How To Use Your Potato Cannon

How to I Fire this thing?

Learning how to use your potato gun safely and reliably will take some practice, but even though it’s related to rocket science – it’s not rocket science if you know what we mean!

Potato Cannons and Ball launchers: Safety First

The first part of learning how to shoot your spud cannon is to build a good one to start with, and we can show you how with our plans and books. When you first go try your properly built cannon, keep some important things in mind:

The fuel you are using to power your combustion potato cannon is highly combustible. If it wasn’t it wouldn’t make good fuel. What this means to you, Mr. Cannon, is that the fuel already represents a hazard to your health, so give it the respect it deserves.

The potato cannon, even loaded with spuds, is plenty powerful enough to send your buddy to the hospital, and if you get unlucky, maybe the morgue. Don’t ever point a loaded and fueled potato gun at anyone!

Know what’s beyond your target. Don’t shoot over hills or into crowded areas, and don’t shoot where you can’t see where the bullet goes.

Onto the Launcher Procedure

So enough with the safety, you’ve got your nomex underwear on. Now what? Now you launch, that’s what. And it goes like this:

1- Load your spud gun. Whether you use spuds, balls, torpedoes or rutabagas, load first. This is primarily because when you fuel, you don’t want to have the fuel escape out the front of the barrel. You want the barrel to be plugged with the projectile you’re shooting.

2-Add the fuel. Whether it’s a perfectly metered dose of propane or a squirt of hair spray, now is the time to add the fuel you need to go boom.

3- Fire. Press the button and spuds away.

Keep in mind that you don’t want to keep the spud gun loaded for any length of time. It’s literally like a cannon waiting to go off – once it’s fueled and loaded, let ‘er rip a soon as you’ve sighted in the target.

If for whatever reason, you get interrupted and you can’t shoot, drain the fuel first! Open up that combustion chamber and let all the fuel out and worry about removing the projectile later. The best way to unload a spud gun, however, is to fire it off. Even a tiny trace of combustible gas is enough to launch the spud. It won’t go far, but it can go far enough to ruin your day!

Keep the environmental conditions in mind as well. Heavy wind will make certain types of projectiles veer away from where you intended to fire them, and fly unpredictably.  Use a laser aiming device as described in our manual to get you on target, which will save you ammo and make your shoots more enjoyable. Half the battle is making a correct potato cannon. How to make a potato gun is easy with our ebook and plans! Above all have fun!

For Top Quality Potato Guns, that you can make yourself quickly and easily, check out full line of Potato Gun Plans below: