So this Thanksgiving holiday finds my house filled with relatives, among them two of my genius nephews.
Both love to play with technology. The oldest not feeling well (cold, flu, who knows? we may all find out in a day or two. . . ). The younger of the two brothers is an engineering student at a Midwest college. He brought along his latest "creation."
The Pneumatic Musket, also known as the SARM (Squad Almost Repeating Musket).
Using compressed air that fills two tanks (one a reserve holding tank, the second a "ready" tank, the breech-loading PVC device shoots marshmallows (for now), but we had spirited discussions about the possibility of malted milk balls, candy mini pumpkins, crayons, nerf rods, and drill bits.
. . . Though I hesitate to sacrifice a perfectly good drill bit for science.
The potential for railroad spike launches, while elusive for now, remains an interesting ongoing discussion. Usually filled using a hand operated bicycle pump, we filled the tanks quickly with my air compressor.
More to come on this new toy . . .
What would Toby Hoover, Sarah Brady, Josh Sugarmann, et al have to say about this?
2 comments:
Use 12 ga shotgun shells. Spent shells with a 1/4-20 screw for weight.
http://billllsidlemind.blogspot.com/2009/05/pedal-gun-fun.html
Oh yeah, and let's see some close-up detail pix too. Inquiring minds want to know.
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