Slingshot Channel Dude Makes Fully Automatic Crossbow

Joerg Sprave, the man with the most awesome laugh of the Internet and the face between the “Slingshot Channel” on Youtube, has created a fully automatic crossbow. Check it out!

When you make non gunpowder weapons at home, you are usually restricted to single shot contraptions or manual repeaters at best. But of course the ultimate goal is to build a full auto machine gun style weapon!

That is by no means very easy. Muscle powered weapons are simply not quick enough for a true Brat-a-tat action. Gas powered engines are too heavy and clumsy for a portable weapon.

Of course there are modern battery drills – plenty of torque in small packages, lightweight and affordable. It makes sense to use those as power sources. But how to turn rotational motion into a linear cocking process?

We finally, at last, had success using a rack and pinion mechanism. The wooden gears had to be reinforced with massive aluminum for a reliable operation, but the result is very convincing.

It is a reality – true machine gun feeling!

[JoergSprave]