I got tired of using a water bottle and hose for test firing my guns. Especially when at the hotel rooms at events. So I made a basic little case to enable me to safely fire the cannons indoors. This will work great in the shop and at the hotel room at events. I can also use this at static displays and shows to "Safely" allow people to see the cannons fire...... I made box frames for the sides and ran a 1/4" rabbet in the frame to fit a 1/4" thick sheet of shatterproof acrylic. The top has a large lid to enable me to remove bb's and change out the foam when it has been used up. I made a slot in the top and bottom of the box to allow foam sheeting from 1" to 2" pieces. Behind the foam is a sheet of shower liner that decreases the velocity of the bb's. I got the idea of the shower liner from Jeff L., he uses the liner in his baden. The stuff is light, can be glued to anything, and can be cut to fit... very nice, cheap stuff. You can get it at Home Depot or Lowes. I use a small piece of fitted wood to hold the foam next to the back "slot". The front has a large opening in it to allow for test firing twin, trip, or Quads from the ship... Just place the ship stern into the hole, put on glasses, and fire away... The MK1A2 is the adaption plate for single firing cannons. This is a plate I made to fit the front, covering the opening.. The plate has a hole to fit the barrel into and is slotted to fit different size barrel lengths. Both coil and straight mags will fit. I used two standoffs under the gun, attached to the plate, this holds the velcro straps used to secure the gun while firing. I added a holder for the bottle, firing actuator, and spare speed loaders for the guns... There is also an acrylic window in the plate for viewing from the front... Been using this all day..... I luv the pop, pop, pop with no holes in the walls of the shop... Enjoy!
Ok, this is the next workshop build for me. I want to get rid of having to wait to get to the water to see where the BB's hit and if they are grouped correctly. I will use the same cabinet but with a few modifications based on watching the videos from McSpuds. Will post pictures. Cool factor: Will have laser level incorporated into the rig.
Nice work! Be careful with the backstop, our guns will eat through showerpan liner relatively quickly when you subject it to sustained hard shooting in the same locations over and over.(which doesn't happen in our boats but happens very easily in a static test environment) Not sure what you have behind that but it needs to be really tough to take the repetitive punishment that a test rig is going to subject it too. My original cannon testing rig used showerpan liner as well until it kept failing(I also shot through a sheet of copper that I had sitting around and thought might be useful in stopping them but it is too ductile)...my current BB trap design is a couple of sections of ABS pipe that will capture the BBs and let them bounce around internally a bit before they settle down, the BBs dent the inside a little but it's been going strong for years with no sign of impending rupture.
Chris, I was not going to use foam, rather a clipboard like holder (with the middle cut out)and a sheet of paper over it. Think like the bb machine guns at the fair with the star target. Easy to replace and will have a few holders so I can quickly change. To stop the bb's, I would have 3-4 shower pan liners hanging down from the top with 1 inch space between, so defense in depth. The bottom of the box will be like a shower pan, so all bb's will roll to the middle and drop down a tube for easy collection. A laser level that will be placed on the waterline of the boat and that will shine on the paper target to see if you are above or below.
haha...about as much as you do with nuclear reactors ;-) I actaully got to check out one of the guns from HARP a couple of weeks ago, that sucker is BIG. -Lou I'd use some of that fiberglass board you have laying around or even 1/8-1/4" ABS sheet, angle the sheet behid the hole so the BB is less likely to bounce straight back out.. Also always make sure the magazine cap it on, I was finding BBs all over my kitchen for months after that one....
Yea, the shower liner is starting to wear out... I have to find another medium for the back stop. I have a rubber floor matt than can be cut, but I think the bb will bounce back... will have to find another material. This thing is going to be worth it's weight in gold at NATS, at least for the ladies who are cleaning the room.. a lot easier on the vacume cleaner...
why not just put something fairly solid at a high angle downwards and make the box somewhat longer to account for potential ricochet. like an actual gun range (cept they sweep up and tend to use retired boiler plate and pressure hull plate.)
My next version will allow me to insert target panels from the side through a slot.... no more top door...
Thanks again, McSpuds for the idea and build thread. Front door, still need to cut an opening in the lexan for the testing of individual guns, but the mounting dowel are in. Door open, wide enough for a yammer Top is hinged in case you need to get to the boat or tweak without moving the boat. Usually two pieces of foam slide into the yellow holder. Behind it is three layers of strong rubberized tent material.
I used a "Yammer" for about 13 years and nothing says hernia better than lifting her onto and into a box.
Actually in this setup you would put her on the expandable board and fire into the box. Bow could go in if you want, but the thought was to be 2-3 feet from the foam to see where the rounds are hitting (close to waterline).
