First working homemade

[Jawley]

Hi guys, I am new to the forum. I recently completed a piston blaster that is fairly large and has decent capacity. My ability to actually build though is kind of lacking though, so this blaster has many "noob" problems .

First off, this gun is leaky. It leaks out from both the back although I am fixing that soon. However, since it is a large piston gun its capacity is extremely good, which diminishes the problem of leaks. Its nozzle size can be extremely large, another attribute that from piston guns.

The biggest difference between my gun and the piston guns made for pool use is that mine has a refill cap that allows it to be used more effectively in regular water fights. However, my piston gun is larger than most.

Pros:
Large water capacity
Large stream*
Very little dead space
Can be used in regular water fights
Cheap
Easy to make

Cons:
Leaky
Somewhat cumbersome to use alone
Short range*

*Note that the attributes of short range and large nozzle size may not be accurate because I recently changed the nozzle cap.

P.S. I would like to add stuff such as a tripod or something but I don't know. I would appreciate feedback on possible attachments.

[HBWW]

Piston pumpers are generally designed more in the style of the Stream Machine around here. The pump handle end gets a cap, and the front goes to just a nozzle. Dead space between the front of the piston seal and nozzle isn't ideal. Also, you may be able to alleviate the sealing issues by reversing the cup seal. I usually just use O-rings instead.

[Jawley]

Thanks for the feedback. I was originally going to lop off the dead space area between the nozzle and the refill area but decided to use it a "refill area" where I can just dump water into someone else's gun. The reason I didn't use O-rings which I was planning on doing in the first place was because I assumed that making the plunger the right size to fit the O-ring exactly would be a big hassle and a piston cup would be a cheap, easier solution.

I'll flip the piston cup and put the cap on the hand pump right now. Once again, thanks for responding.

[HBWW]

I agree on the O-rings. I got fairly lucky and found some that happen to work in 2" sch 40 pipe, but I'll have to dig for the exact dimensions. The O-rings also don't seem to be sealing in high pressure conditions: namely the 60 PSI I put in to an air pressure water cannon that uses the seal assembly to separate the water and the air.

For refilling other blasters, I usually just opt for water bottles in most cases.