Best WBL sabot design yet!

[timbo]

OK I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I may have found the perfect sabot design. I based it on the gold standard found here: http://forums.sscentral.org/t4638/

I tried to make the above design using a pringles can and also using a tennis ball can. Both were just a tiny bit too big for my 3" barrel. I suspect it may be because I used schedule 80 PVC not the standard schedule 40 stuff, but this is just a guess.

The sabot fits the barrel with a few millimeters of clearance, so there's little friction upon launch. It's possible there is some blow-by costing me distance, but I get almost 400ft @ 90 psi so it seems to be working pretty well.

Design improvements:

- All plastic - no paper, cardboard or tape to get wet and deteriorate
- Uses only two components: a plastic bottle and some foam
- Made of tough, rigid plastic to last a long time
- Fits a 3" barrel perfectly -- perhaps a millimeter or two of clearance.

[timbo]

I thought I might as well post pics of the WBL design as well.
Best shot so far is 400 ft @ 90 psi. Breaks about 1 in 20 balloons.

Future planned improvements:
- Remove the solenoid from the sprinkler valve and replace with epoxy
- Replace bungee cords with something more elegant, maybe a big hose clamp
- Adapt a small camera tripod to make it a mortar rather than handheld
- Paint with camouflage colors

Tim

[C-A_99]

Well, this post got no replies, so I'm going to go out and abuse my admin powers and post one in hopes that you come across it.

This is some pretty good work here. I like how you got the barrel and pressure chamber to hold together. The unique sabot design gives interesting ideas for experimentation too.

Anyway, if you do stumble upon back here, do drop a post or two at WaterWar.net forums.