Practical stock class: Dual wielding

I know what you are probably thinking: "Really? Practical stock class: dual wielding? Shouldn't that be impractical stock class?"

Dual wielding has a lot of detractors, and, to be fair, this is not for no good reason. Having a blaster in each hand has a few very obvious advantages and a host of slightly less obvious disadvantages. It is therefore the domain of those who take their inspiration from action movies and haven't thought their system through in much depth.

It is not, however, the exclusive domain of such people. Dual-wielding in Nerf is a viable system, with advantages and disadvantages, and which can be made to work if done right.

This post has been written with HvZ in mind, both because the entirety of my experience with dual wielding comes from HvZ, and because dual wielding is less practical in other gametypes.

WIP - Hammer - Pump Retal Build

I think it's about time I added a superstock pump gun to the armory. Just because.

The first thing many will ask, is Rampage or EAT. I wanted to steer well clear of both. The former is a sweet gun with a solid history going back to 2008, but sideloaders are not great. The latter is in short supply, I can't afford one now, and when I don't want a pump gun with $60+ worth of desire, I wouldn't keep one if I did own it - plus the thing is the most flimsy feeling and inefficient of the Elite CS guns as well as the most lacking of durability in hard use.

What I did have was a Retaliator, a solid and consistently sweet-shooting piece, which was begging to have a pump grip.

What was certain early on was that I was not going to just put an inner barrel on there and go. With something that isn't an auto, I can't afford any negative impact on koosh accuracy, nor do I want to lose any of the circa 105FPS that this thing has - so it was going to be a BFU barrel. I did not want to buy kits, use stock Retal handguards underneath the pump grip, use an accessory rail as a grip guide, have those janky angled links putting extra forces on things. Nor did I want a slide, since a flat top setup was mandatory.

I started with the barrel. I chose 3/4" SDR21 PVC pipe and was planning to build a bulkhead to mount it solid, but then I tried ramming a piece into the stock twist-lock muzzle. It only took grinding a flat on there to clear an internal protrusion and some Devcon and I had a perfect barrel install on the stock chamber.

Next the grip guide. I considered a coaxial pump grip but settled on a second tube below the barrel for the grip to run on. This is 3/4" Schedule 40 and is bonded to the barrel. The trunnion is one piece because none of the barrel stuff is clamshell and is Devconned on the right receiver half and screwed to the left through some PVC blocks with an 8-32 socket flat head.

The base of the pump grip is 1" Schedule 40 PVC sectioned and slightly expanded hot. The resulting grip runs smoothly on the rail with not too much clearance.

This is an 8-32 tee nut. Normally these are hammered into wood and used to accept a threaded fastener. However...

...This is a trimmed tee nut which will be used as a threaded insert in this build.

And here is one being torched. Why?

Because this.

I carefully set the inserts flush while hot, Devconned them in, and trimmed the outboard end. Now I have steel 8-32 threads in the bolt carrier, rather than pin holes that were too large already for me to tap or mess with for attachment means confidently.

Currently these and the 8-32 grip studs are the wonkiest thing about this gun and testing is pending. For now it is all working great, but revisions may happen to hardware in this area.

This is the pump grip after adding 2 more thermoformed layers and marking out for attachment flats.

And here is where a lot of pulverized PVC used to be. Freehand, grinder.

And even more pulverized PVC came from carving grip grooves.

This grip is a solid, heavy part.

Mocked up

Linkage fabricated. I was going to use aluminum, went for PVC sheet instead. Does the job, solid. The grip end is Devconned and the screw is there for insurance, which is why there aren't 2 screws.

Current state. Missing the (important) top accessory rail and the barrel shroud, the flash hider is still a blank, and there are some holes to patch in the receiver. So far, it doesn't look the greatest with those issues remaining, but it already feels great, points nicely, shoots just as this Retal always did, and is the most effortless and nice pump-action I have ever used.

Now Playing: TBNC Upcoming Events + Past 2 Game Reports

By now you have heard me refer to Tampa Bay Nerf Club (TBNC) quite a bit. If you are in Florida and looking for somewhere to play, this organization runs mostly superstock, force-on-force events on approximate monthly basis with some HvZ from time to time. Check out the group page, we always need more players. The next scheduled event is a war on 02-28-15.

Additionally, USF HvZ runs regular training missions (minigames) at the same location as routine TBNC events. One is happening tomorrow, 02-22-15.

I of course will be playing both of these.

Tacmod + 552 Holosight = Pretty Nice.

I have been screwing around shooting at random things in my apartment with my trusty prototype RS Tacmod and this ClonEOTech optic that I picked up recently.

Blaster Labs: Save Nerf Vortex Petition (Please Sign This)

The blog Blaster Labs has started a petition collecting community interest in the continued development and availability of the unique Vortex technology.

http://www.blasterlabs.com/2015/02/save-nerf-vortex-petition-open/

I encourage everyone in the NIC to sign. Even if you are not a Vortex player, this hardware is unlike anything else on the market and has a number of reasons to be.

Mailbag: BSUK FCG/Rewire Kit for RS and Generic 552 Holographic Sight

I got mail! First up, this one:

OldNoob (/u/foam_data on reddit) from FDS kindly sent me a Blastersmiths UK Rapidstrike kit to review.

It includes precut wire and everything you need for a fire control group aside from the trigger and rev button, i.e. a 3D printed switch mounting plate, a 3D printed cycle control follower, and 3 Cherry mini microswitches.

I'm not sure what I will put this in or when but expect a review.

Mass produceable pneumatic blaster concept

If you follow reddit, you might know that someone who goes by the handle of farmcoffee is looking to start a new, community-oriented and community-driven blaster company which markets directly to HvZ players, people in the NIC, and generally people who want a public-friendly indoors-friendly alternative to airsoft or paintball - i.e. people who have so far gotten by using modified kids toys and/or plumbing, i.e. us.

I've been working with him on blaster development. This is a somewhat detailed description of a semi auto pneumatic blaster concept that I've come up with.

This post will probably be edited at some point in the future with the addition of a fully automatic design.

Edit 2015/2/2: Fixed mistake in diagram and further clarified operation of SA valve.

Informed speculation: does the Doominator hold 24 or 32 darts?

This picture of Nerf's new blaster - the Doominator - has been floating around the net for a few days now. Some sites refer to it as an announcement and others as a leak. Given that nerdist.com listed a MRSP, it's probably the former.

According to both nerdist.com and the tactical tag blog, this blaster has a capacity of 24 rounds, which means 6 per each of the 4 cylinders. Redditor lSherlockl pointed out that each turret looks like it holds at least 8 rounds - which, at a glance, it does - for a total of 32.

If the Doominator holds 8 rounds per turret, we should expect the spacing between the upper and lower pairs of darts in the picture to be a little less than sin(45 deg) = 0.707 times the spacing between the middle two darts. (It's a little less because of parallax.) If there are 6 darts in each cylinder we should expect the spacing between the upper and lower pairs of darts to be a little less than sin(30 deg) = 0.5 times the spacing between the middle two darts. 

I've measured the spacing of each set of adjacent darts on the cylinder which is the closest to the camera. Each measurement was taken between the tops of the darts where possible, and otherwise from the bottoms of each dart. All measurements are accurate to +- 1 pixel due to the slight blurring of the edges of the darts.

• Highest to higher middle: 51 pixels
• Middle two: 111 pixels
• Lower middle to lowest: 54 pixels

So, we are either seeing 6-dart cylinders with only a little parallax or 8-dart cylinders with a lot of parallax. Given the amount of parallax visible on the remainder of the blaster, it is difficult to say which is more plausible.

If we assume that the turrets are rotated such that there is a single dart at the top of the cylinder, then, of course, this would mean that each cylinder holds only 6 darts. This is a plausible assumption; zooming in on the visible part of the back of the uppermost plunger tube reveals what appears to be one dart's worth of air holes, not two. 

This image might not be representative of the final design of this blaster. Note the lack of a connection between the upper part of the active cylinder and the body of the blaster where the plunger tube presumably lies. Either the PT leaps forwards during firing or some parts are missing in this picture.

Overall, if I had to call this one, I'd say that each cylinder will hold 6 darts. This is rather disappointing, given that this blaster is a potential (inferior) substitute for the now hard to find Rampage and EAT. The need to switch cylinders every 6 (or 8) shots is enough of an annoyance, not to mention the effective decrease in capacity that results from switching before a cylinder is completely depleted. If this blaster holds 24 rounds, while Rampages come with a 25-round drums, then this fact is just the disappointing icing on the disappointment cake.

Edit: I was unaware of this picture, commented on by Blasterlabs here, which shows the Doominator's top cylinder from an angle which makes the fact that it is hexagonal clear. (Well, this is a little embarrassing.) Credit goes to redditor ironmagnus and the anonymous commenter below for pointing this out to me.

Second edit: Now, it's official. Hasbro has announced that this blaster holds 24 darts. 

TBNC 01-17-15: Bunkers, Tacmod Trouble, Green Koosh, Vulture Trials

Yesterday was the latest event of the newly formed Tampa Bay Nerf Club, the latest iteration of the same group I have been playing stock class with for the last year.

A recent change is that we have added bunkers. The day before yesterday was a "mod party" at dkdavid721's place and in addition to the quick RS fix, UMB coupler, Centurion mag servicing, CleanCut planning, Hammershotting, chrono fun, Triad speed-holing, and lighting crappy kooshes on fire... We made 5 of these super cheap easy obstacles.

I thought I got an image of them installed, but I think I deleted it, and I only got this shakey video. This one is sagging because it was hit by a player, but it was the worst of them at the end of the day. They worked great. 1/2" Schedule 40 and 4 mil poly, I would have used 3/4" pipe perhaps, but regardless, these things are DIRT CHEAP and work. They store rolled up and for less than a case of ZS Elite you can have a speedball field where there was just grass.

One game made heavy use of them, it was a lot of fun. I got a good number of kills, but I didn't pack enough ammo and ran out. There will be more games with them which I greatly look forward to playing and posting about.

What I can say is that having cover like this forces players to avoid maximum range standoffs, and since these standoffs are IMO the worst part of the way nerf is usually played, it is a lot more satisfying. With bunkers ~50 feet apart, stock class players can shoot accurately at enemies.

I was also primarying this beast for most of the day. It did well, the velocity and accuracy are slowly coming up as it develops buildup and the motors break in. I can confirm that it handles great and doesn't f*ck my wrist up like a Rayven, so objective accomplished.

I did have a lot of trouble with mag changes, though. I am still not a fan of a bullpup primary in most situations. Training will help, but it is always going to be unfavorable geometry for quickly reloading.

BUT WHY would I primary this thing so much?

Because the Tacmod prototype cratered in the first game!

It was an HvZ/Infection round. I aimed at a zombie and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, and something white flew from the right side of the weapon, as if it had ejected a shell casing. I thought it was a stray dart hitting. Went to fire again, dead pusher.

Then I notice the pusher endbell cover is missing. That white object was the endbell cover, violently ejected from the receiver. What the hell??

I busted out my tools and checked her out in the field. Found the pusher circuit not getting power. I quickly figure out that the 1N5551 drop diode has gone kablooey.

Thinking that the diode blew because I had a pusher crash and stalled the motor (also kicking the motor back in the mount and busting the cover) I spin over and ohm out the pusher motor to be sure it isn't shorted, slam in another 1N5551, and my pusher now has half its ROF... What the hell??

Check switches, all good. That narrows it down. Motor blown. What the hell?

So I grab the Vulture and play on.

Early today I tear into the problem.

Find a crispy fride FK:

Brush gear barely broken in. Burned winding. The broken end of the winding must have flown around in there and caused it to momentarily lock up hard enough to kick out of the mount and break the cover. Pusher box unharmed and quiet as ever. FCG unharmed. Popped in a new FK and it's ripping again.

Active braking service is hard on motors and when you get into a game with a constant background rate of semi-auto fire going, you can have a heat situation, but why this died now, I have no idea. I suspect this is a factory defect. It does however seriously bother me. This gun did have a high round count but this just shouldn't happen whether this is an engineering deficiency of the '3240 in this particular app, or a quality problem.

For the last month or so I have been wanting to have a second rifle. I have also wanted to try Xtremes for a while. I am going to act on both these thoughts.

As to the forest green BW12 koosh darts, I started the day with about 100 rounds loaded up, all BW12 greens. They surprisingly did fine. A couple tips got loose and increasing numbers of wild shots happened as they wore out (lots of scavving happened and I must have fired 600 rounds at least in this game), but the severe immediate foam problems didn't materialize. The weather was favorable, however. I would never use these for HvZ during the hot season here. They are OK darts to use and lose in stock class, which is what I am using them for. I brought home about 50 of them and they are mostly usable.

2015 BW12 "black green" Koosh Initial Test and thoughts

Back in December I posted about an update in the eBay seller beautifulwoman2012's listings for "koosh" darts, advertising "improved adhesive". I needed darts, so I put in an order on December 23, 2014 for 200 of these recently added forest green foam (called "black green" in the listing) darts. The shipment arrived today.

As usual, working tracking number, solidly boxed to prevent crushing, and shipping confirmation within a day or so of payment. No problems there.

10-round "clips" as always:

And the darts: