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! :)

Foam Ballistic Shield!

Looking for some protection from foam darts?

Make your own Foam Ballistic Shield!

Foam ballistic shields can introduce more interesting tactics in nerf skirmish games, especially for indoor close-quarter-battle (CQB) games!

I've seen some shield examples online made with metal panels, wood planks or acrylic sheets, but those materials are abit too heavy to carry around and require a fair amount of craft work and tools.

My idea was to have something that is portable, light-weight, durable and easy to make... and looks cool too.

Here is how i made my foam ballistic shields with very simple materials in just 5 minutes:

Step 1: Get a car boot foam tray from your local car accessory shop. Preferably rectangular, with raised edges and in 3 feet x 2 feet dimensions.




Step 2: Cut out a suitable sized view slot (can also attach a piece of clear transparency sheet to cover the view slot).

Cut the excess foam piece into 2 strips (to use as handles).




Step 3: Attach the 2 strips as handles onto the back of the foam ballistic shield using velcro (so that its adjustable for multiple users).




Final Step: Print out your favourite logo or call sign and attach it to the front of the foam ballistic shield.




A Nerf Maverick would seem to be the natural choice for nerf players equipped with a foam ballistic shield... but do note that the Nerf Maverick is a manual-action single-shot blaster.

Due to having one arm already holding the foam ballistic shield, it would be more effective to equip a semi-auto/full-auto blaster like the Nerf Magstrike or Rapid Fire 20.

On the flipside, this may also make shield equipped players abit too "overpowered" in nerf games, therefore expect organizers to set additional special rules to balance the usage of foam ballistic shields.

Anyways... when you are not using it as a foam ballistic shield for your nerf games, you could still use it as a foam tray for your car boot! :)

Buzz Bee Belt Blaster Mod - Ammo Belt Drum!

The Buzz Bee Belt Blaster is an interesting foam dart blaster with its pump-action design and 30-dart ammo belt.

But the common method of connecting it into a loop and letting the belt dangle freely while firing can be abit too obstructive and looks messy, especially when playing fast paced skirmish games that involve quick fire and movement.

Therefore, i created a custom Ammo Belt Drum for the Belt Blaster, something to keep the ammo belt secured in a container yet allowing it to cycle freely (and still look cool at the same time!).

Here is how i made my custom Ammo Belt Drum:

Step 1: Get a CD Spindle Case (8cm tall) and Velcro Strips with adhesive backings.




Step 2: Cut a hatch into the CD spindle case cover, the hatch width should ideally be 4-5 cm wide. Make sure the right side of the hatch (shown in the photo below) is left attached to the cover, this will be the hatch ramp. Also cut out the CD spindle.




Step 3: Position the ammo belt in the drum (as shown below).
It should look like this.




Step 4: Stick the Velcro Strips to the Belt Blaster and Ammo Belt Drum.




Step 5: Attach the Ammo Belt Drum to the Belt Blaster.
Note how i wrapped the Ammo Belt over the top of the Belt Blaster's belt rotator cover.




Final Step: Locked n' loaded... Ready to deploy!




Ammo Belt Drum - Test Fire Video

Buzz Bee Tommy 20 Mod - Increase Rate-of-Fire!

As you all know, the new Buzz Bee Tommy 20 can now fire in full-auto mode! It does this via a motorised rotating drum magazine and dart pusher mechanism which automatically push foam darts forward in sequence into its 2 fly-wheels.

There are a total of 3 electric motors:
1 x Drum Rotator/Dart Pusher motor
2 x Fly-Wheel motors

As the speed of its motors are voltage dependent, increasing the voltage feed should be able to yield quicker drum magazine rotation and dart pushing, resulting in increased rate-of-fire (RoF).

In addition, the faster spinning of its fly-wheels should also "throw" the foam darts out at a higher velocity, thereby possibly increasing the firing distance.

Here is how i tested it with some simple components:

Step 1: Get the following items from an electrical supply store.
(Nerf Vulcan modders should be familiar with such items by now!)

1 x Battery Holder (holds 8 x AA Batteries)
1 x Battery Holder Snap-on Adapter
2 x Insulated Wire Leads (Red + Black w/ Crocodile Clips)




Step 2: Attach everything together and install the AA Batteries (in this example, i used 8 x 1.5V AA Batteries which provide 12 Volt power in total). Once again, please take note of the Positive (Red) and Negative (Black) wire leads, do not let them short-circuit!




Final Step: Remove the Buzz Bee Tommy 20's battery cover and clip the Red and Black wire leads onto the connection points (clip properly and note the wire lead colours!).

Okay, time to test it out!

Here are the Test Fire Videos of my stock vs. upgraded Buzz Bee Tommy 20s:

Buzz Bee Tommy 20 RoF - Stock 4.5 Volt Power



Buzz Bee Tommy 20 RoF - Upgraded 12 Volt Power




The stock unit had a RoF of approx. 2 rounds per second, while the upgrade unit generated a RoF of approx. 3 rounds per second. Therefore there was a 50% increase in RoF.

In the upgraded unit, the foam darts also got "thrown" out of the 2 fly-wheels at a higher velocity too, with an average increased firing distance of around 6-7 feet.

If you are confident, you can try increasing the voltage further to increase the RoF and range even more, or use other power sources such as rechargable RC car li-po batteries to do the upgrade.

Just be careful not to burn out your blaster's motors! :)

An additional note for those of you looking to get into more detail in the modding of the new Tommy 20:

The front 2 motors powering the fly-wheels are seperated from the main body unit by a pair of electrical contacts (you can see them when you flip up the front barrel unit), therefore with additional mods, it is possible to power the drum magazine/dart pusher motor and the fly-wheel motors seperately with different power sources and voltages.

Hope we can see more mods done on the new Tommy 20! :)

Nerf Vulcan Mod - Increase Ammo Belt Capacity!

The Nerf Vulcan's stock 25-dart ammo belt can seem abit short for such a high RoF blaster.

Lets extend them for more ammo capacity...

Step 1: Put the ends of 2 ammo belts side-by-side.




Step 2: Remove the screws from each end-block. Remove the covers.




Step 3: Cut a small notch on one of the belts to fit on the other belt's clip.




Step 4: Attach the cover back to the connected belt and install the screws back securely.




Final Step: You now have a 50-dart ammo belt!




You can keep connecting ammo belts until you get your desired ammo capacity, i'm sure some of you are already planning to go for 100-dart ammo belts!

To revert the belts back to stock 25-dart ammo belts, just reverse the process. :)

Nerf Vulcan Mod - Increase Rate-of-Fire!

Want to increase the Nerf Vulcan's rate-of-fire?

The Nerf Vulcan's rate-of-fire (RoF) is voltage dependent. By default, the stock battery sled holds 6 x 1.5V D Batteries which combine to provide 9 Volt of power to the vulcan's motor, this supports a RoF of approx. 3 rounds per second or 180 rounds per minute.

To increase the RoF, a popular method is to increase the voltage to the motor. Here is how it can be done in a modular manner with affordable easy to find parts.

Step 1: Get the following items from an electrical supply store.

1 x Battery Holder (holds 10 x AA Batteries)
1 x Battery Holder Snap-on Adapter
2 x Insulated Wire Leads (Red + Black w/ Crocodile Clips)




Step 2: Attach everything together and install the AA Batteries (in this example, i used 10 x 1.5V AA Batteries which provide 15 Volt power in total). Please take note of the Positive (Red) and Negative (Black) wire leads, do not let them short-circuit!




Step 3: Remove the Nerf Vulcan's stock battery sled and clip the Red and Black wire leads onto the connection points (clip properly and note the wire lead colours!).




Final Step: Test out your upgraded Nerf Vulcan!




Here are the Test Fire Videos of my stock vs. upgraded Nerf Vulcans:

Nerf Vulcan RoF - Stock 9 Volt Power (180 RPM)



Nerf Vulcan RoF - Upgraded 15 Volt Power (300 RPM)




Do note that as expected with most electrical components, increasing voltage to a motor might invariably shorten its operating lifespan.

I've also tested increasing the voltage to 18 Volt and 24 Volt by adding more batteries (and also tested with other battery types like R/C car Li-Po batteries), the RoF gets even faster! But at those crazy speeds i could smell the motor start to overheat even after firing just 2-3 ammo belts, therefore do be careful when increasing voltage to those limits! Don't let your Vulcan's motor burn out prematurely.

This upgrade is easily reversible back to stock voltage (just detach the clips and revert back to using the stock battery sled) and its very modular too, so you can adapt it to your own preferences. :)

Nerf Recon Mod - Tagger Dart Compatibility!

As a Nerf game player, it can be abit frustrating to only be able to use Streamline foam darts on your Nerf Recon.

Sometimes you may also want to play Dart Tag games with your Nerf Recons, or you might simply have run out of Streamline foam darts.



Here is a simple mod that will enable your Nerf Recon to chamber and fire Tagger and Sonic foam darts!

Lets start...

Step 1: Take your Nerf Recon, only focus on the pistol section.




Step 2: Unscrew the casing, take note of all the screw locations and loose parts.




Step 3: Note the internal layout, especially the bolt carrier group and how it works.




Step 4: Take the bolt carrier group out of the Recon.




Step 5: Seperate the bolt from the carrier frame holder, you will need to push out a metal securing pin.




Step 6: Put your Tagger dart in to test, notice how its stuck and can't be chambered or fired properly? We will need to create a better fit.




Step 7: Use a hobby craft knife (please be careful) and cut away the flanges on both sides of the bolt.




Step 8: Trim the bolt's dart support thinner and narrower, keep testing with your Tagger dart to work towards a good fit.




Step 9: Remove the pop-up blocker plate, trim the block lines so that it can better fit Tagger darts.




Step 10: Put everything back together and install all the screws securely.




Final Step: Put a Tagger dart in your magazine and test fire your Recon. If it jams or doesn't chamber properly, open up the casing again and do more trimmings and adjustments, it can take some time to achieve a good fit.




Here is a Test Fire Video of my Nerf Recon firing Tagger foam darts:




Being a clip-fed blaster, the Recon will tend to be prone to jams, so my advice is to make sure to use perfect foam darts, load them into the magazines properly and chamber each foam dart steadily.

In addition, do note that N-Strike clips are not originally designed to hold Tagger foam darts, so any clips longer than the 6-dart versions would still have issues working properly due to the foam darts being positioned increasingly at downward angles.

Now go play Dart Tag with your Nerf Recon! :)