Messages

1

Hunting / Re: hunting with ballvalve airgun

« on: August 24, 2009, 08:39:06 PM »

You'll definitely want to have a trigger actuated ball valve to hunt with. The power difference is tremendous, you'll definitely need every bit of power possible to take out a coon with a nail dart. Steel is pretty easy to work with, check out the black iron pipe or galvanized steel pipe commonly used for gas lines. You can even use them with a sprinkler valve, if you use a orbit sprinkler valve, you can use the manual lever as a trigger. That is probably the easiest way to build a fairly powerful airgun.

2

Hunting / Re: hunting with ballvalve airgun

« on: August 22, 2009, 08:40:23 PM »

Like pellethuntr said, check you local regs on airgun hunting, or hunt on private land. A ball valve airgun can be very accurate if it is spring operated. One with a manually thrown valve is pretty weak and inaccurate to boot. A well built one using good ammo can be as accurate as a blowgun or slingshot, perhaps better than the slingshot and on par with the blowgun. 70 psi and a 3 inch dart with a proper stabilizing tail can do quite a bit of damage, like going through a 2x4.  Dont worry about having tons of questions, we all do, that is how we learn.

3

General Discussion / Re: how to fit pvc airgun.

« on: August 22, 2009, 08:37:16 PM »

Safety is important, always be sure to use materials of decent quality. Stay away from cell core pipe and dwv fittings. I used to use epoxy with pvc, but solvent welding is cheaper and easier. It comes in 2 parts, a primer that cleans the pipe, and the cement that bonds the pipe to the fittings. Steel and copper are better materials to use when using higher pressure. PVC is great for mockups or lower pressure airguns. That being said, a PVC airgun is capable of putting out a lot of energy. I've built one that put out 100+ FPE using 150 psi.

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New Member Introduction / Re: hi everyone im new at making airguns

« on: August 22, 2009, 08:32:25 PM »

Welcome, glad to have you aboard. If you build one out of PVC, be sure to use pressure rated pipe and no DWV fittings. Wait the recommended time for the solvent weld to set. Keep the pressure under 150 psi and dont use it in cold weather, and you should be safe. PVC fragments when it burst, kinda like a plastic grenade. The barrel length kinda depends on the diameter, but I'd say a barrel 24" to 36" should work well in 1/2" to 1" diameter barrels.

5

Homemade Airguns / Re: Ideas for the new project

« on: August 18, 2009, 11:53:16 AM »

I'd sure be interested in the Casselman airgun PDF, let me know if you need some online space to put it up. I tried to download it at some point in time, but I have dialup, so that kinda slows me down.

6

Homemade Airguns / Re: Ideas for the new project

« on: August 16, 2009, 01:43:25 PM »

Perhaps you can build a poppet valve into the end of the fire extinguisher. That would save space and weight. It will also give you several shots per fill. You could use the extinguisher as the stock, in a fashion similar to the Airforce airguns.

7

General Discussion / Re: A Chronograph Watch Chronograph

« on: August 16, 2009, 09:15:38 AM »

That's a sweet looking watch for having a mp3 player built in! I was picturing something very different. That should work great for recording in the field, much better than dragging the laptop around. Come to think of it, it could come in very handy at work... You aren't kidding about Audacity, that has got to be one of the most valuable free programs out there. I've compared the results I've gotten with Audacity to the results of my chronograph, and there isnt very much difference in readings. Audacity will give slightly slower readings, due to the longer velocity average measured (10+ yards as opposed to 1 foot).

8

New Member Introduction / Re: Hey there from Montana

« on: August 12, 2009, 12:29:18 PM »

Hello Phil and welcome to the forum! I'm looking forward to seeing your precharged airgun project. Action on the forum has been a bit slow lately, we all tend to get busy on projects and neglect the computers, but I'm sure that will change with the cooler weather coming up in a couple months.

9

Air Systems / Re: pumps and cups

« on: August 05, 2009, 08:45:48 PM »

Have you been able to do anything with that speargun pump?

10

General Discussion / I met my new neighbors

« on: July 30, 2009, 09:02:38 PM »

they are a nice older couple. It isnt often when people encourage you to shoot all the squirrels you can!  It wont be much sport with an airgun, you can practically walk right up on them and smash them with a rock. I think a blowgun will make it a bit more sportsman like. I also found out that cat I mentioned before belonged to the people who used to own the house I bought, so I guess it is open season on him too. Kinda feel bad about that one, since it was abandoned by its owners, but I really dont want a stray cat killing the rabbits around my place.

11

Homemade Ammo / Re: BIG bore RB???

« on: July 30, 2009, 08:56:59 PM »

http://www.trackofthewolf.com has some reasonable prices on big bore molds. I'm particularly interested in the .71 cal scissor mold for my big bore, though my homemade slugs cast from a oak mold work quite well. LEE molds are pretty reasonably priced and will be much more accurate than the old style scissor molds. Lyman molds are better, but cost quite a bit more. Both can be found on that site or you can find them at http://www.midwayusa.com/. Before you buy a new one, check out gunbroker and ebay, you might be able to pick up a good used one for less.

12

Hunting / Re: Deer hunting...What states

« on: July 29, 2009, 08:29:53 AM »

MO specifically allows them, check out this link for the specs required: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/firearms.htm. KY allows them, provided they are muzzleloaded, see this link for someone who has actually taken deer with airguns: http://www.adventuresinairguns.com/faqstories-i-13.html?osCsid=a2c41efeb1b14f6405ba61c99b4ceb95. There are some game preserves that allow them, I know someone has used big bore airguns in Michigan to take a nice buck, here is a link to a nice writeup on the subject: http://www.airgunarena.com/index.php/Whitetails_and_Airguns. Sometimes it doesnt hurt to talk to a conservation agent, I had done so a few years back in MO and was making good progress. Then I moved to TX, but a couple of years later, someone else had made the right moves to get it approved.
BTW, here is a great calculator to give you an idea of the ability of a specific airgun/bullet to take down game: http://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/thornily.htm

13

General Discussion / Re: There goes my money for awhile :(

« on: July 26, 2009, 08:08:12 PM »

I got the cold water side done today, the pressure is awesome, even on the far side of the house! This is by far the biggest plumbing job I've ever tackled, so I'm pretty excited at having a successful build. My wife commented on how it was similar to building a giant airgun, she thinks way too much like me. 

14

General Discussion / Re: There goes my money for awhile :(

« on: July 25, 2009, 08:02:50 PM »

thanks for the tips, guys. I cant believe how cheap plumbing is if you do it yourself. I've put less than $100 into the whole system so far. I'd definitely like to see your wood water heater. I havent done the hot water side yet, would you recommend using copper right at the water heater until you get under the floor before switching to cpvc?

15

General Discussion / Re: There goes my money for awhile :(

« on: July 24, 2009, 08:53:17 PM »

I'm not going to move out there until the end of September (when my current lease ends), it is a bank repo and has some work that needs to be done on it. The bank is paying to have the floors, ceilings, and walls redone. The entire cold water side of the plumbing went out on it the other day (polybutelyne pipe), so I've spent my entire day off replacing it with PVC. I'm going to do the hot water side as well before it fails too. It breaks my heart to solvent weld PVC that will never find its way into an airgun.  Everything looks great under the house, I cant believe the lack of bugs! I've found 4 spiders so far, and a few crickets, no roaches, so that is a huge plus.