Nerf Foam Dart Guns
Here's a page with a few details of the Nerf foam dart blasters we've
got. Specifically, the modifications I've made to them and why...
Firstly, the list of blasters. We've got an N-Strike Nite Finder
EX-3 and a Maverick REV-6. We've also got a Star Wars Captain Rex
blaster which packs a fair punch for it's tiny size! New!
We added a Barricade RV-10 to the arsenal. It makes a pretty
nifty rapid fire tool.
The modifications started when my son's Nite Finder stopped
firing. One day, I decided to try to fix it. After a bit of
web based research, it became pretty clear that the answer would
be to remove the air restrictor. It wasn't a simple modification
as it involved a bit of cutting and glueing but with a bit of care the
end result is probably our most powerful and accurate
blaster. I also added another o-ring to the end of the plunger to
stop the stock one sliding around in it's housing and stuck a thin foam
pad on the end of the plunger with double sided tape to replace a
little of the damping effect the air restrictor had. The
mechanism still fires with a satisfying metallic thunk even with
padding. With that success, I decided to open up (Required the
use of a sharp knife to split one part of the shell even after all the
screws were out.) the Captain Rex
blaster, mainly to grease the mechanism a little because it creaked
slightly when pulling the trigger. The air restrictor can be
easily 'turned off' with a long, thin implement of some kind. I
used a metal skewer, which can also be used to auger holes into air
restrictors that won't just 'turn off'. You simply push the
restrictor back and then turn it slightly so it locks off under the
'spokes' between the air holes. This can be done with the
blaster assembled! I also
taped over the holes in the barrel/chamber so all the ejected air goes
out the business end and doesn't get dumped half way out.
Having had so much fun with the EX-3 and the Star Wars blaster, I
decided to get a Maverick. I had no immediate plans to mod it but
after a few mis-fires/jams, the air restrictors had to come out!
It's a lot more reliable with them gone. I also put the air
restrictor spring from the EX-3 onto the front of the barrel/chamber
axel to push it back onto the plunger/cylinder assembly for a better
air seal. I then put two pennies behind the main spring to take
up the bit of slack that was in there. There's also now a lump
of modelling clay in the grip for better balance. Out of
the box, it all feels a bit front heavy. The most obvious
and easiest mod is a 'lanyard' attached to the slide with a
carabiner. The word carabiner apparently derives from a German
term, karabinerhaken which
literally translates as 'hook for a carbine' which is a sort of
fitting piece of trivia. Anyway, my son uses it to pull back the
slide as he's not strong enough to manage it by hand. Here's a
couple of photos.
If you've read this far, you might be wondering why I've not provided
much detailed information on how to perform the modifications I've
mentioned. The answer is simply that there are loads of pages and
video tutorials on how to do everything I've done and more! Just
fire up your favourite search engine and read a few sites. Pick
the best info you think suits your requirements and grab your tool
box! It's what I did!
Also, if you've gone on to read this far and just randomly happened
to
be here with no particular interest in Nerf blasters, you might be
wondering what the point is... The point is, they're fun!
Whether you're shooting at some kind of target or having a Nerf War
(The darts are soft enough so they don't hurt when fired at more than a
few feet away. Mind your eyes though...) you can have a
right laugh. Also, I personally think they're quite
educational. Yep, you read that right. Take target shooting
for example. There's the obvious hand/eye co-ordination but to
get good results, you need to learn to have a bit of discipline and
patience. You don't hit the target consistently by just blasting
away! You need to concentrate, focus and develop some
technique. Even running round the house blasting each other might
be said to encourage a bit of tactical thinking like 'where can I find
some cover to fire from and avoid getting blasted'. I'm sure
Hasbro didn't intend it but the modification scene encourages and
demonstrates that you can take things apart, see how they work and make
them work better. Engineering firms often seem to complain of a
lack of talented workforce. Young Nerf modders will have some
sort of practical knowledge of a fair few engineering principles
involving air flow, the actions of springs etc. Another example
is the home-made sight you may have noticed in one of the pictures
above. It's a version of a Ghost Ring sight fashioned from
various random parts found in tool boxes etc. around the house.
It might serve as a prototype for better versions to come as it works
quite well over the range you can expect a Whistler dart to fly
accurately...
Page updated 15th August 2011