CRCL

Aim:

To 'fix' some of the major design and performance issues with the Nerf (Elite) Rayven, whilst impacting the appearance of the blaster as little as possible. Specifically the abysmal trigger pull and performance loss due to the 'barrel', plus some other minor issues. A motor replacement to pololu motors will also be performed.

Things To Note:

Many of these solutions have been adapted (or in some cases copied) from mods other people have performed upon their Rayvens. It would be pointless to list all the rayven mod guides I took inspiration or borrowed mods from, in short; if it's about improving the rayven's performance and on the internet; I read it and probably used part of it in this mod guide.

Finally, I performed this mod in a slightly different order, so some of the pictures may seem a little 'off' timescale-wise, the guide was put in this order to simply make it easier to read.

Materials:

1x Nerf Rayven or Nerf Elite Rayven
1x Century Spring Corp. C-25 utility extension spring
2x Pololu #611 high-powered motors
25mm UPVC thin-walled (grey) electrical conduit (could be substituted for 3/4" thinwalled PVC instead)
A dremel
A hot-glue gun
A soldering iron
Thick gauge wire (I used 3.8mm if memory serves)
Etape
Epoxy
Superglue
Solder
Hot-glue sticks
White lithium greese

Tools:

Dremel
Pipe Cutter
Various Screwdrivers
Various knives (I used a hobby scalpel and a swiss army knife)

Disassembly:

Remove all the shell screws and open it up. Nearly all the screws seem to be the same, if memory serves the two in the tactical rail are a little shorter than the other screws. Remove the tactical rail spring and holder bit and try not to lose it.
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Also remove the clip guide piece and put it aside somewhere safe.


The clip release lever should also be removed and stored somewhere safe.



Original Circuit Removal:

The first thing to do is remove all the electrical circuitry, including all the electronic locks. The only electronic part in the blaster that will not be removed is the motor switch located under the trigger. To remove the electronic components all you have to do is make the following cuts (I just used a pair of scissors):








Now all you have to do is yank out the wiring:


These components can be thrown into your electronics scrap box:


Manual Lock Removal:

With the electronic locks removed only the two manual locks remain, the first one stops you from being able to pull the trigger whilst the flywheels aren't spinning, which is a good thing; So I left the first lock alone. The second lock, which is much less practical, stops you from being able to pull the trigger whilst no clip is loaded, and was easily removed with just a screwdriver:



These components, again, go to the scrap box:


Fixing the Trigger:

The first thing you need to do is mark the part of the shell, where the wire ('connecter wire') that connects the trigger to the dart pusher, passes under the flywheels. It's probably easier to see in the picture below. Then use a knife or scalpel or even a dremel to cut out a chunk of the shell at this spot. This is done because whenever you pull the trigger the 'connecter wire' rubs on this part of the shell causing friction and making the trigger pull slightly harder.


Remove the dart-pusher from the shell. You do this by separating it from the trigger (a single screw connects them) and removing the plate that covers the dart pusher and forms part of the mag-well.



Next take the dart-pusher and slide the compression spring on it off; the spring can go into the scrap box. Lubricate the dart-pusher with some white lithium grease and put the dart pusher assembly back together (minus the extension spring).

Aim:

Basically to ‘tune up’ the Firestrike and give it a swappable inline clip system to dramatically increase it’s DPS, whilst keeping it as stock looking as possible. Since I'm an Australian nerfer, and have access to slightly different materials to work with I've included some alternative materials to the ones I've used.

Materials:

1x Firestrike (I used the Australian version, but any should do)
1x SGNerf 8kg Retaliator/Rampage replacement spring (or any suitable replacement spring)
1x 20mm UPVC electrical conduit coupler (could be substituted for a 1/2" PVC coupler instead)
1x Papermate ball point pen (almost any pen will do)
16mm UPVC thin-walled (grey) electrical conduit (could be substituted for 1/2" CPVC instead, 17/32" brass could be substituted for the barrel)
20mm UPVC thin-walled (grey) electrical conduit (could be substituted for 1/2" PVC instead)
20mm UPVC thick-walled (orange) electrical conduit (could be substituted for 1/2" PVC instead)
2mm brass rod (a small nail could be used instead)
Etape
Epoxy
Superglue
White lithium greese
Plumbers goop

Tools:

Dremel
Pipe Cutter
Screwdriver
Various knives (I used a hobby scalpel and a swiss army knife)
Needle Nosed Pliers
File
Sandpaper
Pinvice (a drill with a small drill-bit would suffice)

Disassembly:

Remove all the shell screws and open it up. All the screws seem to be the same, so you don't need to keep them in any kind of order. Try not to lose this little nut that holds the battery door on. Put it aside in a safe place.


AR Removal and clip reciever:

Grab your main assembly and pull it apart.



Firstly you need this piece that contains the AR and acts as the plunger-tube cap.


Use a knife to pry it open at the seem. It's not glued together so it should just come apart.




These are what we want. Discard the air restrictor.


Start with the dart post piece (from now on Piece 1). Cut the 6 pieces of plastic holding the dart post to the main ring and discard the dart post. Using your knife and/or dremel with a sanding piece widen the opening till it's about 22mm in diameter. Set piece 1 away for later.



Next get this piece (piece 2) and using your dremel with a grinding bit remove the centre circle and smooth the inside of the ring. Set piece 2 aside for later.



Finally grab the barrel piece and cut off the barrel leaving only the base ring and the plunger-tube 'clips'. Use your dremel with a sanding bit to widen the centre of the ring until it's about 22mm in diameter. Set piece 3 aside for later.



Now grab a small piece (~50mm) of 20mm thickwall (orange) UPVC electrical conduit. Wrap it in E-tape until it fits snugly into piece 2, then epoxy it in place.


Next epoxy piece 1 onto piece 2 as shown.


Final piece 3 gets epoxied on top of piece 1 and 2 as shown. Now piss off for a couple hours and let the epoxy dry.


Cut and/or sand the 20mm conduit flush with piece 2 on the plunger-tube side of the combined piece 1, 2 & 3 (now known as PT-cap); also cut the E-tape that is protruding from the PT-cap off (sorry forgot to take a photo of this).


Next you'll need your 20mm UPVC electrical conduit coupler. Use your dremel to sand the inside of the coupler; you want to get rid of the centre 'ridge' and widen the coupler ever so slightly. You'll know you're done when you can just twist the whole coupler over 20mm conduit with your hands.



Next you'll need your coupler and PT-cap. Measure and mark the coupler 28mm from one end. On your PT-cap find where the 20mm UPVC protrudes from piece 3 of the PT-cap, then measure and mark 6mm from this point. Once the measurements are done cut and smooth both pieces; the smaller piece of coupler won't be needed and can be discarded.




Next you'll need a small piece (~50mm) of 16mm thin-walled (grey) UPVC electrical conduit. Using a dremel, files and/or sandpaper sand down the outside of the 16mm UPCV until it can be jammed into the 20mm UPVC stub in the PT-cap. Once it has been sanded down enough to fit, use plumbers goop to glue the 16mm UPVC into the 20mm UPVC leaving an overhang of 16mm UPVC on both sides of the PT-cap. Leave this piece for a few minutes to bond.



Next cut and sand the 16mm UPVC so that it is flush with the 20mm UPVC on both sides of the PT-cap.


Next you'll need your cut down 20mm coupler, the PT-cap, some 2mm brass rod and a pinvice with a 2mm drill bit.
NOTE: Most of you miniature hobbyists will have a pinvice and brass rod lying around for pinning resin/pewter models, but if you don't have either and don't want to buy one; a drill with a small drill bit and a small nail will do.


Now dry-fit your coupler to the UPVC nub of the PT-cap and use your pinvice to drill a hole through the coupler and the UPVC nub then back out the other side as shown. Make sure the brass rod will fit through the holes.