We used to make them out of beer cans and use lighter fluid for propellant.
I think Chuck is still in CA, and this state, in its infinite wisdom, has made it a crime to use a combustion-propelled spud gun. Compressed air is OK, but the old school hairspray guns have disappeared.
I used to hunt at a duck club that had the occasional poacher problem. We had a barn up on a hill, from which we could see most of our hundreds of acres of ponds after the leaves fell off the trees. The Saturday afternoon poachers would sometimes find themselves bombarded by flying potatoes, launched quietly from an ABS pipe fueled by hairspray.
So, from someone who's never even seen a potato gun, what's the range of those things, fueled by hairspray or compressed air?
SRH
So, for all the questions about spud gun legality, ATF says they aren't firearms as long as they are muzzle loaded and used for recreational purposes. CA AG policy (never heard of any prosecution) is that a spud gun that burns something as a propellant, meets the definition of a firearm. Other states and municipalities may have their own definition.
However, this is why I made a compressed air spud gun. As with any common item, as long as it is used in a manner not to intend harm on a person, it isn't a weapon. The nature of this particular design limits the power to pressure attainable in the tank, which apparently is much less than combustion spud guns. My design is not unlike some of the rock concert T-shirt launchers used to put a T-shirt out in the crowd. It wasn't designed to be particularly powerful. I actually don't know how far it will push a spud as I haven't shot it where I could see where it lands. I made it because I like making things. It has "tacti-cool" features because that was what my neighbor wanted. It was made more to put a smile on someone's face than functional use.
I have in mind to make a sxs tennis ball launcher using a couple large diameter carbon fiber tubes and a trigger plate from an old sxs shotgun. But my current dog didn't like the noise from my tennis ball test mule. So, that novelty is shelved.
For you guys that want to put a tennis ball out there 1/4 mile, there are $50 hairspray tennis ball cannons on Amazon.
