So I've been messing around with making a digital ammo counter for my LS. Currently it's in initial phase, and I am still working with big, cheap, and power draining transistors (can't just slap a battery on there just yet). This requires a little bit of electronic works: Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Display:
The key here is a 74193 up-down binary counter. This baby works like a charm because you can preload the number to start counting from anything below 15. Naturally I went for 6, and it counts down on every rising edge clock signal.
To prevent digit rolling over after it reaches 0, because you wouldn't want to think you have 15 darts left after you fired 6 shots, I connected all the outputs to AND gates (7408 quad AND gate), and link the output back to the CLR of the 74193. And voila, as soon as the signal reach 0 (0000), the bugger rolls over to 15 (1111), and the whole thing is cleared back to 0 again.
The magazine release switch will load the counter back to 6 again.

Countdown trigger
This part is a little tricky, and I can't really find a way to do it just yet. I'm thinking of using a chain of FF switches with 2 triggers--from the cocking action, and then the pulling trigger. However, I haven't had time to think about this yet.

Loaded chamber indicator
I will be using a 1.5 digit display, which means I will have the decimal dot left unused. I'm thinking I might use the dot to display a cocked and loaded gun, since I will probably place the display right over the "loaded slot" of the gun (which turns orange after the gun is cocked.)

Now here is the big question:
I am a lowly electronics student and have barely any experience in the field--what transistors/displays should I use to keep power consumption low enough to stay on a AA or AAA batteries?

If I do anyone is interested, I will post a circuit diagram later.


**this will be the first step to my larger LS mod, which will include converting it to pump action Nerf, with the slide and connections being fitted within the gun rather than just connecting to the old cocking device.

Whoa..thank you, thank you, and thank you.
I've been struggling with this problem for quite some time now. (I was about 'tis close to grabbing my saw and just sawing the dang thing off)

If you want to refute that, why don't you try leaving your Longshot cocked for a week, and then see if it loses power any. Then post a report.



-Piney-

It's been cocked since I bought it 2 weeks ago, unless I was on a Nerf War session (which mean it's cocked, because no one walks around with their guns uncocked) It is still cocked today, and will probably be forever. (Nerf War here isn't limited to certain place or time..dorm room raiding happen on normal basis.)
It still shoots the exact same distance (or if there is any change, unnoticeable.)

That's my gun anyway.

I guess 2 weeks is nothing compared to 2.5 years as someone has left them cocked in here, and I think my gun would probably die from various other reasons before that time. But if you want to be safe rather than sorry, you might as well shoot it out anyway. I wouldn't worry about it though.

I ..have a little suggestion for those who are too lazy to do this and want to increase the rate of fire:
Find a shoulder strap (from a guitar, or backpack even) and strap it on. The Longshot even comes with little strap holes built in! Now strap it to your shoulder, and you won't have to move the gun in order to cock it.

Ofcourse this mod is way cooler than getting a strap..but that gives the same RoF boosts with much less work.

Actually, springs do not get weakened from getting compressed. It's just impossible, because it..how do I say this--it pretty much limits how much it can compress. However, you can stretch out a spring too much if you have enough force.

Imagine it this way--does the damper on your car die after a few years of uses? Nope..not even with a couple of tons constantly pressing on it. So, no, you cannot ruin a spring by compressing it.

I have a rather intersting problem here. I have some stefans that are long enough to shoot--but they seem to be too thin. The weird part is that if I stack 2 of my stefans up together on the clip, it will misfire. However if I got stefan--stock--stefan, then it works like a charm. Any remedy other than making new darts? (School work doesn't leave much time for anything elses)