Empty Drinks Can Launcher (Interactive Air gun target) by Schnoo

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

Inspired by the Daisy rocket shot, here is Mk1 of a rubber band powered Empty Drinks Can launcher for air rifle plinking.
Hitting the spoon causes the launch of a 330ml drinks can to test your instinctive shooting. Tested with an airgun producing about 2.5ftlbs (3.4J) which triggered it no problem.
It's a bit rough and ready as I just wanted to try out the concept but it works! Using 2 fairly small rubber bands I found the can launched about 15 feet high. I think much more than that will require a beefed up design.
Make sure to twist the rubber bands so they don't just slide up either side of the can.
The 9mm holes are for a rod to hold the launcher in place on the ground, or raise off the ground using a dowel or something.
Construction should be fairly straightforward from the attached exploded diagram. Liberal use of superglue between parts seems to be holding up well so far.
Most spoons should fit fine - the one I've used is one of the super cheap ones from ikea.
some downsides:
Slightly fiddly to reset in that with each hit the spoon is completely knocked out of place.
Not robust enough to withstand more than a couple of miss-shots.
on the plus side its very simple!
Parts used:
1x Ikea tablespoon, twisted 90deg as close to the spoon as possible
1x 30cm x 20cm 3.25mm Plywood
2x office rubber bands
1x 9mm dowel
Usual caveats - Air guns are dangerous. Use responsibly, don't launch coke cans at your face or do anything stupid. This has not been even remotely safety tested, make at your own risk.