better than hairspray. Hairspray gets sticky and if you use too much, it gets to damp in the ignition chamber and won’t fire. 1 sec. of oust will give you a good bang.

  53. May 2, 2007 | 12:43 pm

    InsaneFisherman wrote:

    I was thinking of using one for extreme cast’s while surf fishing. How much weight can be launched from one? I am talking about ounces. And can a small cut be made in the barrell say halfway down from the top, to feed the leader through? I like this schematic since it is portable…just wondering if anyone else has thought about this and has actually tried it?

    Not gonna stop me from experiementing

  54. May 2, 2007 | 9:16 pm

    seth wrote:

    I built one but it wont ignite. i used the bbq grill igniter method with two screws and have tried a couple of different fuels. Any answers?

  55. May 5, 2007 | 6:35 pm

    jake wrote:

    my spudgun is huge its like 4meaters long and shoots like 300metes my best propellent is really cheap hair spray

  56. May 6, 2007 | 1:15 am

    MIKE wrote:

    Here in KANSAS we have hedge trees they have these balls that look like green grapefruit’s. (inedible)
    They fly really well, the only draw back is they also have this really sticky sap that gums up the threds of the chamber after a while. I found the cheapest hair spry you can find works best.

  57. May 7, 2007 | 7:49 pm

    Kris wrote:

    In the next week or so, Im going to build my first spud gun, So if i follow the instructions above and glue them all together properly, it should work? im just kinda afraid it might explode, Any suggestions while building it?

  58. May 9, 2007 | 11:40 am

    adam wrote:

    i’m going to make a small air powered cannon with an air chamber and ball valve.does anyone know how far it should fire and is their any helpful tips to improve the range?

  59. May 10, 2007 | 1:30 am

    2kewl wrote:

    I can’t wait for the weekend. Another good one to add to the bunch is that mentos-powered bottle rocket.

  60. May 10, 2007 | 6:02 pm

    kamakaze wrote:

    a push button grill ignitor works well just make sure u use drywall screws and attach the ground wire and other wire to the two screws and use right guard

  61. May 17, 2007 | 6:48 pm

    geneo212 wrote:

    I agree with ballistic Mike. Starter fluid is the best propellent and contsruction from the black ABS pipe seems most sound. I live on a small lake and can make the other side (300+ yards) from my back deck. Both fisherman and geese are nervous.

  62. May 18, 2007 | 8:39 am

    kid_dynamite wrote:

    i just made mine today and i use a piezo to ignite the fuel, i use lynx deoderant which is known as axe in the US. n i tested it out wit newspaper and it has some kick!

  63. May 18, 2007 | 2:32 pm

    mrpotatohead wrote:

    I just built mine 2 days ago.20″long 4″ sched 40 PVC chamber and a 4 foot 2″PVC barrel. It shot out fine than my long nose lighter trigger thing stopped giving such a good current. actually ther’s no current at all. maybe a small one but the screws have to be really close. any advice???

  64. May 24, 2007 | 2:41 pm

    g5bucket wrote:

    use a gas grill egnighter button, instead of the lantern lighter. Hairspray will gum up the flint on th lantern lighter.

  65. May 24, 2007 | 7:31 pm

    DJ wrote:

    The best propellant is AXE body spray!
    WHOPPPIIIEE!

  66. May 27, 2007 | 10:39 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    the axe spray works great try it.The only thing bad about it is that it exsploded and i lost most of my hair.

  67. May 29, 2007 | 5:48 am

    janh wrote:

    i dented my car with potato cannon.

  68. May 29, 2007 | 9:02 pm

    Michael wrote:

    i hate PVC. i have tried it many times before and it just dose not do the job for me and tends to hurt when things go wrong. I used 4 feet of 2 inch steel pipe as the barrel and for the chamber i used 2.5feet of 3.5inch steel pipe for the chamber. if you dont know how to weild make sure you have a adaptor with threads and the pipe has threads to….. this works wonder’s

  69. May 30, 2007 | 8:16 pm

    pseudonym wrote:

    I made this but with the ingition at the end and a 3 inch combustion chamber.

  70. May 31, 2007 | 12:31 am

    Matt Hudson wrote:

    Try using oranges instead of potatoes. They fly a lot further

  71. Jun 1, 2007 | 8:30 am

    first and great wrote:

    made one yesterday and didnt expect it to work cause its not the usual design, but i blew all the way the hell across my property, 150-160 feet distance, easy

  72. Jun 1, 2007 | 6:22 pm

    lemonator wrote:

    try using lemons, oh ya lemons…the oils excreted during ramming creates a tight as well as lubricated seal. dont do as much damage to stop signs but funny as hell when a lemon comes crashing and exploding against a semis window/and-or shield…plus the vaporized citric acid dont feel too good in your eyes

  73. Jun 2, 2007 | 12:26 am

    minispud wrote:

    I made one but it is a very small type. I used a Piezoelectric ignitor from an electric or barbeque lighter. I just clicks and there is a spark! but it can also give you a small shock if you click it while touching the electodes. It can be fixed better with solder. I use it insdead of flint.

  74. Jun 2, 2007 | 10:06 pm

    jb wrote:

    the best potato we have found to use are the small red or white potatos.

  75. Jun 4, 2007 | 8:05 pm

    matty wrote:

    made one of these today definatly some of the most fun i’ve ever had! it was 8 feet long and shot about 200 yards

  76. Jun 6, 2007 | 11:17 pm

    Evan from OK wrote:

    me and my friend built one today from the specifications of this site. we’re letting the pvc glue set up over night tonight and we’re gonna go fire it tomorrow. the materials are extremely easy to find. just go to any home improvement store. we went to lowes and found everything we needed. one of the employees saw us carrying our pvc up to the front and said “thats gonna be a bitchin cannon huh?” …we laughed.. lol

    wish us luck :)

  77. Jun 9, 2007 | 1:16 pm

    jake wrote:

    i built one a month ago and i used cucumbers they fly a long way. i like using ether starting fluid it works good. another thinh i tryed is i put jelly in a ziplock bag that is fun to shoot too. i also cut a tube out of a tire and wraped it around mine and it keeps shrads from flying. but, do try cucumbers

  78. Jun 11, 2007 | 2:33 am

    mike wrote:

    i have made two spud cannons. one of my spud cannon is made out of steel tubing and i use engine star fluid on it. also you shoud only use engine star fluid in a steel cannon only. because engine sart fluid is very! very! Flammab. i also have a plastic cannon .but with my plastic one i use hair spray

  79. Jun 12, 2007 | 7:48 am

    mike wrote:

    engine start fluid works better than aqau net

  80. Jun 16, 2007 | 1:03 pm

    andrew wrote:

    i agree with the vasoline on the end cap it helps with the thread and i also found a mixture of purel hand sanatizer and aquanet works wonderfull also try a double barell one with a multiple igniter from a newer grill its sooo awsome fires 2 or three potatos at the same time

  81. Jun 16, 2007 | 7:25 pm

    Timm wrote:

    I made a 10ft spudgun today. me and my friend r gonna test it out. The barrell is 2inch by 5ft. The chamber is 4inch by 5ft.

  82. Jun 16, 2007 | 10:18 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    I recently just built one out of Black ABS pipe, its much stronger that PVC.I also used Rivits to secure the parts( 1st time i didnt and took a backfire to the stomach)I also recomend useing a sling, Its much easier to hold it
    HAPPY SHOOTING :)

  83. Jun 18, 2007 | 11:14 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    my friend used a piece of a foam pool “noodle” to use as a sort of wadding for his pneumatic gun, it forms an airtight seal and worked great for him.

  84. Jun 19, 2007 | 8:23 pm

    Cranklevershaft wrote:

    i enjoy shooting mine in the residential area i live in but it is so loud. any way to make a silencer for it or quiet it down somehow?

  85. Jun 21, 2007 | 8:50 am

    Oldchicken wrote:

    Try Tag body spray. I used a 2 sec shot of air freshener and 1 sec of tag. What a shot it sounds like a rifle going off. Plus you get a fresh scent with every firing. I used the 2 screw wired to the grill ignighter but was wondering also is you could put the screws near the barrel end it would get less mess on the screws.

  86. Jun 21, 2007 | 11:48 am

    Holder350 wrote:

    The wider your barrel the better and farther the shot. the only problem is that if you use a 2″ or 3″ barrel its hard to find taters that big. so I use a 2″ barrel and a plastic grocery bag as a wadding. The bag will seal the chamber and only travel about 2 feet before falling to the ground. where as the potato will be lobed 5-600 feet. The fuel that I use is brake cleaner. I have tryed propane but I seem to always get to much in it. I have yet to try axe, hairspray, or gasoline. I also have a fan set up on the portch where I shoot most the time to blow air thru the cannon to expell any CO2 and replace it with burable Oxygen. I have a 4″ chamber with a simple BBQ lighter to ignite it.

    So if you havent built one yet “GET OUT THERE AND MAKE SOME MASHED TATERS!!!!”

  87. Jun 23, 2007 | 7:05 pm

    Dylan wrote:

    Im having trouble firing mine its a P.E pipe gun 2inch diameter barrel and a 125cm chamber, its got a sealed end cap. im using butane and spraying a very small amount into it and using a piezo to ignite it. it goes bang with no spud in it but doesnt fire with a spud in it…..do i need to have an oxygen hole or something in the like to even out the fuel mixture? Much help needed.

  88. Jun 24, 2007 | 9:21 pm

    me wrote:

    could i shoot a grappling hook out of this

  89. Jun 25, 2007 | 2:01 am

    harrythespider wrote:

    anyone know if a 12v golf trolley battery will create enough of a spark with a car spark plug to work as a igniter/ also what the best way to wire it up ? / (working on remote controlled spudgun/golf cart design )

  90. Jun 28, 2007 | 2:25 pm

    sorestgore wrote:

    to anyone attemping to you Right Gaurd deoderant spray as a fuel, that will no longer work. The makers of Right Gaurd have revised the product’s formula and now use a non-flammable propellent. RIP Right Gaurd

  91. Jun 29, 2007 | 12:37 pm

    Louis wrote:

    Aquanet hair spray and axe both work good, but I think by far the best propellant I have ever used is carburator cleaner; get it from your local auto supply place.

  92. Jun 30, 2007 | 5:16 pm

    wickedlester wrote:

    Fellow cannoneers: Keep the bore clean and smooth. I grease mine really well with Armor-All. I also use a plastic grocery bag as a patch around the tater. This way, I get a very tight seal and very little wasted energy. I’m up to about 350 yards with Aqua Net Extra Super Hold. By the way, thanks to all the unselfish input from my fellow artillerymen, I’m going to do some more research and development this week. Maybe I can get 500 yards.

  93. Jul 2, 2007 | 1:39 am

    [dcb] wrote:

    to someone waaaay back who commented on pneumatic spud guns being less fun than their combustion variants-

    pneumatic ones are, at the same pressures as a combustion gun, less dangerous. if the storage tank can hold the compressed air at whatever pressure, firing the thing would be much safer than detonating a flammable substance of varying brissance within the PVC confines of the combustion variant. however, you can easily upgrade a pneumatic launcher to use steel piping or the like, and increase the stored pressure substantially higher, well beyond what a combustion based gun could get. i heard reports of *1600* psi being doable. with a well-fit potato or tennis ball you could probably get some serious range with that- even if you do only get a loud *WHUMP* on firing.

  94. Jul 2, 2007 | 9:41 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    me, my dad, and my brother shot his potato gun and found out that propane is one of the better fuels for a farther distance

  95. Jul 2, 2007 | 11:42 am

    Tony wrote:

    Some friends and I experimented with these things a few years back and decided that we liked alcohol fuel best, from a garden spray bottle.

    We also adopted the method of installing a long BBQ lighter as the igniter - the flame was a lot more reliable than any piezo device alone.

    The biggest one we built had a 4′ long, 8″ diameter chamber and a 6′ long, 1.5″ diameter barrel, all made from the best pressure pipe available and glued to professional standards.

    With this mighty beast we launched wads of damp newspaper at every target we could think of and potatoes over distances around 1000 yards…

    The lighters burn out after a while, so we installed them in 15mm compression fittings, with a washer and some good solid ‘plastic steel’ or some such. This allowed the unscrewing of the (screwed?) lighter and the potting-up of a new one.

  96. Jul 2, 2007 | 11:45 am

    Tony wrote:

    Oh yes, one more thing - a friend of a friend decided to emulate us…

    When his Mk1 (softener bottle and 1.25 pipe) failed to fire the first few times, he added some oxygen from his welding kit.

    DON’T.

    The detonation blew in the windows of the conservatory BEHIND him.

  97. Jul 2, 2007 | 8:41 pm

    nate wrote:

    what do you think is a better igniter, the flint lantern lighter or the piezo BBQ lighter. and any tips on installing it

  98. Jul 2, 2007 | 8:59 pm

    Tyler wrote:

    hey i just made a tater gun today but after every few shots the igniter doesn’t work…is that because of the hairspay? also how much hairspray do u use for the model above thanx

  99. Jul 3, 2007 | 11:53 pm

    better ignition wrote:

    Piezo’s are effective at first but quickly loose there spark a cheap and almost fool proof method is to use two screws insert them so that the tips are 1/4 inch apart in the combustion chamber then use a low price stun gun connected to the screw heads. just tape the stun gun to the outside of the gun and use some alligator clips. Then your done.

  100. Jul 6, 2007 | 11:38 am

    Sheen Jones wrote:

    Yeah, I have made a potato/spud gun like that. I would not recomend using hairspray, because it gets all sticky when burned and smells horrid. I would suggest using Axe or Right Gaurd body spray. (One) they do not get sticky, and (two) they smell good.

    And BTW, I didn’t use a lantern lighter, I just took apart a long-nosed lighter and stuck it in a hole on the cap at the end, its pretty easy.

  101. Jul 7, 2007 | 9:58 pm

    Mike adams wrote:

    i have one and it worked perfecly for a few months but lately it hasent been workin nearly as much as it did before…. i didnt cahnge a thing i kept it clean and im using the same hair spray as before… any ideas why it isent workin as much any more

  102. Jul 8, 2007 | 1:14 am

    NorcalRuss wrote:

    I have built several spud guns. The best one I made had a two pieces barrel, pistol grip, and a laser sight but it was confiscated at the airport when I tried to smuggle it in my golf clubs. Don’t try it! Apparently the wires from the grill igniter showed up on x-ray and they thought it was a bomb. What I have now is a spud pistol with about a 16 X 1.5 inch barrel and 8 X 3 inch combustion chamber. Its compact and fun to shoot, and when firing I can see flames shooting out at least a foot past the end of the barrel.

    My tips

    1. I use the Carb Cleaner brand of carburetor cleaner. It contains alcohol and acetone and only requires about a quarter second blast with the small chamber that I have. Right guard and hair spays contain fragrances that are not flammable and can gunk things up. Ether also works well but don’t use MUCH of it!
    2. Use the gas grill igniter instead of the flint type of striker
    3. Cut your potatoes in half. You will get twice the ammo, and a MUCH higher muzzle velocity
    4. Most miss-fires are caused by too MUCH propellant being used
    5. After capping off the chamber, wait at least 10 to 15 seconds before firing. I turn the gun up and down and spin it to even out the mixture and help vaporize it better before firing.
    6. If you want a projectile that goes a LONG way, cut the outer layer off a golf ball. The inner core is slightly smaller than the diameter of a 1.5 inch barrel but ¼ to ½ of a paper tower wrapped around it will seal the gap pretty well

  103. Jul 9, 2007 | 12:10 am

    Teddy wrote:

    When i made my first tater gun i used about a foot and a half of 1.5” pvc for the barrel..a 1.5” to a 3 inch adapter..about a foot of 3” pipethen a 3” to a 4” adapter about a foot of 4” pipe then a 4” sleeve and a 4” clean out with a cap and a propane grill ignitor and i use air spray for a fuel..its kinda huge but by god it works and a walnut fits in it really good

  104. Jul 9, 2007 | 5:17 pm

    wickedlester wrote:

    Nate and any other interested parties: The best ignitor I’ve found so far is an automotive-type spark plug, with the with the positive and negative leads from the barbecue lighter attached to the base and end. Use a LOT of epoxy for this, and when you fire it be sure the spark plug is pointed away from you, just in case . . . .

  105. Jul 10, 2007 | 2:51 pm

    Graham wrote:

    Yeah When I Made My Gun I Used A Smaller Barrel Because I Hate Going To The Store To Buy Spuds So I Just Buy About 1000 Marbles And Im Good To Go Much Cheaper But It Is Less Fun

    p.s Dont Ever Shoot Marbles At a Solid Surface I Shot A Turky With It For Thanks Giving And It Went Right Thro It

  106. Jul 10, 2007 | 4:40 pm

    taterman wrote:

    a really sweet thing to shoot is an apple…they work really good and make a bang when they go. they easily go 200 yards with the gun model above

  107. Jul 15, 2007 | 5:17 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    I built my first one today, with a similar design. As a source of ignition, I took apart a lighter (the long ones) to get at the wires inside. I drilled holes in the chamber, and put the wires in, leaving a gap between then so they would spark. I recommend covering over the holes that you make, or hot gas will shoot out, and also using a decent thickness of wire.

  108. Jul 17, 2007 | 3:35 pm

    Billy wrote:

    I could not get it to work at all with the design that it says to use. am i suppose to cover the hole that the ignightiner goes in?

  109. Jul 17, 2007 | 4:15 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    DONT TRY THIS AT HOME Once a guy I knew built a potato cannon with metal piping. For a propellent he used Settling Gas (Used in welding and other things) he loaded the potato and fired it. The potato blasted OUT OF SIGHT. The guy was so scared if it actually malfunctioned or blew up in his face it would kill him. And it probably would. He destroyed it so no-one would die. After 1 shot

  110. Jul 17, 2007 | 4:17 pm

    Kurkanator wrote:

    This is weak stuff. My cousins and I were shooting their potato guns 300-400 YARDS. We used plain white rain hairspray. It was sick.

  111. Jul 19, 2007 | 6:32 pm

    zgeneral wrote:

    ok i did it… a few tries, didnt get the latern lighter or a piezo to work. but a small hole and a lighter worked just fine.. tried wd 40 and hairspray hairspay is the best . FOR NOW.

  112. Jul 19, 2007 | 7:30 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    The cement i used i was playing around with the igniter and all of a sudden i fell over it was massive the fumes of the cement ignited without anything no hairspray no potatos it was only a couple seconds after i was done i clicked it a bit it was sudden because it was the 4th click

  113. Jul 20, 2007 | 2:26 pm

    Joe wrote:

    Using Axe body spray is a good fuel for the gun. The first three ingredients are isobutane, alcohol, and propane. Tested and found that you get twice the distance over hairspray.

  114. Jul 21, 2007 | 1:13 am

    Accelerator wrote:

    Use Gumout Carberator Cleaner. Drill a hole in the chamber, spray into that, and just use a Bic for Christ’s sake.

  115. Jul 24, 2007 | 2:07 pm

    mashman wrote:

    Has anyone tried loading a potato into the end of the barrel and pushing it down AFTER adding the propelant? I think that you would have more air then to mix with more fuel and by pressurizing the chamber (think of your car engine) a bigger bang. I wonder if my gun will handel a bigger bang?
    I just built another gun after not having one in years. 18″ x 4″ chamber and a 36″ x 2″ barrel. I use the piseo bbq lighter atached to screws and I’m launching over 200 yards after my first 5 test shots. I use hairspray but am going to try axe or right guard soon.
    PS the cut in half potato is the way to go, less mass for more distance and twice the ammo!!

  116. Jul 26, 2007 | 5:11 pm

    Miles wrote:

    I sudjest using steel pipe for at least the combustion chamber that way it really doesn’t matter how much of anything you put in there. the only limit i have hit concerning how much fuel i put in is…too much will sometimes shred the projectiles ;)

  117. Jul 26, 2007 | 8:07 pm

    atc wrote:

    starter fluid, carb cleaner, propane all work fine, hairspray sucks, also try spray type waterproofing as fuel and watch an onion go over 300 yards

  118. Jul 27, 2007 | 4:30 pm

    zombees wrote:

    i built my potatoe gun just like the diagram says and my ignitor wont ignite the aquanet hair spray im using it did before but it wont now. i had a back fire yesterday so i dont know wats going on with it any help on it?

  119. Jul 27, 2007 | 5:24 pm

    zombees wrote:

    i found out wat was wrong with it the ground wire had come off the handle theres no prode for it to hold on to so i had to duct tape it into place. it had comeoff a little bit. also i wasnt using enough hairspray i was using only a half a sec of aqua net. so i have to use 2-3 seconds of it. my first shot cleard a 100 ft pine tree in my back yard at about a 60 degree angle.

  120. Aug 22, 2007 | 10:44 pm

    lol i made the patato go far wrote:

    problem solving 101:
    it won’t ignite the hairspray/fuel i use. there are two possible problems here one is that you’re using too much fuel. solution…use less fuel. the other is that you’ve gunked up your “spark plugs”. try cleaning them with steel wool or a metal file
    problem two: it blew apart.
    solution… next time wait at least 36 hrs (as is professionally recommended for pvc cement) i waited two weeks before i fired mine simply because every time i picked up my cannon i smelt the fumes of the solvent (a surefire sign that it isn’t dry yet)
    problem three. where does the igniter go?
    if you need to ask this question, i’m gonna go with the safest method. drill a hole that is about 1/10th” smaller than the diameter of the screws you will be using. use machine screws that come about 1/8 to 1/4″ apart from each other. screw the scres completly in . then using wire that you have already connected to a BBQ igniter to the external part of the screw by backing the screw out, wrappin a small portion of wire (which has been stripped) around the screw and re-tightening it.
    Problem four:
    i dented/ blew a hole in/ shattered/ otherwise damaged My/my neighbors/ a strangers property.
    solution: take the cannon, using a hand saw (no power saws, i doubt you can safely handle one) cut it in half, width wise. cover one end of each part the cannon. por plaster of paris in both sides and cover the other end. allow plaster to dry. IMPORTANT!!!! the final step in this process is to never build a cannon again.
    safe spud launching all

  121. Sep 5, 2007 | 2:27 pm

    Redchigh wrote:

    Here are some tips-
    1. Use Sch 40 PVC- NO Foam Core
    (There’s a debate about ABS piping- It holds LESS pressure and is more expensive- Sure, it won’t explode into shrapnel, but it will still burst, with a 5ft jet of hot air/flame out the side.

    2. Only drill where there is overlapping pipe for durability- I drill where the end cap overlaps the chamber pipe.

    3. Too long a barrel will rob power from the gun, while to short will waste fuel. Will measuring chamber/barrel pipe ratios, use Volume, not Length-
    2′ of 2″ pipe doesn’t have half the volume of 2′ of 4″ pipe. Use water. For Aerosol guns, use 1.5:1 for Propane, use .8:1

    4. Aerosol (hairspray, axe, starter fluid) is fine for PVC. I doubt you will be able to blow it up- too much fuel and it simply won’t light. If your worried about sunlight, wrap opaque tape around it. (see next rule)

    5. Duct/Packing/Electrical tape won’t keep a gun from exploding. If you can tear it with your hands or with a blunt instrument, its tensile strength is crap- which means it wont help.

    6. Troubleshooting- “My gun wont fire”
    a- I hear nothing when I flick/twist/push/click the ignitor* If your sparker works, it’s too much fuel, not enough oxygen. Trust me. It takes VERY little fuel for a proper explosion.
    b-I hear a whoosh/voomp sound, but the projectile didn’t move* you have a leak. Find it.

    Have fun, be safe.

  122. Oct 8, 2007 | 7:16 pm

    pedro wrote:

    i used the same exact plan and design and it worked perfectly. but my parents wont let me use it because the thing is to freakin powerful. the thing sounds like a shotgun so you can see why my parents hate the thing.

  123. Oct 17, 2007 | 11:28 pm

    Jaythedogg wrote:

    I have found that a propane tank with a torch tip works best for fuel. The torch tip allows air to mix with the propane as it exits the tip, & a good wide open 3-5 second blast in the tank will burn VERY nicely with a giant boom!

    Was great fun!

  124. Oct 17, 2007 | 11:31 pm

    Jaythedogg wrote:

    You can use a newspaper (or papertowel) wadding in the barrel prior to ammo, make sure the wadding is wadded up somewhat tight, but still is somewhat squishy (dry, not wet) & fully expands in the barrel, then take a cap to a spray can that fits, not tight, but close to as wide as the inner barrel, & fill it with air soft pellets (or whatever you, want, but be wise, it is DANGEROUS) & it becomes a shot gun. :) The cap holds the ammo while the wadding pushes it all out of the barrel. Is AWESOME!

  125. Nov 6, 2007 | 12:30 am

    Simplizer wrote:

    Afew years ago I made a breachloader which did away with the ramrod. I used 1″ PVC for the barrel. I took an 1 1/4″ male thread to 1″ glue fitting. I cut or rasped the shoulder out of the fitting so I could slide the pipe all the way through and glued it with about 1 1/2″ sticking out on the threaded end. I bevelled this end back about 1/2″ so it would cut through a thick slice of potato.
    The combustion chamber was fitted with a matching female thread so the barrel could be threaded in and out for each reload. You can spray the fuel (deoderant in my case) into the threaded hole but it airs out better if you open both ends of the chamber. I’m sure other sizes would work also.

  126. Nov 6, 2007 | 9:58 pm

    Simplizer wrote:

    More- After making the breach-loader I made a tennis ball barrel that will inter-change with the spud barrel. I took a tall standard size (tennis ball size)aresol can and cut the bottom out. I used pliers to crush and remove the push-button device on the top leaving about a 3/4″ hole surounded by a rolled metal ring. Through thr hole I forced the male thread end of a 1/2″ to 3/4″ adapter. This messes up the threaeds a bit but you can thread it into 3/4″ TO 1 1/4″ bushing, which you only need to do one time, and tighten. Be sure to flaten any burrs in the can left by removing the bottom.
    Just screw this into the combustion chamber, in place of the spud barrel, push in a tennis ball, charge with fuel & fire! (fire straight up and see who can catch it!)

  127. Nov 19, 2007 | 5:19 pm

    Juanizzle wrote:

    i used abs pipe and an electric igniter like the ones on grills. also if u put it in the middle of the gas chamber the igniter will get all wet and will not ignite. trust me get an electric igniter and just put it in the cleanout plug. you could buy everything at orchards supply for about 20$.

  128. Dec 5, 2007 | 11:45 am

    Embryonic wrote:

    If you plan on building a Potato cannon anytime soon, Make sure the barrel is TWICE AS LONG AND HALF THE WIDTH OF YOUR COMBUSTION CHAMBER. You get the best result this way

  129. Dec 5, 2007 | 12:15 pm

    menotyou wrote:

    For my potato cannon i found that an unlit blow torch works best for fuel just because you alway end up with the right fuel to air ratio and there is o hair spray gunk that builds up on your igniter hence you dont need to clean it as often.

  130. Dec 13, 2007 | 2:09 am

    Gary wrote:

    Heh.. just got back from shooting potatoes and whatnot from my neighbors front porch. Blllaaaaaaam* (*hitting other houses**)

  131. Dec 30, 2007 | 9:01 pm

    Anonymous wrote:

    wouldn’t it be awesome to put a dry ice bomb in a potato cannon

  132. Dec 31, 2007 | 1:15 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    the potato cannon is fun if only it can be like a paint ball gun easy reload. but still its awsome

  133. Jan 5, 2008 | 3:04 pm

    that guy wrote:

    Torch gases are awsome but if you don’t have the money/ability to get ‘em then visit waterpoweredcar.com. Seems slightly irellevant but it’s a way to fire your tosser with water. I’ve built mine out of steel & used a $30.00 stun gun (cheapest one I saw). The water reactor was made by a bunch of stuff at Home Depot. Youtube has about 3 or 4 vid’s directly related to that & they go BOOOOM!! Oxy-hydrogen is one of the most combustable gas mixtures on earth, that’s why NASA loves it so much. It’s the most powerful mixture & yet it leaves the cannon squeaky clean. That website will teach you all the basics to make the perfect egas chamber. My newest is in a pistol form & shoots homemade saboted darts with enough speed to pierce the skin of a rhino! One of my buddies used an alluminum softball bat. He cut the bottom end off, the long handle was a make-shift barrel & the hitting part the combustion chamber. There are plenty of things to experiment with just make sure you port fire anything you build a few times with high power & hand-fire it with less powerful loads.

  134. Jan 17, 2008 | 11:38 am

    Anonymous wrote:

    I have an assignment and am wondering how you can make an accurate spud launcher, that spirals not tumbles and only cost 10 dollars any ideas cause im stumped

  135. Jan 24, 2008 | 12:36 pm

    Jduffy wrote:

    I made another design that has about a 6-7 inch wide combustion chamber, flew exactly 432 feet last time i shot it. I used a mix of aquanet and wd-40. I used the right diameter piece of wood i found in my wood pile with some tape around it so it was snug in there. It was a MASSIVE bang with the wd-40 in there.

  136. Jan 28, 2008 | 3:35 pm

    defcon wrote:

    8inch piece of 3inch pvc pipe 3 to 2 inch reducer 3′ 6″ barrel starter fluid and aquanet hairspray shot a good 250 yards first launch

  137. Jan 30, 2008 | 12:42 pm

    tmaster wrote:

    me and my mates made a spud gun a little while ago
    but let me say keep out of the way cause they do bloody hurt. if you are have nothing to shot at try a water mellon

  138. Feb 3, 2008 | 5:25 am

    mcfear wrote:

    i just made a spud gun thats huge. it has two combustion chambers that are 100mm diameter, and 400mm long going into a T peice with the barrel coming off it.
    The barrel is 2m long and is 65mm diameter. This is not equal to the 1 : 1.5 ratio that is a generally used ratio for chamber volume : barrel volume. Mine is practically 1 : 1.

    for the ignition i am using a piezo bbq igniter.

    I tested the cannon with aerostart and put a 3 second burst in each chamber. put the end caps on the chambers, rammed a ball down the barrel and pushed the button….. WOW. thats pretty much one word that describes it. the tennis ball flew in a straight line and came into contact with my house veranda. im still finding bits of tennis ball. i have or had till mum threw them out about 3/4 of the ball.

    after more shooting i did a vertical shot. it took 15 seconds to hit the ground from when the cannon went boom. as you may be able to tell. i like the cannon.

    nice to hear about all your cannons.

  139. Feb 7, 2008 | 3:49 am

    Stivy3 wrote:

    Yea, that is cool and all. what i have is quite a lot more powerful than that. I just use a 5 gallon chamber size and compressed air. It fires whatever I can fit down the barrel that is on the canon at the time. Ranging from a 1/2 inch to the largest of 4 inches in diameter. whatever i fire i cannot see it land from where i fire the item. i have found the projectiles nearly a 1/2 mile from where i fired them. the compressed air canon is not as dangerous, more predictable, and in most cases more powerful than a gas fired canon.

  140. Feb 10, 2008 | 5:23 pm

    chipmunk wrote:

    After a large amount of field research on the topic, I am going to solve all of your “air-fuel mixture” problems. Basically it goes like this: If (insert problem here) then YOU NEED MORE AIR!!!! As long as your igniter produces even the slightest spark, more oxygen will fix pretty much all problems. I clear the chamber after every shot with a burst of air from my air compressor, and then give it another short burst of air after spraying in the fuel. If you don’t have a compressor laying around, I have successfully used a bike pump and I imagine even one of those cheap “personal fans” they always sell at tourist shops during the summer would do wonders. About the ONLY problem that could be caused by too little fuel is a weak shot. And even still, try less fuel before trying more.

    Hope that helps some of you

  141. Mar 5, 2008 | 7:39 pm

    pyromonster99 wrote:

    i made a PVC 4” chamber to 2” pipe. 5.5 feet long. i use Static Guard for proplent. i pore 1 cup of water down the barrel so the water will get absored in the spud causing it to expand - better seal- more back presser. i have already brook the sound barrier with this combo. 1000 yards at 800 feet per second. this is a real gun. the recoil will make the gun fly out of ur hand if u r a pussy.

  142. Mar 7, 2008 | 7:28 am

    camo wrote:

    I just made a spud gun and i have tried several igniters. I used a long lighter to begin with but they keep falling apart. I bought a grill igniter and the spark on it will NOT ignite the hairspray. Is there a difference in the lantern igniters?

  143. Mar 8, 2008 | 10:03 am

    killer wrote:

    yes there is a difference lantern igniters use flint

  144. Mar 8, 2008 | 10:07 pm

    masdog wrote:

    yeah used these plans but with an electric ignition from a flik type lighter and works like a charm

  145. Mar 16, 2008 | 3:29 pm

    waldo wrote:

    Has anyone discovered a way to rifle the barrel on abs to put a nice spin on the tator? Also I tried wd40 once & wished i didn’t. The oil got all over the place. Dont forget that wd is a penitrating oil commonly used to remove adhesive.

  146. Mar 20, 2008 | 2:54 am

    gunnernut wrote:

    If you take a rotary tool(dremmell) and taper the end of your barrel to a sharp edge(smaller barrels work better) you can use the barrel to cut your ammo(tater) like a cookie cutter. taper inside, not outside. this makes the ammo slightly larger than the barrel. add your propellant, then using your stiffest ramrod, push the ammo down the barrel. you will feel the air compress. If this forces your ammo back up the tube, taper it more to get a really snug fit. The compression increases available combustion oxygen and also prevents ammo from moving until pressure is achieved. Think about it. more oxygen=more fuel=more power=more bang. with the chamber pressurized, it is easier to get a proper air to fuel ratio(less”flooding”)

  147. Mar 27, 2008 | 1:44 am

    Brandon wrote:

    I have a 1 ft. combustion chamber and a four foot barrel. It uses a 2 second spray of hairspray and it fires at around 200 mph. I also found out using a grill sparker(red button on grill) is the best ignition because u dont need to replace the flint

  148. Apr 4, 2008 | 5:44 pm

    why wrote:

    my father and I make this and dented his metal garage door about 5-6 inches in with 2 wet paper towels WOW!

  149. Apr 6, 2008 | 4:08 pm

    Goes Boom wrote:

    A couple of pointers:

    1. The appropriate ratio of chamber to barrel is 1.5:1. This will maximize the velocity of the spud by ensuring that A) the expansion of the exploding fuel/air mixture is at its peak but B) the spud has not begun to slow down due to friction. If your barrel is too short, you get a big “bang” but much of that energy is wasted. If your barrel is too long, you’ll lose range.

    2. Here are some good specific measurements. For a 1.5″ barrel, use 4′ and then for the camber, use 18″ of 3′ pipe. This is the setup I have now and it kicks some butt. For a 2″ barrel, use 4′ and then for the chamber, use 18″ of 4″ pipe. I plan to build one of these soon.

    3. As mentioned above, the most common problem with ignition is too much fuel. I use Static Guard and it takes about 1/2 second of spray into my 3″x18″ chamber for a very effective ignition.

    4. The BBQ ignitor works very well. I soldered a solid wire to the back electrode, ran it up to the tip, curved it around and cut it off so that there is about a 3/16″ gap. It looks a lot like a spark plug and works like one, too.

    5. Mount the electrodes in the center of your chamber for the most effective explosion. This is because the fuel/air mixture ignites and then burns in both directions, effectively doubling the rate of expansion when compared to igniting it at one end.

    My next project as mentioned above will be a 5.5′ long gun, using a 2″x4′ barrel and a 4″x18″ chamber. Probably ABS if I can find all the right fittings. I’m also thinking of silencing it since it will be rather loud!

    Rock on.

  150. Apr 13, 2008 | 11:04 am

    L TM wrote:

    I used a valve on the end insteaad of the screw in stopper it is a lot quicker. I also used copper pipe

  151. Apr 14, 2008 | 7:57 pm

    taytay wrote:

    i have made several tater guns and the best fuel to use is either aqua net or propane. Remember if your guns wont fire DO NOT add more fuel the air mixture must be right for it to ignite!

  152. Apr 16, 2008 | 11:14 am

    Marton wrote:

    I suggest you never glue together pipes when building spud guns because they could lose airtight seal very easily and it may be dangerous if there is a big hearthy blast. Use pipes with screwable ends (try using cast iron pipes if u can) instead(you can even easily replace the muzzle). My best ignition device is a piezoelectric sparker ripped off from a cooking lighter with nut safed and insulated screws as electrodes.

  153. Apr 20, 2008 | 8:42 pm

    vegascartman wrote:

    I’ve heard some debate about ABS vs PVC but I’m a bit confused. PVC pipe actually is stronger than ABS contrary to what some people may be thinking in this forum. PVC is used for high pressure water whereas ABS is used for drainage and is MUCH softer and weaker. It’s more chemical resistant but it’s much weaker than PVC so why are some people more inclined to go the route of ABS as opposed to PVC? I have a friend who is building one now and he accidentally bought the components in ABS and I just talked him out of it given this fact and he thinks he’s out the 50 bucks in parts now. Is ABS actually a safe way to go and I’m wrong here? I just have some concerns about building a spud gun with weak components and him going to the hospital on his first shot because the gun exploded into a billion pieces because it’s not PVC. Any advice would be welcome!

  154. Apr 23, 2008 | 6:25 pm

    Omegaman wrote:

    Yes, PVC is designed for pressure applications, and ABS for drainage. That sounds like a plus for PVC. ABS takes impacts extremely well, that seems like a plus for ABS. However, PVC is somewhat soft, and that resilience makes if fairly good against impact, it is not likely to easily break from impact, but it will get an indent, when struck with a hard object, which could cause a weak spot. Proper handing of your spud gun, would prevent that from happening. However, PVC hardens over time a little, and becomes very brittle very quickly, when exposed to sunlight. Don’t leave your gun laying around in the sunlight unecessarily, and that won’t be an issue.
    Does the impact resistance of ABS really make it better? I doubt it. While the ‘explosion’ in the combustion chamber may seem like an impact, it is really just a graduated change of pressure in a short time - probably not enough of an impact to bother PVC.
    I think the largest reason that ABS is used, is because it is more available in the larger diameters desired for combustion chambers.
    The temptation might be then, to use and ABS combustion chamber with a PVC barrel. If you do this, make sure that you use a glue designed to join ABS to PVC. One poster sugested not relying on glue but used a mechanical connection (threads) instead. The right glue, applied to properly cleaned and primed pipe, will no fail, the plastic, ant least in the case of PVC, not sure about ABS, is fused together into on piece, there is no glue joint once it is dried.
    As as youngster, I made some pipe bombs out od steel pipe, where when they went off, the end caps separated from the pipes. These were threaded connections mad of steel, and the threads did not strip, yet somehow, they came of. I am not convinced that a threaded connection is superior. A glued PVC connection, is essentially welded.
    Those are my opinions.

  155. Apr 27, 2008 | 5:23 pm

    Stuckey092 wrote:

    I made one of these! Very fun!

  156. Apr 28, 2008 | 9:24 am

    tito wrote:

    flint ignitor can be found in the camping section at WalMart

  157. Apr 30, 2008 | 8:42 pm

    MadDog wrote:

    I cannot find a 2″ x 4″ PVC increaser reducer! Is there another name for it because I am having a very hard time getting it!

  158. May 1, 2008 | 8:07 am

    Weazle wrote:

    Any place that has 2″ and 4″ PVC should have a increaser reducer. It looked like a cone basicaly

  159. May 1, 2008 | 10:13 am

    countryboy01 wrote:

    would this work with a spark plug from a lawnmower and battery

  160. May 1, 2008 | 6:46 pm

    peterpan why? icanfly wrote:

    this was a litle confusing at first then i cought on and actualy used this a one of my science fair projects

  161. May 8, 2008 | 8:06 am

    Marton wrote:

    The best pipes i use are galvanized iron threaded ones. They never won’t blow off abruptly. Of course, only small calibres are cheaper with this pipework. As a ignitor i use a piezoelectric crystal ripped off from a disposable lighter.

  162. May 12, 2008 | 10:11 pm

    potatopopper wrote:

    Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for leaving all the info, will be making my first spud gun tonight. will keep you posted and will hopefully still have both hands to type with

  163. May 13, 2008 | 2:54 pm

    rc wrote:

    What kinds of pressures are produced inside a potato gun. (for different propellants if possible.
    thanks
    rcj

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