OK, I've obviously got too much time on my hands. I've been thinking about making a zip gun and trying to kill a turkey with it. I wonder if anyone has ever done it? At one time, I wanted to be the first person to kill a turkey with a 3.5" TSS load. I think I might have been, but have no way to prove it.

There is probably no way to prove that a turkey has never been killed before with a zip gun made by the hunter, but I have never heard of it. I have never made one, so I guess I need to start there and do some testing to figure out how effective it could be. Since it has no chamber, I don't think the wad can seal against the barrel and velocity is sure to be low. I'm thinking this might be a 10 yard gun, so I guess its time to get out the blind and buy some decoys if I am gonna do it. I will for sure be using TSS. I been trying to find some info on making a choke; thinking a pipe reducer fitting might work, but it would need a lot of filing.

If you don't know what a zip gun is, this kid has made a bunch of them, and there are many more around the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVhceWZiYPQ

So, do you think I could be the first person in the history of the world to kill a turkey with a zip gun, or has it already been done?

If you went about it the correct way, im sure you could get more range.
I would look into a factory barrel for starters and see how you can adapt that to fit into your guns needs.

??

A factory barrel would be cheating.

It would also be very hard to make it safely work; barrel has to fit inside the receiver and move freely. I'm sure it could be done and gain more range, but it wouldn't be a true zip gun anymore. Gotta be made of 2 pipes for me to legitimately claim to be the first to kill a turkey with a zip gun.

Your no fun, You dont have to use a barrel or pipes then.

Maybe machined steel and make tighter than pipe tolerances. And you could use a simple striker fire system with the breech locked.

I guess that changes things, but gets the wheels turning.

quit thinking so small Preacher, go out and do it barehanded. You could be the second person in modern history to do that.....

Of course I'm fun!

All that's needed are 2 pieces of pipe, a 3/4" piece for the barrel that must be at least 18" long to be legal, and a shorter 1" piece for the receiver. Put a pipe cap on the end of the receiver and wedge a nail in it that goes thru a piece of wood. Bang!

Obviously, I wanta use the very best pipe I can get, and researching that now. The reason it loses so much power and pressure is that the 3/4" pipe is much bigger than a shotgun barrel and the wad can't seal as it goes down the barrel. That's also the reason it doesn't blow the gun up, so you don't wanta make it too efficient.

The kid in the video made up another gun with a PVC pipe barrel. That didn't work out too well; barrel blew up instantly and melted inside the receiver. At least he tried.

Troy, I've read several stories of people catching them with their hands, so that's already been done. I can't find any claim of a zip gun kill. Somebody please post it on Old Gobbler when I accomplish this; they have banned me so I can't do it myself.

you could use a spear.....bouncing betty mine , hand grenade, knife.....

I always liked the idea of a ghillie suit and Ninja sword...I'll be interested to hear a zip gun story though

I doubt one has been killed with a Taurus Judge and a .410 shell. Give that a go.

Realtree did video with .410 judge reap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a95qMxnx2ns

Scratch that idea.

You'll put your eye out with that thing.

You want to do something really cool, practice head shots with a slingshot and ball bearings. Then I'll say you had the coolest turkey kill in Aldeer history.

firing that thing with the spent shell still stuck in the other end just seems like a bad idea...but that's just me.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I don't know a ton about guns, but that didn't look like a great idea. Then again, I saw another video where he was launching a 3 pound grappling hook out of the barrel, so I guess the shell is way better than that.

All I know is wads stuck in a barrel have been known to blow the thing smooth off a receiver....maybe that pipe he uses is significantly heavier/stronger than a typical shotgun barrel...I dunno.

But I ain't shooting it

when you come *this* close to blowing one up in your face, you get a little more gun-shy (pun intended) of that sort of stuff

Seems like a bad idea to me as well. There was a long discussion on the double gun forum trying to figure out why the barrel doesn't blow up on that trick. I think its just that the pipe is of bigger diameter than a shotgun barrel and the wads are unable to seal against the barrel. This causes a big loss of pressure quickly, lessening the danger to the "gun", but also reducing velocity. I am curious as to how much velocity is lost; I've never read of anyone shooting one across a Chrony to find out.

If I were to do this, I'd of course load my own shells and start out with very weak loads and go from there. Ordinary galvanized water pipe has a bursting point far below a shotgun barrel and I wouldn't use it, even though people have used it without incident. Finding a source of high pressure pipe that is the right size is proving to be a big problem. I won't make it without some really good pipe.

Looks like a pipe bomb. Can't be a legal thing about that gun IMO.

Dr. B

The only zip gun I've ever seen was on those old Charles Bronson movies and it was bad ass!!!

I had a barrel clogged with mud blow out next to me on a snow goose sneak.
Nothing appeals to me about half assing a shotgun together. JMO. No way I'd ever shoot one.

Go ahead pcp, order a barrel blank. Bore it and chamber it and go ahead and thread that joker.