Poor man's suppressor and small game hunting

[TwoGunJayne]

A hunting blow gun. You'll want one perhaps 6 feet long or more because of velocity. An 18" pipe is a training toy for your dart board (a fun toy, mind you,) but not suited for hunting.

You know those blow guns and darts you get at flea markets? I hate them and think they're toys. That's just me. You need a metal razor broad head for small game or a heavy flat point for a stunning hit (and be prepared to run up and grab the game.) (in my humble opinion...) I've stuck a flea market dart into a squirrel who proceeded to run off with my dart! Jokingly, it was like he tucked it under his arm and ran off with it so I couldn't shoot at him again. Seriously though, the pipe was too short, the dart was too light and there was no razor head.

Make one! You'll get one that will actually work for hunting.

Use 1/2 inch pvc conduit. Some say you need metal, I disagree. Plastic is fine, but dart construction must minimize pipe scratching. The problem with pvc is barrel sag. You can fix that reinforcing or bracing. Split a larger piece of conduit down the side and run it over your 1/2 inch pipe; the same size pipe is tough to use. Use a bag of dried beans to prop the tube somewhere near the middle. Mouthpiece? I don't need one, do you?

Cost? Super cheap or free, depending on how much you can scavenge. Range is dependent on your pipe length (very much,) skill (mostly) and your lungs (to a much lesser extent.) The length of the pipe is more important than your lung capacity, as long as the dart leaves the barrel about the time you run out of air. The more it sounds like you're blowing through an empty tube after the dart exits, the less energy transfer there is for your dart.

What about darts? http://www.airgununiverse.net/darts.html

Razors: Use wood doweling and a fine craft saw blade (like for balsa wood) to notch the end to accept a craft knife blade (such as x-acto.) Notch the tip of coat hanger wire or a nail with a dremel cut-off wheel to accept the razor. If your blade is too big, grab the offending part in some wide-jaw pliers and simply snap off the excess. A quick jolt is what you want, not a long slow bend. Sharp razor edges against any pipe (metal or plastic) will score it up, even if you use a metal pipe. Instead of a metal blow pipe, make your darts correctly. Blunt or otherwise protect the edges of the blade that are next to the pipe. You can even use utility "snap-blade" razors or heavy Stanley contractor utility razor knife blades if you're feeling "froggy" with the blade scoring, cutting and snapping. Something heavier like the Stanleys give you a much heavier head, which is desirable for dart balance in the air. A bench vise, vise grip pliers, and a diamond-tip scoring pen or carbide scribe can be quite handy. It's a waste of dremel cutoff wheels to simply cut the razor and you'll ruin what little temper there could be with heat. If the metal turns blue, yellow, or brown from heat, it can't hold an edge now. Scribe it, vise it, snap it. Simple. Quick. Easy.

Wire(or pointed cylindrical, no broadhead): Coat hanger wire or nails, pointed on a bench grinder or heated with a torch and hammered flat. If the propane isn't cutting it and you don't have access to oxy-acetylene or mapp, then forced air through charcoal (an improvised forge) can generate enough heat to do this to steel. To make an 'Oz Abbo dart, unroll a cotton ball (did you know you can do that?) and moisten the end with your tongue. Wrap around the base of your supermarket bamboo skewer to fit your pipe and away you go. Plain pointed cylindrical "wire" darts don't have the same effect a razor head does. The Australian Aborigine dart usually included a slow poison and very, very, very much tracking skill. No info is presented on the poison bag or pouch. Wire darts aren't my personal cup of tea, feel free to like what you like. I can't get them to work well on small game. See also: razor head blow gun darts.

Nails: Skewer a foam earplug (like a marshmallow) onto a nail, slide it down to the headl. The advantage is little to no sharpening, or use a metal file (or a concrete sidewalk if you're really hard up.) I like nail darts and use them pretty much exclusively when I'm not shooting marbles. Nail darts are highly susceptible to bad breathing technique and bad tail design. If you fired the nail head first with an earplug superglued to the point, then you could also add a lead split shot fishing sinker to the shaft near the head. Shoot them head first; it addresses most of the shortcomings of nail darts. Nail lead-weighted flat points make an effective small game dart. These tend to be quite heavy when compared to the other kinds. Weight means momentum and a heavier smack on that cottontail. The only real problem is that they have an overall even balance with slight bias towards the nail head. As a result, they're not very forgiving with bad blowing technique unless you use a high-drag tail. Yarn tails on the head help a whole lot if you're shooting them pointy-end first, but more on that in a second. Skill gives you results with this dart. It's heavy, but short... like a proper crossbow bolt.

Also, a lot of marbles will "chamber" in a 1/2" pipe and hit pretty darn hard from a 6' tube. You can also cloth patch marbles like a black powder muzzle loader if the marble is loose in the bore. Nothing enjoys the smack from a marble out of a 6 or 7 foot pipe. By the way, do you have a chronograph? I do.

What about tails?

Cone tail: Exactly what it sounds, the tips of cone shaped paper cups used for tail cones. You could also roll your own, but why? A trick is to use superglue to reinforce the paper and help keep it on the end of the wire. You could install your dart into a full paper cup cone, gently press into your tube, then mark, cut and reinforce. Then again, your cone tail technique is your own business. 

Yarn (or ribbon) tail: Say you're shooting a nail point-first; twist the strands of a bit of yarn in the middle of a short piece and slide the point of the nail between the strands down to the head of the nail. Repeat several times, then tightly tie string across the yarn bundle just past the nail head. Now unravel the tailmost yarn a bit... or not. The more you unravel, the more it stabilizes and the more velocity you lose over distance. This tail type sheds velocity in the air pretty quickly, so it's good for a short range dart or hunting stuff that is in trees. Just don't miss, or you get to look at your dart every time you walk by.  Also, "ribbon tail" is something like a trailing tail made of plastic flagging tape that trails behind the dart, but it's a pain to get it to seal and fire properly (use a faucet washer) and they are high drag. Save ribbon tails for model rocketry nose capsules.

Plug tail: Take your dart, pierce and slide a cylindrical foam earplug down the shaft like you're getting ready to roast a marshmallow. Slide it down the tail and glue in place. No glue, if you're using nail darts fired point first, but you must glue it to the nail point if you're firing the nail headfirst. Using faucet washers for a plug tail can be good. Plug tails have better retained velocity than yarn tails, but might not stabilize a short non-point-heavy dart.

A few words on firing technique, training, and training darts:

If you force the air as quickly and as hard as you can (otherwise "explosively,) this adversely affects accuracy as you'll definitely move and wiggle the pipe. It isn't like a "cough," either. It's more like a long, steady push, increasing in speed towards the end. I say it's a smooth push, some say to "do it in a burst" or "explosively." My experience shows me that smooth breath is what you want for accuracy. High velocity does nothing if you miss. The long pipes can give some fairly scary velocity... well, scary for a flying razor blade.  The people that say to do it "explosively" obviously aren't using a proper training tube length or else they'd know what it does to accuracy. Brace the end of your long barrel on a bag of dried beans or something, you'll wiggle the barrel less and can likely get away with trying to blow harder and faster. It works exactly like a shooting rest. Working a blow gun for a while will actually increase your lung capacity and help you clear out your lungs. There are health benefits to blow gunning.

If you'd like to train for your long barrel, start with a shorter one! An 18" to 3 foot pipe is very unforgiving for bad air technique and is difficult at best to use accurately. Notice that's most of what you can buy at the flea markets. I make training darts from nails, supergluing and wrapping orange plastic flagging tape around the head until it's the proper barrel diameter and then "hardening" it by coating with superglue. Get down into the edges of the tape! It can be really solid and stay together, and it's tail heavy on purpose... You fire it point-first and it wants to tumble. It is unforgiving from the short pipe and unsuitable for flying through the air. This is the opposite of what you want with your hunting darts, as the weight needs to be at the head. Combine your intentionally too-short pipe with your intentionally tail-heavy dart and you'll wonder why your dart is tumbling in the air. Answer? Bad exhale technique. You can make it work anyway with proper technique! This combo makes a fantastic training setup. If you can sink the dart into a cork dartboard at 15 feet reliably without "overblowing" and tumbling, then you've got a top notch breath technique for your hunting pipe. Try it! Exhale smoothly, steadily increasing pressure towards the end of the blow. If you don't do it smoothly, the training dart will almost definitely tumble and bounce off of your dartboard. That's how you know you're doing it wrong. You most certainly can learn to blow smoothly and blow hard. It's all in the training. Now try your long pipe with a long dart! 

Breath technique summary: If you don't blow smoothly, you tumble the dart. Longer head-heavy darts and longer pipes are less susceptible to bad technique. More aggressive tails counteract bad technique and poorly balanced darts, but with the cost of an increased velocity loss over range. Anyone who said otherwise has never trained with "minis." It improves your skill. (Hint: this is a mini forum!)

Just for fun, some marshmallows and cylindrical foam ear plugs fit some barrels perfectly, if not, you can bevel the edge of the conduit on a belt grinder and "cookie cutter punch" them, but that's kind of messy and doesn't seem to work well. I don't like it. I've got a bag of marbles and I'm not afraid to use them! Marbles are extremely forgiving to bad technique.

A word on aiming: Focus your eyes on the muzzle of the pipe. Let your eyes go "cross-eyed," such that you are seeing a double image of the end of the pipe. Place your target in between the images and now you should be dead on, assuming you get the elevation to jive with the speed you get once you "pull the trigger," so to speak. Some say to focus on the target instead.

Refinement of your home made design:

A hunting pipe can break down for transport. Cut the pipe and make a coupling to join the two pieces back together. Again, a larger pipe split down one side will work. You might seal the pipe temporarily with a bit of thin tape before sliding the coupling. A putty knife or something thin to put into the notch and twist helps this part of the operation immensely.

Crowning your blowgun muzzle:
Gun barrels are to have a squarely cut muzzle. The resulting end is polished and curve-shaped in a certain way. There is a reason for this and it affects accuracy. This is in the department of "same problem, same solution." If one end of your pipe has a square end and the other end is ragged cut, then install your mouthpiece on the "ragged end." Either that, or just "put it in your mouth."  If you wrap one hand around the pipe and brace your lips, you get less air leakage and approach "mouthpiece" performance. Seriously, mouthpieces on blow guns (which are very serious business) aren't required with the proper technique. People are just scared to explain it! 

Why do this stuff?

It's cheap, fun, quiet, and deadly enough for squirrels and rabbits. It could work on larger targets, but you'd have to be pretty desperate for that. Your short pipe also gives you something to do when you're stuck indoors. It needs no license. You've only got to worry about transport if your state or local laws mention blow pipes. Mine don't, check yours.

Amazingly, there is still much debate on what is best for a blowgun, from tools to tactics. I suggest that you try it all and find what works for you. Lots of people on the internet will blindly scream that they are doing it correctly. Use your brain!  (I'm wearing sunglasses.)

I find it absolutely fascinating that there are so many parallels to firearms knowledge and blow gun knowledge. Same problem, same solution!

Be safe, have fun, and happy hunting!

[TwoGunJayne]

This man makes an excellent point: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=145103

Summary: No, officer, it's an air gun and falls under state airgun hunting laws.

Brilliant!

Also, blowfishing sounds completely fun. Bowfishing is legal in my state and I'm certain the wardens would treat it as such. I know the perfect spot to do it for bluegill!

*KNOW THE LAW*

It is your responsibility to know the law in your state. Most states don't allow blowgun hunting, and the ones that do tend to not mention it in their regs. A few bad apples can take this sport from all of us, so lets not ruin it.

As stated, most states that allow blowgun hunting don't actually state that they do, and if you ask a warden he will tell you no because he really doesn't know the answer.

I have discovered a loop hole!

Many states allow the use of air guns for hunting, and they are specifically mentioned in their regs. Air guns are usually restricted to small game or non game species, but this is just fine for me.

Straight from Webster himself:

1: a gun from which a projectile is propelled by compressed air
2: any of various hand tools that work by compressed air

This means that a blowgun must be an air gun, as a projectile is propelled by compressed air. Here in Texas, I called a game wardens office to ask about the laws regarding this type of hunting. He obviously had no clue, so he simply told me you can't do it. I didn't like that, so I looked up the definition of air gun (since texas allows airguns for non game species on private land, yet doesn't specify what exactly an airgun is) and found that definition. This time, instead of calling, I shot them an email. Their response was that I could kill all nongame or non native species with a blow gun on private land, to include hogs and mountain lions (don't try that!). I then printed that email and I now carry it with me everywhere I go. I would suggest that everyone that is interested in this present it to their state in such a fashion, then carry the response with you at all times. Don't trust the wardens to be familiar with the laws regarding blowguns.

Don't forget, these things make great fishing tools as well for small fish like bluegill, as well as frogs! Simply make a longer dart, put some notches in the dart to help prevent it from coming out of the fish, then tie off a length of fishing line to the dart, and slide the dart into the pipe backwards. Spot a fish, shoot it, then pull it in. Remember not to shoot a fish too large though, unless you are confident you can make a spine or brain shot. Again, know your laws.

[TwoGunJayne]

Blowgun poison.

One word: NO.

I know someone who has a husband who nearly died from a bowhunting accident involving this. He just "accidentally cut himself." Accidents happen, it isn't worth it. Stick to small game and don't use poison. It's a crutch for trying to use "too little of a club" for too big of a target. The risk isn't worth it.

By the way, I would never hunt with the guy. He was known for making bad decisions in the woods. One careless missed shot and it's me on the coroner's table.

Here is a quote from the guy who almost died and all that saved him was a helicopter medical evac and the fact that his buddy had cell signal.

Oops! Aw, sh*t, I just cut myself!

I can't blame him for swearing. He basically came to the realization he had just killed himself. He had plenty of time to think about it before he passed out. I'd probably redefine new boundaries in the swearing department... if it were me. I happen to know better.

By the way, proper hunting poison is an organic protein that "cooks out." This also means that it will most likely not be quick and we're back to square one: you didn't hit the game correctly. Hunting poison is no substitute for skill. You'll probably just miss anyway.

I will include no further info on this topic other than "somebody I know had an accident, almost died, and now I won't tell you." Rely on physical mechanics of wounding, dart weight, and dart velocity. This goes back to "using the proper tool for the proper job and having the skill to do it."

If you're searching the internet looking for info on this topic, STOP RIGHT NOW. It's simply not worth it. You're obviously doing it wrong. Most of the effective anti-animal poisons don't "cook out" of meat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IVyM1nTxS4

Reminder: You are a human animal. You are a very special breed. You are the only animal who can think, who can reason, who can read.

That's a quote from "Jiminy Cricket," your conscience. Listen to him and not some guy on an internet forum who either doesn't know what he's talking about or outright lies about something that can kill you. There's plenty of both on the internet. Would you feed your son or mother a deer steak shot with a poison that doesn't "cook out?" If so, please GTFO this forum, we don't want you here.

[OV-1D]

  Wait a minute I gotta run down to South America and pick up some yellow frogs carefully mind ya , will be right back . P.S. don't wait up I just might be awhile , customs and stuff .   

[TwoGunJayne]

Whatever you do, don't lick them! (At least, not while customs is watching.) 

[RogueTS1]

My poor man's suppressor and small game hunting kit. It is capable of all of the above and more with no need for thought of poisons. Simply decent shot placement will suffice....................LOL

the weapon:

[RogueTS1]

and the darts I use:

[TwoGunJayne]

Beautiful setup on that mark 2! I simply *HAVE* to get up off of my (officially) old butt and get a new upper for my m2. (But not my mark 3, it's got lawyers in it and I hate the mag release.)

[RogueTS1]

Thank you. It is an old Mark I though.

I too like the old butt mag release. It works great and is quite speedy too once you get used to a butt mag release.

[OV-1D]

  Roguets1 that's cheating besides you just killed my trip plans , thanks a lot . Fine piece though love those Ruger bases .

[RogueTS1]

Thank you. Sorry for ruining your plans. Maybe you can use the extra time and break out your Ruger sd and go poor man suppressed hunting instead.

[TwoGunJayne]

Thank you. It is an old Mark I though.

I too like the old butt mag release. It works great and is quite speedy too once you get used to a butt mag release.

I carry my Ruger .22 for small game hunting with "mexican carry," that is to say... stuff it in my belt. Left or right handed, the mag release always seems to trip somehow. This is *never* a problem with the heel release, as I'm sure you're quite aware. Yeah, I could get a proper holster, but why? Just carry the proper lower frame. All in all, great setup!