32 replies to this topic

[makeitgo]

(the 4B is a work in progress.)

This concept is obviously meant for high (over) powered blasters. It operates just like any other hopper in that the ranges and power decline as the hopper empties.

It does misfire once in a while but with a flick of the wrist, the darts realign themselves and it's ready to go. I've fired off the entire hopper many times and I get 2 or 3 misfires per hopper. Not bad in my opinion.

The great thing about this concept, other than the dart capacity, is reloading the hopper is very simple. The back end simply twists off, you grab your darts and shove them in. You don't have to load one at a time. You don't even have to look. Once you close it back up, shake it around once or twice to align the darts, prime and fire.

I've tried this concept with other similar baby bottles but found that this particular bottle design the most reliable.

Thank you Dollar Store.

...In case you wanted to know, my 4B, with this set up still gets 100' by the last dart.

[hamoidar]

Wow, this is a great idea. (And execution) You sir, have just revolutionized the hopper. This post should be pinned for its importance in nerf history.

[Slime]

That is a super cool unique idea. That would be pretty awesome to see in action. Nice job man!

[ShaNayNay]

Wow, that's truly incredible! I've haven't worked with hoppers yet, but I'll definitely have to try this. Nice mod, execution, and write-up.

[Phree Agent]

Does it work with slugs? Does it work with lighter weighted darts such as single BB? I just would assume that it works better with heavier headed darts.

[NerfNoob10]

Wow, I'm very impressed! I thought just the 6 dart hoppers were great, but this truly takes it to the next level. Time to hunt for that baby bottle at my Dollar store.

[makeitgo]

'Phree Agent', on 30 Mar 2012 - 8:29 PM, said:

Does it work with slugs? Does it work with lighter weighted darts such as single BB? I just would assume that it works better with heavier headed darts.

You're correct in saying that it works better with heavier darts. I don't have too many slugs but the 12 or 14 I do have fed fine.

As long as your darts tend to always rest with the head facing down, 'tippsy-toppy' as I like to call them, they will feed just fine. However, I have found that if the darts are too short (1" or less) they can be jammed in side ways by the other darts making it a little difficult to dislodge.

Edited by makeitgo, 30 March 2012 - 04:39 PM.

[andtheherois]

I like this idea. I may need to try it when i get a chance. I'd venture the guess that natural movement through a round would keep darts loaded.

[Daniel Beaver]

'hamoidar', on 30 Mar 2012 - 6:48 PM, said:

Wow, this is a great idea. (And execution) You sir, have just revolutionized the hopper. This post should be pinned for its importance in nerf history.

You should invest in a pair of knee pads.

[Ice Nine]

I'm skeptical of this with respect to it working on a gun that doesn't have any one of the following, let alone all of them: excessive air volume, excessive air pressure, and dome darts. Even if you say that it worked with a half-hopper of slug darts (and I'm not even sure you use slug darts that would be considered slug darts by Chicago Nerfing Standards Trademark Rights Reserved), if you're using them on a pump-replaced Big Blast with undoubtedly molested internals that statistic is useless. Out of my old Big Blasts I've fired darts backwards, through two ninety-degree elbows, with a hopper, and they still moved forward in the basic direction of the target. If you have any other hopperable guns that aren't ridiculously overpowered and non-rape darts then I would be interested in hearing the results.

As a side note, if you really spend five minutes per dart to make those, might I suggest not ejaculating on each individual dart, but instead following my method of casting new hot glue sticks with semen embedded in them? It will save you considerable time and maybe effort.

[chavez guy]

'Daniel Beaver', on 31 Mar 2012 - 04:12 AM, said:

You should invest in a pair of knee pads.

I laughed so hard when I read that.

But on topic, I recall you (MIG) saying somewhere you hate hoppers. Is this the change in hoppers you were looking for to make them suited to your nerf connoisseur tastes?

[Keo]

Very Nice, I would love to try and make myself one.

I am quite curious; does The curved almost bananna shape of the bottle you recommend help in the feeding as oppossed to a "regular" bottle, in your opinion Makeitgo ?

Edited by Keo, 31 March 2012 - 01:54 AM.

[Zorns Lemma]

You can do this using regular PVC parts. The key is that the length of the dart must be longer than the diameter of the tube.

Carbon did it 6 years ago: http://nerfhaven.com...?showtopic=5976

However, the misfire percentage goes up drastically when firepower is decrease or if you try to shoot in rapid succession (the point of hoppers and pump action). I think using a big blast provides unrealistic field testing since the volume is so high that it can pull darts through with pressure effects, and moreover, that pumping means you cannot shoot quickly.

[Chadpuff]

Not only is this a amazing Idea but now it makes me glad I haven't thrown out my son's bottles yet lol. Congrats on a fine build. Your stuff never ceases to amaze.

[Daniel Beaver]

'Zorn's Lemma', on 31 Mar 2012 - 07:31 AM, said:

Carbon did it 6 years ago: http://nerfhaven.com...?showtopic=5976

Yep, though he was doing it with an inline clip, so failure was inevitable. Naturally you could do this setup with PVC fittings, though you would lose the advantage of a clear container (not to mention that it would be heavier).

One the topic of something IceNine mentioned:
For sufficiently powerful blasters, it doesn't matter too much if a dart feeds into the barrel backwards. The darts right themselves almost immediately once they leave the barrel. You do suffer some loss in accuracy, but it is an acceptable loss if you need to reload quickly.

[makeitgo]

'Ice Nine', on 31 Mar 2012 - 05:35 AM, said:

I'm skeptical of this with respect to it working on a gun that doesn't have any one of the following, let alone all of them: excessive air volume, excessive air pressure, and dome darts. ...

... instead following my method of casting new hot glue sticks with semen embedded in them? It will save you considerable time and maybe effort.

I did state that this (Baby Bottle Hopper) was intended for "high (over) powered blasters". The above is an SVT style 4B so the tank is 'molested' as you say. The OPRV is intact (stock). The pump replacement is a Raleigh double action bike pump with a built in pressure gauge which tops out at 38ish PSI. It is an older model so it does shoot extremely hard.

I don't have a powerful enough singled springer as of yet but you have inspired me to create more slugs. We don't have your 3mm green felt here (Ottawa, Canada) but 2mm thick felt pads and 3/0 weighted fishing weights should suffice for a test.

As for your other suggestion, I'm sure we would all like to see your write up on that.

'chavez_guy', on 31 Mar 2012 - 05:43 AM, said:

But on topic, I recall you (MIG) saying somewhere you hate hoppers. Is this the change in hoppers you were looking for to make them suited to your nerf connoisseur tastes?

A slight misquote, Chavez. It was with respect to VACC's comment on my Hypermaxx (turreted) that I didn't choose to hopper a "franken-shell".

I wrote ~ "I actually don't find Hoppering/Choppering to be all that fun or challenging. Singling any plunger tube or air tank with a 1/2" PVC coupler is relatively simple. Simple to the point, where looking up mods seems redundant. Everything basically becomes a +Bow or a Hoppered 4B in Various shells (Ironic, considering the above). Although the Hoppered +Bow is the epitome of efficency, it takes away from the individual creativity that makes modding fun and challenging (with respect to maintaining a turret)...."

But to answer your question, the traditional hopper wasn't (still isn't) ergonomic enough for me when I want to rush, run like a mad man and have more than 8 darts. The way it juts out feels awkward to me. Probably because I'm not very tall. The BBHopper has a much lower profile while still maintaining a high dart capacity. You say taste. I say preference.

'KEO' said

I am quite curious; does The curved almost bananna shape of the bottle you recommend help in the feeding as oppossed to a "regular" bottle, in your opinion Makeitgo ?

I'm not sure about a 'straight' bottle but I would guess that it would probably feed better. I just didn't find one that had a removable bottom. I've found and tried other bottles that have a short 30 degree angle at the spout but they didn't feed as reliably as this one. Going with that observation, it would only make sense that a straighter angle would be more efficient. If I find a straight bottle with a removable bottom, I'll definitely give it a go.

[KatanasPWN]

Could the bottle be substituted with some similarly sized PVC? Also, what size is that bottle's ID closest to?

[Bbdude]

One would think the straight bottles feed better due to being more susceptible to gravity, since they would fall more stright down. If you can't find a straight bottle, try turning the bbhopper 180 degrees so it bends up instead of flat. I would think this would feed better, worth looking into

[Colonel Zach]

Wow, that's a pretty sick hopper! You might get some weird looks buying only a baby bottle at a store, though......
I seriously want to try this now.

[waffleman]

You have just took the hopper, and made it ten times better! This is a better, cheaper alternative and ill think about making when every time I make a hopper now!

[CaliforniaPants]

So I read your post and was amazed at the possibilities I was missing out on. Then I figured I could use a bigger bottle for more shots!

It works great, 100+ shots out of a single hopper, and no missfires. You should all upgrade to these right now, truly the next big thing in nerf.

[ChaosPropel]

I tried this about a week ago using a piece of 1.5" thin wall PVC. Didn't feed, even though it was all reamed out a lot. I'll try CaliPants' method using the bottle later/tomorrow.

I used thin wall, telescoping to 1.25" PVC, then a 1" x 1/2" bushing. I'll upload some pics later.

Edited by ChaosPropel, 08 April 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[hamoidar]

'CaliforniaPants', on 08 Apr 2012 - 7:23 PM, said:

So I read your post and was amazed at the possibilities I was missing out on. Then I figured I could use a bigger bottle for more shots!
It works great, 100+ shots out of a single hopper, and no missfires. You should all upgrade to these right now, truly the next big thing in nerf.

With such a huge bottle, have you had problems with the power getting really low, once most of the darts have been shot? Even with a normal hopper, power decreases with every dart fired.

[CaliforniaPants]

'hamoidar', on 08 Apr 2012 - 8:07 PM, said:

With such a huge bottle, have you had problems with the power getting really low, once most of the darts have been shot? Even with a normal hopper, power decreases with every dart fired.

A little bit, but i can still get 100 foot ranges with the last shots

[Curly]

'makeitgo', on 31 Mar 2012 - 3:06 PM, said:

The OPRV is intact (stock). The pump replacement is a Raleigh double action bike pump with a built in pressure gauge which tops out at 38ish PSI. It is an older model so it does shoot extremely hard.

It's probably nothing, but I see a minor discrepancy in the power of your 4B. The OPV should vent around 30PSI, so either it's not working properly or your pressure gauge is inaccurate. I could also be wrong, but I think you mentioned elsewhere that a singled 4B hits 150, which is not what I've heard. Only one way to find out I suppose, but if your 4Bs do hit 150 without OPV mods then I think you should keep the hopper.

Overall I love the idea of larger hoppers, but I shan't use one until I'm able to burn through that much ammo without concern. Next Massacre though...

'Ice Nine', on 31 Mar 2012 - 05:35 AM, said:

I'm skeptical of this with respect to it working on a gun that doesn't have any one of the following, let alone all of them: excessive air volume, excessive air pressure, and dome darts.

Obviously it's no drop-in replacement for all blasters, but those that can fire it can still be competitive with the extra capacity. Pumpbows are left out, but it gives airguns a needed advantage.

Edited by Curly, 08 April 2012 - 05:28 PM.