I present my second mod, the Loaner.
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Introduction
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We were sitting around after a game one night when the leader of the Nerf club I attend jokes with us about this little gun he got off of someone a while ago. He stuck a tagger in it, pumped it up, and watched it fart out and travel about a foot before hitting the floor. I felt sorry for it, so I asked to borrow it for some modification. I had no idea what this gun was, because I had never seen it before at the store, or online. Thankfully, there was a modification already in the directory, so I was able to identify it by looking at the pictures. Thanks, Baghead.
After reading Baghead's writeup, I decided to keep the "secret" barrel intact, because flipping it down after you snap off your first shot is darn cool, even if it doesn't fire the dart as far. Just like my earlier mod, this is really easy to do, so let's get started.
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Materials
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Here is a list of what you need.
1) Secret Shot 2 Nerf Blaster
2) Dremel (Hacksaw, Sandpaper)
3) Hot glue gun
4) About a foot of 1/2" CPVC thin wall hot/cold pipe
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Instructions
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I didn't call it the Loaner for nothing. This was originally the gun that was given to the last person to show up that didn't bring a blaster with them. Let's give it some love, shall we?
Blasters that don't have mod-resistant plastic crap make me happy. Open the gun right up, but be sure to do one thing in particular. In the top picture, you can see that the "secret" barrel spins around a screw. So, when you are pulling the screws out, do not ever unscrew the one that's on the side with all the other screws. Leave that one in, and instead unscrew the barrel rotation screw on the OTHER side. The metal spring that makes the barrel spin around is on the side with the screws, and if you remove the secret barrel, it is a big pain in the butt to get the metal tension spring back in so that it works right again. In other news, the tank is really big for a gun of this size. I liked the noise it made when I tested it, even if the darts never came out right. This is a good sign!
To help you access the barrel itself, go ahead and take the whole thing out, once you unscrew the trigger screw inside the gun.
Make a cut after the first part where the barrel begins to telescope in. Saving this piece will allow you to use both the normal barrel and the secret one. Set it aside for now.
Cut off the rest of the barrel now, so that only the first part of the barrel sticks out of the tank, right before it would normally telescope out for the first time. Drill out the air restrictor inside the barrel, right before the tank. Be very careful not to damage the tank itself while you do this.
Cut a piece of the CPVC so that it is flush with the normal barrel. Glue it in place, eyeballing it for straightness. As long as you sanded and cut well and aren't in a hurry, getting it straight should be a snap. Test it with a dart real quick to make sure, as the hot glue is hardly permanent at this point.
Gotta love those air restrictors. This is a picture of the secret barrel, with the restrictor removed. Just drill that thing right out.
Here is a picture of the barrels so that you have a good idea of how long to cut the second piece of CPVC. I can't give you the exact measurements because it will probably be a little different for you, but I'd say the main barrel was about six inches, and the secret barrel was about a centimeter shorter than that. Mainly, cut them so that they don't poke out over where the rubber part of the secret barrel meets the gun. This ensures a tight air seal when you're using the secret barrel.
By happy coincidence, the smaller length of PVC that you cut fits snugly into the secret barrel.
Glue all around it so air doesn't escape.
Now that the barrel is done, you can handle the red part we set aside. Glue it to one of the shells so that its always in place. Stick the barrel inside that, and glue all around it to seal off excess air. If you do it right, there's nowhere for the air to go with the secret barrel in use except for through the barrel itself. Be sure to not overdo it, or the glue will stick out so much that the yellow rubber secret barrel end won't fit right onto the gun. We don't want that, do we?
Close the gun up and give it a quick test. If the secret barrel fails to fire, make sure that you sealed the air hole that exists between the red piece you glued in and the main CPVC barrel. Air must not escape in that direction.
Click here for the Youtube video:
The ranges are excellent. With the pump plugged, I hit the wall down an 80-foot hallway. This went a little farther than my modded AT2K! Needless to say, this thing gets great ranges, especially compared to stock. However, since it is a loaner gun, I was worried that someone might accidentally pump it up too far and bust a line, so I unplugged the pump hole for now.
I'm not sure how common this Nerf blaster is, but I am very pleasantly surprised by its performance, and I highly recommend it.
Edited by BendyStraw, 24 February 2008 - 10:43 PM.
