I see lots of info about building Nerf & Paintball Missle launchers involving Air and CO2 and such... but why not just make a spring powered one, and save yourself the effort? I realize that consistency of velocity would be an important factor in the decision, but surely you can manage that with springs and elastics, and maybe a dashpot for velocity control? Is there a reason for this apparent determination to power them the same way as paintball guns, or is it merely a case of going with what you know?

Going with what we know is alot of it. Its fairly cheap doing air cannon as well. We already have the power source in our lines up usually.

Now is someone were to do a spring, or elastic band launcher, that has the range of an air cannon, is fairly easy to construct, I could see it becoming common place.

And to be honest, I have some projects that I want to do, and this might be an option for the kinds of stuff I am plotting on. We do an Arms Race at my home field. You may have just given me some ideals. Darn it. Now I am gonna have to do some testing.

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JesterTLS WWW.MILSIMEMPIRE.COM
Team ODX, Detachment 4-Armor XO (229)

Given elastic water balloon launchers, I’d say the potential is definitely there. It might be better to pull the elastic around a pulley, to maintain a shorter form factor more expected of a Bazooka or Mortar.

I would expect to see a sort of design with a charging handle on the right, where you load the spring or elastic, and maybe rotate the handle around the barrel to open a breach. This would make for a very good “safe” mode, since you don’t want to launch until you are sure a round is loaded, and the breach closed again. Maybe attach a hopper for missiles so they drop in automatically?

However, the thing about springs and bungee cord like that, is it can be very dangerous. Even when there's nothing loaded, if you're in the wrong place and/or it prematurely discharges... Woosh.

Air cannon can be dangerous depending on who builds them. I was at a game in 06 where a cannon blew up and sent a guy to the hospital. Air tanks can be dangerous, everything in paintball can be dangerous. Thats why my general way of thinking is not to allow idiots to build cannon in the first place.

But there is merit to this line of thinking depending on the project.

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JesterTLS WWW.MILSIMEMPIRE.COM
Team ODX, Detachment 4-Armor XO (229)

My main concern is that what if the spring went off while somebody was putting the ammo in...

"Frank, radio down to the red base. Have they had a hand fall within the fortress walls?"

It would be like the Adams Family on a paintball field.

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lol "uhhhh negative blue we have....wait stand by, you said a hand correct...can you confirm which hand it was, we just had one land near our position..." that would really be bad...though...

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If you get hit with a bloody severed hand, are you out? :/

This sounds like you're trying to build a modern scorpio, but unlike a scorpio you'd have to keep the the nerf round in a tube just like an air cannon or it will just start cartwheeling off.

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