52 replies to this topic

[OberonFox]

Thanks in advance to DeceitfulSteve for his spring into stock idea and to analogkid for the internal spring compression trick. And of course to all those valiantly trying to figure out the best way to remove the darn air restrictor. Yes it was a pain to get out.

I liked the idea of using the stock to contain an extra spring, but I didn't like the length of the stock. Way too long in my opinion. I also didn't want to chop up the 'armed' plunger to allow for total compression of a shorter spring against the middle brace on the stock, though technically that last inch or so is vestigial. One Man Clan's original posting of the Recon showed the middle stock brace with a hole in it, supposedly for the 'armed' arm to fit in. So, idea. Though I have no version with an AR-15 spring to compare too, I suspect I'll still get a nice little bump on range using a smaller one at full compression. That and I like the shorter, more tactical stock.

Here's an initial picture of the materials. Already chopped up the later portion of the stock and left a bit hanging out the back of the middle brace so that I can have an attachment point for the shoulder stock. There's also a length of 3/4 inch PVC that I had to Dremel out a little so that it fit loosely over the extended plunger tube. Didn't take much. Make sure it doesn't stick anywhere, or obviously this doesn't work. The shorter length will go inside the mid-brace along with the smaller diameter piece which will go inside of that as an anti-kink guide for the compressing spring. Not certain if it really has any measurable effect, but I like to err on the side of caution.



Used epoxy putty to create a little nest for the tubes, make sure they're as centered as possible. The central one extends far enough out to keep the spring from rocking around too much in case it bounces out of the mid-brace after firing, but not far enough to touch the extended plunger tube. This is also a good indicator on whether or not a fully compressed spring will fit when the gun is cocked. The extra NF spring I had available fits just fine, and when I get a chance to replace it with a sturdier Handyman spring I'll see if i have to shave a little off the plunger tube or not. Making a sturdy base with the epoxy at the back screw keeps the spring compressing correctly.



Here's a shot of the mid-brace together and the spring inserted.



Now you can connect the chopped stock to the blaster and cock the gun so that the plunger acts as a guide to connect the large PVC; and if you Dremeled correctly, lining up perfectly with it. Here's a shot with some added epoxy supports. It slips on and off just fine and with the spring inserted makes a really nice 'thrum' when fired.



And a final shot with the shoulder stock reattached with some more epoxy ( god I love that stuff .) Just needs some cosmetic sanding and a coat of paint, and I have my new primary.






Within the next couple of days I'll be completing and posting the shotgun mod I've got worked out for the Recon too.

Hope this passes muster, more to come soon.

Edited by OberonFox, 16 February 2008 - 10:03 PM.

[PC III]

Great job! I cut down my other stock too.

does this add much range?

[OberonFox]

Great job! I cut down my other stock too.

does this add much range?

Thanks. It's my second mod. I love doing this stuff.

The air restrictor removal and compression trick upped the craptastic stock 25-30' to around 45-50'. The added spring doesn't add as much as I had hoped, but then again it's a NF spring, not too beefy. All things totaled it gives be about 60'. I havn't done a totally accurate measurement test yet, so when I finish with the shotgun mod and get all the kinks worked out I'll post again with final ranges. Regardless it feels great shooting and makes such a nice sound when it fires. And the red 'light' rail attachment will have a led Maglite replacement for added versatility.

[Cmdrmack]

I think you may have beaten me to what my idea for a Recon Mod was. Especially with the shotgun mod you mentioned. That irritates me. I should have jumped on it a little faster.

Oh well, great mod, I look forward to seeing the other part too.

What's the overall length with your shortened stock attached?

[OberonFox]

What's the overall length with your shortened stock attached?

With the barrel attachment on it's now 25.5" from tip to tail.

[OfAllTheNerf]

Nice job!

But what is the smaller piece of PVC? Also, how did you dremel out that entire tube (seeing as a dremel's bits are only so long)?

I also like the shortened stock. It feels extremely annoying long, especially considering it bends like hell.

[Forsaken angel24]

Very nice!
It seems this epoxy putty is the way to go.
I will have to pick some up next time I am at the hardware store.

[OberonFox]

Nice job!

But what is the smaller piece of PVC? Also, how did you dremel out that entire tube (seeing as a dremel's bits are only so long)?

I also like the shortened stock. It feels extremely annoying long, especially considering it bends like hell.

The longer piece of PVC sits directly on top of the mid-brace, not nested inside of it. it's also the same length as the spring. I was worried that if the spring popped out of the mid-brace that it might have problems going back in with the next cock, so that small diameter PVC sticks just a little out of the brace and acts as a guide of sorts to make sure the spring goes all the way back in. Like I originally said, it may prove of no actual use whatsoever but I like to hedge my bets.

As far as Dremeling out the long PVC. with the bit placed as far out as possible and still being held by the tool it reaches just to the halfway point with the sanding drum attachment. So all I had to do is keep flipping in around to increase the inner diameter. I suppose you could do the same thing with some high grit sandpaper rolled up and lots of dedication. You could also use a larger diameter piece of PVC, but then it doesn't sit as nicely in the stock.


Forsaken_angel24,

The epoxy putty is my adhesive of choice. It's super malleable when you first knead it together so it fits in anywhere and it dries rock hard after 5 minutes. Then you can sand it and even drill it to make places for screws if you need. Just rough up the surfaces a little beforehand so it has better purchase. Really versatile for a $4 tube.

Edited by OberonFox, 04 February 2008 - 11:51 AM.

[Dayko]

Pretty nice mod.

[bpso86]

Did you do any type of barrel replacement? I put a 1" section of 17/32" brass inside the bolt sled to hold the streamlines snug, and with just an a/r removal it fires very well. The stock barrel is very loose, and even if you add a much larger spring you still need to complement it with the correct barrel replacement. The reason why I didn't put a longer section of brass in is because I couldn't sand it out anymore to fit a longer piece in. It still works great in close range, fires fast, and doesn't jam at all.

I like how your stock looks, though. Very clean.

[OberonFox]

Considering I'm planning on using the extended barrel attachment so I can implement my shotgun mod, I don't know if a barrel replacement is all that feasible. It'll definitely be the next thing I'll be looking into however. Do you have any pics for your brass in the bolt sled?

[OberonFox]

Ok, it's far from polished but works like a dream. Here's the foregrip light replacement and shotgun mod for my Recon.

After clearing out the unnecessary bits on the inside of the 'laser' so the Maglite slides in nicely, I used my friend epoxy putty to make a base. As a measure to keep the flashlight from rotating in the grip ( so i can turn it on) and to keep it from slipping out forwards, I used the metal pin left over from removing the black breech cover on the top of the Recon.



The pin fits perfectly in the lanyard tie for the light and with a matching bit of putty on the other side to keep it nice and secure, we have a solidly nested Maglite ready for use.



Here's a quick shot of the light in use along with the now added bolts I secured inside the grip after drilling holes for them and securing with yet even more putty. You can also see the two bolts on the cocking slide of the Recon in the back there that will attach to the two poplar shanks I got at Home Depot for all of 97 cents.



And the completed shotgun grip. Cosmetics aside, it works beautifully. The grip slides all the way back to it's 'normal' position to cock the gun, then slides out to close the bolt. I only wish the barrel was about a half inch longer so it wouldn't hang off that last bit.





Really loving this gun. Rain has prevented accurate range tests but I'm standing by my 60' approximates. Final pics will be up with paint job and shotgun refinement in the next couple of days.

Hope this proves useful to you guys out there in Nerf land, and I can't wait to see what you guys one-up me with.

Edited by OberonFox, 15 April 2008 - 02:36 PM.

[Blasphemy]

Wow, extremely impressive. People said a shotgun foregrip wouldn't be feasible on the Recon, but you proved them wrong. And with the MagLite you can Nerf more effectively in night situations, I love it. My only suggestion for improvement upon your current setup would be to use polycarbonate instead of shanks and install them directly onto the stock bolt.

EDIT: I'm really starting to see as much or more potential in the Recon as in the Longshot!

Edited by Blasphemy, 04 February 2008 - 11:13 PM.

[OberonFox]

Wow, extremely impressive. People said a shotgun foregrip wouldn't be feasible on the Recon, but you proved them wrong. And with the MagLite you can Nerf more effectively in night situations, I love it. My only suggestion for improvement upon your current setup would be to use polycarbonate instead of shanks and install them directly onto the stock bolt.

EDIT: I'm really starting to see as much or more potential in the Recon as in the Longshot!

Oh I agree the shanks aren't the only, or the best, way to do the shotgun bit. I'm limited by the tools that I have. I have a small battery powered hand held Dremel MiniMite and a few hand tools. If I could machine metal I'd have the perfect connectors. At the moment this is an advanced proof of concept. I deliberately wanted to use the nuts and bolts so I could swap out and remove parts at will and eventually upgrade to better materials.

[Agent Jonny B]

Very nice! I'll definitely have to do this when I get my recon. Keep it up dude!

[OberonFox]

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Very nice! I'll definitely have to do this when I get my recon. Keep it up dude!
[/quote]


Will do! It's just cool knowing that something I did inspires others.

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"I wish in the past I had tried more things 'cause now I know that being in trouble is a fake idea."

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[Cmdrmack]

Your shotgun addition was not quite what I had in mind, so I'll get around to doing/posting it at some point I guess.

It looks great. It makes me want a Recon more and more.

[Diablo]

That looks great. I'm really glad people are starting to find better ways to modify this gun. Your mod seems very functional and cosmetically appealing to boot.

Great job.

[Eboreg]

DUDE!! You beat Captain Slug to it. I am impressed man. Props

[OberonFox]

DUDE!! You beat Captain Slug to it. I am impressed man. Props

Oh I didn't beat anybody to anything. The shotgun grip is hardly an original idea, I was just the first to post a write-up for the Recon. But I'll take the props just the same.

[keef]

I was thinking about doing something just like that, and Now I'm going to.

I really like how you redid the stock, it looks better too.

Can't wait till my Recon and Longshot are done... HINT!

[OberonFox]

An update on my Recon.

After many days of rain and high wind I was able to finally get out and paint this sucker. Some silver dry-brush "distressing" will be done tomorrow followed by a clear coat and final rebuild.

Here's a pic of all the painted pieces, including the new braces I fashioned for the shotgun foregrip. Much nicer than the wood.

[keef]

Looks awesome. Like an extension of the Terminator's arm or shit.

I'll tell you when I'm done with my shotty grip.

How far did you make the holes?

[OberonFox]

How far did you make the holes?

the two that attach to the bolt-slide are 3/4" apart.

It doesn't really matter though, it fully depends on where you intend to attach your shotgun arm.

[Blasphemy]

Looks wicked awesome. If you remove the AR (unless you already have) and replace the NF spring with a Handyman #9713 spring it should get primary worthy ranges. Nice new braces too, it looks very very nice.