21 replies to this topic

[davidbowie]

This is kind of a test-dart. It's made of a thin dowel with a stefan on one end and a chunk of FBR on the other, all hot-glued together. It performs pretty well, but that's not why I made it. The reason why is ROF.

Think about it.

With a normal stefan and a long barrel, you have to ramrod the dart. With a harpoon, you can just shove it in and it's ready to go. It may lose a slight bit of range, but it more than makes up for it, especially for a closer-in war. Besides, it definitely performs better than a 16-inch stefan.

[Pineapple]

I'm imagining being in the park, having my sandwich with my family, and the children on the play equipment 150 feet away are yelling and shooting Nerf guns at each other, when suddenly I hear one of them yell...

"Look out, he's got the Harpoon gun! Run!"

That'll get my attentinon fast.

But seriously, I only see one flaw, and a rare one at that. If, just if, some kid fell as they got hit, you know, wrong angle, wrong place, wrong time...there's a remote chance that he/she would be impaled by the dowel rod in the body, abdomen, etc. EVEN if it weren't sharpened. You'd be surprised what people impale themselves with nowadays.

Just talking about that made me cringe. But it is a novel concept. I myself would be wary of using it in an all-out skirmish.

And the KISS as usual, rough but nice.


-Piney-

[davidbowie]

Yes, you do make a good point, and that was my biggest concern when making this, especially since on the off-chance that the dowel should break, it could become quite sharp. I'm still looking for a better alternative. Maybe a thin plastic rod?

[Renegade]

Perhaps a plastic straw might work?

[WratH]

You could try to use a bic pen barrel, like in bic pen mods. It might be too short for your purpose though.

[davidbowie]

The plastic straw is a very good idea. I think I'll try that. It's not terribly sturdy, but it's probably strong enough to hold up.

[nerfer34]

Masybe put some FBR around the dowel...

[euphemism]

If it is sharp enough to injure someone then what do you think it will do to FBR? FBR tears a lot more easily than skin, it would offer almost no resistance to a sharp broken piece of wood that some poor sap is falling on.

[ShadowSniper]

Try using one of those Mcdonald's straws, the ones that are bigger than normal ones. And, fill it up with hot glue. We had to do a project a year or two ago in engineering and filling a straw with hot glue made it a heck of alot stronger, but not so much that it wouldnt bend if someone fell on it. Just a thought.

[CaptainSlug]

Polyethylene foam backer rod comes in 3/8" diameter and could be used as the spine.
Mcmaster part # 93295K31 and then reinforce the center of it with a straw.

You'd basically be making a finless nerf missle. You might improve the stability by adding a cut pattern on the rear of the harpoon to induce inflight spinning. Someone posted an image of a stefan with the rear cut similarly to a drill bit but I can't seem to find it using the search.

[GeneralPrimevil]

That's because the image is gone. 3DBBQ and PissBacon were working on that. I have no idea what happened after that. They both just...stopped...posting...

I dunno if I'd call it a drill bit; it was more like an end mill.

A straw would work. Well, I don't see why it wouldn't. Chances are, when one forces the thing into a tight fitting barrel, the straw would ripout on either end.

[blinkycc13]

I like the idea. It's original. Do what shadowsniper said. The glue shouldn't be impaling anybody, but it should still keep the straw steady.

[CaptainSlug]

Chances are, when one forces the thing into a tight fitting barrel, the straw would ripout on either end.

Something I had overlooked. You're going to need something with enough stiffness to maintain a rigid shape so that the dart doesn't wobble too much in flight, but also wouldn't injure anyone if they land on it.

A really cheap solution would be 1/8" or 3/16" polyester round rod (mcmaster part# 8325K15). At only $0.19 per foot it will be plenty rigid but warps easily under heavy strain.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 09 April 2006 - 10:53 AM.

[nerdynerfnerf]

that is so stupid. You have no life. You cunt. Haha...i hope you shoot yo eye out nigga. Who are you gunna shoot anyway? this aint beverly hills 9021HOE! FUCKERS.

[pat 1st Lt]

These 'darts', for a lack of a better word, remind of the 'bolts' used on the Two Towers Uruk Hai Crossbow. Those were decent, but failed to perform as well as home-made arrows, if you're simply interested in a large-type round, such as arrows, or missles.


May I suggest chambering a gun in 5/8" (Mega) if you are simply are interested in larger caliber rounds.

Or, if you're interested in long-range ammo, I'd suggest attempting to get a hold on old Vortex Rings, if you could. They, by far, were the farthest flying Nerf ammo.


This should prove interesting.

If I may, try using straws filled with something, such as hotglue, or plasti-dip, or some solid weight, like a rigid plastic dowel.

Just something that won't snap easily. And, on the off-chance it does snap, something that doesn't shatter (NOT wood).


I'd put my money on straws filled with hot-glue, or something of the like.




Sincereley,
Pat

[Pineapple]

that is so stupid. You have no life. You cunt. Haha...i hope you shoot yo eye out nigga. Who are you gunna shoot anyway? this aint beverly hills 9021HOE! FUCKERS.

Can't I read these during my lunch break without spoiling my appetite?

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Frick. My brand-new mallet has a stain on it now.



-Piney-

[AssassinNF]

that is so stupid. You have no life. You cunt. Haha...i hope you shoot yo eye out nigga. Who are you gunna shoot anyway? this aint beverly hills 9021HOE! FUCKERS.

Goodbye.

Anyway, wouldn't it be too heavy to fire if the straw was filled with hot-glue? and if it wasn't, wouldn't the weight distribution be too akward for the "harpoon" to fly straight?

EDIT: Damn, Piney's fast. Good Job.

Edited by AssassinNF, 10 April 2006 - 07:58 PM.

[pat 1st Lt]

that is so stupid. You have no life. You cunt. Haha...i hope you shoot yo eye out nigga. Who are you gunna shoot anyway? this aint beverly hills 9021HOE! FUCKERS.

Goodbye.

Anyway, wouldn't it be too heavy to fire if the straw was filled with hot-glue? and if it wasn't, wouldn't the weight distribution be too akward for the "harpoon" to fly straight?

EDIT: Damn, Piney's fast. Good Job.

I don't think it would be too heavy.

Just add a tiny bit of weight on the end, in the form of foam attached to some small diameter PVC or CPVC, or even just a rounded bit of plastic trash (Thrown away air restrictors, anything filed down to a nice rounded thing) wrapped in foam, or something soft.


These 'harpoons' have greatly peaked my interest, and I'd really like to see where this leads to.




Sincereley,
Pat

[AssassinNF]

OK, thanks for clearing that up.

This Harpoon idea definitely has alot of potential, I'm curious to see if these will work.

Just an idea I suddenly had: If you were to make smaller Harpoons (about half the size), you could probably use cotton swabs as the connecting rod. Their rigid enough to support it, but they wouldn't impale anyone, and they're cheap.

[davidbowie]

Great call on the Q-tips. If I have a gun with a shorter barrel, I'll definitely give it a try.

These 'darts', for a lack of a better word, remind of the 'bolts' used on the Two Towers Uruk Hai Crossbow. Those were decent, but failed to perform as well as home-made arrows, if you're simply interested in a large-type round, such as arrows, or missles.


May I suggest chambering a gun in 5/8" (Mega) if you are simply are interested in larger caliber rounds.

Or, if you're interested in long-range ammo, I'd suggest attempting to get a hold on old Vortex Rings, if you could. They, by far, were the farthest flying Nerf ammo.

Nope, none of those were my reason for making the harpoon. I don't just want a large round (almost all my guns shoot jumbos (3/4") already), and this doesn't shoot quite as far as just a plain stefan.

The reason I designed these rounds is to improve ROF in single-shot guns with longer than stock-length barrels, because the ramrod is built-in. It even takes less time to load than with a breech.

I think a straw filled or semi-filled with hot glue would be great. I could also stick weights into the staw to make it more steady.

[AssassinNF]

Yep, the harpoons are definitely a great idea. Darts with built in ramrods would help me with a lot of my guns.

When you get the design perfected, I'll have to make some of these!

[CaptainSlug]

Just something that won't snap easily. And, on the off-chance it does snap, something that doesn't shatter (NOT wood).

Which is why I suggested polyester (rod or tube) which will deform under stress but is plenty rigid and impact resistant to work.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 10 April 2006 - 10:54 PM.