17 replies to this topic

[b00m13]

Hiyo!!

How many of you know lil kids that play nerf guns, either a son/daughter/nephew niece/neighbor, etc?

Most likely quite a few of you.

And do you remember how when you're their age, no matter how carefully you've played, you always seem to magically lose your bullets? (Damn Nerf magic bullets!!)

When you lose them, you can either go to the toy store and buy replacement bullets from 33 cent to 50 cent a bullet!! or you can make stefans.

Well my nephew has a Firefly, and he told me he's lost all but 2 bullets, so the next time I see him, i'm gonna help mod his FF (Just the basic AR removal, etc) so he can shoot stefans, this way he can shoot all he wants and not have to worry about losing a bullet.
But then I have to remember he has a younger brother, and I'm pretty sure his mom will get mad at him and ME if he was shooting up his house with those hard hitting stefans...

So I got to thinking about making a stefan, but for kids.
After a few mins I came up with just covering up the hotglue with some of the smaller pieces of FBR that were left over.
I shot myself with a regular stefan at point blank with my mod NF, and it hurts quite a bit...
Then I shot myself with the new cushioned stefan, and it was no where near as painful...

Then I tried a range test, and there was the problem.
The bullets did not go straight, it curved everywhere, so to fix this, I simply taped 1 layer of E-tape around the head of the bullet (1/8" away from the tip of the bullet) and now they shoot as straight as my best stefan bullet. Don't be surprised if the bullet wont go as far as your regular stefans since there's no weight inside and the tip is exposed FBR, but these bullets were designed for kids, and i think a 40ft straight shot (from a modded LS) is more then enough for a child.

here's my 1st child bullet, I think I'll call them... Juniors



here's a pic guide (sorry I couldn't draw it out better, but I only know how to use MS Paint)



I was also thinking of doing something similar with velcro hooks at the tip for when they play with the dart tag system, since velcro strips comes pretty cheap if you buy em in large rolls.

Edited by b00m13, 22 June 2007 - 02:58 PM.

[baseballnolan5]

These are kinda like T.H.A darts T.H.A darts. Except yours look easier to make. Good Job.

[Team Slaya]

Cool idea, and very practical. There were darts made by 3DBBQ at some point, his "magnum" darts, which had a normal stefan form with a piece of extra FBR on the end. It basically did the same thing that yours did, except kept the stefan weighting for increased performance. But considering the target audience, I don't think that the extra effort is necessary.

Good job.

TS

[b00m13]

HOLY****!!!

I swear I didn't see that post b4 (Definitely not trying to plagiarize), I just came up with the idea yesterday night cuz I was trying to fix the pain problem when playing with stefans... it's almost eerie how our designs came out so similar.

I guess he also shot himself with the tape at the tip, and realized it hurts just as bad as a regular stefan, so he had to move the tape down a fraction of an inch too ^^;

[NiteWalker]

So, the darts are basically a piece of FBR wrapped in e-tape? Accuracy must be bad.

[sourskttles772]

Its all been done before

[b00m13]

So, the darts are basically a piece of FBR wrapped in e-tape? Accuracy must be bad.

actually if you've checked the pic, there's hot glue injected in between the 2 pieces of FBR (which gives it a lil sense of weight but not too much since it is intended for kids to use), and the E-tape makes it as accurate as a regular stefan, so try it yourself to see the performance b4 judging please.

PS Thx Team_Slaya for understanding that these stefans were for a specific targeted audience.

[Gengar003]

These intrigued me, and I whipped up a few. Same process as you, but I stuck a BB in there with the hot glue.



The orange e-tape makes them easier to find than ordinary grey-foam stefans, and other colors of tape could be put to interesting uses in wars (only your team ammo, or different colors do different things, etc.)

However, the e-tape has too much friction, and is just a little too wide, to fit into any of my CPVC - so none of my guns can shoot them, and I can't report on performance. A gun with just ARs removed, and the stock barrel, would be able to. As that was your stated purpose, I've no complaints.

Maybe an RF20 or Magstrike could use 'em ('cause I really don't want to re-barrel an RF20 or magstrike clips). I'll save 'em for that.

Edited by Gengar003, 22 June 2007 - 06:22 PM.

[Retiate]

Yeah, these do remind me of the Magnum darts 3DBBQ uses. Good job on thinking up your own darts. They look like they accomplish your goal perfectly.

And Gengar, if you wrap the E-tape a little tighter, wouldn't that reduce friction because then some of the tape wouldn't be touching the barrel?

[Gengar003]

I tried that, Retiate. Some of the darts there are wrapped as tight as I could get them without tearing the joint. I was unable to wrape the e-tape tight enough.

[six-five-two]

These are the darts my friend is making, like the ones Gengar made. I agree with you Gengar, the tape is pretty thick, I can't even fit it in PETG.

[b00m13]

To Gengar, um, try wrapping it a lil tighter, it seems you've wrapped them with only 1 layer of tape which is good, try making them a lil thinner too, that might help. Oh also, the idea of using brightly colored tape, BRILLIANT!! That would definitely help kids find the bullets easier.

PS , I've tried the tape method on the bullets for my friend's LS. If you tape thin strips of E-tape on the heads of normal stefans (tape it tightly), it seems to help it into the barrel smoother, and also increases accuracy (more straight shot), I've been in the basement shooting these new bullets for the last 4 hours, and the improvement is very noticeable.

[Gengar003]

There are several different types in that picture... some are just a little bit of e-tape wrapped loosely, some are a little bit of e-tape wrapped tightly, and some are lots of e-tape wrapped as tight as I could get it.

I couldn't get it tight ENOUGH .

[six-five-two]

Oh also, the idea of using brightly colored tape, BRILLIANT!!

Also... what my friend did. I suggest using neon duct tape. It looks pretty cool. I tried attaching duct tape around one of his darts myself, except I couldn't tape it that tight because the dried hot glue formed a small ring around the foam, thus making it hard to tape it tightly without cracking the hot glue.

[frost vectron]

I like to use 3/8" FBR for the tips rather than 1/2" FBR for the tips.

Using 1/2" FBR as the cushion makes loading them in CPVC barrels very difficult for me. When I put 3/8" FBR for a cusion instead, they are front-loaded much easier.

[theschief]

The title to this thread sounds like some kind of terrible charity; "Bullets for Kids", and a great motto; "'cuz kids should be safe when playing with guns"

But I'm not sure what to make of these. I'm kinda confused actually about why these are superior to stock ammo. Stock ammo doesn't hurt and flres straighter. Also, you can buy extra packs of it, and I think it is more cost-effective seeing as it gives you a better rate of return. (Due to the obvious orange color). But suit yourself.

Edited by theschief, 23 June 2007 - 09:23 AM.

[stewy]

Man, I got to try that for my little bro. Nice idea for the orange e-tape Gengar.

[Retiate]

But I'm not sure what to make of these. I'm kinda confused actually about why these are superior to stock ammo. Stock ammo doesn't hurt and flres straighter. Also, you can buy extra packs of it, and I think it is more cost-effective seeing as it gives you a better rate of return. (Due to the obvious orange color). But suit yourself.

1. He said they flew just as well as his Stefans. And I'm almost positive Stefans are more accurate than stock darts.

2.Stock darts are much more expensive than homemade darts. A pack of 30 stock darts costs what, $5-$6? A 25' roll of gray FBR costs about that price, which turns into ~150 2" darts.

3. The orange E-tape around the darts makes them almost just as visible as the stock darts.

True, stock darts don't hurt, I mean, they were designed for younger kids. But I think the point of these darts were to make further shooting blasters that, naturally, will hurt more, into darts that don't hurt and don't damage anything inside a house.