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! :)
Are magstrikes still available for sale in singapore? I may buy one or two when i go down later this month.
ReplyDeleteWhile this reply may be late and production of this particular nerf gun has ceased, check eBay or anything equivalent. You're sure to find a magstrike there.
DeleteSo far, we have not spotted any Magstrike stocks avaliable at the local stores.
ReplyDeleteMost of the local NerfSG members order their Magstrikes from overseas. If you're keen, pop over to the NerfSG forums and see if anyone is selling. :)
I tried this mod and it seems that the range is not as good as it used to be. Is there any way to increace air capacity in the bladder without affecting the range?
ReplyDeleteWell, the range on my Magstrike was still around the same after the mod, so i'm not too sure of the reason for your reduction in range.
ReplyDeleteCheck for any new air leaks in the trigger or plunger... or it could just be a variation between different units.
There is actually a seperate way to increase the firing range of the Magstrike. The method i've tried is to connect rubber bands to the plunger and casing so that it delays the air fill-up process. This results in extra air pressure in every shot to propel the darts further.
But on the flipside, due to the "rubber band" mod delaying the plunger air fill-up, the longer the delays the slower the rate-of-fire (RoF).
Could you give me a more exact explanation of how to do the rubber band thing? I couldnt figure out where to put the rubber bands on the plunger to the casing. I dont have any extra clips so the added power was of no use to me unless i put more power into less darts. I have done alomst everything on this modwork and i removed the air restrictors. I love my magstrike and i dont want to ruin it by doing this rubber band trick wrong so please make a mod page
Deleteiamwhoam,
DeleteCheck out this photo by Forsaken_angel24 at the NerfHaven forum:
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5397/elasticplacementiy1.jpg
You can read the rest of his modding methods in this link:
http://nerfhaven.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7202
Thanks! Love your blog btw! <(*_*)>
DeleteI did the rubber band mod and now my magstrike often doesnt fire. I pump up 20-40 times and pull the trigger. I hear air being released so i know its working so im going to remove the rubber band it doesnt work for me whatever
DeleteI did this mod on my magstrike (yellow version) and for some reason the clip no longer advances when I fire. I checked the thingy that advances the clip and it looks like it is working. But when I close the gun up, pump it, and fire it the clip just wont advance. Please any help would be great
ReplyDeleteCheck your magstrike's clip advancing hammer again, its most probably still mis-aligned or part of it is broken.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I find extra clips?
ReplyDeleteWell, Nerf doesn't sell Magstrike clips seperately, so the only way at the moment to get extra clips is to either buy more Magstrikes or purchase them from other Nerfers.
ReplyDeleteis this mod 100% fool proof? Cuz i love my magstrike.
ReplyDeleteChriz,
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to modifying blasters, nothing can be fool-proof... as always, mod at your own risk! :)
How well a modded blaster performs will depend on the modder's skill and modding quality.
So if you're worried about the possibility of blaster damage or breakage, then i'd advise you to just keep your blasters in stock condition. :)
i have a blue magstrike, and when i pump it i hear air escaping around the area of the air bladder whats wrong? and another question, does the magstrike in the pictures have a spring on the tubes? 1.the pump tube, 2. on the tube near the trigger??
ReplyDeleteSniperWolf360,
ReplyDeleteIf you hear air constantly escaping from the air bladder area, resulting in the blaster not being able to hold air for long, then it just means your Magstrike has an air leak.
To find the air leak, open up the casing, pump it up, then listen and observe where the leak comes from.
If you can't see it, do the underwater leak test. Submerge the pumped up Magstrike in a tub of water and observe where air bubbles emerge from.
Once you find the leak points, patch them up with gap-filling epoxy glue.
As for springs, Magstrike firing pistons and trigger valves have springs inside. There are no springs in the pump tube.
Dude this looks really cool. I'm going to try this when my dad gets home from work.He always helps me on my projects
ReplyDeletehi i noticed some small holes up the very top left of the magstrike on the far left side of the spring housing. there are about 3-4 of them and they create a hissing when the gun is fired. could these possibly be air pressure releasors and should i block them?
ReplyDeleteIan,
ReplyDeleteWell... from my analysis of the Magstrike piston internals, the rear section with the pressure regulator spring is a seperate compartment and doesn't have any direct contact with any air flow from the air bladder system.
Those holes at the base are important "air relief" vents that are required to allow the front piston section to move forward and backwards easily without having to constantly counteract extra pockets of positive and negative (ie. vacuum) air pressure generated from the movement in the rear section.
Sealing those holes would basically put more resistance on the piston movement and slow it down (if not stopping it altogether).
Its similiar in principle to most manual bike or sports ball pumps, you'll notice they usually also have small "air relief" holes at the areas near the pump handle too.
in step #5,how will you know it fits when you cut it?
ReplyDeleteTheChosenOne29,
ReplyDeleteYou'll just need to cut the section in parts and keep testing the fit until its perfect. :)
Hey love your site and your blog, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI seem to have been having a little bit of trouble when opening up my magstrike (actually its my friends, but that's beside the point.) I took out all of the screws and have been trying to take off the little orange cap at the bottom front for over an hour, but it just wont budge. i've used three different flat head screwdrivers, a utility knife and a hammer, but try as i might, it will hardly move at all. Any suggestions?
Bob,
ReplyDeleteWell, some Magstrike pump caps are easy to remove while others can be quite a challenge.
I guess the unit you are working on has a rather well-glued pump cap.
My advice is to just steadily pry the edges of the pump cap while carefully separating the casing, eventually it'll dislodge with some patience.
Hmm... I tried exactly what you said for about an hour and a half, and it didn't move at all. Im considering just removing at completely with a hacksaw or bandsaw, but only as a last resort. (if it helps, im using the n-strike version of the gun, not the dart tag or iron man.) All i am accomplishing by trying to pry it is mangling the edges of the cap thus making it harder to pry. Is there anything else i should try before cuttting it off?
ReplyDeleteBob,
ReplyDeleteSeems like your Magstrike unit's pump cap is really well glued to the casing, perhaps you could try applying glue remover to somehow dissolve the glue enough to separate it (you can find glue removers from hardware stores).
Okay, i got it off a couple days ago by dremeling it. I did a combination of your mod and Forsaken_Angel24's mod (NerfHaven), and the gun worked fine. It got off two clips without have to pump in between with 40-45 pumps. But i was dry firing it when i heard something fall and clatter around inside the gun. I took out the clip and looked down inside the space where the clip goes, and to my horror, the little green clip advancing mechanism and the round spring-like thing was lying there. I took them out, took the gun apart, and (continued in next post)
ReplyDeletetook the piston out. Below the o-ring is the little niche where the little metal pin that goes through the clip advancing hammer should go, and its partially broken. Now i know what caused this (the extra stress on the clip advancer caused by the 5-6 layers of e-tape on the side of the clip). But this is my friends gun and id really like it if you could help me out. I dont know where to put the little round-spring the part of the clip advancer, and i dont know how to get it all working again. |*:
ReplyDeleteBob,
ReplyDeleteI guess your clip advancement "hammer" is broken. Its actually an common issue with the "hammer" itself, there are Magstrike users who found their sets with that particular breakage occuring after some usage, even without modding or putting e-tape on their clips.
Though you may also have put too much e-tape on the clip. The tape should ideally be applied in layers and tested until fitted just right, not too tight or not too loose. All the Magstrike and clips i've done the mods to are still working fine after dozens of games.
To fix the clip advancement "hammer", you can follow this repair guide over at the NerfSG forum:
http://nerfsg.freeforums.org/repairing-your-magstrike-hammer-rachet-t773.html
Would it be possible to repair a torn bladder using plastic filling putty? I only plan to pump this particular Magstrike 15 times (shoot 1 clip's worth), but the tear is rather large.
ReplyDeleteOr should I just replace the bladder?
P13c30fch33s3,
ReplyDeleteI've not used that material to repair torn air bladders before, so i can't really comment on whether it's effective. You could try and see if it can work. If not, then just get a new air bladder to replace it.
Do you know where to get a replacement air bladder
DeleteI Unscrewed the top white part of the bladder, and i dont know how to get it back on. Now the tank just bladder just pops of the other white part when i pump it once...
ReplyDeleteNeweramm,
ReplyDeleteYou need to secure all 4 screws on the white clamp piece tightly so that it holds down the air bladder. If any of them are loose, the system wouldn't work properly.
I can't get the clamp on, so is it possible to replace the bladder with a bottle or something?
ReplyDeleteneweramm,
ReplyDeleteWell, although you could try using an alternative air source, using a rigid air tank (ie. plastic bottle) would not get the same constant pressure feature as a rubber bladder (the rubber exerts constant pressure on the air volume), so you would not be able to fire the Magstrike in bursts... the shots will decrease in power significantly as shots are fired.
In addition, unless the bottle you are using is a dedicated pressure rated air tank that's specifically designed to hold pressurized air, its not safe to use as it can rupture and cause injury.
is the n-strike magstrike as-10 any different from the dart tag ones and the iron man version?
ReplyDeletesomebody,
ReplyDeleteThe new Yellow N-Strike Magstrike apparently have "improved" seals and internal design so they should work better, but note that for those newer versions, the connection from the pump to the air bladder is replaced by a solid plastic structure (not tubing anymore)... so you'll need to work around that during modding.
what do you have to do to be able to use streamline dart in the magstrike?
ReplyDeletesomebody,
ReplyDeleteEither twist the streamlines individually into the clip, or just remove the dart posts inside the clip, then it can use any foam darts.
sgnerf,i have been playing around with my magstrike and whenever i pumped it 10-20 times,i can only fire 3-4 shots then there is a hissing sound and it stops.but when i opened the magstrike and pumped,the bladder does not even inflate at all?is something wrong?
ReplyDeletesomebody,
ReplyDeleteMost likely you have one or more leaks in your Magstrike's air system or tubing.
To troubleshoot it, submerge the unit in a tub of water, then pump it up and watch where the air bubbles emit from. Use epoxy glue to patch and seal those leaks.
i have submerged the unit in water and have found the problem.but i have no idea how to fix it.the leak is in a compartment in which the trigger have to compress it to release air into the piston.when i tried to press it after i have pumped it up,the air escapes through that orange thing and up into my finger.can you provide a solution to my problem?thanks.
ReplyDeletesomebody,
ReplyDeleteOic... unfortunately, trigger valve leaks are too difficult to fix (unless you can figure out how to cut it open and somehow repair the trigger seals).
The alternative is to replace the trigger valve with a working one (if someone has spares to sell), or do what most nerfers do... just buy a new Magstrike.
I would like to integrate the internals of two of these guns into a Nerf long strike. I would rework it so that two bladders shot for every one bullet to improve distances and make it semi auto. Do you think that this could work? Any comments or suggestion?
ReplyDeleteNerf Modder,
DeleteSure, its possible... though its a mod that would be take a fair bit of effort to do, 'cos you have to somehow merge the Magstrike piston firing system with the Longstrike clip system.
Imho, it'll be easier to just get a Nerf Stampede instead. :)
I have a red dart tag magstrike(I bought of ebay) and when i pump it up and pull the trigger, it wont fire when the clip is in, but it will when the clip is out. Can someone help me please?
ReplyDeleteHow do you get the plastic clip over the magstrike bladder? I've been having issues with that.
ReplyDeleteJasonLuong,
DeleteIf you are referring to the white collar piece with the 4 machine screws, you'll have to use some strength to push it down securely in position over the rubber bladder while installing the machine screws. It does require an extra bit of effort to do.
yaknow the two plastic braces that go around the bladder? well, my rear one shatterd. pls help
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
DeleteI guess you could use a metal or plastic worm clamp to replace the original ones, try to get it as secure as possible.