In the last news links post, I mentioned having fired an LARC M19-A BB-machine gun, linking to an article about it in Small Arms Review. My friend and sometimes co-blogger Jason still has the one I fired, and offered to take some video of it in action. It’s a lot of fun. If the anti-gun folks like calling semi-automatic rifles a bullet hose, this is about the closest you’ll come to one, except it shoots BBs. Watch it tear up this empty anti-freeze bottle:
Jason told me that the regulator on his air compressor struggled to feed the beast enough air, but there’s one good satisfying burst.
Not only do I own one of these things (plus one last can of PRE-BAN FREON :ohdear:), but a local pawnshop has one (with buttstock) on the Wall O’ Guns for sale. Kinda tempted to at least ask the price…
Too bad there isn’t a viable way to run one of those 2 gallon compressors off a car battery or something, then rig it up to be carried on the back flamethrower style. You’d be a walking Weapon of War(TM).
SCUBA tank.
Oh yeah, that would make a lot more sense, wouldn’t it? But wondering if the PSI would be sufficient? I know practically nothing about diving.
A SCUBA tank is normally filled to 3000 PSI or so. Would work really well with the right regulator setup.
I had one many years ago. I brazed an air fitting into an empty Freon can so I could use a compressor to power the gun.
About a gazillion BBs went downrange and great fun was had by all.
Instead of Js suggestion about a scuba tank, I wonder if a small CO2 tank would work with the right regulator setup.
LARD actually made an option regulator for connection to the compressed-air source of your choice – IIRC from the “manual” (single-sheet, daisy-wheel printed and copied), suggestions were SCUBA or other compressed-air tanks.
I seem to recall that I got actual engineering drawings for the whole thing with mine, but it’s been fifteen years since I’ve even seen the gun itself – packed away in storage right now.