Zip gun instructions

Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Part 1. Separate the clothespin pieces. Pull the pieces of wood apart slightly while moving one piece sideways. This will help pop the spring loose. You can usually find wooden clothespins at any local grocery store. If wooden clothespins aren't available, plastic clothespins can also be used. Take one of your clothespin pieces and enlarge the spring hole. Use a utility knife to carve a centimeter or two of wood away between the spring hole and the pointed end of the wood.

Expand the lip nearest to the narrow end of the other piece of wood. Find the first rounded indentation along the narrow end of the wood. Use your utility knife to cut away the wood from the curved corner closest to the spring hole until it is squared. Carve out a barrel for the gun. Use your utility knife to carve a small channel from the spring hole to the pointed ends.

It only needs to be a couple centimeters deep. Be sure it is center on the length of wood to create a straight canal on inside surface. Repeat this step on the other piece of wood. This will create a barrel for your gun so you can launch objects with more force since the wood won't be pressing against your ammo. Part 2. Use a rubber band to hold the two pieces together. Press the clothespin pieces back together so that both thick ends are on one side, and the thin ends are on the other.

The flat surface of the clothespin pieces should be facing each other. Wrap the rubber band around both pieces of wood several times.

Rotate the remainder of the rubber band in your hand halfway around after each layer. Continue until the rubber band keeps the wood pieces together securely. You can add an additional rubber band around the barrel of the gun to make the gun sturdier if you want. Alternatively, you can use wood or super glue. Apply glue to the flat surfaces of the clothespins. Squeeze the pieces together and wipe away any residue. Wait until the glue dries to proceed. Reinstall the spring. Place one end of the spring into the front notch on the gun, and place the other end through the spring hole in between the pieces of wood.

The idea behind the Liberator was based in its name. It was intended to liberate an occupied people. In essence the Liberator was nothing more than a zip gun. A zip gun is a cheaply, quickly made gun, usually a single use.

Often the zip gun was as dangerous for the shooter as it was for anyone the shooter may be pointing it at. Most often the zip gun is made in a smaller caliber like. This is because cheap, readily available materials, like fuel lines and brake lines, are used as the barrel. Conveniently, fuel lines and brake lines are about the right diameter for that caliber too. In a previous article, I wrote about making a single shot shotgun I call a slider shotgun.

Those actually originated in the Philippines during WWII when the citizens tried to fight off invading Japanese armies. The Filipinos called it a paliuntod; now there are videos all over YouTube, and they are called all different names. In that article I also mentioned having made a 20 gauge, single shot , zip gun shotgun when I was a kid.

Because of that they needed a smaller, more easily concealed gun. Small caliber cartridges for a zip gun are just advisable for your own safety as well.

Pistol cartridges like a 9mm have very high chamber pressures and so trying to use that in a zip gun would likely cause you to lose some fingers, if not your whole hand.

If I were going to make a zip gun for myself I would say that a. Maybe a. Most often people will use the. If for no other reason, it is because of that readily available tubing diameter factor.

All federal law must be observed. Rosenthal is a technology maven with more than 15 years of editorial experience. A graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography with a Bachelor of Arts in photographic arts, his editorial work has appeared both domestically as well as internationally in publications such as "Home Theater," "Electronic House," "eGear," "Computer and Video Games" and "Digitrends. By: Marshal M. Rosenthal Updated April 12, Share It.

Push the nail through the pipe plug until the head of the nail is flush with the square end. Bend the metal strap into a "U" shape. Drill a hole in each of the ends of the metal strap. Tip Only construct a zip gun as a hobby exercise—never put a bullet into the barrel.