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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Nerf Magstrike Mod - Enhanced Air Capacity & Improved Ammo Clips!

The Nerf Magstrike is one of the most popular blasters for nerf games, primarily because of its incredibly high rate-of-fire (RoF) when firing in both semi-auto and full auto. In addition, it uses 10-dart clips which potentially allow it to be reloaded quickly.

But the Magstrike in its stock form has a limitation in its air capacity. Most stock Magstrikes can only be pumped up around 20+ times before the over-pressure valve (OPV) activates and excess air is released.

With this limitation, it would only be able to fire 1 x Full Clip of foam darts before requiring re-pumps. In the middle of a nerf game, every second it takes to re-pump a Magstrike is a missed opportunity to engage opponents.

In addition, some Magstrike users may also experience their ammo clips sliding back down when firing in quick bursts, this results in missed shots and and wastes air pressure.

Here is how i improved my Magstrikes with some simple procedures. If you are good with hobby tools, it'll take just 15-20 minutes. :)

Step 1: Get your Magstrike (in this example, i used the Iron Man Blaster variant).




Step 2: Remove all 20 screws and open up the Magstrike. Note that the plastic cap securing the pump handle will require some effort to remove. I'd advise to use a small flat head screw driver to carefully wedge it open.

Observe the mechanisms and look at how everything works, especially the air bladder system.




Step 3: To delay the release of excess air so that the air bladder can store more air volume, lets adjust the over-pressure valve (OPV). Use a dremel or hobby knife to trim down the OPV trigger. Leave a small bit so that it can still work to release pressure (for safety).




Step 4: Here is a comparison of the air bladder size at 20 pumps (top photo) and at 30 pumps (bottom photo), notice how much additional space the air bladder needs to store more air?

Remove the white plastic cover that surrounded the air bladder, that'll give it abit more space to expand.




Step 5: We will need to create even more space for the air bladder to expand further. Note the plastic support that blocks the OPV, trim it with a dremel or hobby knife so that there is space for that section to expand into.

Remember to do the same for the other half of the Magstrike casing too!




Step 6: Now the OPV will allow more air to be pumped into the air bladder before it activates!




Step 7: Almost done, this is how the air bladder section should finally look like.




Step 8: Make sure everything is intact before closing up the casing.




Step 9: To improve the Ammo clips, apply a few layers of duct tape or e-tape to the side so that it can hold its position during burst firing.




Step 10: Pump up your Magstrike around 30-35 times and test it out with 2 x Full Clips!

Test Fire Video:




Now your Magstrike has the tactical advantage to engage opponents in nerf games with 2 x Full Clips of high RoF firepower! :)