16 replies to this topic

[imaseoulman]

I just thought I'd share with the community my standard side-arm. For those of you who don't know, I usually supply the entire arsenal for the wars I host, which bring in anywhere from 10-20 guys in their twenties. The standard issued blasters are SM1500's and AT2K's with NiteFinders for sidearms. Here is a basic description of what I do to my NiteFinders. I don't know if anything is original, but I came up with my internal coupler independently (years ago) and I'm quite fond of it. Here's a pic of a few of 'em:


And a (very) simple write-up.
1) Cut away everything until the shell looks like it does in the picture.
2) Open her up.
3) COMPLETELY remove the AR assembly
4) Cut a 1/2" CPVC coupler in half and super-glue it inside the plunger tube (you may have to do a little sanding to get it to fit just right, and roughing up the plastic helps the super glue bond better anyway). It should look like this:


If you look down the barrel, you will notice that there is absolutely NO dead space. The base of the dart sits flush with the resting position of the plunger head:


As soon as the coupler is in place, you'll want to make sure that it's in straight by inserting a barrel into it and using the barrel as a lever to move the coupler around a bit until it's in there perfectly straight (to gauge this, just look down the barrel to ensure that it is straight).

For the actual plunger head, I add some e-tape for a tighter seal and replace the O-ring. I then lubricate it with mineral oil. I've tried silicon spray and grease as well as some other lubricants, and mineral oil seems to allow for the greatest plunger acceleration.

After the glue is dry and the plunger is back in the tube, reassemble the blaster and add a few rubber bands. You may need to sand/cut out the opening that goes around the barrel just a little so that the barrel can easily slide in and out of the coupler (if you put it on perfectly straight this isn't necessary; just check to make sure). Ranges are around 80'.

The two most notable things about this mod are the complete elimination of dead space and the compact nature of the couplered blaster. We often see minimized NF's but rarely with an "invisible" coupler.

[Renegademilitia15]

Nice. If I ever get another NF, this is definitely what I'll do. Could you show a pic with the barrel attached?

Thanks

[ace of nerf]

Ignore, posted without clearly reading.

Edited by ace of nerf, 07 December 2008 - 10:02 PM.

[Renegademilitia15]

imaseoulman, on Dec 7 2008, 06:45 PM, said:

Ranges are around 80'.

[ace of nerf]

Well, shit I missed that part. Thanks renegade.

Edited by ace of nerf, 07 December 2008 - 10:02 PM.

[UpperHand]

Cool, way to cut down on dead space, get better ranges, and keep it simple.

[TantumBull]

Dude! Dude! My coupler system! Ha ha just kidding, I guess we both thought it up independently. Here's my write up if you are interested.

http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=13380

[jwasko]

Good work, Seoulman.

Great minds think alike, eh?

Uh...no offense; I just thought it was funny how similar they are.

Edited by jwasko, 07 December 2008 - 10:42 PM.

[TantumBull]

Yes they do jwasko, yes they do. I thought I was the first to come up with this. Damn!

[venom213]

I just did this a couple days ago, and I too thought I was original, but I was proven wrong. It works great, I especially like how I don't have to worry about that whole coupler piece shooting out of the gun. I haven't tested ranges with stefans yet, but the velocity is deadly for a NF. I replaced the spring on mine by the way, I used an Ace #49 spring.

[imaseoulman]

Hahaha, I figured it had been done before, which is why I included that clause in my first post. I do find it funny that at least four of us came up with this independently from each other. Must be because it works well, eh?

As for adding springs, I've never felt a need to. Rubber bands provide just as much range for much less cost. I'm tempted to take the spring out of one my NF's and see how far just rubber bands can launch a dart.

What do you guys do to prevent the dart from getting sucked into the plunger tube? On a couple I put a small piece of 15/32" brass and on others a bit of hot glue. Any other ideas that worked well with this coupler set up?

Cheers, to great minds that think alike!

[BlackFox]

imaseoulman, on Dec 7 2008, 08:26 PM, said:

As for adding springs, I've never felt a need to. Rubber bands provide just as much range for much less cost. I'm tempted to take the spring out of one my NF's and see how far just rubber bands can launch a dart.

Wow, those are some crazy bands. I did the Ace 49 replacement and my NF is already taxed to the point of the catch failing with any jostling. I might have to experiment.

imaseoulman, on Dec 7 2008, 08:26 PM, said:

What do you guys do to prevent the dart from getting sucked into the plunger tube? On a couple I put a small piece of 15/32" brass and on others a bit of hot glue. Any other ideas that worked well with this coupler set up?

With most plunger tubes, I'll string a short length of fishing line or cut a little square of wire mesh to put at the back. I don't think the second option will be very practical with this mod however because I usually count on there being some dead space to protect the screen...

Ahh! Now I'm torn about what to do with my NF. Once again, you've done an amazingly simple yet effective mod, but I'm a huge pistol enthusiast and see the inherent problem with ROF. If you make the barrel one way like you described with the tighter brass at the back, my usual strategy of fire, front-load a dart in backwards then flip the barrel won't work...

Edited by BlackFox, 08 December 2008 - 12:23 AM.

[jwasko]

The first time I did this, I just used the coupler as a spacing ring for a fixed barrel. Then I said "duh" and made another one without epoxying a barrel in place.

How this relates to your request for ideas, Bob:

On the first NF, I dremeled two channels in the coupler and put a stripped piece of hook-up wire (had it from another project) around the barrel before gluing it into the orange coupler. Of course, that wouldn't work if you leave the coupler "functional."

Possible alternatives:
-What Angel did in his Pump Action Shotgun (PAS) mod video (he put a couple of pins in the hefty cushioning behind the barrel)
-What Just Some Bob did on his PAS
-Another of mine that I haven't tried yet: Once the coupler is installed, drill a small hole through the plunger chamber, the orange ring, and the coupler (lined up with the back end of the coupler, of course). Feed a narrow wire all the way though, and use some tape or super glue to hold both ends of the wire down to the outside of the plunger tube.

Edited by jwasko, 08 December 2008 - 10:44 AM.

[mountain nerfer]

''I'm tempted to take the spring out of one my NF's and see how far just rubber bands can launch a dart.''
I have tried that with a tech target with ranges in the 60s

[imaseoulman]

Yeah, I've thought about running some fishing line through the base of the coupler, but I've never actually done it. Maybe before my next big war (maybe end of January?) I'll try that.

[venom213]

I definitely need to add a dart stop to mine. With the new added O-rings, the darts vacuum load constantly and in war, I'm definitely not going be able too always be sure there isn't a loaded dart when I cock it. I'll try using Angel's method and see how well it works.

[Daniel Beaver]

How do you guys mount dart-stops? I was thinking of cutting a little notch along the length of the coupler and feeding the fishing line through it (That was it would be held in by the epoxy). Is there a simple way of mounting dart stops that I'm not thinking of?