Blowgun Amusement

[Fiv3r]

Some buddies and I bought some .40 blowguns from a flea market nearly 20 years ago. Not only were they are lot of fun shooting at tin cans and the like, but they also made paintball conversions for them.

There was this little extension that held about 10 or 15 little paintballs vertically. You'd press a button and a ball would fall into the chamber. You could rattle off a whole tube of ammo as fast as you could puff and click in the button.

It was a lot of fairly safe fun that kept a gaggle of 16-17 year old boys out of trouble. The only problem is that we did this after football season around October/November. Those little paintballs need to be warm to bust open. If not, it feels like you're getting tagged by a wasp.

 

[amd6547]

I use one of the Cold Steel big bore blow guns, and the penetration is impressive. The mini broad heads, once sharpened, will easily penetrate both sides of an old leather boot made of thick leather. Likewise, a large bird.

 

[craftsman]

Check out the Cold Steel thick wall barrel. The thickness of the wall makes this as deadly a hand weapon (think Jo Stick). Years ago, I picked up a 4 ft. T-2024 thick walled tube in 0.50 cal. for that same purpose. When you see the standard .50 cal. blowguns in competitions (usually black), and then this silver beauty comes out .... head turning quotient skyrockets!

Also, a lot of competitive shooters like to use a heavier barrel, or add barrel weights (acts like the stabilizers ... anti-torsion) on slingshots, to reduce or prevent barrel jump when you shoot. Those weights are very popular in the JFSA (Japan national competition circuit). I use a barrel mounted laser sight (not powered, as they are illegal in competion, and also useless, as the beam is 3 cm in diam at 10 meters, while the the bulls-eye is 6 cm) as a barrel weight.

 

[tactikel]

We made blow guns back in the '60s from 1/2" glass tubes (4') . With homemade 5" spring steel darts. The darts were steel wire wrapped with electricians tape to fit the bore. With practice we could hit a playing card consistantly at 10 yards. We decimated the local squirrel population .

 

[craftsman]

Four ft. 1/2" glass tubes ... O.D., or I.D. ??? If ID, where did you get them? ... and are they still around? I know blowgunners that would love to get their hands on a 4 ft. glass barrel, if got no other reason than to say that they have one (regardless of how bad or good it shoots!) ROFL. and if the price is affordable, I would too.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

I have a two piece Cold Steel Big Bore .625 that I love. I shoot broadhead steel darts and bamboo darts. I have cheated and used one of those hand held co2 cartridge thingamabobs used to clear lead balls from muzzleloaders as a 900 psi pressure source for high speed/long distance target shooting.
I also sometimes use it as a walking/hiking stick on my walks in the woods around my house. I put a rubber cap on the end to protect the end and keep the darts in a leather lined zippered belly pack.