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So if youre group came across a Punkin Chunkin air cannon would you use it for your colony and use it for long range attacks or use it for some other reasons? Or wuld you just leave it?

Umm.. I think that would be useless against Zombies. Use all of that energy to shoot out a pumpkin.. I doubt the pumpkin would do any damage if it even hits something. Aiming that monstrosity would be a major pain in the ass.

well you dont have to fire pumkins you can shoot somthing else

I watched a Mythbusters special about Pumpkin Chunkin, and from what I recall, these things were more like siege engines, rather than artillery. They were BIG and cumbersome to re-position. They weren't even close to accurate (the teams had basically no idea where/how far the things would fire). They required a BUNCH of fine tuning/maintenance before/during/after each shot. Many of them were driven by some kind of engine or compressed gas system that was big and noisy (though the human powered ones were certainly creative). finally they were assembled by hand, meaning that the person(s) that built it would know exactly how to operate it, but someone simply stumbling upon it might simply be looking at a control panel of levers, buttons, gauges and dials with no discernible sense of how to make it fire.

Remember, these weren't weapons, they were devices to hurl a pumpkin. This means that in the very basic design of the machine, was the notion that the power produced wasn't too strong, or the pumpkin would be destroyed. Basically a device that limited its own firepower because of the fragility of the projectile. A true siege engine would not likely have such delicate considerations.

Re-tooling it to fire a different projectile, with lethality in mind, while trying to envision what the original creator was doing when he/she built it, in order not to stress the home-made components too far, and simultaneously maintaining an internal combustion engine/electrical system/compressed gas cylinders with the proper fuel and spare parts?

I dunno. I'd probably leave it where I found it, and keep walking.

Exactly.. Although I did think of maybe some kind combustible material.. Like something full of gasoline lit up on fire.. MAYBE that would do some damage if aimed at a group of zombies.. But the accuracy and time to set up still would be bad.

I know my gaming buddies from way back would use it to fire a zombie as a projectile...lol.

I would most likely dismantle and repurpose many of the parts if it looked useful. Electronic components, the long tube, or even the metal parts all have uses beyond just punkin bombardment!

Fill said punkin with diesel fuel and wax. Great way to get some heat down range. Four or five of these and a flare gun.

say652 wrote:Fill said punkin with diesel fuel and wax. Great way to get some heat down range. Four or five of these and a flare gun.

Except for those times when it spontaneously disassembles upon firing the cannon...in which case you just blast a giant ball of flaming diesel and wax right out of the barrel. Probably not healthy for anything within 100ft of the cannon...including operators.

I'd ignore one completely. Almost zero use. At best I'd consider repurposing the pneumatic chamber for something like holding water, or brewing or something.

If you use Air pressure 120psi is fierce. And launch the death goo unlit. Fire three or volleys down range, causing saturation of invaders then.
Say som cool tough guy snit "smokin will kill ya"
Fire the afore mentioned flaregun and blammo.
ZBQ.

say652 wrote:If you use Air pressure 120psi is fierce. And launch the death goo unlit. Fire three or volleys down range, causing saturation of invaders then.
Say som cool tough guy snit "smokin will kill ya"
Fire the afore mentioned flaregun and blammo.
ZBQ.

Since it looks like the rate of fire for many of these devices is one shot every ten minutes (so several volleys might take upwards of an hour), their accuracy is abysmal, and the canons themselves can be up to 120 feet long and weigh several tons, I can probably come up with many easier ways to saturate an area with precious diesel fuel and light it.

Frankly, because of the innate fragility of pumpkins, if you are really set on using a weapon that delivers an impractical projectile a short distance downrange, maybe I can help you build a belt-fed machine-gun that shoots fresh eggs 20-30 yards? At least it would be portable.

True you could most likely drive around in a lifted truck. Spray x flammable substance. Then fire the flare as you sped away. Then comes then fun task of driving the ten or so minutes while a flaming Zombie horde chases you.

Or just make a flamethrower. Metalized gasoline thickened slightly should drop a zombie VERY fast. Sure, they are dead and can't feel pain, but the fire is hot enough it wold effectively cook a zombie in just a few seconds.

Or if you want, potato gun with shrapnel loaded and a sabot, or similar.

Don't try this at home!!

Potato gun+gas saturated snowballs. Epic!!
At least until a misfire hit the truck, then the mad dash for extinguishers begins. Lol
#rightaway

say652 wrote:Don't try this at home!!

Potato gun+gas saturated snowballs. Epic!!
At least until a misfire hit the truck, then the mad dash for extinguishers begins. Lol
#rightaway

H...Holy...Holy Crap! Gas doesn't start to freeze until -100 C! Where are you living that you can make gasoline saturated snowballs? Seriously, I live in Canada, and if I were in a position where it was effective to saturate snowballs with gasoline and they wouldn't immediately dissolve, I'd put on my space-suit and move south!

I'll inbox you the technique.
"Some secrets are Not for sharing"
Bear Grylls

It doesn't immediately melt snow if you spill gasoline or diesel on it (in my experience, not that I have ever done anything like try to make a flaming snowball of death). Think like making a snowball (the eatable kind), but gas instead of sugar flavoring.