[NightKnight]

So, I am looking for a new blowgun. I am a bigger, better, fast, stronger type of guy, so I am looking for a blowgun that has the most features and performance out there. What brand/model do you guys think that might be?

 

[NaturalFork]

Cold Steel Big Bore is the best you can get as far as manufactured blowguns go.

 

[superman365]

I would go with the CS

 

[The Warrior]

Yup, Cold Steel is the way to go. Not only is it a heavy duty BG, you can use it as a walking stick, or a club if the circumstance ever arose. I don't know of anything better out there.

 

[Lightgeoduck]

Well, I would imagine, that if you wanted faster, you would go with a smaller bore, right? With the input being the same, more force in a smaller tube.


LGD

 

[NaturalFork]

Well, I would imagine, that if you wanted faster, you would go with a smaller bore, right? With the input being the same, more force in a smaller tube. LGD

actually no. the big bores from what I have seen consistently get a higher fps than smaller tubes. I know a .50 is faster than a .40

 

[Lightgeoduck]

Well, I would imagine, that if you wanted faster, you would go with a smaller bore, right? With the input being the same, more force in a smaller tube. LGD

actually no. the big bores from what I have seen consistently get a higher fps than smaller tubes. I know a .50 is faster than a .40[/quote]

Hmmm, interesting.... Great another hobby that will cause me to make purchases for testing my curiosity... Well another reason to use my Chrony I guess.... Good times,for sure.

 

[cjb4u]

I just got a CS 5 ft Pro and It is a solid pipe and looks like a great investment. I am concerned with there darts but more on that later.

 

[neondog]

Big Bores have the most brute force and most guys who have hunted with them for a year or more would never trade down to a fifty caliber but I heard so many good reports on .55" bores that I bought a six foot piece in 6061 aluminum from Online Metals and the (potentially) cool part is that it is practically a hand in glove fit inside my five foot Cold Steel Magnum. Slipping the two together they become a sort of a Cold Steel / Close Tolerance Pro hybrid. Okay it's not really a close tolerance because I'll have to make my own darts but I like the weight. I'll probably trim it down closer to five feet for easier maneuvering. Won't know for sure until I get around to making some darts for it. It's been a busy year here.

 

[Gigmaster]

Cold Steel is the way to go.

 

[william21]

I just got a CS 5 ft Pro and It is a solid pipe and looks like a great investment. I am concerned with there darts but more on that later.

warped cones fix with a hair dryer and a classic 1/2 inch glass marble str8

 

[Gigmaster]

Only one choice....If you want the biggest, baddest, most efficient blowgun money can buy, at any price, you want the CS .625 5' Magnum with the 2' extension. The reason I don't recommend the Magnum Pro is that CS does not have a 2' extension to fit it, meaning it doesn't have the potential power and range of the Magnum.

I have the Magnum and extension, and I have never regretted buying it for one second. It has kept food in my freezer for years.

 

[NaturalFork]

Only one choice....If you want the biggest, baddest, most efficient blowgun money can buy, at any price, you want the CS .625 5' Magnum with the 2' extension. The reason I don't recommend the Magnum Pro is that CS does not have a 2' extension to fit it, meaning it doesn't have the potential power and range of the Magnum.

I have the Magnum and extension, and I have never regretted buying it for one second. It has kept food in my freezer for years.

I really need to get one of these. I gave my Cold Steel away to a friend. Time to get another one.

 

[treefork]

Only one choice....If you want the biggest, baddest, most efficient blowgun money can buy, at any price, you want the CS .625 5' Magnum with the 2' extension. The reason I don't recommend the Magnum Pro is that CS does not have a 2' extension to fit it, meaning it doesn't have the potential power and range of the Magnum.

I have the Magnum and extension, and I have never regretted buying it for one second. It has kept food in my freezer for years.

Agreed. I have the two piece . I have the extension but usually just go with the 5 feet.

 

[squirrelslinger]

I have a 7 foot piece of .625 pvc pipe....

it shoots as fast as your fancy darting guns... and cost me $1.23 to obtain.

It might actually shoot slightly faster because there is no joint in the barrel(from the extension) to cause undue friction, and tyvek on PVC is very slick.

over 5 foot, the wierd mouthpiece thing of 2" pipe doesn't have much effect. over 6 foot, it doesn't help at all.

I guess I just don't have the volume- it is one thing to pressureize a 2 liter containing bore. it is a whole another thing to pressureize a 3 liter mouthpiece in addition to the bore. you just don't get the pressure.

a .625 bore blowgun has a barrel volume of approx. 241.32 cubic cm per foot. (doesn't make sense, right?). a liter has 1000 cubic cm. Lets use 250 cc for each foot of the barrel. a good approx. However, to develop good power/speed in the dart, you need at least 1.5-2 times the barrel volume in gas. preferably much more than that. a good airgun has almost 20 times the barrel volume in gas(at room temp and atmospheric pressure) , or even a 200-300 FPS airsoft gun has 3-10 times the barrel volume in gas. so lets use 2x barrel volume. now I am sure a good blowgunner (with LOTS of practice) can probably push almost 5 liters of air. Why am I sure of this? because the normal human lung can hold 6-8 liters of air. the world record holder can hold 15 liters of air(keep in mind this is ALL at atmospheric pressure and room temperature). lets see. for a 4 foot .625, that means only a liter of bore volume. Lots of wasted gas as the dart exits the barrel, possibly even reducing accuracy if the crown of the barrel is even slightly uneven(causing the dart to wobble a LOT). now with a 7 foot .625, you have 1.75 liters of bore volume. still not much, even if multiplied by 2- only 3.5 l of air. you gain a lot of speed, and probably some accuracy as well. some indegenous people have used 10-15 foot blowguns, most likely of .50 to .60 caliber. lets calculate the bore volume of a .625(big) 10 feet long. only 2.5 liters. times 2 = 5 liters, about the maximum limit for a normal adult male human.

I'll do a post on the math sometime soon. Also keep in mind that a small amount of air probably leaks by the dart, or the mouthpiece, but it is so small we can ignore it.

No, I haven't forgotten to post pictures. This computer just doesn't like my camera.

 

[Teach]

Only one choice....If you want the biggest, baddest, most efficient blowgun money can buy, at any price, you want the CS .625 5' Magnum with the 2' extension. The reason I don't recommend the Magnum Pro is that CS does not have a 2' extension to fit it, meaning it doesn't have the potential power and range of the Magnum.

I have the Magnum and extension, and I have never regretted buying it for one second. It has kept food in my freezer for years.

I really need to get one of these. I gave my Cold Steel away to a friend. Time to get another one.

Can I be your friend? LOL

You always or at least most times get what you pay for. You can go on the cheap and get something that works or you can spend a few bucks and get something far superior to the cheap. Wish I had made the move to a Cold Steel decades ago but building your own is so much fun. I now have the CS 4 foot magnum pro and the CS 5 foot two piece magnum and love them both. I'd never hesitate to recommend either of them. Awesome!

 

[craftsman]

Blowgunning is about simplicity. A tube, not a pipe. No "ornamentation" is needed to make it shoot better, that's only for looks.

Pick a mouthpiece that you like, that "fits" for you. Standard commercial, rubber hose slipped over one end, home made, none. Like some of the indiginous peoples in the Amazon area (not recommended, but as an extreme example to explain why NOT to), knock out the upper and lower incisors, so you can better grip the barrel with your lips. (See what I mean? NOT needed!)

I only use a barrel weight (to deflect "bounce" from air expulsion), a standard mouthpiece (my preference), the Bruce Bell designed front parallax correcting front sight (my personal accuracy jumped with this, and I've shot 202 seven times in competitions out of a possible 210), and a foam balance grip (a way for me to always hold the barrel in exactly the same place, for consistent shooting).

 

[NaturalFork]

Blowgunning is about simplicity. A tube, not a pipe. No "ornamentation" is needed to make it shoot better, that's only for looks.

Pick a mouthpiece that you like, that "fits" for you. Standard commercial, rubber hose slipped over one end, home made, none. Like some of the indiginous peoples in the Amazon area (not recommended, but as an extreme example to explain why NOT to), knock out the upper and lower incisors, so you can better grip the barrel with your lips. (See what I mean? NOT needed!)

I only use a barrel weight (to deflect "bounce" from air expulsion), a standard mouthpiece (my preference), the Bruce Bell designed front parallax correcting front sight (my personal accuracy jumped with this, and I've shot 202 seven times in competitions out of a possible 210), and a foam balance grip (a way for me to always hold the barrel in exactly the same place, for consistent shooting).

Can you post some info on the Bruce Bell sight?

 

[craftsman]

The pictures are in the gallery. The plain copper wire is what Bruce first used to make it. The one on the muzzle end of the 0.50 cal. barrel is my competition blowgun, scratches on the paint are from adjusting the sight for various distances I shoot. Bruce and I were in IT together back in the '90s. He introduced me to blowguns, I introduced him to competitive shooting. We learned how to aim (both eyes open) from Dr. Higuchi. Bruce perfected that with his parallax correcting sight. Then he added the plastic bead on one prong, and the rest is history. Best sight, bar none, I have seen. Simplicity.