I constructed a new SNAP variant today in an attempt to use the Suicide Trigger with a 360 degree catch notch (similar to Carbon’s Mk II design) but it seems that the plastic couldn’t stand up to repeated abuse from the metal catch pin despite my best efforts to smooth it out.  Pictured at right is the catch notch on the plunger rod after about a solid day’s worth of use.  It actually hasn’t failed yet, and works fine in this state, but I doubt it would last much longer in this condition.  I was successful in making a solid, stable handle with a smaller footprint for use with a sleeve-style pump action.  More photos after the break.

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Nerfers and Nerf Modders have gotten some (arguably) bad press lately, and the reaction has been, for the most part, “That’s what you get for talking to the press.”  This is a sentiment that I can totally get behind.  However, the attitude that certain people have expressed compels me to remind everyone that it’s not us that are doing something wrong, it’s the media.

Unfortunately for our community, the press has everything to gain by pandering to outraged parents, and nothing to loose by upsetting outraged nerfers. For that reason alone you should never do anything to entice anyone from the mainstream media to focus on your nerf war, or your modifications, or your website.  They will find the one one thing which, when taken out of context, can leave you with your pants down.

At the same time it’s important to remember that we really haven’t got anything to hide.  Anyone who looks at that CBS piece with a critical eye will see that a caring mother took time out of her day to express to that reporter how proud she is of a son who’s taking part in a really great hobby.  As futile an effort as that may have been, I think it’s far more telling than any youtube video of some moronic teenager doing something irresponsible in their basement.  So if you came to this site or to NerfHaven looking for more dirt on the evil scourge of Nerf Modification, feel free to take a look around.  All you’ll find is a tight community of people who are involved in a hobby that’s about half as dangerous as high school football, with about ten times the benefit. (more…)

Update – 1/5/11 – Photos of the new proof of concept at the bottom of this post.

I’ve been trying to put together a catch mechanism that can sit behind the spring, like the rainbow, so that I can make a pumpsnap where the pump doesn’t have to stick out in front of the gun. I had some ideas about using a 1/2″ flat endcap as a catch plate, but a post from PVC Arsenal 17 got me thinking about using a simple clothespin trigger on the plunger rod itself, and just using narrower pipe behind the spring to eliminate the space in between, to prevent the pin from being able to wiggle free. What I came up with is surprisingly simple.

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Hopefully the 1.0, if all goes well. Here’s what I got done today. Too bad I couldn’t finish it for PA4

Still needs a trigger, catch, handle and stock. Also, while pulling apart the .2 for some spare parts, I noticed that the plunger head was all cracked and broken, so that it would move forward just fine, but would leave the o-ring in the front of the plunger tube as it was cocked. I screwed a plastic bottle cap and a rubber gasket from a bottle of Grolsch into the end of the new plunger head (which was cracked right out of the box, wtf?).  Hopefully that will make a good enough shock absorber. Also, fuck Google Sketchup.

If you read my previous article, “Damage Report“, you already know that I’ve been trying to make a homemade Nerf gun using a pneumatic screen door closer as the plunger, spring and pressure chamber. After my last attempt, I decided to open up the screen door closer and take a look at the guts of the thing.

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The Harrowing Tale of the Construction and Destruction of the Doorfucker 3000

This was a post I made on NerfHaven back in January of this year about my experiences trying to build a nerf gun powered by a pneumatic screen door closer.  I’m reposting it here because it sets up my next project nicely.  In the near future I’ll be working on another atempt to build such a blaster which I call “The Langley Bow”.  Or just L-Bow for short.

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Marty, we have to go back to keep my maxshot from breaking!

I’d like to talk about something that’s been nagging at damn near everyone in the LGLF for the last few months, and that’s the ‘Pros/Cons’ format of nerf war reaction threads. First of all, pros/cons is supposed to be a decision making strategy where you weigh the cost vs the benefit of taking a particular action. The war is over, and you’re trying to make up your mind. Unless you’ve got a goddamned flux capacitor and you’re going to go back and stop yourself from attending the war, you sound retarded.
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