I Don’t Belong Here: The Joy Of The Rubber Band Gun

Welcome back to I Don’t Belong Here. This week I’d like to show you a fantastic rubber band gun that I think you’ll have a lot of fun with. Even if you’ve never made a rubber band gun before, this is one you can make.

I’ll just list the pieces you’ll need. Some pens from that office supply store. They taper at the end and so can be connected to one another. A popsicle stick. A brass fastener, also fascinatingly called a “brad.” A small binder clip. And a plastic tape dispenser, minus the tape.

Now you’ve got some decisions to make. Where’s the clip going to live on your gun? I think a good test is to hold the tape dispenser like a handle and press down with your thumb. The arc your thumb moves in should intersect with the clip. Put it somewhere comfortable and tape that rascal down.

If we can just swing the camera around you can get an idea of clip placement. But you can put it anywhere you want. This is your world. You have total control over it.

Now you’ll want to put your popsicle stick on. Tape it firmly, same as every part. You want it ideally to come right up to the lip of the clip.

Any closer and it will be in the clip, and that’s not going to make a good shooter.

Now that the handle is done, we can start assembling the barrel. Take three pens, remove their caps. Pull out the ink tubes, and pop off the little plug on the back. You now have three hollow plastic tubes, which you can connect like this. Make sure to tape it extra secure where the two top pens join, and to attach the third pen on the bottom so its tip is under the join and can be taped down for additional support. Where those two pens meet is one of the weakest connections in this type of rubber band gun, so you’ll want to tape it very well.

Attach the barrel to the handle. The back pen should go under the popsicle stick, as far back as it can go without bending the stick or warping the plastic of the tape dispenser. Tape it well. I know I keep saying that but it is important to tape every part as firmly and securely as possible, or else your gun will be a dud shooter in the end. And shoot, where’s the fun in that?

Here’s a close-up of how I tape the barrel down. As you can see I am using some diagonal strips of tape as well. This helps streamline the skeleton of the gun and add some nice curves you can finish with the colored tapes later.This is the tip of the gun. Insert a brad into the pen cap. I like this, it is the lazy man’s way of doing it. Back when I started building rubber band guns I would spend hours twisting paper clips into little hooks. This is so much simpler. Tape down the back end of the brad, as shown, or your rubber band will catch on it and not fire.

Now tape the tip to the barrel. Make sure the tail of the pen cap is taped down because the rubber band can catch here as well.

And shoot, we’re just about ready to finish it. Here’s a complete rubber-band gun skeleton before finishing. You’ll really want to test fire it at this point. Hook a rubber band onto the brad and stretch it to the clip. Aim, and squeeze the clip with your thumb. If it shoots very badly you may need to tape the joints and connects down better. See where the gun bends as you try to load it. These areas need to be secured. Remember some looseness is okay because the final coat of colored tape will hold the whole body together.

I like solid colors, with some minor detailing. Here I have used black tape on the tip to continue the theme of black from the black clip, and finished the rest in red electrical tape. But you can decorate your gun however you like. This is your world. Just make sure you tape it tight, tight, tight.

So that’s it! Have fun with your new work of fully-functional outsider art! And be careful not to shoot anyone in the eye. Good night my friends, and god bless.

Noel Rogers is an amateur eschatologist and a scary old crackpot in training.