X-Products now has launcher cups on their website now.  Demo Ranch tried some in his latest video.

what launcher sights are you guys using. looking for something cheap

Makes me think they are actively watching this thread as well

I wish I could sell spray-paint caps for $6 each

Maybe they Google their name

I’ve sent F5 this thread link before though

Didn’t have time for range testing today, but fired the 16oz Coors Light cans from the 12.5” launcher using Atlantic Wall M195 equivalent charged blanks.  No wad was needed, and all cans were launched intact.  I static fired with a lanyard at first for a safety check, but there was no problem.  I then shoulder fired with a bit of trepidation.  Recoil was intense, and my shoulder is sore, but otherwise the combo works fine.

Static lanyard fire.


Shoulder fired.


I got more vids, but after I clip the ends off to keep my face out they all look about the same.

One note:  The launch tube was really smoky after firing (more so than normal), and I suspect these blanks aren’t completely burning during the launch.  The smoke is yellow, and smells kinda weird.  It had dissipated a lot before I thought to get a vid, but here is some of it.  The color is hard to see because it was getting dark and I was running out of light.

Smoke from blanks:

Charging handles are boring.

Cool!

Could you have made that sucker any heavier?

Holy crap dude! I've pondered this but you really did it! Bravo!

We need to see a video of this in action.

Possible wading? Or use them for stand alone projectiles. Fill them up with great stuff foam.

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Measured 2.5” just depends on where you hold it.

My launcher came in today but still looking for a cheap quadrant sight of anyone has a lead

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M203-USGI-Colt-Quadrant-Sight-hydramatic-LMT-Airsoft/113267315410?hash=item1a5f4212d2:g:mcoAAOSwy6lbj3Ra

this is my boomstick

I made some 20oz smoke grenades that use the 16oz Coors Light bottles (20oz of mix fits in a 16oz beer bottle).  Needs a little tweaking with more holes to keep the pressure down, but I’m pretty happy with the recipe.  I posted the results in a smoke device thread on the Survival forum, but linking it here because I intend to launch them once I’ve finalized my design.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoors/Smoke-devices-your-thoughts-/18-692681/#i11858960

BADASS

After watching this thread from day 1 I am now ready to make my can cannon purchase from F5.

Think I am going to go with the combo golf ball can launcher.

If F5 offering any special deal from Ar15.com members?

Any free ship codes or stuff like that?

Also how do I request the longer barrel?

You can message them through Instagram.  Jeff is a super helpful and friendly guy.

Worth a shot to see if they'd offer coupons for ARFCOM members.

Not on IG. When I place my order in a few days I will let him know that I heard about F5 thru this thread. Surely they have a comments/ message section when placing a order.

I did send them a email the other day asking if they would make a drum mag for the M11/nine. I haven't heard back yet.

Not to derail, but YES YES YES!

Shoot them a email about it. The more guys asking for it the more likely they will make it.

shot mine saturday, my buddy and i brought my shotgun too. crazy fun but even aluminum pounder cans are tough to hit

I called Jeff.  I'm picking mine up tomorrow at the factory.  Getting the can/golfball launcher combo.    I need a bolt too.  I have a spare carrier sitting here.

Bought mine today. Purchased the Golf ball / can cannon combo.

Has anyone seen the net yet that can be fired out of the cannon?

Plan on making some YT videos with it when I get it.

Quick question.

Where are yall getting the cheap buffer tube and minimalist stocks from? The ones guys are running upside down.

And links to cheap blank dies.

Wait, this guy's in the office?  I have an unfilled order from August (for a golfball launcher as well!) and haven't received a response to my email about it.  I saw on the instagram account that whoever controls that account is doing a seven day walkabout without internet and figured the company was on holiday.  I was giving them space and figured they were having a manufacturing backlog, but now I'm annoyed.

I just found this on Ebay and ordered a set....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Leaf-Sight-and-Rail-Grabber-12598117-Iron-Sight-Military-USGI-Knights-Arm-M203/192655521435?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&;

$30 isn't bad for a real deal sight even if it needs a little TLC.

Just got home from picking the Cannon/Golfball launcher up.  From the looks of things, they aren't "in the office" at the time.  I had to make an appointment with Jeff, and meet him at the door because he was out of the shop.  I'd give him a call and ask him.  He seems like good people to me.  I'll post some pics after lunch.

They are indeed in the same business complex as X-Products, but have nothing to do with each other anymore, so if that's stopping you from buying one of these, don't let it.

FYI:  Keep in mind that all golf balls are not the same.  He had a package of cheap balls he got at a local store and at least one was too big to fit in the tube.  I have a bunch of golf balls that have been sitting in my garage for years and I checked them all in the tube and out of about 100, only 3 didn't fit.

First shot with a tennis ball.

Hold my beer.....

Golf ball, tennis ball, and then soda can.

It's interesting to me that the tennis ball didn't go nearly as far as the soda can.

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Update: Just wanted to ad some text to the above photos.

I was able to attened the IV8888 YT shoot. (see that thread for more pics)

Talked to the guys at the X products booth and asked them about F5 Mfg, I told them I had ordered a launcher from them. The owner said they used to be business partners and F5 made various parts for them including the magazines. I was also lead to believe that F5 holds the patten on the drum mags which X products is no longer making specifically the Colt SMG style of drum. The owner a older man seen in the photos above was very nice and did not throw F5 under the bus or say anything negative about F5 but said they had went there sperate ways. He did point out that they made there launchers differently. Said that his tubes are press fitted to the back plate which screws down to the upper the F5 is 2 diffrent pieces pined togeather. ( I wonder the difference is due to F5 olding the patten for the pin version and X products having to come up with a diffrent way to do the same thing) He also said that his barrel gemeotry is different than F5 mainly due to the different cnc machines capabilities. All in all they were very nice and enjoyable to be around. I was in the Fire truck beside them all day and had a good time. The owner was very nice and of course I shot about 10 cans and various other projectiles.

Which brings me to the next topic. X products now has a harpoon that can be fired out of the launcher. The first thing I asked was how did it not reclassify it as a DD. He said they sent the launcher and harpoon with broadhead to ATF and they received a approval letter. I did fire the harpoon and it flew straight for about 10-20 yards then started to go side ways and tumble. It did fly about 80yards before hiting the ground.

The also had some launch cups. They did use the cups in conjunction with the above smoke grenade and it worked perfectly. In the 308 version it blew the smoke grenade apart. In the 556 without the cup it went about 20 yards. With the cup it went about 100. When the grenade was launched the spoon flew off and did not start smoking until 1/2 to 2/3 way threw its flight path and discharged  most of the smoke on the ground. It was awesome.

They also had some rubber balls and these things are screaming out of a launcher. With the 308 they are fired and go out of sight. Im sure they would reach 300 yards or more. In the 556 they did equally as well just not as far.

The owner also said that Piedmont Cartridge made his blanks. I did ask Piedmont what type of powder they were using and he would not say.

I asked X products if they plan on making other projectiles and he said yes they have some in the works. Said they have a chalk round but I did not see it nor did they say when it was coming to market.

All in all I have a new respect for X products. I did not ask about the D bag that used to work/own for the company. The older guy I spoke to said he was the owner and he was a cool guy. With that said the price difference between the X products and the F5 launcher is pretty large. I am not sure that the build quality allthough higher with the X products out weights the cost difference between the two. Time will tell, I have yet to receive my F5 launcher.

Went out to my Parents place again today and decided to launch some golf balls basically vertically.  Good lord the hang time is amazing.

That sounds super dangerous

And fun

Not really vertical, but enough that they would come down within about 50 yards.  I was surprised at how vertical I had to go to get them to come down that close.

Thank you for the info. It's appreciated.

Called and sent F5 a email about my order. I placed it last week and have yet to get a shipping notification.

Kinda hoping to get it before the GA Home Town meet and shoot in a few weeks.

Update: Jeff sent me a email stating that my launcher had shipped and something is wrong with there email notification system and he is looking into it.

Wanted to share this with yall. Others pointed me in the direction and was able to find in stock an el cheapo fixed stock for a dedicated can cannon.

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$18.95 with free shipping

I have the short version of that stock (Skillets used one earlier too).  Your link is the longer version, which might be a better idea for some.  I scratched my glasses (and almost broke them) with the M203 quadrant sight on the first shot using the short.  You really gotta be careful about inadvertently creaping your head forward while sighting.  The recoil will give you a “sight bite” if careless.

Thanks- Picked one up too.

So are you going to sight it by using the top of the tube as a front sight type reference??

That's my plan. My sight delivered today, tiny, rust spot on one of the mounting screw nuts. It looks way better than the auction picture..

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I know it's been covered in this thread already since this was posted but F5 and Xproducts are not the same company - F5 designed and made the Can Cannons for Xproducts until Xproducts screwed F5 over. So F5mfg decided to start selling the can launchers themselves. Even though Xproducts aggressively said the product was patent-pending, it actually was not. The only thing Xproducts holds is a trademark for the Can Cannon name. And as you can see, they marked its price up a HUGE amount when they sold under their brand - $350 vs $150 from F5 for the same thing!

F5 also designed and made the drum mag, which they actually DO hold the patent for, which is why Xproducts no longer sells them.

Anyway, if you guys are interested in reading more straight from the horse's mouth (Jeff Milton, the owner of F5) he posted several comments on Reddit back in May when someone posted his deal on the r/gundeals subreddit. A lot of people called him out as a ripoff of the Xproducts Can Cannon but he came in to clear his name:

"We (f5mfg) are the OEM, designers and manufacturers of this product - Original patent holders/applicants - We stopped selling to x products last year. It's well known throughout the industry."

"There is no patent on the can launcher other than "can cannon" in a trademark. X products fraudulently sold it as a "patent pending" product to prevent mfg's companies from entering the market."

"I can see how it can be confusing and mis-leading to the consumer. I'm here to clear that up and work direct with the 2A community. We offer these deeply discounted because there mfg direct."

"Were not undercutting, just making an honest buck at a reasonable price. And yes, x-products did fuck me over."

Jeff seems to be a stand-up guy who cares about his customers. As well as the many instances of his generosity and customer care in this thread, he also displayed it back in May when his website was having problems and overcharging shipping, he decided to just give everyone who had the problem free shipping.

I have nothing to do with F5 or Xproducts other than being a happy customer who bought a can launcher earlier this year and has had nothing but fun with it. I just like promoting local companies who stand behind their products and treat their customers well. And I think F5 has gotten a bad rap due to the shadiness of Xproducts.

Looks good! How is aiming? Do you think it will be adequate to use by indexing off the front of the launch tube, or will you need a riser of some sort to get the right angle? I am considering getting one of these to aid in consistent aiming as well as because they look so cool. But I do want to make sure it will work.

I'm curious too. If you mount it on the upper receiver as far forward as possible, then use the sight/front of the tube, I'm wondering what the angle is gonna be...

http://therifleshoppe.com/catalog_pages/hand_mortar/hand_mortar_

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Has anyone bought a blank-only magazine for use with their can launchers? I kind of want a dedicated magazine just as an extra safety measure. The only ones I can find are from a company called SafeTacMag, but the pictures on their website don't show a block in the front of the magazines so I'm not sure how they would prevent a live round from being inserted. Anyone found another source for blank-only mags?

Your can cannon has a pin welded in the "barrel" that prevents a live round from going in

You could also buy something different looking like a bright colored magazine

I use a blue PMAG I picked up years ago.