Blood Angel

In the NIC there is a lot of threads and posts about range and velocity. It seems very clear that a lot of interest lies in knowing what a blaster chronos at or where the darts fall shooting parallel to ground. Just recently Southern Brisbane Nerf Club (SBNC) wrote an article discussing FPS vs. Range. And there has always been a sort of immature obsession to getting increased ranges. As if increased range ensures complete and total victory at your next game.

What good are 200 foot ranges and 120 FPS velocities if you cannot hit what you are aiming at? Accuracy has to be one of the most overlooked data points in the NIC. But why is that? I have a feeling it is because there really isn’t a standard by which to judge whether a blaster is accurate or not.

I have asked a few people about the accuracy of their blasters and have come back with different answers from every single person. Many of them replied, stating that they don’t have data on the accuracy of their blasters. Most replied with descriptions that in no way tell you anything about how accurate their blasters are. But that is to be expected, since most people don’t think about how accurate they need to be before a war. Or they get a rough idea of how the blaster performs during test fires and what not. So, I guess there really doesn’t need to be an accuracy standard. Or does there?

I have made a few high powered homemades and modded a fair share of blasters. Some of you are great innovators and pioneers of the NIC. But most are regular players who try and duplicate already existing projects. And that is ok, because one person’s idea may lead to other new ideas for the NIC. Like many of you, I have followed a write up or watched a video guild. We all want to know about the performance of a blaster, homemade, or mod; before investing time, money, and effort into it. Well folks. Accuracy is also a part of performance. Wouldn't you like to know if the blaster you are planning to make can hit the broadside of a barn with stefans? stock elite darts? I certainly would like to know.

I understand that accuracy is dependent on the darts used and that using darts in general limits just how accurate any given blaster can be, by nature of the projectile being made of foam. But range and velocities are also dependent on the darts used. As long as the same type of darts are used, the general grouping of the blaster should not change. And if your stefans are so inconsistent that you can't do an accuracy test, should you even be using them?

I have asked a lot of people, and 30 feet seems to be a good distance to judge the accuracy of a blaster. Most Nerf fire fights take place from 20 to 40 feet. This also pretty much indicates that the most common effective range is somewhere around there. 30 feet is not an arbitrary distance I picked because I like it. An Hour of Angle (HOA) or a 1 degree angle creates a cone with a base of about 6 inches at 30 feet. Using HOA measurement, predicting dart spread and accuracy at varying distances becomes a little easier. But the first step is to actually get data on the dart groupings of darts

This isn’t some made up concept, but a tried and true way of measuring accuracy. In firearms, there is a generally accepted standard measure of accuracy determined by “minute of angle” or MOA. A minute of angle is just a fancy way of saying 1/60th of an angle. This measure is used out of convenience, because a MOA creates a cone with a base of about 1 inch at 100 yards. This in turn became a way to measure accuracy. Because as that angle extends farther out the base of the cone becomes 2inches at 200 yards, 3inches at 300 yards, and so forth. This measure of accuracy makes it easier to estimate shot spread or groupings at farther distances.

I think forming a generally accepted process of determining accuracy can be as simple as figuring out a blaster’s dart shot spread at 30 feet. But that’s just a theory, a Nerf theory.

No doubt the Stryfe/Rough Cut 2x4 Masterkey is one of the more popular mods out there.

It combines mid ranged firepower with, well, more firepower. A good mid distance as well as close distance blaster.

But what if you add a ranged weapon as well...

I give you the Strough Cut Panther




The Panther button is pushed with your thumb, so you never have to take your hands off the blaster. If you wanted, you could sneeze out 4 darts at once.


I eventually took the side pumping handle off to give it a narrower profile.

I've had this...thing for a while now, and debated many time whether or not to post it.

I've used in a total of about 4 games now (5th game coming up) and decided that if it is safe enough to use in multiple games with stock Elite streamline darts, then posting it should be fine.



So, what is it? It is a Foam Converted Arrow Gun or F-CAG for short. There were other names I was going to give it. With the Snap bow, AAbow, and other types of bows out there; the only thing that separates this is that it is a REAL bow. A real 60lb draw weight bow.

Why would I do such a thing? When I first got into nerf gaming and moding, range was all the hype. This thing can achieve ranges comparable if not vastly farther than singled Titans. Also, because of its optional hopper system it can shoot as fast as you can pull the string back. The range of this thing is only limited by its ammunition. The heavier the dart, the farther it will shoot.

So how far does it shoot? I don't actually know. Really really effing far. To give you an idea, it can shoot a stock elite streamline dart unmodified across 1.5 to 2 basketball courts PTG using my sealed breech barrel. Unfortunately, the stock dart will create a large spiral pattern and not be very accurate. The range and accuracy will actually depends on two things:
1) the dart used and 2) the barrel system used.

There are two main types of barrels that I use with this thing:
1) fully sealed breech barrel



2) hopper wye system


The hopper wye system barrel was made to be played with stock elite streamline darts cut in half. So, obviously the range is much farther with the fully sealed breech and super heavy darts. In fact, even with the extra space the hopper provides I still needed to add barrel porting and vents to bleed off the extra pressure behind the darts that cause the darts to fly wonky as it leaves the barrel.



The thing is that in the nerf community everyone measures range with the barrel parallel to the ground. With this thing, that isn't the case. There is so much pressure that upon exiting the barrel the dart actually rises a little before it falls. So my first range pin is actually slightly lower than parallel to ground. For those of you who know nothing of archery, there are pin sights that archers use to aim. If you look at my bow there is rubber tube attached to my bow string. That is a self adjusting peep sight. I look through that and then focus on my range pins in the front.

There is a bubble level to ensure my bow isn't tilted and multiple pins that represent different distances. What does mean? It means that my F-CAG bow can hit you accurately even when angled. And yes, I have done it in multiple games with much success. This homemade is not just a theory, it is a battle tested and well tuned foam slinger.

In short, this homemade is a real bow with the range of a singled titan, with firing speed as fast as you can pull back the bow string, and the accuracy of a rear plus front sight. There is no pumping, no guessing as to barrel aiming, and angled shots are a viable option.

While there are a lot of thread about range, custom darts, stefans, dart tips, dart length, barrel length, barrel porting, barrel rifling, telescoping barrel diameters, springs, pressure tanks, airguns, and everything around/in between; there is very little information about why all of this works. All of the things mentioned are the reason the darts go farther and stay more accurate in flight.

Clearly the foam blaster community is a trial and error group. There are certain things I've noticed and would like to see explained or reasoned out.
Since the introduction of the Nerf Elite Series blaster, old streamline darts have been replaced with the new elite darts. There are blogs and videos to show that the reason the elite darts perform better than old streamline darts is because of the weight distribution and balance. Also, we know that after a certain distance/range or power the elite darts spiral or topple over off trajectory.

Which is the very reason stefans and other kinds of custom darts and dart tips were created. After a certain amount of distance/range/power, non-stock darts are a must to reach desired results. Keeping in mind that with increased springs, pressure, and what have you; more modifications are need to stabilize dart at greater trajectories.

There are a few questions that I have regarding these little known facts, and I'm sure more will arise as this thread progresses and greater minds get involved.

What is the maximum distance Elite darts can obtain before they start to destabilize?
What are the ideal lengths for darts, barrels, barrel types, at which corresponding power/distance level?

Obviously there are ratios between power and distance, accuracy and power, accuracy and distance, distance and dart length, distance and barrel length, accuracy and barrel length, accuracy and dart length, distance and dart tip, accuracy and dart tip; and many other relevant ratios. One of the more difficult things I am having problems with is measuring power.

What should be the measure of power for a blaster? psi? Wc = ∫ F*vdt? P(t) = F*v? fps?

Is it just easier to create more barrels and mess around with dart weights, lengths, and tips rather than to actually do the math?

What do we know.
1)The heavier the dart, the more powerful your blaster needs to be. Simple enough. But how much weight for how powerful a blaster? http://nerfhaven.com...=1

2)Domes are more aerodynamic and will travel farther than slugs (flat tips). Making them safe is the question. http://www.coop772.c...les/darttesting

3)Longer barrels increase accuracy, but make it too long and you risk losing velocity/distance. So, what is the optimum length? http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=22446

4)Longer darts fish tail and spiral. What is the best length for stefans or streamlines? http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=12595

While there are answers out there, do any of them really give solid answers? Not really. They provide useful results, but not answers to questions that will depend on the variables of your blaster. What I would like to see is a formula that everyone can use, if the variables are know about their blasters and dart. Is this a possibility?

Hello everyone,

I recently took my prototype bow blaster out to BURN Round 9: Big Nerf in Little China and had a successful combat run.

The problem is that the prototype bow blaster only work well when using the 1.3g silicone tip darts I borrowed from a friend.

I DID look at the Velocity Tag, Hanzo, inform3r, and Oznerf before starting this thread.

But i didn't get much luck. I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get about 200-300 of those darts or even just the tips?

If not, does anyone know how I can modify or create darts that have a 1.3g (or heavier) dart tip?

Thanks for your time.