Splitlip, on Sep 8 2008, 02:39 PM, said:
I find it odd that so many separate people can come up with this idea, yet it never crossed my mind. I think it's because I realize that nerf darts cost about 20 times as much as a stefan, and I have already heard of stefans.
I don't think it's the result of not having stefans necessarily, as it is a need for a dart that's nearly identical to stock darts, without the properties of stock darts.
For example, I'd been using stefans for a long time, but in early 2005, I randomly stuck an N-Strike stock dart into a piece of 17/32" brass I had lying around, and it fit perfectly. Orgasmically so.
Now that was at a time when 9/16" brass was king for barrels. I decided to go out on a limb and 17/32" my crossbow, with nested 1/2" brass at the back. It was REALLY small for the time (heck...it still is) and I wasn't sure if it was going to work out, but I figured I'd have a better shot at consistently well-fitting darts if my foam was all manufactured at my desired diameter, rather than having to stretch it and getting inconsistencies.
Unfortunately, the first run of the N-Strike line ended soon after, so I didn't have a source of those stock darts to "convert" as everyone calls it now. But then the dart tag line came out, and half of the new N-Strike guns use those same darts (or, at least the same foam) so I had a constant supply of perfectly fit foam for my smallbore barrels.
In more recent years, CDTS's (don't know who coined that term), or the act of making stefans out of stock darts in general, became popular because it was the easiest way to make a Longshot clip stefan-compatible. Remove the restrictors, and you're ready to go because what the gun is
designed to shoot, you've only slightly redesigned. I can see with the emergence of the longshot AMPLE reason for tons of people to want to make stefans that they could fire, so it only makes logical sense.
I still stand behind my original darts because I've found incredible results with them. First of all, they practically find themselves during dart sweeps between rounds and at the end of the day. Bright orange; doesn't get any better, really. Then, there's their sheer density. They're rock solid, and last a LONG time. Lastly, when I'm making them, I don't have to be quite so careful with my glue gun. There's no need to melt a hole for my weights, because the factory has already made it for me, and it is PERFECTLY CENTERED, EVERY TIME. That has flight consistency written all over it. From dart to dart, there is little variation in how they fly, which typically results in hitting what you're shooting at.
Wow, I think I wrote way too much...I'll stop there. I guess it goes without saying that I kinda like 'em.
