I'm curious as to how the shells from the Ruff Stuff Double Shot and the Ruff Stuff Rapid Fire Rifle work. I noticed that there's a black ring inside that's pushed down when you insert darts, what is the purpose of that? Also, would Stefans work with the shells once the rod is removed? Also, what is that small circle on the bottom of the shells, it's a small indent on the plastic right outside of the circle signifying the seal?

I want to understand the mechanisms fully before I venture out to try some random mods, since I don't have easy access to replacements for them.

Thanks!

Ahhhh... That helps a lot... So shall I remove the black washer and spring?

I've tried sawing off the straight part of the shell at the top and replacing it with CPVC, but now the dart barely leaves the shell when I fire... I'm guessing it's too tight a fit, but I'm using two inches of 1/2" CPVC, following a mod of the Double Shot I saw elsewhere on the forums... They said they got 3 times the distance. Do I need different CPVC?

Edit: Haha, ok, nevermind that. I finally figured out how to remove the bottom piece of the rod. Everything works fine. I read the other mod wrong where it said it gave it 3 times the range, it was 3 times the power. Which is about right. It shoots harder, but it's range is only increased by a foot at most in the Double Shot. Seems like a waste of effort to mod the shells like that alone. Thanks for your help guys!

Ok, so, I have my Nite Finder and it was all nice and modded. I replaced the red LED light with a laser pointer (which was accurate to about 2-3 cm), I replaced the double AAs with the button cells, I added 6 ammo holders (can't really see them, since the gun is just showing off its guts in this pic), removed the air restrictor, replaced the barrel, stretched the spring and I added some bungee on the outside (wasn't too taught).

Now the problem is... Well, one of the pieces holding the plunger tube in place snapped. You can see it in the picture, it's the bottom piece of the plunger tube. I'm wondering what you guys might suggest as a fix for this?

I took my ranges before this snapped and they were about 52' on average shooting straight. Now I only get somewhere around 35'. Not exactly sure why, but I'm assuming it has something to do with the plunger tube screwhole snapping.

Thanks for any help! Here's the picture:

It doesn't look like it should have that huge of an impact on the gun to me, so long as it's closed tightly.

I know, but it was closed tightly. I don't even know how that piece had enough room to jolt out of place! You can see the plunger tube through slits on both sides of the gun and I think that it even adds some holding power. I just have no idea where there was enough of a jolt for it to snap the plastic. Also, I think the plastic holding piece on top is also losing strength. Looks to be turning slightly white-ish, as if it's ready to snap the center of itself out. This is really depressing me. This was my first modded nerf gun and I've only had it for maybe 3 weeks.

It's not the screw port that's causing the drop in range. I don't know what is, but that isn't it. I've had that happen on two or three NFs and none lost any range as a result of it. Do a tune-up on the gun. Make sure everything's sealed up with a good airtight glue (hot glue, Plumber's Goop), make sure the plungerhead's sealing with the inside of the tube, make sure the darts are in good condition. Maybe add a little lube to the plungerhead and spring too.

It could be any of those things, but I can guarantee it's not the screw port because the plunger tube won't shift around too much with just one snapped, and even if it does shift around a lot that won't cause any decrease in range. If it does bother you though you can just put a dab of hot glue on each side of the tube to keep it in place, but not so much that you can't open the gun.

EDIT: What are those two darts with the black domey heads on the lower half of the case? Are the heads of them hard and plasticky? If they are I'm curious to know what gun you got them with because I have some too.

Thanks, yeah, I think you're right, I just really had nothing else to go by. I'll try a full tune up.

There's actually 3 of those darts, and yes, they have black hard plastic tips. At the power of my modded gun, those actually left little imprints on my wall. Very hard stuff. Wouldn't want to get shot in the face with one. As to where I got them? Well, I randomly found a nerf-type gun at a dollar store for a buck. The gun wasn't terrible, for a dollar (it shot about 20 feet max), especially since these darts have kinda bad balance and what-not. I've never seen another one of those guns at a dollar store since I bought that one a year and some ago. I opened up the gun to see if I could mod it, but the thing was horrifyingly cheaply made. It broke apart under gentle handling. At least now I have an extra random spring and almost useless plunger tube (it's practically as big as CPVC).

CPVC is smaller than PVC, and has an inner diameter of about .524" (Could be wrong on that one, Slug knows it for sure).
And how long is that barrel? You'd most likely get better ranges shortening it a bit.
And to fix your problem: Check for leaks, especially around the barrel/plunger tube connection, and, like Newbie said, it could be that the break caused a crack in your plunger tube.
If none of those work, check your plunger head and O-rings and make sure they aren't messed up.
And before you decide to close it back up, lube the O-rings/plunger tube with a rubber/plastic safe lubricant, I like to use Silicon Lube. Do not use Petroleum based products, as they will eat away at the rubber.

Yes, it is CPVC. I'm too lazy to check the width of it's walls right now.

The barrel is approximately 4.5 inches, which is what I read on quite a few nite finder guides to be a decent length. I thought it was a bit long too, but I'm running low on CPVC, and I don't even know if I could replace the barrel after I cut it down and lost any preformance, since it's epoxied on quite well. Where might I find Silicon Lube? Besides in a sex-shop of course >.>

What I believe to be a new idea for a Homemade.

Basically, you have four relatively small pumps all mounted next to each other. The plungers will all be pulled back simultaneously every time you cock the 'gun'. After cocking, the cocking mechanism will spring back into place, much like on the Maverick as opposed to the Nite-Finder. The cocking mechanism will have two joints to allow it to fold on top of the plunger tubes after being cocked.

Now, you might ask yourself, why would anyone want to make something monstrous as this? Well it's pretty much my idea for a 'Gun Gauntlet'. That's right, gauntlet, like a glove. The four plunger tubes would be mounted on the back of your hand, and each of your fingers would control each release mechanism. The barrels would extend over your fingers, and it'd have some of the quality of Wolverine's metal claws. The folding cocking mechanism would keep it out of the way of your wrist, so when you don't need to use this back up gun, you can still hold a regular gun in the same hand. When you're out of ammo, you cock with your other hand, switch that gun to your free hand and you can simply shoot with your fingers! I've obviously not made this thing yet, and I'm not even sure if it's feasible. I don't have the materials to make it on hand (no pun intended), so I'm not even certain I could make it if i had the time and know-how. What I'm posting this for is to hear your thoughts on it. Whether you think it'd be an awesome idea, if it's do-able, and anything else. I got really excited about this idea, and I've been 'air-nerfing' with my imaginary gun gauntlet all day, haha.

I'm curious as to how the gun actually gets cocked. I understand how everything else works, but how do you cock it? Do you pull the barrel forwards or what?

1. (well its not really a problem) because of the size of fingers varries so much it would only work for you.
2. The fireing mech would have to use wires of some sort, that are taunt and when tightend compleatly fired. If they are exposed and they get a bump, they will go off.
3. It will be difficult to make one that rest on your arm, take up a little space while still retaining accuracy.

1. Well the idea of home-made guns for me is to customize it so it fits me perfectly. So, if I were to make a rifle, I'd size it so it'd fit perfectly in my own hands, I don't need to worry about others using it cause I wouldn't let anyone else touch mah babeh.

2. The firing mech would use rope. I got that idea from the Double Shot. It uses ropes and pulleys (I think it uses pulleys...). It doesn't use them for the trigger, but it's where the idea came from. Also, this gun won't be constantly cocked. It's a back up gun, for use when you're out of ammo and need some quick cover fire to escape to reload your main. A bump would only set it off after you've cocked it, and by then, I'd hope you're already aiming it at someone you want to hit. The rope triggers also won't be worn like rings. They'll be resting on the middle knuckle of your finger so you can put more leverage into firing, and reducing misfires.

3. The straps will have to be tight around the hand, and it can't restrict the movement of your fingers when it's uncocked. I'm trying to avoid using the arm, this is purely supposed to be a hand-mounted weapon, to give you the freedom to move your hand. The range and accuracy on it wouldn't be anything special due to the space restriction, but it'd both be an asset as quick cover-fire and it'd sure be one hell of a novelty. Imagine shooting with your pinky first. Then your ring finger, middle finger and you'd still have your index finger cocked. You make a gun with your hand, point at someone's head, and say, "Bang." and with the miming of pulling a trigger, you nail him in the goggles. That alone would make my day.

Haha, thanks, but when I do have the time, I have no idea where to get plungers, springs, rods or how to design the cocking mechanism or trigger. I've never even made a homemade before. I only started modding and got interested in Nerf guns about a month ago. I live in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Over here we don't have any Ace-Hardware stores, and at the Home Depot nearest to me, they didn't even have 1/2" CPVC. Very aggravating.

Some day I would love to make this a reality, but right now, it's more likely someone else on the forums would attempt to make it before I even started.

Could you use KY Jelly as a plunger lube? Also, is it practical to use WD-40, or would that damage the plastic? But first and foremost... Could I use KY Jelly as a plunger lube without worrying about damaging the plastic? Cause if so, it'd save me searching for silicone sprays.

Also, is it practical to use WD-40, or would that damage the plastic?

If that jelly is petroleum based, then it will not work.

It's water-based.

Dude, do you know what your parents are using KY jelly for?
If you did I dont think you would be using it or even handling the tube it comes in.

It's my own, buddy

I'm 18.

Hey, what would you rather imagine? Me handling KY Jelly I randomly found in my house, or me handling KY Jelly that I've bought myself and never used.

Though it's a close call on how sad/disturbing it is, I'd pick the self-bought Jelly.

Anyways, I already know I could use Silicone lube, but I'm asking about KY Jelly in particular. Has no one done it before?

We'll just leave it at, "yes, I've tried it", and "no, it doesn't work very well".

Hahahaha. Oh man. Thanks Carbon, you started my day with a laugh. Also, thanks for the input. I guess I'll just use it as temporary lube for now and buy some silicone spray today.

I followed the beginning of CaptainSlug's Maverick Drop Clip to improve the barrel rotation's effeciency and such, but now I've run into a spot of trouble. I epoxied the two pieces together all fine and dandy, screwed everything tightly back into place and closed the casing with the screws that I've been so frantically screwing and unscrewing over the past two days that the heads are starting to wear away despite my care.

The problem is that the barrel wont even rotate. I pull the trigger, and it barely even twitches. Funny thing is, when I unscrew the casing, the barrel rotates fine with the trigger, but when I screw the casing back on... It just jams. I can't figure out exactly what the problem is, but I figured out that pressing the two bumps on the side of the casings together when it's closed (right before where the barrel is housed) I can use the trigger to rotate the barrel pretty normally. But when I let go, it just jams. Any ideas?

Ok ok, alright. I went out and got myself a 300 g canister of MotoMaster Silicone Lube.

Seems to work fine.

I'm quite certain it's all in it's proper place and securely fastened. This is really bugging me...

Here's a quick photo:

Alright, well I've been looking at some gatling guns and staring at my Mavericks and pondering the maximum torque you could squeeze out of a moderately small motor. Then I decided to draw up some schematics...



To explain... The motor spins the plunger tubes around the edge of the gun casing. As the plunger tubes spin, the plunger itself is guided into a position using the torque of the motor. The reason the guides (red) are kind of stuttered is so the pin of the plunger has somewhere to rest when you stop firing. The plunger will have to be pressed quite firmly against the exterior of the casing, and made of something quite sturdy. As the plungers are guided to the end of the inclined slope, there's a sudden drop, which allows the plunger to fly freely, shooting the dart out as the plunger lines up with the hole. I'm not sure about the clip feed system. I thought of gravity fed, but it might not be fast or accurate enough, but if you use spring fed, the spring would have to be strong, which would deform the darts, in which case you'd need shells, and then you'd have a huge mess after you finished mowing everyone nearby down, not to mention having to carry rather heafty ammunition along with a rather heafty gun. ANYWAYS, I'll think about that later. The trigger would simply connect or disconnect the circuit for the motor. If the gun does use shells, there'd have to be a weak spring installed into each barrel and a hole in one part of the gun to eject it automatically. I got the idea for this fully automatic machine gun, and I'm rather fond of it, even if it's messy and slightly insane.

Any ideas, questions, comments and criticisms are appreciated.

Also, please note that it's not in my own power to create anything like this. If anyone on these forums could make anything even similar to this, my bets are on Captain Slug. So yeah, with that said, enjoy the idea at the very least!

Edit: Oh crap, did Captain Slug already plan something like this?

God has a sense of humor. But he doesn't particularly like ignorance.

Actually, I'm pretty sure God loves ignorance. Hence the Forbidden Apple which cast off Adam and Eve's ignorance, causing God to get really emo and kicked humanity out of Eden.

What a jerk.

Are you sure you should use 2 bb's, or is it different if you're trying to optimize it for the LS?

Well I'm just glad others are trying to develop something like this. I noticed that the gun would be heavy and unweildly, but that'd make it an awesome turret gun for some nerf war scenario. Like, a really huge nerf game. With 100 people or something ridiculous number.

Anyways, I think that the loudness of the gun would be half the fun. Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies in a half mile radius! MOUAHAHAH!

I noticed you were doing some kind of double helix thing-a-mabob with your CsHG. That looks a lot more reasonable than what I thought up.

Sadly enough, I'm starting to feel like there's no idea I could come up with that'd be fresh. I still want to make that hand-mounted gauntlet gun some day. That'd make my year worthwhile.

Right now I'm experimenting with FBR for new Stefans, since I haven't the skill to make a normal one yet. So far I've tried mimicing bullet-head shapes and it looks painful as hell. I made sizes from .5" to 2.5", and the .5 doesn't fare too horribly. I'm only posting this here because it'd be a waste to make a new topic for something this trivial.

Kudos on that gun in progress, Jergling!

You didn't put the gun back together correctly is all I can figure. The rotation mechanism has to be seated properly.

Haha, actually, I fixed my problem a couple days ago. The problem wasn't that the mechanism wasn't seated properly. The screws holding the back piece of the mechanism in place weren't as tight as possible. Woops!

Haha, thanks anyways.

Easy way to increase reload time.

Yeah, I got a chuckle out of that too. Good ol' english.

CaptainSlug, Carbon, Groove, what is your oppions if this would work?

Distance reduces the pull strength, unlike with springs where compression or extension distance scales up the applied load.
I'm not optimistic.

Even so (with the kind of power these magnets have, that wouldn't be a big deal over a span of 5 inches), you can simply add another magnet at the back of the plunger, which is repelling the magnet on the plunger itself. That way, you have the immediate full force of the repulsion as well as the immediate attraction of the other magnet. The whole thing'd be so powerful it might just break itself if it were made of plastic! Haha. I think this is a good avenue for a home-made.

You would need a cushioned plunger head, because the force of impact could be enough to realign the magnetic domains. Also, magnetic fields are inversely proportional to the distance squared, so this would need to have super slim and super strong magnets. I'm thinking that for the cost and effectiveness of this (over $20 in magnets) you might as well have used the spring, which is far more reliable. Great thinking, but not a feasible idea.

I don't know, a 3 mm thick magnet with 18 lbs of pull strength for $1.08 seems pretty decent to me. Not as cheap as a spring (since you'd be using two or three of these) but it wouldn't be a bad idea. I agree with cushioning the plunger. Also, leaving an actual gap between the two attracting magnets so that they couldn't touch even if there was no cushion. Benefits of using magnets instead of springs... well, you get more power out of magnets, depending on the magnet used. Uhh, yeah, that's all I can think of.

You'd put them at the BACK of the plunger, and on the BACK of the plunger-head, so the repulsive force of the magnets accelerates the plunger. That way, you get the full pull (or push, in this case) of the magnets right off the bat.

The problem with that is that once the magnets have finished repulsing (that is if the force doesn't reach to the other end of the tube) then the plunger will decellerate as it goes along it's path. Which is why I suggested using both repulsion and attraction with magnets that won't tear the casing apart.

Anyways, I like the idea. You should go for it and tell us the results.

Now, I know that something LIKE this has already been posted once, but it isn't the same. As simple of a mod that this is, it works quite nicely, and you don't have to refill for every shot.

Basically, you take a stock dart and make a tiny hole approximately 1/4" down from the rubber lip that's at the beginning of the foam itself. Then take a funnel, pour in some baby powder or talcum powder, and plug the back of the dart with a very very tiny scrap of FBR. Don't pack it down too tightly, just make sure it stays in place. You want some air inside the pocket full of baby powder you just made. And there you have it. What happens is the air pressure of the gun pushes on the FBR first, causing it to push on the powder-air mix. This then exits the hole in the front of the dart, while the whole dart is already in motion. What's it do? Nothing, really. You just get a smokey shot. No trail, just a big blast of smokey goodness. Also, when the dart hits someone, it should leave a little mark of powder on them. This mod lets the darts be reused without having to refill. You get about 7 decently smokey shots before it starts to fade. There's no preformance decrease.

An added cool factor is for night fights. If you've done something like I have and stuck an actual laser pointer into your nite-finder, when you shoot a blast, your laser's beam shows up in the cloud of powder about 5-6 inches in front of your gun. It's amused me greatly!

I will agree with many of you in advance by saying that this mod won't help with nerf-wars or anything like that, but like I stated in my description, this is simple aesthetics. Just for looks and not practical at all.

Enjoy powder blastin'!

Okay, I'm not too sure what you mean. Do you mean you shoot seven blasts of smoke, and no dart, before you ahve to "refill" the dart with baby powder? If so, I see no reason to be puffing during a war to make people think you are smoking. It would be like telling everyone where you are, too.

Clarify if I'm wrong, but that's what I deciphered (I'm sure I'm probably wrong, because I don't think someone would want to puff about like that, unless they want to make it MilSim and pretend to be using "smoke grenades").

-OfAll'

I mean that if you were to retrieve the smokey-dart you shot, you could fire it 6 more times before the smoke effect dissapates. I also stated that this isn't for warring. It's just for fun. It doesn't affect the gun, so once you stop using the smokey-dart, you can use normal darts without any 'smoke' involved. This could be fun for reenactments, and just horsing around. Like in a pirate scenario, you fire, smoke flies everywhere. It's not a practical modification, it's simply for kicks.

This idea would be good for target practice with hard surfaces like plywood, assuming that the dart hits with enough force to actually leave a mark and not just a dusting of powder.

Well, first of all, powder doesn't STICK to hard surfaces. Unless that hard surface is porous or rough. I haven't been able to try it out on any material yet, I just tested out the powder blast function. You could probably increase the amount of powder to mark someone with by adding a second hole, but loading the darts manually would be messy. Even with one hole, the powder will shoot little spurts out as I twist it in, but nothing that's inconvenient.

Using a powder to mark people is a lot less annoying than using liquid or blunt-force trauma (welts). Someone suggested chalking up the front of the darts before play, but that would wear off after every hit, so reusing ammunition would require the time to reload as well as rechalk (if you aren't playing by an honor system). My darts could be used 7 times before you have to worry about 'priming' it to leave marks. Anyways, I don't want to get into the technicalities of using these darts in wars. The effect you get immediately after the shot is a huge misty smokey wall right in front of your gun. If that doesn't give you away, well hell, you're playing blindfolded-nerf-war.

...which in retrospect sounds kind of interesting.

Anyway, sounds pretty cool. You could probably fill it also with some colored sand, like the stuff they use to fill the bottles to make, "art".

The granules of sand might be too large and heavy in general. Maybe if you blended the sand, it'd be a lot smoother, but it'd still be pretty heavy.

Sealing off the back is required for this, otherwise you get a plunger full of baby powder, and that'll either mess up your gun totally or just decrease the preformance 100-fold.

Anyways, you aren't adding much mass to the back by sealing it off. The tip of the stock darts will still be heavy enough to outweigh the baby powder and the small scrap of FBR you put in the back. An additional note... Make sure the FBR you put in the back is wedged nicely in there. If not, it'll pop out after a shot or two, or force way too much baby powder out at once.

Firing 20 of these out of a rapid fire 20 would be hell. Your rapid fire 20 would have to have the rods removed of course, but yeah, it would be a hell of a smokey mess. Make sure you aren't down-wind.

This is what I envisioned:

*image*

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly it. I've also tried putting the hole in the center of the actual rubber suction tip. It was less messy in general, as the rubber seals itself until the blast of the gun forces the powder through it, but that there's no giant poof of powder when you shoot, and also, the mark it leaves on someone is rather small in comparison to having the hole on the side. I actually made the hole using a small screwdriver from my screwdriver set, and I made the hole at a bit of a diagonal, as to create a more readily available passage for the powder to escape. I tested both ideas out on a navy blue pair of shorts draped over my fan, and it works, and the powder clings quite well. To completely get rid of it, you'd probably have to wash it. Otherwise, rubbing it and trying to rub it off with spit will only make the mark fade. I think the dart with the hole in the suction tip is more practical in wars, and the hole in the side is more practical for aesthetics. To make a hole in the center of the suction cup (I used the Buzz Bee brand of dart for this one) I poked a jumbo saftey-pin through the center, then used a sharp wood-carving blade (those scalpel type things) to pierce closely around the 'hole' I made in a square. This way, the powder can easily escape with a bit of pressure, but won't fall out with handling.

Would it be possible for you to get a video of these darts firing at something?

Haha, I wish I could right now, but I've been busy packing for Italy, and I'm leaving today. The only thing I have at my disposal that could even take video is my sister's digital camera. Anyways, unless you all want to wait 2 weeks for me to make a short clip, why not just try it yourself? The dart isn't ruined and it's not that hard of a thing to do. But yeah, I will end up posting a video up in 2 weeks, I dunno if I should revive this thread by then for that. It'll be a video in light and dark, so you can see the laser beam with the powder cloud.

This makes me quiver inside:



Are they even allowed to do this?

The darts that come with it are dangerous in high-powered guns. They can dent walls. They're also not too well balanced.

I bought this at a Dollar Store in my downtown area. I might just buy 20 bucks worth of these and use the ready made plungers to try out my Gauntlet Gun homemade idea.

I haven't actually opened this one yet, I just wanted to show you guys. I had one before, but it wasn't designed after the NF. Anyhow, I know these guns have decent range for a dollar. I mean, any range is good for a dollar! And stock NF ranges are acceptable for something that's this small and this cheaply made.

I actually found the cocking mechanism fit rather comfortably in my hand, and I could shoot just as fast as with the maverick. Just takes some time getting used to. Also, with that hole in the maverick, you can always tie some rope to it, then loop the rope around your shoulder. That way you can dual-wield them and cock by extending your arm, and when you're all out, you can just let go of one and let it hang at your side.

ANYWAYS, to the point, the tek six isn't as sturdy as the maverick, especially with the complicated and slightly fragile cocking set-up they have. I still think it's worth it to use this gun, however, as long as you aren't too aggressive with it, and if you are, to put some extra work into reinforcing.... everything. I think I'll go buy one again and try this mod. I was always a little bit confused as to how to go about CPVCing it, so thanks!

Well this is actually the first mod I ever did on the first Nerf gun I ever bought. It was by random chance I came upon this very site while looking up information on the Nite Finder, and thus I was gripped and shoved into the world of modding Nerf guns. Sometimes I'll sit in class and just sketch ideas for a mod.

I was looking through every article and modification and post related to Nite Finders on this forum (just cause) and I noticed that when people did the real laser modification to the Nite Finder, they were looking for an expensive type that used AA batteries, so they could just hook it up to the battery compartment and be done with it. Well when I decided to stuff a laser into my Nite Finder, I had no intention of buying a laser more expensive than a dollar. Of course those dollar lasers use watch batteries, which are ill suited to a double AA battery compartment, so here's a picture of what I did:



Basically, I short circuited one side of the battery compartment with some wire, covered the contact on the compartment cover with melted solder (so it would stick out and touch the batteries):



Cut off a section of the actual laser casing, cut slits into each end of it's tips and folded them to make a conductive filler to fill in the dead space:



And wrapped both the watch batteries and the laser casing in paper to make them the same thickness as AA batteries:



For the laser itself, I sort of screwed it into the original light's case, so I could be sure it was as straight as the factory manufacturing could ensure. The laser comes with a button installed on the chip. Pry it off and connect the two metal contacts with a glob of solder to complete the negative circuit. the positive wire (red) should be tied/soldered to the tip of the laser, where the laser light comes from:



Before you scream at me for the hideous and obviously terribly designed barrel set up, I already know. Like I said before, this was my very first mod, and I've abandoned it for most intents and purposes. Besides, the ammo holders I put on were a huge mistake. Made it heavy and bulky in all the wrong ways. I used some bungee cord instead of elastics on the outside. All of this can be seen here:




I am currently working on an UBERMINIZED Nite Finder. I was playing with the idea of actually sawing off most of the handle, leaving just enough to be flush with the trigger, and then stuffing some 1/2 inch CPVC end-caps into it and then putting in some ready quick loading CPVC barrels with darts in them to use them both as a barrel swap and a removable handle, but I've decided against it for now. Maybe I'll do it the next time I buy an NF.

Could you specify on what wire you used, how you get it to turn on, and what type of laser it was? maybe a link or something?

Wire I used: Some random wire I found laying next to my soldering kit... I honestly don't know what it is. It just works. I think any wire would work, really. The one I used is a little thicker than usual, however.

Turning the laser on: Exactly the same way a stock NF turns it's LED on. By pressing the trigger slightly.

The laser: Just a cheap dollar store laser. They're about the size of a Micro Dart. They can be found in many Dollar General stores, I believe. Just look for a laser that costs a buck. I'm pretty sure there's only one kind, regardless of brand and how it looks on the outside.

Would putting up a picture of the laser against a wall show how much it improved?
And what is that on the barrel? Is it a coupler on the end?

I am currently working on an UBERMINIZED Nite Finder. I was playing with the idea of actually sawing off most of the handle, leaving just enough to be flush with the trigger, and then stuffing some 1/2 inch CPVC end-caps into it and then putting in some ready quick loading CPVC barrels with darts in them to use them both as a barrel swap and a removable handle, but I've decided against it for now. Maybe I'll do it the next time I buy an NF.

I remember Davidbowie made a Pocket-Finder. It's pretty close to what you were thinking. Maybe it'll help if you decide to try it out.

Oh, no, that mod isn't really what I was thinking. See, I'm leaving the trigger on, and just enough of the back of the handle to fit in the curve of your hand. I got the idea for this from a party popper gun:




Yes, that is a coupler on it's end. It was just a test with couplers. Originally, this gun was just 5 inches straight of CPVC, but I wanted to fiddle with a coupler. The set up I have works rather terribly, haha.

Here's a picture of the laser in action:



As for lasers working with AAs, my first hand experience (and ruined lasers) told me that AAs were not going to work for me. They damaged the laser permanently, making the diode many times weaker than it would have been with the 3 button cell batteries I put in. I gave up on using them and developed a way to use the laser's batteries.

I came to this mod because I had broken the front part of the plunger on one of my night finders, but after finding this out, I did it to my other NF as well.

As you know you can unscrew the plunger head off of the spring stick, if you do you can pull apart the two plastic parts that, with the o-ring, make up the plunger head. Now you can throw away the screw and front plastic part. (Screw is too short to use with this mod)

Then at Home Depot you can buy from the toilet section a fluidmaster seal (242). A replacement seal for fluidmaster 400A fill valve. They come in a red and green package.
Then go to the screw and bolt section and get machine #4-40x3/4" round head slotted 8 pcs. 27461 pack (green).

Now take the seal. The side that has the nipple will be facing out; the other side will be facing the back plastic part. You need to trim the lip off of the seal and cut the corners off of the plug on the side facing the plastic back. Also cut off the nipple.

Now take the screw and put three bolts on it. Then push it in the rubber part. Then put the parts together, going seal, o ring, back plastic part. Then screw it back on the spring stick. You’re good to GO!

Now you have a plunger that handles getting hit and now has a double seal. Also it allows you to use a stronger spring with out breaking the plunger head.

(Sorry about no pictures but I left my camera back at college, I am on spring break)

I know this is a very old post, but this sounds like an interesting idea. How was preformance? What were your ranges? Was there any friction?

I totally thought of Ichigo's sword when I saw this. Very awesome. I love the little skull decal as well.