28 replies to this topic

[Gyrvalcon]

Breaching a secondary or sidearm is, generally speaking, incredibly impractical for use in a nerf war.

And with that in mind, this is my Nightfinder with a fixed magazine. Credit to Ompa and Boltsniper for the basics of the breech design.





It uses a 10 dart fixed magazine made of polycarbonate and a nested brass breech. The only other modification, aside from the breech, is a spring replacement, using a section of AR-15 spring. Ranges are 40'-45'

After cocking, the breech is actuated with the upper handle. The section of 17/32" brass slides into the plunger tube, allowing a dart to pop in. Close the breech, and it's ready to fire. Note: Currently the magazine is taped on. I'm going to need to add some hardpoints to attach it to the shell with.

A close up of the internals:




Questions and comments are welcome.

Edited by Gyrvalcon, 16 October 2008 - 02:06 PM.

[Lt Stefan]

Very clean, good looking job. When I first looked I didn't know what the heck the TTG priming handle was, but then I realized it was for the breech. Very creative! Can you pleas post more pictures of the mag spring and the top of the breech and where the breech handle connects to it? How did you connect the priming handle to the brass? Why are the ranges so low for a NF? I like this a lot.

[mind13]

Very clean. I like the way you used the Tech target rod for your breech. Couldn't you have used a longer spring to better fit the plunger rod and increase range?

Edited by mind13, 16 October 2008 - 02:19 PM.

[Draconis]

Good idea with the extra handle! Looks relatively simple to do. Did it take you long?

[Icespartan 1114]

Dude that is sick, Very interesting interpretation. I like it, Nice work!

[Gyrvalcon]

Thanks for the compliments.

It's actually a dollar-store knockoff TTG, so I had no hesitations donating it to this blaster. The magazine spring is made of a constant force spring from inside a cheap tape measure. Be careful when bending these, they're fairly brittle.



The joint between the brass and the actuator rod was difficult. I've bent a tab up from the brass through the slot. The rod was ground to have a flat face on it, and then superglued to the tab. Then I wrapped some thin wire around it, and superglued that as well. This is my third solution to this problem, hopefully it holds.



I think that with some more mods the range will improve. Later I'll re-seat the O-ring, add another spring, and see what the ranges are.

I don't want the plunger hitting home on the brass boltface, especially if I double up the springs, so I didn't make the spring oversized. In fact, I padded the plunger with an evazote foam ring because I was so afraid of it destroying itself.

It took me a while, yeah. I wasn't keeping track, but it was the finicky little things that have taken the longest; the connections, the tiny little cuts, etc.

Edited by Gyrvalcon, 16 October 2008 - 03:59 PM.

[slowguitarman]

This could be the first "mauser'd" NF as opposed to a "luger'd" NF. I like it a lot. With a good paintjob on it, that would be freakin awesome. Excellent work.

[Wes7143]

An idea of how to keep the clip on is with rare earth magnets (not actually that rare). Then the clip would still be removable, but would be held on very well.

hope its a good suggestion!

Great work!

-Wes

[bobafan]

An idea of how to keep the clip on is with rare earth magnets (not actually that rare). Then the clip would still be removable, but would be held on very well.

hope its a good suggestion!

Great work!

-Wes

Why would he use a lodestone when more powerful evenly shaped magnets are readily available for a much lower price?
I have used magnets with clips a bit and if you use them, be sure they are attached to the pieces very firmly.

[Gyrvalcon]

Magnets are a good idea, but it is important to me for the blaster to feel solid, so I'll probably go with a different system in the long run. Glue would be fine for when the blaster is operational, but I want to be able to take it apart to fix broken parts, jams, etc.

[UpperHand]

I love it, I always have loved successful breeches and magazines. Nice work.

EDIT- What did you make the magazine of?

Edited by UpperHand, 16 October 2008 - 03:43 PM.

[BustaNinja]

Write up please? I would love you forever if you did.

And Im gonna engage in my own pet peeve, but with the write paint job, this would look like a Mauser C-96 broomhandle with the extended magazine. Thats awesome. How do you load the magazine?

[NerfMonkey]

Dude that is sick, Very interesting interpretation. I like it, Nice work!

Yes, it is indeed a nice interpretation. I tend to interpret guns more simplistically myself, but you managed to interpret this one in a complex manner while still keeping it clean.

[Nonsense Man]

It uses a 10 dart fixed magazine made of polycarbonate

I love it, I always have loved successful breeches and magazines. Nice work.

EDIT- What did you make the magazine of?

There you go

[Gyrvalcon]

The magazine is made out of 3mm tinted polycarbonate. Right now loading is kind of fiddly, because you need to hold down the darts that have been loaded through the loading port while you insert new ones, but I've cut a slot that runs all the way up the back of the magazine, so I'm adding a little wire handle that pulls the follower down, just like on Boltsniper's BS-9.

As for a writeup, I'm not going to do a comprehensive one. The BS-9 page goes in depth on the breech system, and other than that it's pretty straightforward. I'll be more than happy to help with any specific questions though.

[mystefansdontflystraight]

Great job, I attempted to do essentially the same thing, with LS clips, but it didn't work. My hat goes off to you.

[angelof DEATH182]

You could try cabinet latches to attach the clip, just a thought.

[Draconis]

An idea of how to keep the clip on is with rare earth magnets (not actually that rare). Then the clip would still be removable, but would be held on very well.

hope its a good suggestion!

Great work!

-Wes

Why would he use a lodestone when more powerful evenly shaped magnets are readily available for a much lower price?
I have used magnets with clips a bit and if you use them, be sure they are attached to the pieces very firmly.

I'm not sure if you are kidding, or just unaware... But "rare earth" magnets, are named as such due to the "rare earth" metals that they are an alloy of. The most common being Neodymium.

[Bomberman]

Wow, this is really cool! I have a question: About how long does it take to prime the gun, then work the breech and load a dart? Do you think it takes less time, or more time than taking a loaded barrel and sticking it on a coupler? Or about the same?

[Wes7143]

I'm sorry if I mislead you, but the rare earth magnets I was refering to are these:



They aren't really all that rare. I have them because my dad used to work for an engineering company.

As you can see, they are quite strong



I am unaware of the price, but as far as magnets go, they are very pricy (I believe 25 cents per magnet)

It would make the clip very sturdy, but will keep it removable.

Hope this helped clarify things.

-Wes

Edited by Wes7143, 16 October 2008 - 06:34 PM.

[Gyrvalcon]

I think (and I don't know, this is my first modification) that it would be about the same as a Nightfinder with a coupler and loaded barrel. My original intent was to attach the breech actuator to the stock cocking handle, and then put it on a spring return, so that normal operation would be exactly the same as stock, but it would autoload. As it turns out, the brass breech creates a lot of friction, so I would need a strong spring to make this work, not to mention a way to have the actuating rod detach from the cocking handle midway through the pull. Who knows, maybe I'll return to it at a later date and address these issues.

As for the magnets, if I see some, I'll pick some up if I see them, but for now I'm going to pursue a hardware solution.

[Split]

I think (and I don't know, this is my first modification) that it would be about the same as a Nightfinder with a coupler and loaded barrel. My original intent was to attach the breech actuator to the stock cocking handle, and then put it on a spring return, so that normal operation would be exactly the same as stock, but it would autoload. As it turns out, the brass breech creates a lot of friction, so I would need a strong spring to make this work, not to mention a way to have the actuating rod detach from the cocking handle midway through the pull. Who knows, maybe I'll return to it at a later date and address these issues.

As for the magnets, if I see some, I'll pick some up if I see them, but for now I'm going to pursue a hardware solution.

http://nerfhaven.com...topic=12551&hl=

It may not work at 3 revolutions per second, but it should work and be easily adaptable to the rate of fire of a nitefinder.

[jackster57]

Really Cool. Maybe you could use a torsion spring of some sort to connect the breach to the NF priming handle. Also those Rare Earth magnets should work good for holding on the Mag. Good Luck!

[BustaNinja]

Or you could attach the top charging rod to the bottom be way of a little tab so when you pull the top one back, it pulls the bottom one back aswell, and then have an extension spring so you can let go of the top handle and have it go back in to place as the real charging rod stays cocked. Its hard to explain, but thats an idea.