off-brand ball gun (aka the ERTL FS-1010 Pump Shotgun) I bought at a local Bass Pro shop. Given the internals, I was pretty optimistic of its potential. I brassed it and was pretty happy with its performance singled
. Its got great range (think Max Shot) and its airseal is so tight that darts can be muzzle loaded in the 8" brass barrel (9/16") and get sucked the rear of the barrel when cocked. This makes for a good RoF with no breeching necessary.
(NOTE* for any mod using a 9/16" barrel, be sure to jam some PETG or brass of smaller inner diameter in the back of the barrel to prevent darts from getting sucked right into the plunger.)
But I had been thinking of ways to turn this thing into an even more formidable weapon in terms of ammo load and RoF. I was trying to think of a way to clip-mod this in a way similar to my version of Piss Bacon's BBB mod (aka the Bacon Bow). Of course the problem was that the shotgun, like most Nerf blasters, lacked the BBB's unique cocking mechanism that allows the barrel/breech system to fire darts at a position closest to the plunger. I ended up buying another ERTL shotgun recently and went to work.
Well, my solution was to split the handle of the existing shotgun pump into two sections (front and rear). The front handle still functions to cock the plunger but the rear can now move independently to work a breech, sliding the brass (9/16") barrel backwards over the dart. Not sure what to call this type of mechanism - kinda like pump and bolt action at the same time.
I'll do my best to explain what I did but I'm afraid I didn't have a camera available during some of the crucial early steps. Hopefully though, the pics will give you an idea and you can fill in the blanks. I don't talk about replacing the existing barrel and installing the new barrel/breech as Forsaken Angel already provided a good write up for the the former and the latter was performed by a procedure that I used when making my Bacon Bow.
The "arm" used to link the rear handle to the barrel/breech consisted of some spare black plastic tubing (just lying around) and a broken aluminum tent stake
. The blunt end of the stake was jammed very tightly into some PETG do facilitate gluing to the inside of the rear handle. The pointy tip of the tent stake was eventually jammed into the hollow black plastic tube and secured with some e-tape and a tightened hose clamp.
The handles were hacked from the original pump - here are the handles after the cutting was already done
. Note the position of the tent stake.
To accomodate the backwards sliding (closed breech) arm (with hose clamp), I had to hack/sand out some space in the bottom of the front handle
.To install the stake, I screwed the rear handle back together and once I got everything in position, I used some krazy glue to attach it and a pile of hotglue around it to support the stake. But be careful not to add too much glue - there still need to be space to accommodate a screw when the rear handle is slid forward (open breech)
. The black plastic arm extension connected to the 9/16"barrel via a series of hose clamps and a CT clamp 
. The new breech (19/32" brass) was mounted to the plunger with some e-tape and a piece of PVC coupler (gray thing).
more in a sec (image limits).....
I was afraid the connection was weak so I took some old (green) plastic tubing and cut out a ring to add support to the junction between the PVC coupler and the (brown) plunger tube
Then I wrapped the ring in black e-tape
To allow it to accommodate my clips, I added a clip guide cut from some scrap transparent orange PETG
I glued it to the the PVC coupler opposite from the breech opening
I also secured this connection with a (white) ziptie
My clip slides into position and is held by the guide. Since the clip is spring fed, I keep it in a semi-sideways position
But since the breech can still be rotated, the clip can also be mounted vertically (above) - so, in theory, it can also accommodate gravity-fed clips
I'm very happy with the result. I just need to make more clips or ones of greater capacity. I am currently working on a 25-round drum-magazine. I'll write it up if it works. If it does, I might not want to buy that Longshot anymore.
Sorry - no official ranges (I live in a tiny apartment in the downtown core). And I didn't bother to do anything with the plunger/internals (Forsaken Angel posted a clever way of maximizing the air delivery) as when I war (seldom), it is usually indoors where anything beyond 60 feet is a bit of overkill - but this thing is STILL a welt-bringer!
In case you don't get how it works here's some (crappy) video of:
the pump/breech mechanism
installing the clip and firing (that carboard target/trap is point blank)
single breech-loading (e.g. if I'm out of clips)
I hope you found this stimulating! Comments?
Edited by ambushbug, 04 August 2007 - 12:01 AM.
