Hiya there Nerf Haven, long time modder, first time poster here.
I teased to a few guys over on Walcoms7's Discord server about finding a new base material for absolvers; Small Plastic Colored Sand Bottles
Manufacturer's website link here: http://www.ssww.com/...ith-cork-CO130/
You can find similar bottles at craft stores for around 33 cents each.
Compared to PVC and CPVC, these bottles are at least 1/10th the weight of traditional absolvers, and quite smaller. In the desire to make a quick prototype of my findings, I made some mistakes while making it, so please ignore that.
(Test model in a Titan, made for BoomCo darts, though any type of darts will work)
Materials needed to make one for yourself:
- 1 Sand bottle, your size determines how many darts you can use with it
- Either 7/16" or 17/32'' Brass K&S tubing (7/16'' for boomco, 17/32'' for nerf darts), or appropriately sized PETG barreling
- 1/2'' PVC Coupler
- 1/2'' PVC Tubing
- A Sharp Knife or Scissors
- Hot Glue Gun or Epoxy
- A Sharpie or other marking tool
Total Cost: ~$4.49 (~$4.75 w/ .6% sales tax)
1. Cut the bottom off of the bottle, making sure to leave as much plastic on the sides as possible. This will allow you to cup the barrels better when you add them.
2. Mark and cut off the threads, and mark where it comes to on your coupler. The bottle is now ready for barreling.
3. Measure your barreling, and test the fit inside the bottle, we will glue this in shortly. Prepare your coupler attachment for gluing as well.
4. Glue the barrels together, making sure to have the front of the absolver be as flat as possible. When you are ready, start gluing the barrels to the bottle. If you do the Hot glue method, make sure to keep the glue flowing, or the heat might melt the bottle, like what happened in the pic here.
If you use Epoxy, make sure to not allow the glue to flow into the barrels themselves, or you might hurt performance.
5. Add in the coupler assembly to the back neck stem, and you are finished! Seal anything else up with hot glue to prevent leaks, as the softer plastic can break and puncture easily. Alternatively, use E-tape, or even bondo.
The results speak for themselves, this is just as usable as a massive 6 dart absolver, but a 3rd of the size, which is great for bandoliers and keeping in dump pouches. The performance is what you would expect with only a short barrel, not bad, but not spectacular.
Anywho, Tomorrow I will update this thread with a much cleaner looking, and more effective version than this abomination. Expect some interesting things to come of this!
