PVC Sniper Soaker?

Build a homemade water gun or water balloon launcher and tell us about it.
Vineheart01
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Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:00 pm

PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Vineheart01 » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:02 pm

Hey whats up guys? I'm new to the forums, i stumbled on this trying to find other things related to PVC for a costume im building and it caught my attention.
I have been browsing for awhile and i was wondering, after seeing how these water guns work, would it be possible to make a "snipersoaker?" as in, one that focuses more on incredible force for far distance shots rather than amount of water being shot before repumping? Farthest ive seen is 50feet-ish, and i was thinking like maybe double that.

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cantab
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by cantab » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:15 pm

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: the current range record is about 80 feet, from the Supercannon II design. The problem is one gets diminishing returns - a small increase in range requires a much larger increase in stream width and output,

However, there is a simple way to send water really far - put it in a balloon. That ends up being more like artillery than sniping mind.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

Vineheart01
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Vineheart01 » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:18 pm

Meh maybe i'll just build a trobuche and hurl a crapton of waterbaloons over my fence at the neighbor's pool then lol.

Im a very crafty-like person, if it involves crafting something it usually gets my attention. I'll make something outta these ideas someday heh.

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cantab
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by cantab » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:23 pm

A Trebuchet as a water-bomb launcher would be interesting, I don't think it's been tried. Normally one has either pneumatic launchers or elastic ones.

I recall for a trebuchet the counterweight should be at least 50 times what you're trying to throw. That's gonna be getting up to the weight of a person for a typical water bomb. In fact you might be able to actually USE yourself - simply pull down on a rope attached to the short end of the arm, water bomb attached to the other end goes flying. Such a design is actually older than the counterweight-powered trebuchet.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

Vineheart01
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:00 pm

Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Vineheart01 » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:34 pm

somehow i knew i mispelt that lol.
Woodwork is one of the mediums i have little practice in, but ive built a trebuchet before just not one large enough to launch anything more than a small water baloon rather than a horde of larger ones. Basically it was litterally the size of a full-sized computer tower and it sat on my porch rofl. A rock the size of the water baloon worked fine for a counterweight. I'd post pictures if it didnt fall apart on me.

Anyway back to the gun ideas: i just need to learn more about the physics and schematics involved in these guns and from there i can do some theory crafting. I am in the military and deploying soon, so i'll have 4 months of nothing but a pencil and paper to theory craft heh. I think i got the idea of how to get the pump to work, its the pressurizing part im not quite grasping yet. I still see it as because the water is being pressurized above the pipe is why it works so well.

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Specter
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Specter » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:37 pm

cantab wrote:I recall for a trebuchet the counterweight should be at least 50 times what you're trying to throw.

That doesn't sound right. I read an Instructable on how to build a cardboard trebuchet and the user used about 25 pounds for the counterweight to throw a softball, I dont recall how far it went but, ill try to find the link

EDIT: here it is, http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... Cardboard/

Vinehart, you can try to follow that but use lumber instead, if you can't get enough cardboard.
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

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Silence
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Silence » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:33 pm

cantab's not saying that a trebuchet won't work if you use a different ratio. But perhaps a 50:1 ratio will maximize range for a given configuration. However, I'd rather see an equation that would tell you the weight you need and the height of elevation, because things like arm size, angle of the cord's hook, and the cord could all make a pretty big difference.

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Specter
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Specter » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:23 pm

Silence wrote:cantab's not saying that a trebuchet won't work if you use a different ratio. But perhaps a 50:1 ratio will maximize range for a given configuration. However, I'd rather see an equation that would tell you the weight you need and the height of elevation, because things like arm size, angle of the cord's hook, and the cord could all make a pretty big difference.

but what i was trying to say was that 50:1 seems a bit overkill, having a 100 pound counterweight for a 2lb water balloon, the balloon would probably pop on the way up/around from the acceleration
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

Vineheart01
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Vineheart01 » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:01 am

Yea i think for waterbaloon-based artillery 50x weight is too far. Like i said in my mini trebuchet i just had a rock the same size of the baloon and it did pretty good. Lobbed it over the street and hit the next house easily.

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cantab
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by cantab » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:37 am

Specter wrote:but what i was trying to say was that 50:1 seems a bit overkill, having a 100 pound counterweight for a 2lb water balloon, the balloon would probably pop on the way up/around from the acceleration
Point. I forgot about the fragility.

Yankee siege, one of the largest trebuchets in the world, uses a counterweight of something like 15 thousand pounds to throw a ten pound pumpkin. Record range is over 17 hundred feet (!).

That's probably overkill, but it makes the point about the counterweight being much heavier than the projectile. Also, while stronger than water balloons, pumpkins also break if treated too violently. (Happens often with air cannons).
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Silence
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by Silence » Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:56 am

In fairness, the pumpkin chunker you mentioned probably has a throwing arm that weighs considerably more than the pumpkin itself. I may dig up the details in a bit.

Regardless, I agree that more counterweight is better, but there's a limit to what you can use.

 iPro
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by  iPro » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:02 pm

Excuse me for my lack of imagination, and laziness to read the thread through, but wouldn't it have a rather strong blowback and use all the water in the tank at ONCE? Also, it would be very dangerous, at short range there would be a fair chance of killing a person, or at least knocking one unconscious.

Even if it could be used by police for that matter, it still would be unpractical, since it would run out fast, and while you change the cartridge and restore the pressure you will get a rock in your eye.

I would not approve of this design, AND I consider it impossible.

dutchguy
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by dutchguy » Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:08 pm

no we (at least i) don't exuse you.
It was going about trebuchets here, the snipersoaker was only at the start.

But,
you are absolutely right.
but then, wouldn't it be overkill to use a snipersoaker at short range?

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adronl
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by adronl » Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:13 pm

Lol You guys make me laugh if you hit someone with a water balloon out a Trebuchet they are probably going to have a gnarly bruise. I like the thought of a water gun war going to the extreme like paintball or airsoft where there is some pain and danger involved.

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soakernerd
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Re: PVC Sniper Soaker?

Post by soakernerd » Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:45 pm

I was brainstorming one of these a while ago. my design was basically a piece of PVC with an internal diameter the size of the object being launched. attached to one end was a bungee cord. there were slits in the side of the PVC that almost reached the end with the bungee cords. the bungee would thread through the slit in the pipe, then would attach to a cup within the tube. to fire, you would pull back on the cup, drop a water balloon into the barrel, and release, flinging the water balloon.

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