But the goal of the potato gun maker is distance and noise. Many times noise is more important than actual distance. The lower the pitch and the louder it is, the better. You must try it someday. Consider it a stress reliever.
Some people throw or hit things.
During the summer of '96 I started helping build potato guns. But, I noticed some problems. The average potato gun has a few faults. One problem is if your igniter's spark box gets gunked up or needs adjusting, it many times needs to be removed with usually some difficulty. The wires themselves travel down the completely open handle to the button.