8 replies to this topic

[Arvex]

I'd like to apologize for the quality of these photos. I blame those accursed compact fluorescent light bulbs.

So I was going through my darts and found a suction dart that was in rough shape. Instead of throwing it out, I got the idea of using it to plug the dead space in my Sharpshooter II micro-dart adapters. I found out about the PVC adapter method from Lord Draconial on Youtube in this video.

I didn't want to permanently rebarrel this blaster like most do because I wanted to track down some decent quality Mega Darts (not the new ones) or make homemades of about the same size and make an easy switch between the two or run one barrel for Megas and one for streamlines (though, I find this blaster LOVES stock Sonic Darts.)

Materials:
-1/2" PVC pipe
-Electrical tape
-Sacrificial dart
-Placeholder dart (CAUTION: If you aren't careful, you will get glue on this dart)
-Super glue or your choice of adhesive.

Time: Actual working time might be a minute or two. Overall time based on choice of adhesive.

First step was to fit the placeholder dart in, then the sacrificial dart so that the right length of the sacrificial dart would stay on the barrel.


After the right length of sacrificial dart is found, pull the sacrificial dart out, apply a ring of adhesive around the end of it. Place the dart back in until it meets your placeholder dart. Twist the sacrificial dart around to get optimal distribution of glue before removing the placeholder dart. I found out the hard way that if you pull the placeholder dart first, you might accidentally push the sacrificial dart in a little more. Darts on my top barrel stick out a little, might redo this barrel later...



Stand the barrel adapter up and allow the sacrificial dart to sit until the adhesive has dried/hardened enough that you feel confident enough to cut the excess off without messing up its placement. There should be more than enough of your sacrificial dart left over to get the second barrel adapter.



End result:


If these pictures are not sufficient due to my terrible lighting, I will see if I can do mockups of these steps with some better/real light sources.

Edit: Spelling corrections.

Edited by Arvex, 31 December 2013 - 12:44 PM.

[Exo]

Your pictures are too small and generally too dark. Well, at least you're aware of it.

As for the mod itself, try making a set WITHOUT the somewhat confusing sacrificial dart, and check your ranges again. I have a feeling they may go up.

[Arvex]

Your pictures are too small and generally too dark. Well, at least you're aware of it.

As for the mod itself, try making a set WITHOUT the somewhat confusing sacrificial dart, and check your ranges again. I have a feeling they may go up.

They're thumbnails, you should be able to click them for the full images unless I screwed up somewhere.

I haven't checked the ranges without them, so I don't really have a comparison without making a separate barrel. I'll try range testing as soon as the snow is gone. All I can tell right now is that, with or without, it's one of my more powerful blasters* just by how it sounds when the darts land.

*Until my Elite Alpha Trooper kit and 2x Firestrike spring arrive.

EDIT: Other solution to that dead space in the barrel adapters would be to make shorter barrels that are the length of the dart's body, but they would be sitting fairly deep in the actual barrels and therefore difficult to remove.

Edited by Arvex, 31 December 2013 - 01:18 PM.

[shmmee]

I wouldn't mind seeing an internal pic or two. I've got a pair of SSII's at home that could use some attention. I realize the internal mods are based off of another YouTube mod, but YouTube is often fire-walled at some places of employment and some cell phones lack the bandwidth/data to stream video. It's a helpful practice to include enough pictures to replicate the mod if referenced materials may be tough to access.

[Arvex]

It's still stock on the inside. The only internal work I've done to the blaster is, at best, maintenance. I took it apart, cleaned it up and relubricated it with some OMW silicone grease. Sharpshooter II's have no air restrictors, so all I can do is minimize dead space or upgrade the spring.

I was originally planning to upgrade the spring and reinforce the blaster for it, but I find myself satisfied with the existing power on it. I can't make it too powerful or I just lost my sidearm for the HvZ event at a gaming convention in my area that restricts most* mods for safety reasons.

*The only one they notice are upgraded springs and similar jumps in power.

Edited by Arvex, 31 December 2013 - 01:29 PM.

[shmmee]

It's still stock on the inside...

Hmm. Ok, I guess my curiosity stems from the cpvc fit. When I considered cpvc inserts into my SSII I found the cpvc was a hair too big to fit into the tightened rear section of the SSII barrels and too loose to fit into the forward looser barrel section to be used as a straight drop in-insert, so I guessed some of the mod you referenced provided a magical way to use swappable stock or cpvc barrels. How are you working your cpvc barrel inserts?

*edit; Dark pictures. I now see the e-tape around the barrel back ends.

Edited by shmmee, 31 December 2013 - 03:36 PM.

[Blue]

This is called a lazyman mod. I'm not a fan of youtube nerf due to the cult like following for no good reason so it bothers me that you felt the need to credit someone who did something people have been doing for over a decade. Almost any blaster designed to shoot megas can be lazy man modded. As for the deadspace removal, I am skeptical of any tangible results. Generally speaking you did a straw mod and I seem to recall that mod being debunked although I can't find a source as of now. Have you done any tests comparing a modified barrel to a same length non-modified barrel?

General SSII tips... lube the rubber stoppers in the selector mech and consider going over any seams with a coat of goop, also turn the plunger head inside out and flare it if you want to get a better seal. Whatever you do do not stick electrical tape on it... it will distort the plunger head and eventually leave sticky black residue all over the inside of your plunger tube.

[Arvex]

This is called a lazyman mod. I'm not a fan of youtube nerf due to the cult like following for no good reason so it bothers me that you felt the need to credit someone who did something people have been doing for over a decade. Almost any blaster designed to shoot megas can be lazy man modded. As for the deadspace removal, I am skeptical of any tangible results. Generally speaking you did a straw mod and I seem to recall that mod being debunked although I can't find a source as of now. Have you done any tests comparing a modified barrel to a same length non-modified barrel?

General SSII tips... lube the rubber stoppers in the selector mech and consider going over any seams with a coat of goop, also turn the plunger head inside out and flare it if you want to get a better seal. Whatever you do do not stick electrical tape on it... it will distort the plunger head and eventually leave sticky black residue all over the inside of your plunger tube.

Fair enough on the first part. I didn't know that this was common practice with vintage blasters as I thought most of the Nerf community wasn't even aware of anything pre-N-Strike. I thought the more common thing was just entirely replacing the barrel with brass one or singling* them.

I hadn't heard anything about the straw mod being debunked.

As for testing... Well, I haven't had a chance to test for several reasons:
-This mod is less than 24 hours old, I literally was typing it while I was waiting for the glue to dry in the second barrel. I also had work today.
-Weather. Snow isn't too bad right now, but there is some wind.
-I don't know what the standard range testing conditions are, exactly. I could end up measuring wrong and state the blaster being weaker or stronger than it actually is.

Before and after the mod, I could fire a sonic dart from the living room to the back door (~30 FT) without any noticeable drop in the dart height until JUST before it made impact. It *sounded* like it was hitting harder with the filler and the blaster itself sounded slightly quieter (if anything, I just made a weak silencer.) It seems to be more powerful, but it's probably not that much of a noticeable gain (but considering that the mod cost me a few drops of glue and a worn out dart I was already going to toss into the garbage.)

I probably would have made better gains just making shorter barrel adapters, honestly. I was planning to make a pair of shorter barrel adapters at some point, cut to match the length of a standard dart, with something connecting the two as a handle for easy removal since they'll sit deeper in the real barrel, so I guess I can start on that now if it turns out this mod was a waste after range testing.

If memory serves, I did lubricate the valve, even the points where the valve inlets and outlets connected to the barrels and plunger tube. If I need to take it apart again in the future, I'll take a second look just to make sure.

Thank you for the advice and not being smug like some people in this community (none in this thread, thankfully.) Going to try the changes to the plunger head next time I open it up.




*Why!? Why do people single these? That entirely defeats the point of the SSII!

[Blue]

Found a pic of what I was talking about:

(I was working with an already modded blaster so I just used what was left of the stock barrels)

I really think this blaster has a ton of potential but if you put in an industrial spring it will destroy itself very, very quickly.


Would love to see one of these overhauled one day.

Edited by Blue, 06 January 2014 - 05:44 PM.