Blow Dart Gun

A blow dart gun is a great toy to have, and it doesn't take much time to make. You can use it for target practice, trick-shots, or you can even make more than one and have a blow dart gun war! However you choose to use your blow dart gun, you just have to follow the steps below.

1'' PVC Pipe

1.5" PVC Pipe

1'' Female Spigot Adapter

Duct Tape

Pool Noodle

Scissors

Mini Marshmallows (or preferred ammo type)

Laser Pointer

For this step, you will need the PVC pipe and the adapter. The PVC pipe will be the barrel of the blow dart gun. We chose to use a 1'' diameter because it is the perfect size for shooting mini marshmallows. However, you can adjust this diameter to fit whatever ammo you are planning to use. Additionally, we used a PVC pipe that is 24 inches (2 feet) long, but feel free to use whatever length that works for you.

Tip: A longer barrel typically leads to a higher velocity.

Once you've decided the dimensions of your barrel, attach the adapter to one end of the barrel (as shown in the picture above). This will be where you blow into when firing the gun.

For this step, you can use whatever duct tape you want. You could even paint the barrel if you're feeling fancy. If you use duct tape like we did, this is the best way to wrap the barrel.

First, cut a piece of duct tape that is a little bit longer than the barrel (our barrel is 24 inches, so we used a piece of tape about 26 inches long). This is to ensure that the entire length of the barrel gets covered. Then, place the barrel on top of the tape an roll it back and forth so that the duct tape gets evenly wrapped around the barrel. Make sure the duct tape is tight so that it doesn't accidentally fold in certain places while you roll it. Then, repeat this process for the other side of the barrel so that the whole pipe is fully wrapped in duct tape.

Cut of any excess tape you may have at each end of the barrel.

Now, we must attach a grip to the gun. For the grip, a pool noodle works very well.

Cut the pool noodle to whatever length you want the grip to be. Ours was about 11 inches. Then, cut a slit down the length of the pool noodle. Wrap the pool noodle around the barrel, making sure that none of the pool noodle sticks out past the front of the barrel. Next, use duct tape to secure the pool noodle to the barrel. You can cover the entire pool noodle in duct tape if you prefer, or use just enough so that it is attached to the pipe.

Now, we need something that will hold our ammo for us as we run around with our blow dart gun.

This can be easily achieved by using another piece of PVC pipe. We used a 1.5" diameter pipe. Secure this pipe to the top (the part where the pool noodle is cut) of your barrel by using, you guessed it, more duct tape. The longer the pipe, the more ammo it can hold.

Then, tape a coin to the front end of the pipe to block it off. This is to make sure that none of the ammo falls out of the front of this pipe, only the back. We put a marble on the coin to make it look nicer (the coin and marble are in the picture on the next step).

Now, you can store your ammo in this pipe and easily reload your blow dart gun.

We're almost done. The blow dart gun needs one final, crucial attachment: a laser pointer. This is the most important part of the whole project.

You can buy small, red laser pointers almost anywhere. It's best to use a thin, cylindrical laser pointer. Those mouse-shaped laser pointers for cats will not work as well for this.

To attach the laser pointer, use some more duct tape.

And that's it! Go have some fun with your new blow dart gun!