The next year is an Aftermarket parts kit year!

 

Just when I thought it was going to be a dull year in Nerf.... well let's get back to that big news in a little bit....

First lets look at my prediction of the 4 Horsemen...  It would seem, yea, not all that interesting, however man, expensive, a Mastodon, a Rival Khaos, a Tristrike, you really have to shell some bucks....

Remember...remember when a Recon was $20, an AT was $20, an AS-10 Magstrike...$20 a AS-20....$20 a Raven...if I remember right... $20....

Wow...back in the day.. You could get every cool blaster, or at least worth having...for $20 except the Raider, Longshot and the 'Pede, but those had obvious value above $20... Obviously....

But now, every cool blaster is at least $40, and I don't like the trend of Bigger, face sized Mags, Turrets that are as big as Pizza's, Useless HAMP Gadgets that make you wonder why you paid so much...

I saw a Modulus rear stock pistol on a Rampage on FB, Holy Shit, It's huge!  The guy said that it's comfy... but shit man.. no wonder so expensive, using so much ABS plastic.......  Go small, My BoP Type L is less than a pound without a scope.

And I got to use the Mastodon, yea it works, much better than I thought it would work, but it's still heavier than one of those steel Tonka Toys I grew up with...especially the cement mixing truck.... Anyone remember that one....?  You really really might be able to sink a body in the East River in New York with one of these.... well I know it will work in Rio at least....... If a sofa will work........BUUUURRRNNNNN!

And the rebelle line, In serious trouble, the jewel/charmed/overly My little pony era of Rebelle, could it have sunk it... maybe...

Ok so your Longshot, elite colors, good move... now give it elite ranges.... better...

Blahhhhhh..... what can save this year..... SEALED BREECH BLASTERS BECOMING PRACTICAL....

When it started, you either were good with brass, or you had an Xplorer Breech and even me, good with brass, didn't like brass breeches.  I went Xplorer, I still don't regret it, wow!  Nothing like having a trooper spec Xplorer with a few touches....

But now... JET X Making the X Zeus Shell, for $150 USD "WITH" a Nylon Boltsled, only been badgering OMW to do Nylon parts for years.... well Jet X did it. 

Right now they just have the shell and the sled, but hey, they are making internals, they might actually make more, maybe an entire LS kit, I hope they do.....

But we have other sealed breech kits and darts... and IMO, they are so half massed...

Worker darts with head to foam gaps that you might be able to fit a quarter in....

Worker breeches, with plastic barrels, Remember... I brassed a OMW stage 3 because the plastic barrel attachment was crap, maybe these are better... maybe....  A lot of worker stuff looks solid, the stock, the barrel, but breech, i'll wait for V2.

Speaking of V2, the Artifact breech looks better, but you need all the way forward Stefan mags, pak-d/Xplorer/worker are center, so it means reinvestment on mags.   And then what about full draw spacing?   if your pusher is back...like an inch from the dart when you draw your Longshot? How does the dart not slip out.  

Still no dart finger, yes the breech on the Artifact/Worker breeches have tapers on the breeches and a bitchin seal.  Xplorer Tried that with V3 breeches, but V5 clearly better with the dart finger, which maintains control of the dart in the mag holding the rest of the magazines darts down while loading the one on the pusher into your dart gate.... You have to use/own an Xplorer to understand, the parts and the action is so on mine that I do not have the jam door on mine.  A trooper breech with a nylon pusher and a Hybred sled...Just looks that rad.... 

And it "could" get more inexpensive and easier for the public to get their hands on with the New Jet X company forming.

So the big news.... This is a thing now.....



That's right, Me, Drac, Justin Wilkes, Nerf Boy, Rob Poole of SBNC, PDK and some of the most well known Giants of Nerf, 8 of us in all, going to Singapore to review this....

This is unheard of, a guy with a little blog, a You tube chan of 330 subs and a Facebook chan with almost 1200 members.... Is Going to Singapore with 7 other Nerfers that can outview me on youtube.... in a day!

But I have knowledge of Xplorer, experience modding, Very popular and a wide Facebook reach..... Still can't believe it....

I'll Keep you all posted.... So Excited!!!!!


--Cartaya

Four Horsemen.

I want to give credit to who posted it first, the 4 sure to be dud blasters of 2016, but I couldn't find the FB post this morning, but it's all I thought of this morning, these are the 4 hoursemen of the Nerfpacolypse.....

Yes yes!  The 2016 Nerf lineup is not all that great.  I see a few promising blasters, a move to make the Sharpfire Blue, Double dealer looks alright as a double barrel pump action clipfed but all the others seem doomed in their own right.

 

Nerf Rival Khaos:

Coop772 said it best when he said that the magazines won't fit anywhere.  It uses a strange 4 chamber 10-12 round system that won't fit around anyones hands and/or anyone pouch. 

Something I thought of The rival Zeus and apollo mags are small and round, this avoids cracks and breakage, but what if your mag is now like....a big clear ABS.....aquarium....  Almost certain to have problems, just look at it...

There is another issue...what if... people knew a full auto mod for the Zeus (like Lord Drac)...and then...came up with a feeding device... that can be tube fed with a blower....that can in fact feed 100's of balls....

Luke Goodman did.  Now if I am a modder....which I am.... and I wanted high rof and unlimited ammo supply, would I fart around with clumsy huge mags....no.... I'de go tubefed....


Nerf Hyperfire:
Once again....I hope for a selective fire Rapidstrike the Size of an Ingram, once again Nerf put up an oversized pile of shit!   Hey, at least it's full auto, but it's weird looking....



...And not only weird looking there is one potentially devastating issue.   Sure it comes wih a 25 round drum, sure I like the grip/trigger/mag release setup,   But it shoots twice as fast as a rapidstrike, no not velocity ROF....

Hey wait?

What happens when we try to do a Voltage mod?   Oh shit?   Is it going to be too fast?.....Yes!

 

 

And we all know Drums don't do well with high RoF's, why the hell give it a drum?

Destine to fail, you now need 2 voltages to mod this and it doesn't come with 1 or even 2  of those cool flat 18's...no thanks!

Nerf Mega Mastodon

Nerf Rotofury, it's a hell of a blaster...10 rounds of slam, handy, decent velocity....but I knew it was only a matter of time till designers at Nerf lost their mind again and built something stooped...

Everyone knows me, big 6 foot tall guy still likes to battle with small pistols that can clear 50-60 yards flat and more.  I like blasters that aiming doesn't take much effort, accurate, and hauling around isn't a chore.... But then they showed us this....



This looks like it weighs 15 pounds, that huge drum must weigh at least 2-3 pounds of plastic and by god, you could throw it into the East river in New York to weigh down a body!  Forget cement shoes!

Lever action could be clumsy, just like some Hail-Fires and lo and behold...somehow...like the Hailfire....the Vulcan and the Rhino Fire....I'll end up with one collecting dust on my shelf. 

Why does everyone think bigger is better?  Longshot, roto fury, stampede, I can understand, but look at the BoP, I know many haven't fired one or seen one in play, but shit! Some times it's the sneaky little guys who win!



My complaint, one complaint and it's a dealbreaker, IT"S TOO BIG!  Rotofury is gonna be way more effective in battle and Cyclone shocks....well there you go, much better...

We have seen 3d printed Rotofury cylinders, Cyclonse shock cylinders, but this cylinder, if someone wanted to waste 10 pounds of ABS plastic filament, IS TOO BIG FOR THE CYLINDER TO POSSIBLY FIT IN A 3D PRINTER!!!!  That limits it's potential right there!

 

lastly...

The Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike:





Firstly, I hate the modulus line, in 2013 it would have been cool, but not 2016 when I mainly shoot X-Darts.  Overly gimicky, some attachments are cool, but the Ionfire is said to have less springs space than a Sharpfire.

....Sharpfire, a blaster I was able to clear 180 fps with....

The Recon MKII with the magbay incompatible with flat 18's and slow out of the box.  Sure they fixed it with new versions, but what if I get stuck with one.  the ECS 10, overpriced Rayven...and now this....

Once again a dodo blaster with neat attachment.  Air powered rocket launcher, I like that, the HAMP rocket launcher shooting a more universal ammo format, Mega darts, cool.

But the bolt action, any place for a shotgun grip?  Like a long barrel extention out of the box? no!

And what is this? like a longstrike?  how well did the longstrike shoot?

Now what would be cool is if this was a Direct Plunger longstrike mech, still it would only do 130 fps max modded.....Like a retaliator...only that you can't use a shotgun grip with...

--Cartaya

The Star Wars Nerf fad and it's dissapointing results......

 

I am NEVER amazed at the obsession Star Wars fans have for Star wars merchandise.  I can respect it, but when it is beyond practicality,  that's where I wonder....is this bordering insanity?

The new Star wars DL-44 blaster, AKA the Han Solo blaster, Nerf made a blaster out of one, and how is it?.....absolutely sucks.....  From friends who actually bought this blaster from FB forums....

*Uses a weird spring arrangement
*Has a weird  PT setup
*Shoots very poorly

Hasbro why?  why did you have to give this blaster little or no potential?  Here is what it would take to make the Nerf DL 44....decent...not great...great may not even be possible....  All of this...rebuilt from scratch.....

So....why may not great be possible?  First off, no room for a decent sized PT, even if I made one from scratch, I might get 40 cc's....at most out of a replica.  An interlocking breech could be done, yes, room for a Stefan mag, yes. But would it be worth it?

Even one made not from a Nerf blaster, the design for the DL 44 was built off a German C96 broomhandle.  It's actually a very interesting gun, selective fire and until the FBI wanted Smith and Wesson to develop the .357 magnum in 1935, it was the most powerful pistol in the world.

Why is this important?  Because this is a firearm cartridge, the design doesn't have room for a PT, best you could do is fit it in the frame, always makes for sucky Nerf blasters.

But could have Nerf built a better DL-44, hell yeah at least as good as a Retaliator.  I haven't been amused at the Star wars nerf gear,  The foam swords fall apart, the bow is awful, accurate, silent, I play with it with my sisters kids.......but awful.  The Nerf cannon in the falcon looks like it was designed by former Ukrainian Nuclear power plant workers.  What the shit man!

Nerf fans have been begging me to come up with a better design, but honestly I would need to gut it like a fish and I just don't have the resources to build a sealed breech for it.  After all...I have my hands full with the Sharpfire, can hardly keep up with demand.


--Cartaya

How I set up an Xplorer Blaster.

 

 

 

 

It's different than you would get from Xplorer, Let me Xplain ;)

Ok so, buy a complete blaster form Xplorer, Buy the Xdarts, make them and you will notice, It really is it's own system made from an independent mindset. It's not borrowed from Captian Slug or Boltsniper,   For one, it is based on the Philosophy of low friction, in the barrel AND the plunger tube, some love it, some hate it.  If you open it up, first thing you will notice is that the o-ring hardly contacts the Plunger tube, it is one o ring and they use a red grease that is o ring friendly on the inside.  This does work actually, it's just that it's not very universal, what if you like tighter foam, tighter barrels, harder springs.....

I do not advise making #6 slugs to work in here, even at 35mm or my length I make my X-darts @ 1 7/16ths, stick with the Xplorer darts, the ACC darts are completely wrong weightwise and I can't vouch for domed FvJ's, they look decent, but remember you still have to trim them down, which is a ton of work anyways.  I still use Xplorer heads and foam, simply because I want control of my darts, not some guy not watching the glue or the chance of having a bad day with an Xacto Knife.

Next, the breechfinger, small hole maybe 1/3rd of an inch, made to propel the dart, provide the PT with backpressure at the same time and make it safe(r) to dry fire.  The next is the breech itself, it is an interlocking breech, kind of works like a wedge rather than 2 interlocking tubes.  The rate of fire...is awesome, I have cleared 15 rounds in 10 seconds. 



I feel people who don't own an Xplorer blaster just don't understand why it can't be full length darts, one feeding, two it's because the breech and magazines are set up for Stefan length and can't be changed and 3, the flight of the darts would just fishtail too much.


Disclaimer:

Anything I say here will void any warrantee you have, so don't bitch at them if it goes wrong.  A lot of this stuff Dninja Heng would never do has said so on video's and to people in person and online.  His system works, pretty damn great, so unless you just are a hot rod like me and "really" want to experiment on your own and willing to drop another $60 on a boltsled, $40 for a breech or replace the longshot shell if you mess up, don't, it's on you pal!  Mod at your own risk. 


Do remember that it take power to make power and that the springs you use should be balanced sets with flat ends not clumsy, wrongly fit springs that don't coil together well or have too much spring bias to make it so that the plunger rod catch hits the trigger catch every time.

Ok first off....

Springs.

Xplorer makes a decent 14 Kg spring, however 14 Kg's is not the best spring to use for dual springs.  Think about it, add a century C-882 spring in there as a center spring with 14 coils, that's 25 Kg's. great if you have he man arms, not great if you want to go shotgun grips and have higher RoF.

The first 18Kg springs were short, on my spirit blaster actually only 4"  I put an extender on mine and a stock Longshot spring on the outside, helped quite a bit, but that's still not as nice as it could be.



Personally I like the idea of 2, weaker but fast action longshot springs, different Diameters (7/8" and 1.125") and combine them.  The Century Spring Company C-882 is an 8" 22 coil, 1.8mm gauge spring.  It has 2 closed ends, you have to cut some coils to make it fit (6 of them) and close the cut coil, if not grind them flat, it's worth it, because now you have a nice 5.75" spring that will match that OMW 8Kg Longshot spring that is 5.5" long. Lots of slap, tons of air compression at the end, make the best use of that 100cc's of air I say so it don't slow down the dart at the end.

Keep the plunger padding, but make sure the PH is not hitting the tube and round the PH head with a file, not much, a few fractions of an inch, but enough that it's not square.  Put in both springs, tighten the PH all the way to the Plunger rod and blammo! Nice power!

If you are out thrifting and you find a Thunderbow, take out that spring, it's 11 Kg's and fits in a Longshot, that will work too as a center spring.

Seals are dual o rings, one smaller than the other, never contacts the PT the other one contacts in the last 2 inches and has a trimmed Ziploc bag over the plunger...  I use Normal lithium grease but if you want to use White Lithium grease, knock yourself out.

Boltsled.

I don't recommend a stock longshot boltsled, If you want only 14Kg's an xplorer composite sled like what comes with the Trooper kit will work, some use the OMW boltsled, but then it's not quite an Xplorer anymore. Roboman makes a machined aluminum boltsled for $100, but honestly if you know what you are doing, the Eco Hybred sled Xplorer makes for $60 will work just fine within 26 Kg's, given a few perks....

The Hybred Boltsleds made by Xplorer depend on one thing, the Breechfinger pin.  As long as that holds together, so will your sled, as soon as playing, vibration or wear and tear breaks it loose, the composite pieces in the center will snap.  My solution you ask?  A 4-40 grade 5 stainless 1.5" screw and a 4-40 nut that is threadlocked with a #6 washer on the other end but not tight.  Result...never breaks.....


Breech.

If you have a fighter kit, glue that sucker on there good because if it comes off, you're in trouble.  If you break that breechfinger, goodbye feeding.  You want the breech to clear the magazine while priming, however, not so far that it doesn't seat the dart at full back draw.  Too far forward and the dart won't go up into the breechfinger and jam.  On a trooper breech it is usually pinned, I chose to tap, screw, seal and glue it with a 6/32 stainless steel screw and the file it smooth on the other end.






To make up for the screw going though the breech I enlarged the breech hole to 9.5mm's

The breech was made airtight 100% by moving the breechfinger forward 1.5mm and by adding go2 glue to the breech and wax in the breechgate, molding in seals.

The plunger padding was actually put on the middle of the trooper breech and a piece of .5"od .430 ID of 6061 aluminum was put in all the way to the Breechfinger.  This shortens up dead space and gives the breechfinger another surface to push off of.  It had a marginal impact on Velocity (3-8 FPS gain)  but the solid feel was more what I was after, 2 interlocking pieces of aluminum.

Stock. and accessories

Nothing fancy, the stock is held in with a stronger stock release button spring and a tube of aluminum.  It has a neon Green Xtrigger and quick release finger as well as a black Xplorer shotgun grip with the Xplorer X ainted Gold and 13 coats of hand sanded gloss to seal it.  Also My X mags are painted with gold lettering.

Barrel:

I have 2 barrels and 2 Gates.  One is a 11" Aluminum Xplorer barrel, one is a glued 12" 17/32nds brass barrel glued into the breech with the barrel adapter glued and sealed with Go2 glue so the barrel doesn't flop around.

--Cartaya

All Ultra Match Pistol Specifications so far.......

Most don't realize it's not just a silly name of a blaster series or a brand name but that "Ultra match" Is an actual specification, just like a Plusbow or a Rainbow snap for example. The reason I give my mods that term is because the mods are specific to what I build and not found most anywhere else in the NIC.

So I was asked to post in my rules the specifications so here we are...

Cartaya Mod Works: Specifications for High end Modded Stock Pistols AKA Ultra Match.
Sept 27th 2015
== Revisions==
The improvements of the Ultra Match pistols are specified as "revisions" or "Rev" for short. Several exist and are still being used to accommodate the needs of modders and players alike.

***All brass 17/32nds, all couplers 9/16ths and Ultra Match Chokes 1.125 long @ 9/16ths, No PETG or CPVC except muzzle brakes****

***All effective Brass barrel length, .503 ID except timing rings, all barrel crowns must be .503 +/- .002 and deburred 30 degrees inside crown of bore muzzle. Ultra match choke's also deburred @ 30 or 0 degrees.***

***ZDS must be proven by loading a dart plunger forward and grease from the plunger visible after dart removal***

***All springs unless otherwise specified, Black Tactical V1, V2 retaliator, OMW swarmfire and retaliator, HPI hellfire red on firestrike models, #62 Hilman for spec 2.0a, spring usage is open for UM Rev 2.0 spec***

***Ultra Match refers to a countersunk barrel used as a Choke to stabilize darts, but is in general the name specifications of all Cartaya's modded pistols in excess of 12 Kg's draw***

***No clipfeds, no hoppers, no RSCB's, no airblasters except barrels for clipfeds, Hopper and RSCB blasters, can be called Ultra Match***

***Cartaya's Short Pistol Ratio is not required but it is encouraged for all blasters above 18kg's the ratio is: "1.7 cc plunger volume per 1 cc of barrel area at and above 18 Kg's spring yield" ***


*Rev 1.0: R-Spec Firestrike, 12-16 Kg's 5" brass barrel, 110-140fps. Specification calls for the barrel to be hammer tapped and metal spacer used between the spring coils as a springplate and that the barrel is glued solidly to the plunger tube.

Yields below 12 Kg's-8Kg's are considered R-spec but only if it has brass.


*Rev 1.1: Zero Dead space assembly glued to AR housing, spring plate/separator (used in Rev 1.0 also to date) Barrel counter Return Spring, up to 23Kg's and includes Star Shots and, Pink Crushes into the designs, Stage 3 Firestrike got up to 206 fps @ 21 Kg's

Yields below 16 Kg's not recommended.


*Rev 1.2 type-M: same as above using a Magnus PT system, in excess of 170 fps

Yields below 18 Kg's not recommended.


*Rev 2.0: Type-L, R, LT (Type L Turreted or Short Barrel) and RT (Type R Titanium) specifies the usage of Star shots with longshot PT's and PH's, That a Bird of Prey is only derived from a Star Shot Rebelle pistol, whith exceptions to Machined replicas like the Type RT, but still must be a Bowcaster carbine or Boswcaster pistol. Typically around 28 Kg's, up to 40Kg's of yield, although diminished returns were seen past 32, ZDS-C system (brass coupler) and speeds in excess of 250 fps. As of May of 2015, The Bird of Prey Type-L is the fastest Spring Nerf pistol in the world without a PT that extends past the front of the shell and even faster than most singled air-blasters.

Blaster Can only Be a Type L or LT if PT is derived from a Nerf Longshot, otherwise, it's a Type S or RS if it's a Carbine.  Yields below 24 Kg's not recommended but can be dialed down to 16 Kg's and 150 fps for lighter shooters or to train in tighter quarters.

Adjustable Plunger heads recommended but not required to comply with UM Rev 2.0 standards.


*Rev 2.0a: Specifies Sharpfire mods with rear loading brass barrel sealed breeches and usage of a Hilman #62 spring, 140-165 fps and is to date the most popular of the Ultra Match mods. Pusher is optional but is made of 1/2 OD Aluminum, brass or Stainless Steel. The barrel must be laminated to the barrel attachment and barrel attachment must be glued to the rest of the blaster making the mod permanent.

Minimum yield is 16 Kg's, must have a brass loading breech finger, slide assembly/bolt must be laminated together past 18 kg's.  Maximum Yield is 21 Kg's, past that is not recommended.

Trigger finger must be cut down or the blaster will be difficult to fire since the trigger catch will not properly engage with enough travel to fire properly.

Yields below 16 Kg's to 8 kg's are considered R-Spec.

*Rev 2.0b: same as 1.1 but with a ZDS-C System yet to be built. Will also cover mods to the Nerf Spitstrike pistol.

*Rev 2.0c Calls for specifications of a Nerf Bigshock to use the HPI hellfire Red outer spring and either the OMW 5kg, BT v1 or V2 inner springs producing 16, 19 or 21 Kg's respectfully. A 1.5" 9/16ths brass coupler and a 17/32nds brass barrel. Velocities vary from 130 fps to 165 fps.

Mod at your own risk.

--Cartaya

My Inventory.

3 Caches of blasters, mainly home, trunk and the majority in storage, they are

Well start with what I take to wars....

Bird of Prey, Ultra Match 2.0 series (Primaries)
Often referred to as "my flock", "my harem"," my ladies", "my girls" or "my daughters".

Blaster                                               Average Velocity                                   Quantity own/built

BoP Type L                                            260 fps                                                             1/1
BoP Type R                                            270 fps                                                             1/3

BoP Type LT                                          220-250fps depending on springload              1/1

Ultra Match Series 1.1 and 2.0a/b/c

Bird of Prey Type M (in storage)               180fps                                                          1/1

Bird of Prey 21 kg's (original, in storage)  140 fps                                                         1/1

BaJ 21 Kg's (Series C)                                 160 fps                                                         1/5
Ultra Match Sharpfire (series A)                160 @18kg's                                                1/11
                                                                     185 @ 21kg's                                    Many more as kits

Stage III UM Firestrike #013                      180 fps@21Kg's                                         1/9sold as 16kg

Panther with Brass Coupler                         210 fps @ 14 pumps                                   1/1

Ultra Match 1.0 spec blasters

12 kg R-Spec Firestrike                               130 fps                                                        1/19

Troublemaker Triad                                      110fps                                                        1/3


Xplorer Blasters
Spirit of Xplorer, Singapore eXpress           210 fps                                                         1/1


Modded Stock
R-Spec Retaliator                                          125 fps                                                        1/1

Super Veloce Retaliator                               110 fps                                                         1/5

Super Retaliator                                            92 fps                                                          1/47

Mega Magnus 7.5 Kg's                                 93 fps                                                          1/8

HvZ Spec Elite Alpha Trooper                     91fps                                                           1/1

Crimsonstrike Recon OMW 1+2 kits           82 fps                                                          1/1

HvZ spec Firestrike (26 kills one round)     93 fps                                                           1/1

Common Blasters:AS 10 Magstrike                                           71 fps                                                           3/3

AS-1 Titan  (no rocket)                                  -----                                                              1/1

Rapid Madness                                              Boomco                                                        1/1

Firestrike                                                      elite velocities                                               8/8

Nitefinder                                                     n strike velocities                                          4/4

Rhinofire                                                                                                                            1/1

Longshot (Blue) (storage)                                                                                                  2/2

Nerf Rayven                                                                                                                       1/1

Vulcan Cannon                                                                                                                   1/1

Big Blast                                                                                                                             2/2

UMB                                                                                                                                   2/2

Rangemaster                                                                                                                       2/2

Hailfire                                                                                                                                1/1

Farshot                                                                                                                                 1/1

N strike Game blasters                                                                                                        2/2

Barron                                                                                                                                 1/1

Raider (Clear)                                                                                                                     1/1

Pyragon                                                                                                                               2/2

Lumitron                                                                                                                             1/1

Recon                                                                                                                                  7/7

Stryfe                                                                                                                                  2/2

Centurion                                                                                                                            2/2
And a whole bunch of other blasters I don't even remember

High Pressure Air and the War of Change......

 

 

The first time I played Paintball was in the 90's, and I absolutely hated it.  The markers were top and back heavy, two bad combinations, I hated that the markers were not Magfed, but hopper fed (still dislike wye hoppers today for personal use). And the ammo, suck suck suck and I knew it. Not only were they too soft to hold aerodynamic form, but they were .68 inch balls, large air footprint and bad aerodynamic drag from being a BB.

This is somewhat of an arrogant opinion I agree, But put in mind also from a shooter who was hitting a golf ball sized area of a target from 100 yards (300 feet) with a Model 29 Smith, that's right...a .44 magnum pistol back in 1999.  I'm fussy to say the least of what I spend my time and money on shooting wise.

I started modding Nerf blasters again in 2008 and never looked back until my friend Liam Davis, nailed it!

Liam Davis's Red Baron.

Instantly, I was in love and the NIC was in a panic as all sorts of new, unexplored dangers, competitiveness and benefits were now tossed in the air like a double headed quarter.  No seriously, this is a big issue, I mean fear that this can get NIC blasters banned from public areas like parks, fairness, police brutality, you name it, all valid concerns but...

This is like everything I wished Paintball was that day, I myself wouldn't play with one of these at parks, but I'm 40, and I know better, I can't speak for everyone.  But I can say this, this is the future, will it eliminate the NIC, no but stubborn shit like this won't help....





It's fear of change, yes, but also fear that our hobby might get unwanted legal attention as well, I get it Langley, Spoon, Slug, Ice9, all you cats, love you all but...... 

You can't stop progress, we need to keep doofy kids from misusing them in the first place, not discourage progress.  I don't see this taking over NIC battle, I see it taking down my old nemesis...............PAINTBALL!!!!!!!

Yay!

 

--Cartaya

A Declaration To The NIC.

1.  Putting mod limits on my blasters does not disqualify me from wanting to go to a meet, but it's a discouragement.  My absolute ground floor is 120 fps or a Retaliator with a Black Tactical V2 spring, I got no problem toning down, especially for an HvZ event or a meet in excess of 50 miles round trip, this floor is solid.

2. No I don't pick up people for rides anymore, if you are like on the way there and back, sure, but not 20 miles in each direction.

3. My stuff takes time to build, some kits have large backorders and priority 1 is that it functions well, if you don't like it, I will gladly give you your money back, but you do go on a list after that and it is indeed black.

4.  If you borrow a blaster, you are responsible for it, if a catch goes out or something wear and tear related, even sucking a dart into the PT, understandable.  Stolen, no.

5. Do not, under any circumstances, grab one of my blasters by the scopes or scope bases, that is just asking for a backhand and at least 10 minutes of me recalibrating them. Not fun for anyone.

6. If people in your HvZ group are gonna act like dumb fucking monsters, drama and headgames, especially not call when they get hit from long range or when the mod limits are Elite ranges where a player cannot reasonably shoot down Zeds from 80' or more out? just don't bother asking me to go.

7.  I drink, yes, smoke, very occasionally, My YT channel is adult oriented (TV 14ish), but never at meets.  If you gotta problem with that, you know where the door is.

8.  Chris Hardwick is a bitch, seriously a bitch, never invited me to any games despite knowing who I am from several Nerf circles, that's fine pal.

9.  Hasbro, OMW, and other entities in Nerf who fail to even acknowledge my presence, I give you one last chance.  Hasbro can use my input, OMW seriously needs my help, (however they have been better lately) Xplorer already knows how valuable I am and is free to use me as a consultant to bounce ideas off of.  I am much more the guy in the shop making Nerf better than the popular Nerfer on YT, most greatly deserve it, but with the right gear, I can learn that also.

10. I know Nerf Modders Welcome and a lot of the NIC can be a tough crowd, but buck up and stop acting like you don't expect it when you post too much, too many "self proclaimed" credits (and yes, I know from making that mistake myself) or having to deal with trolls and people get butthurt.  NMW made me who I am today, credit comes from not only "saying it" but also going to meets like Apoc and/or Armagedddon and "bringing it", if you don't like that, leave.


--Cartaya

How to avoid a modding Lemon.

Ok so as we all know, blasters work well for modding, and certain ones suck!  Some will get you above 100' flat modded, some are impossible. So let me give you some criteria of what to look for.

Plunger system:
My pistols disprove the myth that a small Plunger Tube area will never get you sufficient power, but only to some extent.  Anything below 20cc's (like Ix-3 scout for example)  will never be able to work in past elite velocities.  But a Firestrike with enough yield, pretty good speed but not 200 fps range.  Volume wise, anything past 28cc's can get you above 140 fps no problem, if your willing to extensively mod it, ....and if that's your cup of tea.

Hammers: 
They lack that direct transfer of energy that a straight plunger system has.  Also, past a certain yield of spring, the are impossible to 1 hand prime.  The PT's are also small so the most you will get out of one continuously is probably 75-80 flat, which is not bad, but it's not great either. This is largely why most of my modded pistols are draw handle pistols.

Low inertia pistons: 
Pretty good bonus, but not everything, for example a Magnus can't prime past 10kg's for the reason that the trigger catch can't hold it.  However, I have gotten a Sharpfire to hold 25Kg's because of it's better plastics it uses and the fact the trigger catch is wider, but 21kg's is most effective at it volume of 34cc's.

Revolver's: 
Bane to a good sealed breech pistol, absolute poison.  Not the end of the world but it basically says to me when I see it "forget this one being a 150' flat blaster."  Even the Cyclone Shock, I have never seen one do better than 130 fps.  Revolver mechanisms in nerf blasters also aren't accurate enough to take advantage of long range either.

Soft plunger rods and weak trigger catches: 
Like the Firestrike that can only take 16Kg's reliably, but 16 may be all you need.  The Rebelle blasters like the Pink Crush and Star Shot are made with a higher density soft plastic, as a matter of fast the Bird Of Preys use this.  Not the end of the world, people make replacement plunger rods (like Ve Nom) and one can make one out of Delrin or HDPE with some machine tools.

Spring Clearance:
The Pink Crush is awesome for example, but you need to use a 7kg OMW Strongarm spring and a black tactical V1 because it has less spring clearance.  Personally the freedom to use a full 8Kg swarmfire spring and a Black Tactical V2 spring makes all the difference in the world if sticking to a stock PT on a Firestrike which has a fill inch of spring clearance in full prime.  Others much more limiting, like the Strongarm with only 1/2 inch of solid spring clearance.

Too little spring clearance prevents a modder from being able to use heavy gauge springs (1.7mm and above), hence less potential for power.

Slam mode: 
Slam mode hates spring upgrades and can't take serious yields easily because it's one more thing that can go wrong trying to make it work. 

One problem you may see is the phenomenon called "auto-slamming" that happens when you prime a blaster like the EAT forward too fast and it fires even when the trigger is not pulled.   Xplorer, for example bastes their kits on Longshots and Retaliators with no slam mode for a good reason and a  decent shooter should be able to pull the trigger just fine every time the breech is moved forward in rapid sucession without any issues, just takes practice.

Open breech: 
Refers to an unmodded nerf breech, and at some point if you wanna climb past 10 Kg yields, you just need to buck up to some brass or sealed breech kits.


--Cartaya

Why I didn't go to HvZ this year....

One day, I was messaged by Evan Ovadia's sincere and kind brother Jacob about coming back for HvZ.  I really wanted to, I debated all week to myself, tried to fight it, the drama by the players that off court said bad things like I have "stink dick", mod blasters "to show my mom," make fun of how old I am, stuff like that, and never to my face, just behind my back.

All week I try to shrug it off, I try, It is not Evans fault, Camarillo HvZ, with some of the best missions, play area and games I have ever seen, I just couldn't....The ghost...is still there...what good would it do if I showed up anyways?

I am no stranger to drama in the NIC, I know I'm sensitive, I forgive those who got on my goat on range claims, trying to keep their Nerf Internet Community free of falsehoods and showing me the ropes.  There is a difference... These guys gladly play wars with me, accept my help and I accept theirs.

2 Years of Arguing with the NIC, off and on, I must have had the hardest start of anyone, but I stuck to it and it paid off.

But make it personal, not about modding...well.

And also, my old crew, Norwalk league, totally no collaboration.  I have no clue why?  I wanted to rally the troops and hit Cam this year, but nothing.... I would have gone for them, o'well.

So maybe this winter, we'll see what everyone's attitude is like then....


--Cartaya