Paper Gun

A gun made from three sheets of white paper. The barrel, plunger, and rail are tubes rolled on pencils; the frame with the grip is a sheet folded in four. A rubber band pulls the plunger forward, and the plunger knocks the bullet out of the barrel. It comes with five bullets and a target on a stand.

• Medium
• 3 Letter sheets
• 3 tubes
• 5 bullets
• 1 rubber band

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 9435

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• 3 Letter sheets — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Ruler — 8–12 in
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Tape — narrow, clear
• Rubber band — about 2⅜ in across
• Second pencil — same as the first: about ¼ in thick, at least 5⅞ in long. You roll the plunger, rail, and bullets on one pencil, and the barrel on two together
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Sheet 1

1. Sheet 1: barrel sheet. The barrel sheet should be under the camera now. The template has 3 sheets.
2. Barrel and plunger. Trace two pieces with a ruler: a 5⅞ × 5⅞ in square for the barrel and a 5⅞ × 3⅞ in rectangle for the plunger.
3. Glue strip. Draw a line ⅝ in from the top edge of the rectangle. The strip above it is the glue area: you’ll roll toward it. The square doesn’t need one.

Sheet 2

4. Sheet 2: bullets and target sheet. Remove the previous sheet and put the bullets and target sheet in its place, lined up edge to edge. Don’t move the phone — the scale stays the same.
5. Rail and bullets. Trace with a ruler: a 5⅛ × 3⅞ in rectangle for the rail and a long 7⅞ × 3⅛ in strip for the bullets.
6. Bullets: cut lines. Divide the long strip into five parts, 1⅝ in each — with four solid lines.
7. Glue strips. Draw a line ⅝ in from the long edge on both pieces, as on the screen. The strip beyond it is for glue.
8. Target and stand. Trace a circle 2 in across and a ¾ × 2 in strip.
9. Stand: fold. Across the strip, ½ in from the end, draw the fold line as a dash-dot line.
10. Target: rings. Draw four rings inside the circle, as on the screen. They don’t need to be neat.
11. Color: target. Color every other ring red: the edge, the middle, and the bullseye.

Sheet 3

12. Sheet 3: grip sheet. Remove the previous sheet and put the grip sheet in its place, lined up edge to edge. Don’t move the phone — the scale stays the same.
13. Frame with grip: outline. Trace with a ruler: a long rectangle, two V-shaped notches on the right, and a tab with a slanted end on top.
14. Frame with grip: folds. Don’t cut the fold lines: a dashed line is a mountain fold (away from you), a dash-dot line is a valley fold (toward you). Label the three long lines and the diagonal one with numbers, as on the screen.

Cut

15. Cut out: barrel and plunger — 2 pcs. Cut out the square and the rectangle exactly along the lines, keeping the corners square.
16. Cut out: rail and bullets — 2 pcs. Cut out the rail and the long strip. Don’t cut the strip into parts yet.
17. Cut out: target and stand — 2 pcs. Cut out the circle and the stand strip.
18. Cut out: frame with grip. Cut out the whole piece, tab included. On the right are two V-shaped notches: cut toward the point from both sides.
19. Cut the strip into bullets. Cut the long strip along the four lines to get five 1⅝ × 3⅛ in slips — one for each bullet.

Roll

20. Plunger and rail — on a pencil. Apply glue to the strip at the far edge. Starting from the near edge, roll the sheet tightly around the pencil — the pencil lies along the long side — press the seam and pull out the pencil. This is how you roll the plunger and the rail.
21. Five bullets. Roll the five slips on the pencil the same way, with glue — with the short side along the pencil. The bullets will come out 1⅝ in long.
22. Barrel — on two pencils. Put two pencils together and tape them near the ends. Without glue, roll the square tightly around them and secure the edge with three pieces of tape.
23. Check the movement. Pull out the pencils and squeeze the barrel from the sides — it will become round. Insert the plunger, then a bullet: they should move freely, and the gap above the plunger is narrower than a pencil — 1/16–3/16 in.
24. Cuts for the rubber band. At one end of the plunger and one end of the rail, make two cuts 3/16 in deep in each: cut from the end along the tube, with the second cut exactly opposite the first. The rubber band will sit in them.

Fold

25. Grip sheet — in half. Flip the sheet so the lines face down and the tab points away from you. Fold it in half — the near edge to the far edge; the tab sticks out.
26. In half again. Fold it once more the same way. You get a sturdy four-layer strip 1⅝ in wide: crease the folds and glue the layers together.
27. Diagonal fold. Flip the strip with line 3 facing up: the tab is on the right, pointing away from you. Fold along the diagonal line toward you, crease it and apply glue under the fold: the grip now points down at an angle.

Assemble

28. Rail to barrel. Place the rail against the side of the barrel: the end with the cuts overlaps the barrel by 2⅜ in, with the cuts facing up and down. Apply glue along the line where they touch and press them together.
29. Frame and tab. Apply glue to the tab and lay the tubes on it: the rail along the edge of the frame, with the nose of the frame stopping ⅜ in short of the cuts. Wrap the tab around the barrel and rail: the slanted end will lie on the frame along its slanted edge.
30. Plunger. Insert the plunger into the barrel from the back, cuts facing back. The cuts point up and down, like the rail’s.
31. Rubber band. Fit the rubber band into the cuts on the rail. Pull both strands back — one over the gun, the other under it — and hook them into the cuts on the plunger. Cover both ends with a small piece of tape so the rubber band doesn’t slip off.
32. Target on a stand. Fold the stand along the line. Glue its short part to the back of the target, a little above the middle, with the long part toward the edge — the target will rest on it.

Shoot

33. Load the gun. Put a bullet into the muzzle and push it in until it reaches the plunger: the plunger slides back and the bullet sticks out 3/16–⅝ in. Set the target 8–12 in from the muzzle.
34. Shot. Hold the gun by the grip, with the barrel level or tilted slightly up. Pull the plunger back by its tail 2 in and let go — it will knock the bullet out of the barrel.

Done. The gun is ready. Shoot only at the target — not at people or animals.

Make it with your phone camera

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