16 replies to this topic

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Hello fellow nerfers! I, like nearly every other person ever, have owned and shot people with nerf weaponry. However it has been many moons since last I weilded one. Suddenly, for christmas, both my brother and I got each other Maverick's unknowingly! Oh joy! The firefights that ensued!

However, now my older brother has gone back to college, and I am stuck with only my unsporting younger brother. So, I turn to improve my blaster to the best of my capabilites, so as to allow myself to crush my older brother upon his return.

I am, however a relative newb to the nerf community, and so have been trying to figure out the guts of the gun, and how to improve it.

I have made three minor mods to the gun.
Firstly I dremel'ed the two peices of plastic off, allowing the barrel to swing all the way out for easier reloading.
Secondly, I have removed the restrictors (or at least I THINK I have. I removed the springs, as well as the three-pronged orange plastic peices), as well as removed the... prong-thing in the back of the barrel that holds standard nerf ammo in. I than drilled a small hole in the back of each of the 'orange caps' that were part of the aforementioned peice, and glued them back on.
And lastly, I stretched the spring.

While the fully swinging barrel works like a dream, the removed air restrictor and pulled spring have had less spectacular success. The actual shots fire almost exactly the same distance as before (in the range of 18-25 feet I would imagine), and fire fairly inconsistantly. Some work great, some get barely 10 feet. I feel that from what I read removing the restrictors (which I understand to be the spring and three-pronged orange peice) should have noticeably improved the preformance, if only by a little. However, I cannot tell ANY difference with firing range.

Perhaps this is simply the downfall of the maverick... I am going to purchace a nitefinder ASAP, as the single-barrel should be considerably easier to work with. I don't want to botch my Maverick (I'm quite fond of twirling it Revolver Ocelot-style) so I don't think I want to try any barrel replacements quite yet.

My questions are as follows:
1. When the 'Restrictors' were removed, there is now a fair-sized gap between where the air shoots out, and where the dart is stuffed down. Could this be filled with, say a ring of foam or something, leaving a hole in the middle, so that the airflow would be more condensed? It seems as if it's just dead space. (Am I making sense?)

2. Does stretcing the spring really help? I didn't notice any real difference. Or did I just not stretch it far enough. I read that this compromises the stability of the gun... could I use a metal square for the back, and say... a thimble hot glued to the plunger to make it more stable/strong?

3. Does lubing the plunger really help that much? What kind of lube should be applied if so?

4. Does barrel modification really just boil down to dart-to-barrel friction? This IS the main thing to be worrying about, right?

I think that's all the questions I have. Please keep in mind that I am totally new to this nerf modding, so if I have asked a really stupid question, please be patient. Sorry!

Thanks in advance!

~TCIND

Edited by TheCheatIsNotDead, 17 January 2006 - 09:05 PM.

[pinhead52]

Answers;

1. You are exactly correct, and your solution is exactly the solution most use. Go with it.

2. Yes, it does help, and yes, you have to stretch it like mad. I remember stretching my mav spring, and you have to give it several heavy pulls to get it any bigger. It doesn't help much, though, and the Mav only has so much potential to begin with.

3. Sometimes, as it allows the plunger to move faster. Never done this before myself, so I don't have any recommendations.

4. Yes. There are different barrel materials for different types of guns (spring, air, etc) because sometimes you want less friction, and sometimes you want more. The Mav actually has nice barrels already, and replacing them is really just a waste of time. They already grip nicely at the back and it's not like you can make them longer.

It's good to see another Ocelot fan.

[WratH]

3. You usually want to use silicon-based lubricant (i.e. spray) on plastics and rubbers, because petroleum based (i.e. vaseline) will eat away the plastic after a while.

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Answers;

1. You are exactly correct, and your solution is exactly the solution most use. Go with it.

4. Yes. There are different barrel materials for different types of guns (spring, air, etc) because sometimes you want less friction, and sometimes you want more. The Mav actually has nice barrels already, and replacing them is really just a waste of time. They already grip nicely at the back and it's not like you can make them longer.

It's good to see another Ocelot fan.

Thanks for the answers!

Another question- for the question 1 solution's 'ring of foam', could I just cut up one or two stock nerf micros and glue them in to the space? I think that would be ideal...

It's a pity that the maverick can't be modded more... Mabye I'll buy another one, and cut off the front of the gun so that the barrels could be extended... After all, there's nothing important there. Find a way to keep it stable... I think it could work.

Other than that, it appears I'll have to turn to other guns to go mod-crazy. NightFinder, here I come!

Thanks again!

~TCIND

[Forsaken angel24]

3. You usually want to use silicon-based lubricant (i.e. spray) on plastics and rubbers, because petroleum based (i.e. vaseline) will eat away the plastic after a while.

Stay away from the Jigaloo slicone spray. It reacts funny with the lube that is already in the plunger tube. Even after I cleaned out all the old lube this shit still started too gunk up. Stay away from the Jigaloo it was the reason my Titan fell.

[NinjZ]

As far as the best barrel, you can only use what fits your own darts best. Make stefans first and go from there. Looser fit on pump guns such as an AT2K and a tighter fit on springers like the NF.

[Paloose]

It's a pity that the maverick can't be modded more... Mabye I'll buy another one, and cut off the front of the gun so that the barrels could be extended... After all, there's nothing important there. Find a way to keep it stable... I think it could work.

You can't extend the barrels because the grey hinge is right up against the edge of the barrels and with a barrel extension the drum wouldn't rotate.

[KirbySaysHi]

You can't extend the barrels because the grey hinge is right up against the edge of the barrels and with a barrel extension the drum wouldn't rotate.

I believe he was talking about sawing the entire front of the gun off, including the grey hinge-mechanism, thus alllowing for longer barrels. I think there was a previous topic on this (or at least a post). I would recommend just buying a maverick, and using it for its ROF, and not doing anything to it (except the swing out mod). I tried modding mine by putting in CPVC barrels and it doesn't fire as well as my brother's stock. The reason for this is the gap between the cylinder and the plunger, as when you take the cylinder apart, this upsets the careful spacing of the unmodded gun.

But if you do find some awesome way to extend the barrels and it works, let us all know!

Oh maverick: it's proof that clothing doesn't make you cool.

Copy!

[DTReaper]

These are the ranges on my mav. I did this with the same mav and with the same clip (I did it stock then with restrictors removed then modded it again with CPVC)
Stock Mav:
30 feet-flat=stock micros
40 feet-angled=stock micros
NA=stefans
restrictors removed
44feet-flat=stock micros
49 feet-angled=stock micros
41 feet-flat stefans
45 feet-angled=stefans
CPVC replacement
31 feet-flat=stock micros
51 feet-angled=stock micros
47 feet-flat=stefans
74 feet-angled=stefans
-DTR

Edited by DTReaper, 18 January 2006 - 02:47 PM.

[ompa]

You should be able to extend it if you replace the main metal pole inside the chamber, somehow secure it to the chamber, and then instead of lopping and thowing out the front end of the gun, actually use PVC/metal/wood to extend it, making room for longer barrels.

Welcome to NH, excellent questions, and I thank you for making coherent posts. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

~ompa

[NerfMonkey]

74 feet-angled=stefans

I don't believe that claim.

[DTReaper]

74 feet-angled=stefans

I don't believe that claim.

There may have been some wind at like 23 mph and lke some bounce but it might be like 5 feet less.

-DTR

[obetheduck]

I also was recently given a Mav. This is my first real mod with a nerf gun but I love to tinker and take stuff apart, so I did the mods I read above with similar results. Slightly better than unmodded. My son and cousin have stock ones for comparison (xmas gifts).
One thing I did that help a little more is puting a small piece of plastic in between the front of the barrels and the gray holder. I will try and get a pic later. This was to make the plunger and barrel connection tighter. At first I tried two pieces of plastic and the barrel would not turn so I went back to to one. Again a small gain in strenght using stock micros...

I also shorten the trigger spring a little to try ensure the barrel would turn.

1. How do you measure your range shots? Standing and Firing the gun flat? To where the micro first hits the ground or stops?

2. What lubricant do you use on the plunger? Silicon I get but brands? Examples?

Thanks

Edited by obetheduck, 18 January 2006 - 04:59 PM.

[DTReaper]

I usually range where it stops because no one will help me but snow and grass do wonders... If you can find it.

-DTR

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Hello everyone! I'm back, and I've just done some slight modifications to the Maverick.

I did the idea for having some foam in the place where the restrictors were, but also saw TheYellowDart's method of acheiving the same thing. So I spliced the two ideas together.

I used a straw (full credit to TheYellowDart), and two standard nerf dart tag darts. I stuck the dart into the crevice (as it shall be henceforth be called in this rant), and measured how much needed to be, and then cut it. I then used a straw (a smaller one than YellowDart's I believe), and cut how much could fit as well, but this one went all the way through the crevice to the back of the barrel. It is almost a perfect fit with the hole in the back of the barrel.

I then Hot-glued the straw into the dart foam I had cut, and then hot glued that combined peice into the crevice, trying to get the straw as straight as possible for a direct air flow (though it may not matter too much.

I then re-glued the orange restrictor caps back on top of all this, and reassembled the gun.

Having done this, I have noticed a (finally) noticeable improvement in the shots. Though not a big one.

my shots are now getting at least 27 feet on average now, as opposed to the mabye 22 or less from before. Also keep in mind, that these are all STRAIGHT shots. As if I were actually trying to HIT something.

I am pleased so far. Soon to get a NightFinder, and will work on that.

Also I think that an extended-barrel Maverick is not so far-fetched when you think about it. It doesn't need to swing out, and really, only the rotating part would be a problem. I'll draw a sketch of how I think it could work... the only problem might be that I'm not entirely sure it could be taken apart with only screws again.

Will give more thought.

Ciao!

~TCIND

[Forsaken angel24]

Mabye I'll buy another one, and cut off the front of the gun so that the barrels could be extended... After all, there's nothing important there. Find a way to keep it stable... I think it could work.

Extending the barrels would be pointless anyway. The maverick plunger is not big enough to handle a larger barrell. In other words the air output is not good enough.
This might work well on a night-Mav.

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

I dunno... I think this is a really interesting idea! Splice together a gun with a better plunger... extend the barrels...

I think this could be really cool. I might need some help though.

Shopping list:
Stefan supplies
Maverick
NiteFinder x2

Yeah...

I hope I would be able to make it work... I dunno.

~TCIND