Dart Gun

[ApplePie]

I'm experimenting with shooting 100 grain .50 caliber darts out of a muzzleloader. An image of these darts is attached. These darts are used to inject drugs into large animals (500 lbs. plus) at distances ranging from 20 to 50 yards. I'm not happy with the current dart guns out there.

Desired muzzle velocity is in the 200 to 250 fps range. I've shot these darts out of an inline muzzleloader with 10 grains of Pyrodex ignited by musket caps with good accuracy and about the right velocity.

I'd like to experiment with 209 shotshell primers and a cleaner burning propellant. A totally closed ignition system will reduce noise and blowback, and I want less-frequent and easier cleanup.

I can try 10 grains or less of Blackhorn 209. Anyone have experience with that powder?

I'm also considering trying very small amounts (starting with maybe 3 grains?) of a smokeless powder like Lil'Gun. I know about the stern warnings against using smokeless powder in a black powder gun, but we are talking about a 100 grain loose-fitting plastic projectile at 200 fps here, not lead at 1500 fps. Only the thin plastic tail of the dart contacts the rifling. The aluminum head is smaller than bore size. Pressures should be very low. For comparison, this is less than half the projectile weight of the lightest 1/2 oz. .410 load. However, I'm wondering if I'll have any ignition problems, or if I'll need to enlarge the flash hole in the breech plug.

I doubt anyone on this forum has any experience with something like this, but I'm hoping for some comments and advice that may save me some time or give me some things to consider that I have not thought of.

By the way, I'm also thinking of having a breech plug machined to fit .22 rimfire blank power cartridges, like used in tools for driving nails into concrete. The different power levels of these cartridges can be used to obtain the desired velocity.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[rcmodel]

Seems to me the stud gun blanks would be ideal if you can get a rim-fire breech plug made.

There is no worry at all about pressure if you can find one producing enough gas volume to push the dart with enough range.

(How exactly does that dart work?
Looks like the kick in the butt from the powder charge would push the plunger in and squirt all the sleepy juice out in the barrel?)

rc

 

[ApplePie]

How exactly does that dart work?

Thanks for your comments.

The plunger is not at the very back of the dart like you may have assumed. The back of the dart is rigid and does not move. The plunger is the orange piece that is totally encased inside the clear plastic tube, and has a copper-colored primer sitting just to the left of it in the picture.

There is an inertia-activated firing pin that detonates the primer inside the dart when the dart impacts the animal. The primer generates enough energy to drive the plastic plunger forward, injecting the drug through the needle into the animal. The slight recoil of the plunger being driven forward also helps the dart needle back out of the animal after the injection. Works wells.

 

[Ironhand54]

Agree that the stud drivers may be best option. Take a look at the TC contender carbine. Light, handy, and already set up for rimfires. Get a 50 cal bp barrel and have a custom breach plug made. Lots of smiths work on the contenders or the Encore. They are available in carbine or handgun and parts are easy to find.

Ironhand

 

[ApplePie]

Thanks Ironhand. I have a couple of Contenders, so that's exactly what I am doing. I just placed an order for a custom .50 caliber muzzleloading barrel from Bullberry that will use the .22 blanks. However, I have to wait months for it. In the meantime I thought I'd experiment.

 

[Curator]

I had a dart gun years ago when I was working with wildlife management. Mine used CO2 gas cylinders and my darts had fluffy fiber tails and special tips that did not penetrate too deeply. You might check with some local large-animal veterinarians in your area about this project. Some of them may have experience that would be helpful. I was working under the direct supervision of an "old-timer" veterinarian who prepared the darts' dosage based on the size of the animal. I was the "shooter" and I mostly took "butt-shots" on horses, goats and cattle. The vet had lots of experience. Nonetheless, we lost about 15% of the animals darted using rohypnol which was the safest known back then.

 

[BHP FAN]

The Hammond Game getter already uses blanks as a propellant, and instead of using the round ball as a projectile you could simply substitute your dart...no need to re-invent this wheel.

 

[BHP FAN]

http://www3.telus.net/gamegetter/

 

[zimmerstutzen]

forget the darts.

 

[ApplePie]

BHP Fan:
Thanks for the link to the Hammond Game Getter website. That sounds like a nice cheap option and great idea. However, he does not list .50 caliber as something that is available, plus I don't know how this can be adapted to an existing black powder gun that does not have a cartridge chamber. You'd either have to machine the threads out of the barrel that the breech plug screws into, or perhaps Mr. Hammond can make a custom breech plug that threads into an existing black powder barrel.