Air and Blowback

Arcade pneumatic recoil and gas blowback, and whether air belongs in a home light gun.

Firearms

Air and Blowback · Deep Dive

Air and Blowback

The arcade kick that solenoids imitate.

Arcade pneumatic recoil and gas blowback, and whether air belongs in a home light gun.

Photo: SMC CDJ2B16-30Z-B air cylinder (16 mm bore, 30 mm stroke) held in the hand by Jonashtand · CC BY-SA 4.0

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    Volumes

    1. Vol 1 Air in a Light Gun — What Exists, and the Verdict Which arcade guns really kicked with air (almost none: Namco's 'blowback' is a solenoid), where gas recoil and a laser do live together (police and military trainers), what paintball's electropneumatic markers teach about firing gas from a microcontroller, and the short answer for this build
    2. Vol 2 Compressed-Air Recoil from Industrial Parts A compressor, a receiver tank, a regulator, a 24 V three-port valve and a 10 or 16 mm cylinder: SMC's published figures for each, why the valve's orifice and not its response time sets the kick, how much air a shot uses, how to drive the valve from the carrier, where the noise comes from, and how to keep it working
    3. Vol 3 A Gas-Blowback Action as the Recoil Engine Keeping an airsoft GBB's bolt and gas as the kick in a light gun: what changes with no BB, three ways to fire it from the Pico, how much gas a shot and a magazine use, why a string of shots weakens as the magazine cools, CO₂ and tethered air instead of propane, propane released indoors, and what Michigan law makes of a light gun that still works as a gas gun
    4. Vol 4 Felt Impulse, Noise, the Verdict and the Bench Plan Air, gas and solenoid side by side in momentum per shot, and how far all of them fall short of a real MP7; what each costs in noise, upkeep and risk; why this build keeps its regulated solenoid; and the Analog Discovery Pro measurements that would change the answer