Backyard Ballistics

Welcome to the Backyard Ballistics Home Page!

I thought it would be fun to have a Web site that was dedicated to the development of home-brew devices for propelling weird objects through the air. When I put up this page in early 1995, I had no idea that there was so much interest in this kind of foolishness. I apologize for not updating stuff as often as I should, but I have a day job now...flipping burgers at Dairy Queen.

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Disclaimer

Of course, stuff like this won't be found on the Web without the standard disclaimers. Naturally, this page reflects my own opinions and ideas, and not those of my employer. You can build and use the devices described on this page and it's links, but you'll have to do so at the risk of possibly being injured if something were to go wrong. Consider the information found here to be highly experimental and extremely dangerous in nature. If you do get hurt, tough $#i+! Don't go whining to a lawyer because of your own lack of personal responsibility and common sense. If it weren't for whiners, we'd all still be able to enjoy driving our Corvairs to the park for a nice game of lawn darts. I'll get off my soapbox now and let you continue to surf through to the important stuff.

(Note: If you feel the same way as I do about lawyers, you might enjoy reading a few of Randy's Favorite Lawyer Jokes.)

Spud Guns!

A few years ago I read somewhere about idividuals shooting potatoes out of pieces of pipe using various aerosol products as a propellant.. They referred to their creations as Spud Guns.

The spud gun is a modern adaptation of the infamous tennis ball gun many of us used in our sometimes spectacularly stupid youth. Unlike the tennis ball gun, the spud gun uses modern materials and construction techniques to produce a safer, more accurate, weapon system. PVC or ABS pipe, properly glued, provides a superior development kernel to work with compared to the soda can/duct tape structures of years ago.

I found some spare PVC pipe and fittings laying around my garage, so I set forth to construct a reliable spud gun of my own design. I used hair spray as the propellent. Of course the first time I shot this device, my neighbors thought I was nuts and promptly called the police. The two officers that responded were laughing their asses off by the time they left. They did give me a stern warning however, "If you don't show us how to build one of these things, we'll make your life a living hell!" Since I didn't relish the idea of dealing with these two bozos again, I humbly complied. I thought to myself, since I had to share this privileged information with the authorities, why can't I share it with the rest of the world? And what better way, than through the resources of the World Wide Web.

Actually, the design presented in the next link was developed by a friend that had similar ambitions. His design is so good, I had to place it here for all to see. It's very reliable, and simple to construct. Feel free to alter the basic concept. Who knows, maybe you can improve on it. The Hair spray Powered Spud Gun is guaranteed fun, and can shoot spuds nearly 200 yards using cheap hair spray.

Here's a new design submitted by L.P. Mattei. This classic high performance tater slinger is called the Spudzooka

There are people out there that have taken the hair spray powered spud gun to extremes. I guess One spud at a time wasn't enough for Gary Davis, inventor of the Gattling spud gun. Check out the JPEG image of this beast.

If potato guns interest you, but you don't feel like building one yourself, you can order a and have it delivered to your doorstep. Unfortunately because of limited server resources, you'll have to snail mail your order. This gives the details.

I did some research and discovered that propellant based spud guns were not reaching the full potential of the materials they were constructed from. I scratched my head a bit and came up with a totally new concept. The Pneumatic Spud Gun is a state of the art potato delivery system. Using environmentally friendly compressed air, this weapon can wreak havoc on enemy positions within a 600 yard radius. I'm still working on the infared laser guidance system.

Ever seen a potato launched with liquid nitrogen? Get a load of Matt Reilly's Web Page.

What The US Government Says About all This

Interestingly enough, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms doesn't consider spud guns a threat to the sanctity of human life, or the American way. Read all about it in this letter from the ATF.

FUEL STUDY

Backyard Ballistic's very own Head of Research and Development, Dave Newland, has released his comprehensive study of spud gun propellants, Spud Gun Fuel Experiments.

Other Cannons and Such

Before the first tennis ball was launched with Ronsin lighter fuel or the first potato shot with hair spray, toy cannons made their appearance many years ago. One of the most interesting types of these toys was the carbide cannon. The intent of these cannons was to generate large amounts of noise in an relatively safe manner. They weren't really designed to propel projectiles through the air, however there were a few of us kids that stuffed a objects down the barrels of these toys for "experimental" purposes. As I recall, olives, cherry tomatoes, crab apples, etc. were all commonly tested in my neighborhood. Visit The RAV-VIN Home Page for a look at these wonderful toys of yesteryear.

If you think launching a few potatoes is a big deal, then you ain't seen noth'n yet. On the first weekend after Halloween, the annual Pumpkin Chunkin contest is held in Lewes, Delaware. Using various means, these guys fling, hurl, toss, and shoot pumpkins as far as they can.

Normally most people wouldn't consider this air cannon as exactly a Backyard Ballistics device. However, if you have $150,000-$250,000 lying about doing nothing, and you need a new toy, get one of these. The LoCAT Avalanche Control Gun could launch stuff from your backyard to locations more than THREE MILES AWAY! (Wouldn't the neighbors be impressed!)

In medieval times, before gun powder and Aqua Net were in wide use, more primitive means were used to hurl large objects through the air. The Trebuche was probably the most powerful and effective. Historically, the trebuche was the first practical form of germ warfare. During Europe's deadly plague infested dark ages, armies holding siege of cities would fling the diseased corpses of their fallen comrades over the walls with these giant machines. ("Incommming"...SPLUT...yuck!)

A visitor suggested this site for what could very well be the last word in amateur ballistic devices. Capacitor Discharge Experiments. I can't wait to see what this guy develops next.

An E-mail contact from the land down under rendered this contraption. The Aussie Mortar could be a great way to get rid of those empty Foster's cans stacked up on your coffee table.

The paintball crowd is in the business of shooting things about too. Here's a novel air powered paintball cannon I found while surfing around. The How Not To Build an Air Cannon page, really caught my eye. Looks as though I'm faced with another trip to the hardware store and more in depth experimentation on pneumatic cannons.

If a backyard is not in the cards for you since you live in tornado magnet or apartment building, you might be interested in a little Kitchen Ballistics. Matchstick Rockets will keep the kids occupied all afternoon. (at least until the fire department gets there)

The Alta Vista Search Engine

The folks at Digital Equipment are nice enough to allow us little folks a chance to "steal" their search engine and place it on our own home pages. Give it a try!