How To Make A Homemade Paintball Gun: Step-By-Step

Are you thinking of making a homemade paintball gun by yourself and you’re not sure what it involves, if it’s safe, or if it’s even possible? Don’t worry; you’re in the right place. In this post, I will discuss step by step the process of making a homemade paintball gun.

The kind of paintball gun I’ll go over in this post requires only some pretty basic materials. And while it’s not going to be as good as a store-bought one, it’s definitely going to be a lot cheaper!

While paintball guns are great, and this is an awesome DIY project, it can be dangerous. Therefore, if you are a minor, please do this under adult supervision.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

How To Make A Homemade Paintball Gun

how to make a homemade paintball gun

This is everything you’ll need for this project:

  • Drill with 2cm (0.78in) and 1cm (0.4in) bits.
  • Hot glue gun.
  • Empty plastic bottle with a cap.
  • Metal pipe that is 2cm (0.78) in diameter and 15cm (6in) in length.
  • Lighter with a flexible neck.
  • Deodorant.

How To Make The Homemade Paintball Gun

Step 1

Get an empty plastic bottle that has a cap on it. You can choose a bottle of any thickness as it doesn’t play a significant role.

However, it is always better to choose a thick plastic bottle to make your gun more durable. For the best results, use a thick and clear plastic bottle with a capacity of over 750ml.

Step 2

Drill a small 2cm (0.78in) hole at the center bottom of your bottle. It’s better to use a drill with the exact diameter drill bit.

Make sure you make the hole at the bottle’s exact center, usually where a protruding marking will be. This will play a big part in your paintball gun’s accuracy.

Note: Please make sure that you use the drill gently. Seek the help of an experienced person if you are not sure how to do it.

Step 3

Make another hole the size of 1cm (0.4in) right below the hole you have drilled in the previous step. Make sure the two holes have a minimum distance of 1cm (0.4in). Drilling the second hole too close to the first one will crack the bottom.

Step 4

Insert a 15cm (6in) long, 2cm (0.78in) diameter metal pipe through the first hole (this can be bought in any department store or found inside old house items). Make sure you insert the pipe so that 5cm (2in) of it is inside the bottle.

Meaning you will have one-third inside and one-third outside. This metal pipe is the barrel of your paintball gun. You can use a slightly shorter or longer barrel, although 15cm (6in) is usually the best.

Once it’s inside properly, use hot glue, create a tight seal around the hole, and then let the hot glue sit for around 15 minutes.

Step 5

For the next step, you’ll need a lighter with a flexible tip that can be placed inside the second smaller hole. For better results, use a lighter with an 8cm (3.1in) long flexible neck. Insert 2cm (0.78in) of the lighter neck inside the smaller hole.

This lighter will ignite and cause an explosion effect which will propel the paintball out of the barrel you’ve just installed.

Step 6

The lighter trigger will work as your paintball gun trigger. To attain that:

  1. Bend the lighter to the side of the bottle and strap it using sellotape.
  2. Apply hot glue between the lighter and bottle so that it holds tightly without any chance of detaching.
  3. Let the glue dry for around 15 minutes.

You can also use super glue or any other glue option at your disposal. However, avoid using tapes.

How To Use Your Homemade Paintball Gun

Step 1

Place a paintball into the metal pipe. You can purchase paintballs of different varieties from most paintball shops or Amazon. Most times, if you have an exact 2cm (0.78in) in diameter barrel, regular paintballs will do.

Step 2

Open the bottle cap and spray some deodorant (you can also use hairspray or any other kind of aerosol spray) into the bottle. Make sure you keep the deodorant tight against the bottle so everything goes inside. Let the deodorant spray for around 5 seconds.

Step 3

Quickly close the bottle lid back and make sure you screw the cap tightly to avoid any deodorant leaking out of the bottle.

Step 4

It’s time to fire your homemade paintball gun. Press the lighter trigger to fire the paintball shoot out.

The flame produced by the lighter will react with the aerosol and create an explosion inside the bottle. This will push the paintball out through the metal pipe at a considerably fast speed. Not quite 300FPS, but close.

Make sure you use the gun under adult supervision, outside, and do not use it to hurt any animals.

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