Question about DIY mortars???

[Tgwinn]

I am in the process of making my own guns, what's the preferred plug thickness for 3in, 4in and 6in mortars??

[SharkWhisperer]

What are you making them out of? What length & wall thickness.

At minimum, you want plugs that are at least half the ID, preferably longer. If possible, with the grain vertical for strength. Glue them in and set them with 3-4 long screws. Even better is to use 2 long steel bolts/rods all the way through parallel predrilled holes, each about 1/3 of the ID in from the wall--so in a 3" you'd have a bolt running through 1" from either side, and 1" apart from and parallel to each other.

Some folks use polyester resin instead of wood, that pours as liquid and solidifies; if you add some sharp sand after pouring the resin, it will "bite" into the walls of the tube and seat it nicely. Don't forget to tape off the bottom first, or you'll make a nice mess. I've never used the resin, so uncertain if additional screws or staples would be of any benefit.

[SharkWhisperer]

Duplicate post by accident. Sorry...

For shells, tube length is generally 6x inner diameter. Sometimes shorter for mines. If you need to join multiple wood pieces together for plugs, use wood glue and appropriate screws. If using horizontal-grained wood, then turn one disk 90-degrees, so grains are perpendicular between disks, for strength. Glue for insertion depends on what your tubes are made of.

Stay safe.