X Products Can Cannon

Photos by Kenda Lenseigne

From the God Bless America Files
X Products Can Cannon — Barkingly Mad and Tons of Fun

If you’ve ever wondered just what to get that hard-to-buy-for gun nut for a gift-giving occasion, might we humbly suggest you consider this particular bit of moonbattery. One day, someone woke up and said, “You know what? I want to hurl a soda can the length of a football field, and all I have is an AR-15 and a short length of sewer pipe,” then spent the next five minutes scratching themselves and muttering darkly about burst pressures and projectile weights. The fruits of their (possibly frosty-beverage fueled) cogitation burst forth like a scampering critter from John Hurt’s chest cavity and behold! The Can Cannon.

Powered by a Mil-spec, blank 5.56mm cartridge, the device consists of a smoothbore outer tube, within which lurks a short length of barrel blank that is mated to a regular barrel extension. The barrel has been cross-drilled perpendicular to the bore axis with a series of ports, designed to rapidly bleed off pressure by venting into the outer tube. The end of the barrel is blocked by a set screw, resting against the base of the projectile when loaded. Without the series of ports and the large internal volume into which they divert propellant gasses, the blank round would punch straight through the bottom of the can, and the owner would have to deal with a sticky mess every time they attempted to use it. The rest of the Can Cannon is pretty unremarkable — a standard A3 upper receiver that will mate to any of the ARs that have multiplied like rabbits in your gun safe.

You’ll need to pull the bolt and charging handle out of whichever upper you’ve separated from the trigger mechanism and drop it into the Can Cannon. Once that’s done, load up a magazine with blanks, grab a case of delicious, sugary, carbonated garbage, and head to the nearest open space where you’re A) not going to break any laws and B) not going to wind up explaining how a soda can managed to get embedded in anything it’s not supposed to, like your buddy’s melon. Because you know this thing is going to draw a crowd.

The guys at X Products are quite obviously overgrown juveniles and wasted many hours figuring out what they could shoot out of their brilliant creation. Otherwise why else would the third bullet point in the owner’s manual state: “The object must not be flammable, explosive, or living?” Alrighty then, we’ll take that as a challenge…

In the spirit of scientific inquiry, we headed afield equipped with not only sodas, but also some suitably dimensioned citrus fruit, aerosol paint cans, and a basket of fluffy kittens. OK, we lied about the last one, and we’re aware that spray paint is flammable. But it just looks so damn pretty when you launch it out of the Can Cannon and blast it midair with a shotgun.

The manufacturer warns against using generic soda, as the cans are not as strong — so we played it safe with only the finest carbonated high-fructose corn syrup solutions. Yummy! Held at a 45-degree angle, we had no problems sending a 12-ounce can 100 yards downrange, where it burst with a satisfying spray. In the words of our 43rd president, mission accomplished.

Spec box
X Products Can Cannon
Caliber: 12-ounce can
Outer Barrel Length: 11.2 inches
Overall Length: 18 inches
Launcher Diameter: 2.65 inches
Magazine Capacity: 1
Weight: Approx. 3 pounds
MSRP: $399
URL: www.xproducts.com