Rubber Band Triggers - a notch above

Nearly all of the rubber band guns I have seen involve rather cheap plastic or wooden triggers, or even worse -- strange finger-twisting ways of releasing a rubber band to fly on it's erratic way...

Well, there are some exceptions to that, but let's settle by saying they are not "mainstream".

Back to mainstream, here is a more common example of a wooden and plastic repeater:

They may have an "ok" trigger pull, but it has several problems:

1. They are typically cheap, flexible plastic.  *
2. Pulling the trigger must rewind the whole spool slightly before release
3. This causes a much varying trigger pull, and
4. The trigger kicks your finger forward when pulled as the wheel rotates.

These problems would be totally unacceptable for a real firearm, which is not a toy.  It's time to make rubber band guns the same way, so the only "toy" thing about them is the fact that they shoot rubber.

* Note, if it were "Glock" style plastic, that would be a whole different story.

How can this be improved?

1. Need the vision to improve
2. Solid engineering
3. High quality materials
4. Advanced manufacturing techniques

As an example, here is a set of triggers made for M6-001:

What can be taken from this?  Simply that most rubber band guns, to date, have not had serious engineering or manufacturing techniques applied to them.  For them to become a serious sport, this needs to change.

Until next time, and as always, have a great day!

The Right Rubber Bands

One of the bigger problems with rubber band guns is their ammo.  Provided that a rubber band as a smooth release from a gun, it will leave without much problem.  However, that is where the problems start...

Rubber bands are typically made by extruding tubes of rubber, and slicing the end of the tube off to make each rubber band.  Because of this manufacturing procedure, rubber bands have a rectangular cross section.

(Image copyright 2006 Klahan Discoveries LLC)

Furthermore, most rubber bands have a high width/thickness ratio, making them rather "flat".  In our observations, this flat design catches the air in unpredictable ways resulting in two negative effects:

1. The rubber band decelerates rapidly because the width to mass ratio off, resulting in too much air friction with not enough momentum to carry it for a long distance.
   
2. The rubber band veeres off course erratically, resulting in a severe loss of accuracy.

From observation and testing, the most sensible rubber band for a rubber band gun would minimize this "flatness".  

The Heavy Duty Answer:

A rubber band with sufficient wall thickness, and minimal width would be ideal.  Despite searching high and low, we were not able to find suitable rubber bands, so we worked with a rubber band manufacturer to make a batch of a more ideal band.

4.5" long, 1/8" thick, 1/4" wide, very sturdy.

Here is a picture:

(Rubber band image provided courtesy of Gahooa, LLC)

As it may be apparent from the picture, this rubber band flies very far, very straight, and very hard.  In fact, any doubts about the need for eye protection should be gone by glancing at this picture.

Thanks for reading, and as always, have a great day!

Machining Rubber Band Gun parts

Here are a couple photographs of work being done on a 2 shot prototype rubber band gun.  

Rubber Band Guns and the Need to Advance

Rubber Band Guns have a unique place in the history of modern culture.  This is merely speculation, but I would imagine that as long as there have been rubber bands, people have been flinging them at each other. In fact, rubber bands were first patented in 1845 by Stephen Perry.

A note on safety:


Everything written in this blog will be with the assumption that you and every bystander will be wearing adequate eye protection.

Eyesight is a precious thing, and in no cases should ever be taken lightly.

For example, kids love these googles from Amazon.com

Also, bear in mind the fact that small children may be inclined to eat rubber bands, resulting in a choking hazard.  Use common sense, do not shoot people in the face, and obey all standard gun safety practices unless engaged in an actual simulated fight.

A note on real guns:

Real guns are designed to project a bullet at very fast speed, damaging or destroying most things in it's path.  When you mix ignorance with real guns, death and injury can result.  When you mix knowledge, care, and experience with real guns, then they are transformed into a safe tool that can be used for a number of useful purposes.

Rubber band guns are an excellent platform for teaching childeren (and adults) the concepts of gun safety so that they do not make common mistakes that can result in harm.  Not to mention that rubber band guns can be a danger in and of themselves, if handled carelessly.

Having said that, I have witnessed children who became very experienced with rubber band guns and standard gun safety rules.  When given a real firearm (under adult supervision), they handled the real firearm with impeccable safety and care.  That is when I realized how valuable the training was with the less-than-lethal device.

Rubber Band Guns as a Sport:

Paintball and AirSoft dominate the charts when it comes to popularity of safe-shooting-each-other type sports.  I think it is time for Rubber Band Guns to take their spot in making the "top two" become the "top three".  Why?

1. Rubber band guns are the safest
2. Rubber band guns are cheap to shoot
3. Indoor play is 100% acceptable
4. It is a lower powered, less serious sport that would be playable by many more players

All you really need is some ground rules and safety goggles.  Recommended ground rules include no head shots, absolutely no face shots, and 100% goggle coverage.

What's the problem with rubber band gun adoption?

There is a serious lack of acceptable rubber band gun designs that are serious enough to have fun with.  Also, there is an acute lack of rubber bands that have enough aerodynamics to fly straight enough to be fun.  Lastly, the time taken to load rubber bands is so much longer than the time taken to shoot, that it becomes tedious.  Both airsoft and paint ball have solved all of the above problems.

What is needed is a set of rubber band gun models that shoot straight, are accurate, easy to load, have realistic firing mechanisms, and are comprable to real firearms in size and weight.

Wikipedia has an article on Rubber Band Gun which illustrate a significant lack of innovation in this niche area.  The listed designs are either quite amateur, or so crazy that they would never be practical for rubber band gun combat.

Who is doing this?

The Gahooa Perspective have been doing a lot of engineering and design on some (currently simplistic) models that exhibit some of the above characteristics.

This rubber band gun mechanism pictured to the right is an advanced 2-shot firing mechanism.  It was designed and engineered using Pro Engineer and constructed using aluminum and tool steel.

It will be interesting to see what other designs crop up out there.  In coming posts, we will discuss various designs and their shortfalls and advantages.

Until then, and as always, have a good day!