Small Homemade Can Cannon Shoots Sodas

(Image: Screenshots from video)

Here’s something for the “Gimme gimme” file: A homemade cannon that shoots cans of soda! And not only is it super cool, it’s also super small. Heck, it’s barely larger than the projectiles themselves.

The video includes multiple hits on steel targets, which show that it definitely clobbers the heck out of things — and that these soda cans do not fly straight. Before they get far from the cannon’s muzzle, they are turning, and most of them hit the targets sideways.

The cannon is pretty cool, but the music in the video is definitely not. And the video was apparently posted by someone REALLY afraid of being sued, because it contains a passel of disclaimers and doesn’t tell us what kind of propellant is used. The loading sequence does show some powder being poured into the barrel, but it’s hardly more than a thimbleful and makes one wonder if that’s really the charge they’re using.

That said, I would like to have one, but I would prefer to shoot cheap projectiles instead of wasting soda by flinging it into targets. I must admit, though, that when they finally made a hit at 50 yards, it made me grin.

Enjoy the video. And ignore any noises you might hear coming from my garage which might suggest cannon construction.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.