12 replies to this topic

[Datum]

First post here, thought I might make it interesting:
A bunch of months back, I tried to build my first homemade nerf gun. It was awful. Had a massive 2" shell, was over 2 ft long, and the trigger worked only after hours of prayer and peaceful meditation on the good fortune of each shot.
Anyways, last week, I was doodling in class and found a MUCH better way to construct it, simply by making a few components share a tube instead of sitting a tube inside a tube inside a tube (long story).

The current build looks like a Sten gun of WW2, and I hope to keep that motif cos I like the way it looks right now.
Here is how it will look when all is fit inside of it:

As you can see, it's fairly compact, only about a foot long at the moment, though I plan to add a cheap stock for coolness.

Here are the internals laid out as they would be at rest. It is compatible with the N-strike clip (saves time and money for meeeee), cos that fits nicely over the brass slide. Spring is from an old Big Bad Bow. The mechanism works by pushing back both the front wall of the plunger tube and the plunger itself with the handle protruding from the bolt, the plunger locks on the trigger, the bolt slides back forwards, and then it is fired.

Here is the bolt/plunger wall. The handle is to be screwed into the side such that it'll look roughly like this. It needs to stick forwards as otherwise the slot to accommodate it would extend into the plunger tube, causing a fairly bad leak.

The end of the gun ends in a female threaded coupling for 1/2" PVC, so I am free to experiment with different barrel lengths or attachments.

Hope it works, I'll post more news when it comes, yah?

[KaptainKrazy]

Very nice looking, but I am not sure where the catch is. Can you provide some more closeup pictures of the internals?

[td667]

I would definitely suggest using a different plunger head, such as the superlative plunger head. Also, a stronger spring might help. All that aside, nice job! I like the way this looks and look forward to seeing more!

[Datum]

At the moment, this is how it is. I was going to go for the superlative plunger head, but my trip to the store had to be cut short for various reasons, so I kinda had to grab what I could. When I get around to it, I'll fix it up and make it a bit nicer, but til then this'll do.
Also, the catch is about 3 inches back from the plunger at rest, it is the minimum distance for the bolt to cycle a dart and still actually fit in the shell.

[Exo]

Had a massive 2" shell, was over 2 ft long.

You almost know what I'm about to say next, huh? ANYWAYS, that describes most homemades right now.
(I edited these first two sentences to make what I meant a bit mrs clear.)

Your's has a miniscule 3" of draw, and a furtherly microscopic 3" of barrel in the bolt, which could be attributed to your want to keep it small. Keeping it small is for Hasbro, not for nerfing. If you make a homemade, then you are acknowledging that you are not afraid of the weight that using PVC brings, and you are not afraid of letting it all hang out, because you do not have advanced machining capabilities like Botsniper or Hasbro. (This is a personal opinion on the disadvantages of homemades, feel free to disagree about the obvious.)

Also, N-strike mags are par for the course. Everyone has them, and if you don't right now, then you will. And just as a word of precaution, most of the veterans don't like it when people make homemades, then try to make them look like firearms, and then call them a firearm-eyish name.

Edited by Exo, 21 February 2012 - 02:22 AM.

[Datum]

You almost know what I'm about to say next, huh?

ANYWAYS, that describes most homemades right now. Your's has a miniscule 3" of draw, and a furtherly microscopic 3" of barrel in the bolt, which could be attributed to your want to keep it small. Keeping it small is for Hasbro, not for nerfing. If you make a homemade, then you are acknowledging that you are not afraid of the weight that using PVC brings, and you are not afraid of letting it all hang out, because you do not have advanced machining capabilities like Botsniper or Hasbro.

Also, N-strike mags are par for the course. Everyone has them, and if you don't right now, then you will. And just as a word of precaution, most of the veterans don't like it when people make homemades, then try to make them look like firearms, and then call them a firearm-eyish name.

Actually, the biggest problem I had with the first version is that the trigger was effectively useless. Because I set the trigger on the outermost shell, and the others (including the plunger tube) was inside a smaller 1 1/4" tube inside THAT shell, it was extremely difficult to keep from jiggling around without slipping off of the pin that held the plunger back. It probably won't win any awards, but it's fun to build.

[Frant1c]

ANYWAYS, that describes most homemades right now. Your's has a miniscule 3" of draw, and a furtherly microscopic 3" of barrel in the bolt, which could be attributed to your want to keep it small. Keeping it small is for Hasbro, not for nerfing.

I saw your quote, and was intrigued by the notion that 'Nerfing' is separate from Hasbro. Is Hasbro, as the manufacturer of Nerf, not the grandaddy and founding father of all Nerfdom? Maybe the word you're looking for isn't 'Nerfing,' but rather, homemade guns. I hope you don't take my comment as a flame or a put-down of you, Exo. It's more of a thought experiment into the meaning of 'Nerfing' than anything else.

And to keep this from becoming thread-jacking, I like the N-STEN, Datum. It's cool to see someone attempting something different from bows in the Homemades section. Doubly so if that something is a homemade that is N-Strike clip compatible. I'm curious, you never mention what type of darts you're firing out of that thing. Are they stefans or the stock darts?

Thanks.

[Zorns Lemma]

ANYWAYS, that describes most homemades right now. Your's has a miniscule 3" of draw, and a furtherly microscopic 3" of barrel in the bolt, which could be attributed to your want to keep it small. Keeping it small is for Hasbro, not for nerfing. If you make a homemade, then you are acknowledging that you are not afraid of the weight that using PVC brings, and you are not afraid of letting it all hang out, because you do not have advanced machining capabilities like Botsniper or Hasbro.

Also, N-strike mags are par for the course. Everyone has them, and if you don't right now, then you will. And just as a word of precaution, most of the veterans don't like it when people make homemades, then try to make them look like firearms, and then call them a firearm-eyish name.

I'm glad you are deciding on behalf of everyone that this project is worthless. Thank you for correct my previous misconception that this was actually quite creative.

[Exo]

I'm glad you are deciding on behalf of everyone that this project is worthless. Thank you for correct my previous misconception that this was actually quite creative.

Zorn, I never said it wasn't creative. All I said was I like my homemades big, that his description of his previous attempt matched the size of most homemades, that veterans don't like LARP/milsim, and that lots of people have nerf clips. I think that some may consider it's size a plus, and it certainly has some good, simple design mechanisms, and with a longer barrel, better springs, and a superlative, this thing MAY get close to a LS powerlevel, and maybe even better. Reread my post and realize that my attempts at humor were lost in bad spacing, and try not to take what you perceive to be someone's opinion so personally and then attack said person sarcastically.

Frantic: Hasbro has a recent history of cheapening products. Also, I believe that ParkerBros was the first owner of Nerf, then Larami, then Hasbro. Nerfing is about polishing shit, not how good the shit is to start with. Besides, we're not even a marketable demographic, for all sorts of statistical and legal reasons.

Datum: This is a good start. Frankly, if I didn't have so many other projects going, I would attempt this build. You have successfully made the Revshot mass producible.

Never let it be said that I don't know how to start a discussion.

Edited by Exo, 21 February 2012 - 02:25 AM.

[Datum]

Zorn, I never said it wasn't creative. All I said was I like my homemades big, that his description of his previous attempt matched the size of most homemades, that veterans don't like LARP/milsim, and that lots of people have nerf clips. I think that some may consider it's size a plus, and it certainly has some good, simple design mechanisms, and with a longer barrel, better springs, and a superlative, this thing MAY get close to a LS powerlevel, and maybe even better. Reread my post and realize that my attempts at humor were lost in bad spacing, and try not to take what you perceive to be someone's opinion so personally and then attack said person sarcastically.

Frantic: Hasbro has a recent history of cheapening products. Also, I believe that ParkerBros was the first owner of Nerf, then Larami, then Hasbro. Nerfing is about polishing shit, not how good the shit is to start with. Besides, we're not even a marketable demographic, for all sorts of statistical and legal reasons.

Datum: This is a good start. Frankly, if I didn't have so many other projects going, I would attempt this build. You have successfully made the Revshot mass producible.

Never let it be said that I don't know how to start a discussion.

Pshawww, it was a helpful comment. Internet just makes everyone sound bitter. Any feedback is useful feedback.

[lech]

A longshot only has about 3 inches of draw too. Having 7 inches of draw isn't always necessary especially with air efficient breech setups and wide plunger tubes. Although 3 inch barrel would be limiting.

Edited by lech, 25 February 2012 - 04:30 AM.

[magnum]

what are the ranges?

[Datum]

what are the ranges?

I'll get you some ranges when the dang thing works
I still need to get a seal or two before it fires, among other things...