Here is a light gun built for my Sony Playstation (obsolete system that it is). I built it primarily to use with Area 51. You know, zombie blasting, alien busting fun. The best weapon in game is a the shotgun, but the puny little sci-fi looking handguns, such as the Mad Catz Fazor in lower right, just didn't seem to do it justice. After I discovered that the Game Shark cheat cartridge had codes to grant permanent shotgun powerups, I realized something must be done!
The main body of the gun is constructed from three aluminum chassis boxes, bolted together with machine screws. In the left box is the guts from another Fazor that was sacrificied to the cause. The barrel, constructed of painted PVC pipe fittings, contains the lens assembly and the light sensor. This sensor is wired back to the circuit board from the Fazor gun. You can see the interface cable on the bottom of the box. The black cylinder in the upper left of the chassis, just behind the barrel, is a laser sight. Some say this is cheating. But the zombies don't play fair, so why should I?
In the center chassis box are the parts that makes the gun unique. Glued inside are four large solenoid kickers, with steel cores weighing a bit over an ounce apiece. The solenoids are wired to activate when the trigger is pulled. The end result is the shotgun "kicks." The cores are rigged with spring returns and felt pads to minimize rattle. No, it's not the kick of a real shotgun, but it's noticable.
The chassis box on the right contains the various switches, buttons, relays, and connections. This includes a screw in type connection for the 12V power supply (not shown). The trigger is a momentary connect toggle switch, as you can see on the bottom. This is wired to a relay which both closes the circuit for the game controller and activates the aforementioned solenoids. The solenoid kill switch in the upper left of the chassis, and the gun control function button in lower middle. A matching ambidextrous function button is mounted on the other side, as well as the start button. The stock is pine with dark cherry stain, purchased from a garage sale something like 10 years ago, and kept for all that time. I feel vindicated for holding onto all my useless crap for so long.