How to Make a Paper Firecracker Gun / Paper Canon

In this instructable i will be showing you how to make a non - lethal paper firecracker gun / paper canon. The projectile is propelled by small firecrackers and fires a small projectile out of the front of the gun. The build is simple and only takes an hour or so. The full video along with tests and the complete step by step build is available here

Materials:

-6 sheets of paper

-a lighter

-a straw

-a hot glue gun

-a small pack of firecrackers

To start the build off i tape 3 sheets of paper together lengthwise. be sure to tape both sides or it will give you trouble when rolling the barrel. Next i place a straw at the end and roll the sheets of paper around the straw. Don't be too concerned if you do not roll it perfectly straight. If it is not rolled straight use the thicker end (like i did) at the back of the gun. When the barrel is completely rolled up, tape it off so it doesn't unravel

To make the gun barrel stronger at the back, i cut 1/4 off of a piece of paper and then roll it around the backside of the barrel. To do this i first tape it onto the barrel then roll it. Once it is completely rolled, i tape the end of it off onto the body of the barrel.

The back of the barrel will be where the explosion that propels the bullet will take place. because an explosion will be going on in the back of it, it is important we strengthen it even more. To do so, i cut a piece of paper in half and attach both halves together lengthwise and roll them around the back and tape them off. This now completes our gun barrel

If you look closely you can see that i did not roll everything perfectly straight. To fix this error, i cut off any extra thin paper that is hanging off the back. In the last two pictures you can see the final result

For propellant i use a small pack of fireworks. Cutting the pack open i obtain the individual charges. To prepare the small explosives, I simply glue a small piece of straw to the charge and seal the back of it with glue. Don't worry, the fuse will burn through the glue.

For ammunition for the gun i fill a straw with glue to give it some weight. That can loaded into the front of the gun. The charge can be loaded into the back of the gun and glued into place using lots of glue

To make the handle of the gun i simply roll up a sheet of paper to approximately the same size of the barrel. I cut the roll into three pieces and glue them onto the back of the gun.

To fire the gun i load the front of it with the projectile and light the charge in the back of it. Once it fires be sure to clean the back of it out before reloading it. Attached are some pictures of the gun firing. Though the gun fires through the glue and out of the back as well, enough force is there to shoot the projectile out with substantial force. To see the full video along with all the tests check it out here

WARNING

When firing the gun do not point the back of it or front of it at yourself or anyone else.Make sure you use safety glasses anytime you are firing it