A terrible big gun suggestion from someone who really doesn't know better.

So I've been following some threads for all of 5 minutes and the general vibe I get from big gun is that they can't make new guns and it's really starting to slow them down. From what I've seen it uses a extremely complicated breach loading hopper and it requires lots of custom machining.

Now I'm not in the hobby yet so take this with a massive grain of salt. What if we used magazines? 3d print shell casings with holes in the bottom and coat in Vaseline. Use a heat gun to seal your ball bearing in and now you can try and inject air right into this "shell". I'm a broke college student so I'll probably mess around with the idea when I have a life but I figured you guys would probably know if this could even have a shot in hell with working.

I imagine magazine where the shell gets pushed by a backplate with a air-pin that mates with its base (imagine how a sten gun works but with a air hose pin instead of a firing pin). Pushed in by either a servo, actuator or you name it.

 

um... we *do* use 3d printed cannons these days. There are several people right here on this forum who make them. It is much easier, manufacturing-wise, than using a lathe and mill. The problem is that not many people who enjoy Big Gun also have the skills, equipment, and time to design and 3d print the cannons. I have the skills and equipment but not the time. Plenty of other people have the equipment and time, but not the skills. This is further complicated by the wide variety of Big Gun cannons that different people need. Different magazine diameters, different number and spacing of barrels, different calibers, different accumulator/valve sizes and arrangements, etc. While some basic geometry can be copied from design to design, overall you're effectively starting from scratch each time. Then you get into the testing and design iteration process. Do you have any idea how many prototypes I produced before I made the current version of cannons in my Mikasa? That was just tweaking details on the standard cannon design, ie resin print vs FDM print, part orientation, dimensional tolerances, etc. Good Big Gun cannons are literally worth their weight in gold.

 

Agreed. Big Gun cannons are back. I’d say the next hurtle is how to get the cannons readily available without legal risk so people can start fighting again. I know of four valid Big Gun 3D printed cannon designs, but all of us are concerned about the legal risk.