Cast Airsoft Pellets

[Lucky]

This is slightly irrelevant, but you guys are the experts in this sort of area, so I have to ask:

Airsoft guns are smooth-bores, no rifling. Usually they shoot rould pellets that are spun in the vertical plane by a bit of rubber they pass over near the muzzle. But they don't go very far or awfully straight.

If you put all feeding issues aside, would a plastic slug like one of these fly straight and true?

Which style is the best?

http://www.corbins.com/images/finslugs.gif
http://www.corbins.com/images/slugs3.jpg

Thanks a million!

[motorcycle_dan]

The air soft pellets have the ballistic coefficient of a mini marshmallow. But I suspect a plastic pellet would perform marginally better with a heavier head, stabilization fins that caused spin and a hollow base that helped sealing. Instead of shooting only 15 ft, it might make 19. Naaaw, 17.
Just my humble opinion.

[Lucky]

I'd heard that slugs that are supposed to be stabilized by spin created from their fins, aren't really. They might spin a bit, but not enough to stabilize them. Furthermore, precession might cause spinning objects to be a little less accurate?

Anyway, though, you work with what you got. Airsoft might not go far, which is the reason to try and make it go farther. Trial and error for me, I guess.

[motorcycle_dan]

How are you casting the plastic pellets? Or are you shooting something other than plastic in an airsoft?

[fourarmed]

I'd keep it simple. Try a cup-shaped projectile with most of the weight in the nose. You may have to defeat the rubber spinner.

[jcadwell]

They wouldn't feed in any of the airsoft guns I've seen unless they were round. Perhaps a rifled barrel might help.

[Lucky]

-Casting plastic pellets by taking the design to a place I know that does that sort of thing. Lots of variables, I just need a basic idea before they can help with all the details, which are a lot.

Done something similar once before, me and mother made a plastic guard that fitted over a bicycle chain-ring to keep pants from getting caught. Not perfect, but sold most of them, so I've been through the process once before.


-Ballistics would be harsh, yea. That's why the best shape is necessary for the starting point! I've no experience with any of those designs, but standard lead-pellet designs are designed for spin stabilization, though they can be fired without. Need a design which is designed without spin in mind - like a slug. Characteristics would be about 500fps and 7 grains.


-The rubber bit, hop-up, is adjustable and completely removeable. It would be disabled for firing these. The cup-shape has a lot going fot it, like ease of manufacure, but gut-hunch is telling me that with low speeds and light weights, all the aerodynamic advantages available will be needed.-


-Rifled barrel would help, to be sure, but that's not adaptable to the market, easily. You'd have to sell a new barrel and pellets to match, instead of just pellets.


Thanks for the responses.