Airsoft Artillery

[Odin]

Hey everyone, 
I just wanted to see if this would be a good idea or not as it is a project that I will very likely be building in the next couple of months. 

I have an idea for a breech loading, shell casing including, airsoft artillery gun. It will fire 2 inch pocket nerf rockets. I do not know what the range or effectiveness of this gun will be, but it will look cool and will probably have a use either with milsim games(fire for effect, anti-vehicle fire, or anti-bunker fire) or with recreational events where it will just look plain awesome. Post your ideas, comments, concerns, or smart-alek remants so that I can get an idea if this will be worth my time, effort, and money before I waste it.

[Gunny87]

Airsoft "artillery" while it's a cool idea in general doesn't seem to be allowed at most public airsoft games here in Michigan due to safety concerns.

We've seen the Hokkatsu airsoft mortar which is basically a water rocket, and others have made pneumatic powered airsoft rocket launchers that can fire various size nerf foam rockets.

Generally their use is restricted only to hard targets such as structures or more commonly vehicles, which are pretty much non-existent in any games in this state.

If you're building this with the intention of using it at a MIA airsoft event, then I would say that it won't be worth it because chances are most event hosts or field owners won't want to risk injury to any players.

The only event that seems to have vehicles at every event is Blind Fury which just happened a couple weekends ago down in Springfield OH. That's the only event between here and Ohio that's been regularly held that utilizes vehicles that can be interacted with using grenade launchers and foam rockets.

[Simon]

I built my own at one point, but like Gunny said there's not really any use in the average MiA game. Now, knowing that, it was a really fun project that I would do again if I had the time.

[Gunny87]

Now would I personally like to see some sort of airsoft mortar system actually be used in an airsoft game? Definitely! Currently the only ones that event hosts seem to be utilizing are just pyrotechnics to represent some sort of artillery.

But to actually play an airsoft game and hear those nerf whistler rockets start coming down on your position would really enhance game play and what I believe would increase player turnout.

It would change the dynamic of the game if used fairly and used effectively.

[X]

I'll just leave this here...

[steelfallenangel]

I always thought those mortars were a neat idea till I got a chance to hold one in my hands and realized it was a sizable weight falling from the sky. As others have stated most fields won't allow it.

It would be kinda cool if someone could develop some sort of system that could have a disposable shell that was able to shower bbs at a distance. Sometime akin to a timed detonation.

I think one of ICS's new shells can do something like that but last I heard they hadn't had a commercial release yet.

[Simon]

The "Reaper" grenade from the "crazy dangerous grenades" thread is a 40mm airburst grenade that bursts 3.5 seconds after launch. That's as close as you're going to get for the time being to a launch able airburst anything.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using proboards

[steelfallenangel]

There's is a similar design to the ICS one. But yea that idea is kind of what I was thinking of. From the footage that video had, I don't think their quite there yet though.

[Tank]

I think a sabot could be made using Styrofoam, or some type of foam, with a bunch of BBs inside. After it fires, the foam would peel open and a rain cloud of BBs would then continue their path and rain down.

[Simon]

Sept 6, 2014 8:56:53 GMT -5 Tank said:

I think a sabot could be made using Styrofoam, or some type of foam, with a bunch of BBs inside. After it fires, the foam would peel open and a rain cloud of BBs would then continue their path and rain down.

Sounds like a shotgun or canister style shell. Tried those in my cannon, we were able to fire 500+ bbs per canister with a massive spread at range.

[steelfallenangel]

So your thinking of something like a cone that's underbelly would peel away as it traveled revealing bbs that would just free fall to the ground.

In concept it sounds cool but I'm curious on the PSI levels you'd need to launch it a decent distance and at that point how much control would you have over when the peeling would occur. Not to mention coming into the same problem we have with the Hades mortar. While styrofoam isn't too dangerous, if you got it traveling fast enough and someone accidentatly steps in your way when your launching it then it's a insurance liability for the field owner.

I know it sounds stupid but since these fields need insurance we have to keep in mind how moronic people could be and how a provider could see a potential liability.

[Tank]

Sept 10, 2014 0:33:38 GMT -5 steelfallenangel said:

So your thinking of something like a cone that's underbelly would peel away as it traveled revealing bbs that would just free fall to the ground.

In concept it sounds cool but I'm curious on the PSI levels you'd need to launch it a decent distance and at that point how much control would you have over when the peeling would occur. Not to mention coming into the same problem we have with the Hades mortar. While styrofoam isn't too dangerous, if you got it traveling fast enough and someone accidentatly steps in your way when your launching it then it's a insurance liability for the field owner.

I know it sounds stupid but since these fields need insurance we have to keep in mind how moronic people could be and how a provider could see a potential liability.

Is this directed at me, or the OP? If it was me, I have something a bit different in mind, something that I guarantee would open soon after leaving the mortar tube. PSI, I wouldn't expect it to be over 80 PSI max. As far as accidental fodder, I would think that a permanent mortar placement with a no-walk, roped off zone, would make it fairly safe.

[X]

Let me explain how all airsoft projects like this work...

Step 1) Build something awesome.
Step 2)
Step 3) Profit!

I got a giant vehicle mounted rocket launcher in my shed as an example.

Let me ask you a question. Do you want to do *insert:something that's not really airsoft* all day or do you want to shoot faces? This is why I have not made a recon drone. I could do it, but I'd rather shoot people. Once you have an asset like that you will be roped into manning it all day if it's effective. If it's not then what's the point? We've done it with our combat truck and I would not recommend it. If you want to make something like this for the experience of making it then go for it. That was easily the best part about the truck. Learning to weld and work with metal, and having guys over to work on it and drink beer was fun. Sitting in a hot ass truck driving around the AO all day was not. This is what will happen with a mortar. You will build it and take it to a field assuming you actually get it functional and it's allowed (pfft sure...) then you will be the dude operating the mortar all day. If you owned your own field this would be a much different story.

[Odin]

Update: hey guys, long time no see. I thought I would give you all an update on what the project is and what it will look like. It is not a mortar(although some people may think it is) it is a semi-permanent artillery piece more commnely known as a howitzer. It will be mounted on a artillery chassy and be fairly heavy, so moving it around a lot eould be a no-go. It is designed to be a crew served weapon and fire a 2in nerf projectile with a blast of air at 80-110 psi. The crew will be aroung 3-4 people depending on the game type. I don't know if anyone around here (rochetser area) would allow it at a field but I can almost certainly gurantee that any dnager posed by a falling nerf rocket will be the same as shooting at someone with a airsoft gun. That being said, it is your field and I respect your decision to say "no". I will post pictures of the CAD designs and pneumatic system sketches by tuesday. Also if any airsoft teams are interested in having a crew served artillery piece added to their roster message me. Also I have sketched some concepts for a beehive or shotgun round firing a sabot filled with bb's or firing just bb's, but it will be a while before anything is finalized. I look forward to showing you guys the finished product!

Thanks for making this feed so highly visited, I would have never thought so many people would be interested in this subject.

-Odin

[Spear]

The last thing I want to get hit with at an airsoft game is a damn nerf ball fired at 100 PSI.