AEG/Rifle Mount for Wheelchair

[Evert 72]

Sounds like a great project. Good luck.

[Lordwatson]

yeah if you got a paypal account set up or something dude i would be delighted to donate some cash towards this project, I mean, honestly this sounds great!

 

Perhaps you could do that old baloon thing as well, so instead of hitting you exactly they aim at the baloons and and when they are all popped your classed as hit, a lot fafirer on you with your lack of mobility and subsequent disadvantage

 

I reckon that like people say, if there was a way of getting your wheelchair into this absoloutly pimped Chariot of BB spraying destruction you should go for it! I mean, launchers on the side?! thats awesome, oooh and if a guy came up behind you could have on on the back!!

 

I'm afraid I am rubbish at the whole building thing so I cant really offer you any advice in that respect, but like you I am slightly impaired with my vision, I am pretty much blind without my glasses on, and I need to wear real thick glasses, I know this aint on the same par as yours, I'm lucky, but I can sympathise that it can be frustrating at times, when for example everyone is like

"Over there!!"

and I cant see them for the life of me

[screamin_weasel]

i havent read the rest of the thread, but heres an idea - be preapred for an awesome MS paint skilzor showing - give me, oooohhhh, 2 minutes

 

rigth then here is my masterpiece, sorry if its an idea already poo pooed. it also might be really flawed, im just thinking out loud.

 

basically, you have a tubular rail across the front of he chair. hinged at one side so you can actually get in and out of your chair.

 

taking part of another idea, the gun is mounted on a single ball pivot joint, allowing total and free movement L-R up and down. being able to slide the gun along the rail also means you dotn have to turn your chair to shoot to the side, which is essential for a quick snapshot at somebdoy, and also covering a wider area.

 

the gun is supported by much the same as you have at the moment. perhaps you oculd make it out of thin metal that is easily bendable. its not going to be in much danger of being damaged up on your chair. obviously you need to work out where to put the various bits, thats just a rough sketch incase you cant tell lol.

 

i dunno. perhaps i suck.

 

and sorry for my generic wheelchair drawing aswell

[juzi]

Sounds like a great idea, good to see everyone in all variants participate in the sport! Also, how about tuning up your wheelchair while your at it? im sure there is a shop smewhere that sells betetr motors! And off road tyres? http://www.burgerman.info/wheelchair.htm

[Warhogg]

The ballon idea is pretty sweet. I have never heard of that before.

 

Put a couple of black ballons in decent (see: somewhat easy to shoot) areas and you will easily be able to represent a 'sweet spot' the enemy needs to shoot to take you out. NTM nobody would be able say you were cheating either (unless you were blowing up new ones during the game).

 

I also like the ballon idea because it can give you a number of 'wounds' and one stray shot isn't going to take you out (making you leave the field prematurely, a tedious endeavor when your top speed is slow).

 

 

Later the ballons could be replaced with something cooler or to signify hits. Something techy, and befitting a war machine.

 

Maybe even something that makes a loud "BOOM" for effect.

[Lance Jackass]

First off we all want to see this happen Your condition as i see it is not a disadvantage, just something that requires you to approach the sport in a different way. And I have a lot of respect for you doing this!

 

Secondly - whatever you do, if this is your main wheel chair, try not to trash it in the process!

 

If it were me, i'd ask a mate along and perhaps try it in a more conventional wheelchair. That way you're more likely to get off road and into the thick of it. You're mate could push the wheelchair and fire, whilst you watch his back with the AEG. That way you could really get into the thick of it in some games.

 

The other alternative is CQB with the motorised chair. Some sites are all on one level, with no steps etc. Others will maybe need your mate to lift you up slightly to get into the ground floor. But once you're there, you have the whole ground floor of a building to move around under your own steam. if you had a radio to keep in contact with him, then you could both play independantly.

 

Best of luck

[Southern Cross]

Unbelievably massive props for taking it to the field with a cool idea like this. I think it would be really cool if you could rig something that would run up right behind you back or the back of your chair with an M249 (Star since they're lighter/cheaper) mounted on top directly over your head. With this setup you could hang a makeshift "HUD" that would allow you to aim. You could use some plexiglass and drak any type of site/crosshair you want on it. It wouldn't be too hard to run wire from the trigger assembly some sort of handheld trigger device. You could use any type of switch you wanted to fire. Heck you could even use a light switch! Aside from looking really reall cool, I think that would cover all of your bases...aiming, firing, huge ammo capticity to reduce in field/skirmish reloading. Oh man that sounds sweet. You could aim with your chair or if you wanted to get really crafty, mount the gun on some pivots and run some controls down to where you could easily reach them. Good luck and keep us in the loop.

[Kingcodez]

Just a quick idea: On my chair I believe you could lay a board across the arm rests. Now on this board it'd be cool if you could stick like a .50 Cal (Sorry, just watched BHD) or some gun on a "Swivel Stick".

Theoretically you could sit somewhere and dump on some fools.

 

 

Or if your really rich, get one of those Helmet mounted shooter thingies like in those Helicopters (They fire the mini guns where ever the guy looks.) That'd be pretty cool.

 

 

Whatever you do, good luck on it. Post some pictures when your done.

[[Team M.I.L.F.] WHISKEY©]

With a stable rig you could just set the gun up with gyros from youre RC shop

This would give you the ability to control the gun with a second control stick so you lets say have the wheel chair controls in your right hand and the gun controls in youre left, I even think airsoftmechanics made a few articles about making the trigger assembly electric instead of manual, and for just under 100euro you could get an awesome cordless camera with mono sound to rig to a weapons scope so even if its overhead you could aim properly. gonna format the comp now but Ill be back for more brain storming, as lance said I think we all want to see this happen and I for one really dig the whole warmachine thinking.

 

Btw: Seeing as its a sig I can even see the posibility to mod in select fire in the "joystick"

 

Cheers//WHISKEY©

 

EDIT1:

Lost the link now but the cam rig Im using goes for about 849SEK (thats just under 100 euro for those keeping score) Don't know if hellspawn is active here on arnies but he used the same rig to record some games very successfully and it wouldnt be that hard to rig it up behind a scope and link it to a small LCD screen.

 

EDIT1.2:

edit 2&3 got lost really need to format this stupid comp.

anywho here's the cam rig

Small piccy but thats the comps fault Ò_ó

 

EDIT2:

lets try again, Okay you need a boxmag not to expensive to get an auto wind, they sell Real steel box mags for about 5quid a piece on ebay if youre fast enough and with a hicap and a dremel and a motor you have a killer boxmag.

Nobody rushes a support gunner more than twice unless its a suicide charge and that just means more notches on youre belt.

Speed wont really be an issue to begin with (allthough you might want to look into some more offroadable transport, allypipebuggie anyone?)

 

Gonna brainstorm some more in a few hours but I'm waiting for the stores to open so I can get some grenades

 

EDIT3:

 

Warhogg: cool to see another airsofter that Cant help but explain/play/think airsoft like you'd play Warhammer

[Magnus]

Where to begin...thank you! You guys are great. These ideas are going to give me plenty of different things to try in the coming months. I feel encouraged by those of you who posted to voice your support.

 

I've tried to do a lot of careful thinking about how to approach this whole situation now that I've been showered by feedback and one resounding thing is clear:

 

I need to go to my local skirmish sites. I need to see what my obstacles are before I go ahead and spend a bunch of time/money on the gun mount and converting my chair to a practical, functional armored support platform.

 

So my short term plans are as follows:

 

1)Get the vertical support that will connect to the rest of the mount. I like proven ideas such as a pintel but at this point I only need something that will get me by. So I'm thinking of buying a cheap camera tripod, removing all of the extra legs, making a slot on my chair for the vertical to fit in, and attach the mount to the (now) monopod.

 

2)Get my SG 552 skirmishable. My Sig was an impulse buy and although different guns might be a better choice for future mount designs (perhaps the P90 or if I go big the M249), the current mount fits the 552 just fine so I'm going to stick with what I have right now. Anyways, I want to take Warhogg's advice and get a bigger battery wired to it.

 

I'll be sure to post pictures as the project progresses. I'd like to share skirmish site photos too after I get the chance to visit them. Thanks again for all of the ideas, guys; I hope to hear from all of you more in the future.

[[Team M.I.L.F.] WHISKEY©]

great Idea, you need to see what youre up against to see what needs to be done.

anywho to provide a somewhat readable picture of the gyro idea:

 

Ò_ó stupid comp wont let me link the fullsized piccy

but you get the idea.

If not I dont mind answering questions, and if anybody wants to use it then go for it

[Magnus]

I decided to have my brother take some photos of where I plan to secure the vertical support. Many suggestions here so far involved my armrests but that's probably not a great idea on my chair in particular. My armrests are relatively short and they're not exactly the most stable part on my chair. If it's any indication, I've actually had an armrest fall off completely last month

 

However, a couple of years back my dad had a shelf/box fabricated so that I could carry around school books and whatnot while having my hands free for driving. This box is pretty tough; is made from welded pieces of aluminum so I know it could support a mounted AEG with little problem.

 

The first photo straight-on view and I moved my legs to the side so that you can see the front of the chair clearly. As you can see, most of the box is actually located beneath the seat of the chair. In fact, outer edge of the box only extends about 3 inches from the edge of the seat.

 

Flannel jimjams are teh sechs.

 

This second photo is more of a 3/4th top view to try to give an idea of depth. The slot for the vertical support would probably be located in the lower right corner on the photo (the upper left corner from my point of view) since I'm a lefty.

 

[Warhogg]

If you shoot with your left, are you going to be able to drive with your right hand?

 

Is the 'stick' mounted for use with only one hand or can you switch it around?

[Magnus]

If you shoot with your left, are you going to be able to drive with your right hand? 

 

Is the 'stick' mounted for use with only one hand or can you switch it around?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh yea, I forgot to mention my joystick is secured to the right armrest. So I drive with my right hand...and I'd shoot with my left.

[Warhogg]

If you are right handed, it will take some practice getting LH shooting down.

 

 

All the more reason for a large box magazine.

 

Any luck meeting some fellow 'softers out in your area?

[Docv400]

I think a 'suspended' mount would be better than a cradle type mounting. Have a tubular bar mounted on the back of the chair, arching over your head and have the gun suspended on a cord from it. It would fit any gun you'll ever own, it takes all the weight of the weapon but is totally flexible in all planes. You could use an elastic cord (or several cords, depending on gun weight) so the gun could be pulled down and clipped/hooked to the chair during long manouvres, reloading, etc.

It would allow you to use either hand for firing.

It would keep the front of the chair totally clear as well.

It would be very easy and cheap to make.

You could mount two guns easily. E.g. AEG & pistol.

Good luck mate, go for it....

[Magnus]

If you are right handed, it will take some practice getting LH shooting down.

All the more reason for a large box magazine.

 

Any luck meeting some fellow 'softers out in your area?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I apologize for making myself unclear: I'm left-handed.

 

I haven't met any 'softers in person yet but I've registered again on the Wisconsin Airsoft Association forum and made some contacts there. A few of them seem eager to meet me and are willing to introduce me to the skirmish sites. Now it's just a matter of going when there's an event.

 

I think a 'suspended' mount would be better than a cradle type mounting...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Interesting concept. I'll take this in consideration for the next design.

 

Yet, I don't mean to repeat myself here but at this point I just want something that works just well enough so that I can try skirmishing...and I do (well, actually it's only like 50% finished). What would happen if I check out the fields and none of them are accessible enough for me to play a fulfilling role? God willing this won't be the case but it would really suck if myself and others spend their time, effort, and maybe even money into something that won't be used.

 

On the other hand, if I go with my Mk1 design, visit some fields, and find out that some of them actually aren't that bad then that changes everything. I might buy a longer AEG to make up for the large expanses of field; I'll certainly want to use the ideas here to make a Mk2 design. Let's hope this second case turns out to be the real one.

[Magnus]

Meh, I shouldn't be double posting here but I just got some goodies in the mail. Other than my Tasco scope you could very well say that these are the first accessories I've gotten.

I've pondered a simple SMG gun mount in which the vert grip just slides into a cylindrical slot, thus providing swivel movement without any mechanics involved. Very small SMGs such as the mp5k and SAS probably wouldn't even need a rear support of any kind to be balanced. I'm not sure that I'm going to use it for this purpose though. Either way, I figure it's a good thing to have just in case.

 

The mag clips don't really have anything to do with the project other than my airsoft fantasy of having a mounted G3. I was told the clips will hold G3 mags and they were cheap so it's another one of those just-in-case situations.

[Warhogg]

I like the idea of a hanging mount as well. This is definately a viable option for when you are ready for ver. 2 (maybe even ver. 1).

 

 

I would suggest using EMT thinwall conduit. It can be found at any hardware store, and has tons of fixtures for mounting, etc. And is pretty darn cheap. You can get 10 feet for something like $10 or less.

 

The pipe is designed to be bent using 'pipe benders'. I would think a big upside down hook shape would work. Bending the pipe would allow you to get the right distance from the back of the chair to the front. You could probably get away with using 1/2" conduit or 3/4" for something even more sturdy.

 

The long part of the hook would travel vertically up the back of the chair, where a few mounting brackets could be utilized. One 90 degree bend would bring the pipe horizontal, another would drop the end of the pipe right where you need it for the CG of the gun.

 

 

BTW a mounted G3 would kick serious hinny, and it would be totally feasible. I used a G3 SG1 as my support gun for a couple of years, it had an upgraded spring, a precision barrel, and a 4000rnd boxmag.

 

A cool part about using a G3 would be the fact that you could take off the stock, and run the battery wire down to a huge battery located on your tactical support vehicle (T.S.V.)somewhere. This would make the gun considerably shorter and easier to mount/wield.

 

You will want the end of the pipe to attach to the gun right at the center of gravity. The CG will vary depending on what battery you are using (if you use one in the gun at all), and amount of ammo (a bunch of mags clipped together, or a box mag). You will have to take this into account when choosing a location for the mount.

[sandstorm]

There's one problem with the overhead suspension mount, though. The 'how bad problem' would depend on the fields Magnus would end up playing at, though.

 

When the gun is in the front in supported mount, there's no problem with overhead clearance, you see where it's going. When stuff is hanging from a hook above you, there's always the risk that something snags at bad moment, and dividing your attention between watching your 'antenna' doesn't snag and covering the area you're moving into might mean a whole lot of painful snapshots on you.

 

On the other hand, suspension mount does have the advantages mentioned with regards to free range of motion.

-Sandstorm

[Magnus]

Also, don't take this as shooting down the idea because it is quite alluring yet but I was considering another potential drawback. Picture this: I'm going over bumpy terrain at my maximum speed of 6.5mph, I'm out of ammo on my main, so I draw my handgun. I turn my attention to an enemy, throw on the brakes and start shooting and that's when my primary swings away (due to the stopping force) and comes back to hit me in the chest when I least expect it. Depending on my main weapons size, weight, speed, and whether it's turned sideways while I was moving this could be extremely annoying/distracting if not a little painful.

 

Maybe there's a design solution to avoid the above scenario; nevertheless it has crossed my mind.

[bullzebub]

well ... thats a drawback .. .but on the other hand ...

you have the ability to carry a silly amount of BBs and /or have the ability to have spare mags close at hand , and you can take a spare mag up while you are shooting due to the suspension, thereby shortening the reload time by a fair bit.

so the question is: should you really draw you backup? or should you reload?

i think you could reload as fast, if that is the case you shouldnt go for your backup.

And then the above problem is eliminated :-)

 

and ofcourse its possible to design so that scenario never happends... you just have to restrict the guns movement...

[Docv400]

Also, don't take this as shooting down the idea because it is quite alluring yet but I was considering another potential drawback.  Picture this: I'm going over bumpy terrain at my maximum speed of 6.5mph, I'm out of ammo on my main, so I draw my handgun.  I turn my attention to an enemy, throw on the brakes and start shooting and that's when my primary swings away (due to the stopping force) and comes back to hit me in the chest when I least expect it.  Depending on my main weapons size, weight, speed, and whether it's turned sideways while I was moving this could be extremely annoying/distracting if not a little painful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous reply...

 

... You could use an elastic cord (or several cords, depending on gun weight) so the gun could be pulled down and clipped/hooked to the chair during long manouvres , reloading, etc.

It would allow you to use either hand for firing.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

[Warhogg]

You could also just have the vertical part of the hook (on the back of the chair), free to rotate side to side (with some resistance).

 

Then you could swing the gun to the left, out of your way when you don't want to fire it.

[powelly]

This sounds amazing god luck with it ill post back when i have got any ideas