If you want to upgrade your marshmallow gun to the next level, here’s how to turn it into a semiautomatic.
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SEMIAUTOMATIC MARSHMALLOW BLASTER
SKILL LEVEL:
EASY
INTERMEDIATE
ADVANCED
APPROXIMATE TIME:
3 hours
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
+ Marshmallow gun (here)
+ PVC pipe cutter
+ Two 45-degree PVC pipe pieces
+ 1 PVC pipe cap
+ 1 T-shaped PVC piece
+ ⅜-inch wooden dowel
+ ⅜-inch drill bit
+ Wire hanger
+ 4 small screws (Phillips pan head #6 × ⅜ in.)
+ Sandpaper
PRO TIP: If you want to make a shoulder rest as well, you’ll need to get a total of two 45-degree connectors, two T-shaped connectors, and two 90-degree elbows with spare PVC pipe in between, based on your comfort.
LET’S BEGIN
ORIGINAL MARSHMALLOW GUN MODIFICATION
1. Modify the original blow hole by swapping out the 90-degree pipe pieces for two 45-degree pipe pieces.
MAKE THE MAGAZINE
1. Cut the body of the gun in half.
2. Cut and insert PVC pipe at the top of the T-shaped PVC piece.
3. Connect the body of the gun to the T-shaped piece and add the cap to the top of the new PVC pipe magazine.
PRO TIP: Use a tapered drill bit to widen the hole of the PVC pipe magazine to help make the marshmallows shoot more smoothly.
BUILD THE INTERRUPTER
1. Using the ⅜-inch drill bit (that’s the same size as your wooden dowel), drill into the T-shaped piece while it is connected to the magazine. Make sure the holes align.
2. Cut the wooden dowel so that it is 1½ inches long.
3. Round the dowel down using sandpaper to turn it into a wooden peg.
4. Insert the peg into the hole you just made in the magazine just enough to keep the marshmallows from falling down the pipe.
MAKE THE MECHANISM
1. Using a drill bit that is the same size as the wire hanger, drill a hole through the wooden peg.
PRO TIP: When inserted, the hanger wire should be loose enough that the peg can spin, but not so loose that there is a lot of “play.”
2. Leaving about three inches of wire on one side, bend the piece of hanger so it goes down below the PVC pipe, extends underneath by a couple of inches, and comes back up on the other side.
3. Bend the wire so that it creates square angles that are flush against the side of the pipe.
4. Now that the wire has come back around, bend the wire so it can go back through the dowel. The bent wire should be a couple of millimeters away from the first wire.
5. Drill another hole in the peg that is a few millimeters away from the first hole. Insert the wire through the dowel again. Clip the extra wire, but leave the three inches of extra wire on the one side.
MAKE AN ANCHOR
1. Create a total of four holes with the drill bit (two holes on each side) for the small screws to be inserted into. The two holes should be on either side of the wire so that the wire is in between the two screws. Do this to both sides.
2. Using the extra three inches of the hanger wire, push back to create a trigger. Test the new trigger to make sure it can pull the peg all the way back.
3. While the trigger is pulled back, bend the three inches of wire around the PVC pipe into a hook shape.
FINISH
Now that you’ve created the semiautomatic portion of the gun, insert the mechanism back into the gun. You’ll now have a semiautomatic gun that can shoot marshmallows.
PRO TIP: Create a shoulder rest by using two 45-degree pipe pieces and two 90-degree elbow pieces.
