Improving Accuracy

Threads about water gun modifications.
Gold Hawk
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Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:16 pm

I was wondering where I could find cheap scopes for some of my long-range soakers.

And also, how to make sights for some of the mid-range ones.


IMPORTANT: I do not want to hear stuff like this:

"Scopes and sights will not improve your aim. Aiming's all up to you."

OR

"Scopes and sights are not helpful in water warfare because you aren't shooting water in a straight line like a bullet."

I've heard it before; I don't need to hear it again. :rolleyes:


-Gold Hawk
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

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Silence
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Silence » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:13 pm

What type of scope do you want? A standard optical one with zoom and crosshairs or a red-dot scope? Red-dot scopes have no zoom but project a red dot onto the glass of the scope. Due to some weird optical effects, the red dot will show you where the gun is pointing even if you move your head back and forth while looking through the scope. Not very good for range, but it'll probably suit you more here.

And right, no questions asked...

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SSCBen
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by SSCBen » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:15 pm

A simple sight is all you need. Just put one on your gun calibrated to point where the arc of the water stream ends. You should find that actual scopes will impede your ability to aim quickly, which is important. Some sort of sight would work great in the short range of water guns, be cheap, and easy to use.

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:17 pm

Ben wrote:A simple sight is all you need. Just put one on your gun calibrated to point where the arc of the water stream ends. You should find that actual scopes will impede your ability to aim quickly, which is important. Some sort of sight would work great in the short range of water guns, be cheap, and easy to use.
So how would I go about creating a sight?

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

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Silence
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Silence » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:32 pm

You could put a slit of cardboard at the front and back of the water gun. Or use one of the features of the water gun. Regardless, you'll want to make one of the sights a long, vertical piece. That way, by aligned the other sight with a point on the tall one, you can angle the soaker and get a variety of ranges.

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:28 pm

SilentGuy wrote:You could put a slit of cardboard at the front and back of the water gun. Or use one of the features of the water gun. Regardless, you'll want to make one of the sights a long, vertical piece. That way, by aligned the other sight with a point on the tall one, you can angle the soaker and get a variety of ranges.
Yeah, but cardboard is kinda unreliable.

I was thinking of using Lego tires, but those are too small. :p

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

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SSCBen
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by SSCBen » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:53 pm

Try some epoxy putty. You can get it in hardware and home improvement stores. Basically, it's a putty that you mix in your hands. It hardens to rock solid in 5 minutes and sticks to most anything. You can use it to fabricate small parts. I would suggest sanding the area on your water gun where you want to add a sight and then sticking the epoxy putty on it.

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:15 am

Ben wrote:Try some epoxy putty. You can get it in hardware and home improvement stores. Basically, it's a putty that you mix in your hands. It hardens to rock solid in 5 minutes and sticks to most anything. You can use it to fabricate small parts. I would suggest sanding the area on your water gun where you want to add a sight and then sticking the epoxy putty on it.
So what type of sight should I use?

Iron sight?
http://palgn.com.au/media/pics_inside/a ... w_520.jpeg

Peep sight?
http://homestudy.ihea.com/shootingskills/sight_peep.gif

Which type?

I'm leaning towards the Iron sight.

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

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SSCBen
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by SSCBen » Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:08 am

The iron sight looks easy to make and should work well. I don't know the merits of either approach though, so you might want to wait for more replies about that or do some of your own research. ;)

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Silence
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Silence » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:03 pm

Unless I'm mistaken, the two versions are very much the same; then again, you have done more research than I have, so I don't really know. I've never even heard of a peep sight.

All I can recommend is just using some type of piece in the front and another in the rear. It probably won't matter how they look, as long as you can align them properly.

And yeah, cardboard isn't really the best option. Any strip of metal, wood, or plastic would probably do fine.

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:19 pm

SilentGuy wrote:Unless I'm mistaken, the two versions are very much the same; then again, you have done more research than I have, so I don't really know. I've never even heard of a peep sight.

All I can recommend is just using some type of piece in the front and another in the rear. It probably won't matter how they look, as long as you can align them properly.

And yeah, cardboard isn't really the best option. Any strip of metal, wood, or plastic would probably do fine.
Here's what I got from Wikipedia:

Iron Sight: Seems to be best for automatic rifles.

Peep Sight: Seems to work best for single shot operations.

Red-dot sight: Easiest to use quickly.

I'd only get a scope for my CPS 2000

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:09 pm

Ben wrote:Try some epoxy putty. You can get it in hardware and home improvement stores. Basically, it's a putty that you mix in your hands. It hardens to rock solid in 5 minutes and sticks to most anything. You can use it to fabricate small parts. I would suggest sanding the area on your water gun where you want to add a sight and then sticking the epoxy putty on it.
Hey Ben, I found a flaw in your plan:

If it dries that quickly, I'm gonna have to work REALLY fast to make sure it's properly aligned.

I don't think I can pump my gun, shoot it, re-pump it, shoot it...etc, and get an average of where the shot goes in the time it takes that to dry. :eek:

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

mr. dude
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by mr. dude » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:27 pm

How about modelling putty? You have about an hour to work with it before it dries.

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SSCBen
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by SSCBen » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:36 pm

Most epoxy putties dry quickly, but you can get slower ones. Some sort of other putty would work fine too. Just use something that you can mold into some shape and be attached. ;)

Gold Hawk
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Re: Improving Accuracy

Post by Gold Hawk » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:16 pm

Ben wrote:Most epoxy putties dry quickly, but you can get slower ones. Some sort of other putty would work fine too. Just use something that you can mold into some shape and be attached. ;)
Hmm... I have an idea...

What if I took some sort of putty or clay that dried...but...I taped it to the gun. That way I could mess around with it, then once I figured out the right position, I could glue it on. :)



Well anyway, I did some more research on sights, and I've decided on this:

Most automatic rifles use iron sights.

Most semi-automatic rifles use peep sights.

In my mind, automatic rifle = XPs/Max-Ds

and semi-automatic rifle = CPS blasters

So that's how I'm gonna base my sight choices on.

-Gold
"Missing isn't the worst part. The retaliation is." -Gold Hawk

"Exsisto validus, fortis aequora." -Motto of the HydroHawks Soaker Assault Squad

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