Air restrictor removal is a common practice in any basic blaster modification. However, many who do it do not understand that it has consequences.
First of all, what is an Air restrictor? An air restrictor is a plastic piece that restricts/ slows the air flow when there is no dart in the breech/barrel. When a dart is placed, it pushes back some prongs to increase the airflow. However, the piece is still restricting some air, even when there is a dart. Hasbro puts these restrictors in blasters to keep them from breaking due to dry-firing.
When you remove the air restrictor, almost all of the air power from the plunger is used. A.R removal can increase ranges from 5-25 feet (depends on plunger volume). However this range increase isn't the ultimate option, with out the ARs there is nothing to cushion the impact from dry-firing. To prevent your plunger head from shattering, modders commonly pad the plunger. Plunger padding can be anything from craft foam, dart foam, rubber washers, and perhaps the best, foam rubber. Honestly with the stock spring, you should be ok, but there really is no excuse not to pad. With a higher, more powerful spring, padding the plunger head is an absolute MUST. Otherwise, the plunger head, or actual plunger, will break and/or crack. If you were a noob and have a cracked plunger head, new polycarbonate replacements can be bought from Orange Mod Works.
Also, if you want to mod a smart AR blaster (roughcut,triad,etc), keep the ARs. If you remove them, you are effectively making your toy a _shot shot-gun. If you want to mod a newer cylinder system blaster (strongarm,disrupter,dominator,flip fury,etc), keep the ARs intact.
Back on topic, here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
-Increases range
Cons:
-Absolutely no dry firing
-If not reinforced properly (padding) your toy will break
-Removing can be tricky on certain blasters
-Some blasters don't see a range increase(elite)
My opinion: Removing the air restrictors is a good way to increase ranges. However, I only recommend that they be removed on N-strike blasters. This is because that the new elite blasters have stronger stock springs, and don't benefit all that much from a removal (less than 5 feet). If you plan on taking the ARs on any blaster though, PAD the plunger.
Also, you must keep in mind the type of nerf that you play. Don't have the mindset that you must increase the ranges if you don't need to. If you are satisfied with stock ranges, keep your blaster that way.
All in all, if you do decide to take out the ARs, be careful and pad the plunger.
Happy modding
Bubba
Edited by Bubba Longshot, 18 April 2017 - 06:15 PM.
