"Ultra Match 2" In Prototype Stages, With Possible Ven om Kit Versions "Cartaya Veno-Strike" and "Magna Veno-Strike" In The Works.

The Mega Magnus plunger tube, with it's surperior 1.25 Diuameter and 1.24 Cubic inches per running inch of volume and a inner counter sealed barrel that can possibly be used to make a clipfed version later barely, with modification of the tube and the Firestrike shell.

The result is lots of air 2.6 cubic inches rather than 2.1 compatible with the same plunger with a new O-ring.  But there is more to this falls new versions of Firestrike insanity, let me explain.

First off, this prototype is using a brass coupler prototype for use with thinner grey darts, the new version will use a 9/16th brass barrel all the way to the Plunger tube but allow a 17/32nds coupler to be used for rear loading as this video shows.

These can even be pre/loaded as shotshells with me playing with the idea on the Bird of Prey.

It pulled about 80 flat each dart, not bad, but that's not all campers.

I am currently in talks with Master NIC Modder Ven om to help make the ultimate Firestrike yet.  3 types, the standard Veno-Strike which is his kit as he originally intended, The Cartaya Veno-Strike which uses the Ven om kits and possibly higher yields with an Ultra Match Firestrike and a new custom version which uses the largest plunger length a Magnus tube can be used in a Firestrike called the "Cartaya Magna Veno-Strike."  I am giving him proper credit and fair share part of the commission if it becomes a reality that they are to be sold as finished units.

But speaking of that, now were talking expensive, springs, taking apart a Mega Magnus Blaster, Ven om's commision and mine.  But think of it, no longer stuck to 1 yield of springs once installed, possibly more power (21 kg's or better) and a HELL of a lot more range with a system that is more user friendly and holds up better over time.

Until then, build more darts.

Your Friend In Space

--Cartaya

Future Issues Of Nerf, Part 1.

Park Legality:

At what point are the blasters going to meet opposition and why playing in public parks.  What I have seen so far is in general not opposition to Nerf blasters, but the commotion such an event with almost 100 people battling with them can make. One such scenario has been the ban of Humans Vs. Zombies from Mission Oaks park in Camarillo, CA.  This park is a nature area between housing tracts, perfect for an HvZ game.  Residence around the park got alarmed at people running around with technicolor blasters and getting too close to their fences trying to avoid Zombie tags.  It is a park, it is a public place, we don't get mad at softball games that can draw 100's of fans, do we?

I have seen people get upset at other problems they include but not limited to:

*Bullhorns, to rally the event.
*Dart's left over from battle left out in the park.
*Shooting of bystanders.

Without the ability of public play, why play Nerf?

Portability of Modded Blasters.

 As single shot pistols reach in the future much easier to attain 100 foot ranges, we could see more controversy.

It used to be, before the Air Zone Panther came out, the smaller the blaster, the less potential it has for power.  Well the Panther, made all blasters, at one point, that came originally as stock, equal, Small or large. This of course included ones kids can pack in their lunch boxes.  It was the cheap, small, easy to mod 100+ blaster of it's day.  Efforts were made to make the tanks smaller, but so many of them were made already.

This didn't seem to ban small blasters, or put ridiculous limits on them but one has to wonder, if they ever will.  Remember the origins of Nerf blasters were originally single shot pistols, there is nothing more challenging and fun than fighting a war with a single shot that can do above 130 flat.  Even if we don't want to terrorize the teachers, students, Disney employees, movie theater patrons, ect. With the advancement of Nerf modding techniques, we could see more trouble on the horizon.

Mod Limits:

Blasters get more and more powerful the more meets I go to, mine do, but so does everyone elses.  Trustfire batteries are all over benches, Few Retaliators and Rampages have stock springs anymore and the color of white PVC and gold Brass appear more common every meet I go to.  Seldom to I see an injury, or someone bitching at me that the blasters I have are too painful, but is it on it's way?

Why do I mod?  to have better tactical advantage in a stock or modded stock war.  Obviously, if mod limits get tighter, less modding is done.  This could lead to a lack of development in Nerf mod technology.  What this could do, is make Airsoft and Paintball more feasable and Nerf to become unpopular.  This is why I dislike Mod limits, even in a HvZ game.

Underselling Modded Nerf Blasters:

I hear it every day "hey, the Firestrike is only a $10 blaster, why do you charge $89.99 for a 16 Kg Ultra Match".  I see many cave in, with great ideas and products sell for too cheap or barely enough to pay the shipping.  This is a move to keep things reasonable, cheap. The problem is if you do that, the modder making the great blaster, isn't supported to keep doing his work and make a career out of it.  What usually happens is that they guy who could have made blaster parts with a CnC for much cheaper, keeps having to do it by hand, it isn't as good as it should be and eventually it doesn't go anywhere.

The idea needs to not just be development, but also reward.  For another type of market does exist that is not accessible to the everyday consumer unless they are members of Nerf Haven or various Facebook forums.  My goal is to make these available on Big 5 and Wal-Mart shelves, the only way to do that, mass production.  A mod company must make a fair margin to stay in business, or else.

Blaster Legality of Modded Nerf Products:

When does a blaster stop being a toy? Start being an action sport weapon purely?  An extremely grey area.  One that comes up with my firends, family and fellow Nerfers every day.  But no body has the answer.  For now, the Ulltra Match according to Manhattan Beach PD is a Toy, misuse and bored housewives may change that one day.  And how much of that would be the Modders fault, or the people taking shots at lifeguards with em :)  (All full of ideas today ain't I :) )

See You in Disneyland.


--Cartaya

Fire Sale?

Holy snikes!

A star shot for $10!  Retaliator $12! A sweet revenge for less than 10 bux!  One has to ask, what the hell is going on!  There is a catch, this is not the store price, making me think that the warehouse there are lots of these.  You have to buy it online, and all in the week before I get paid for the month, Pouty!

But I have dealt with bad timing all my life.  Could it be next years stuff is that good?  Or is it some purchasing agent at Targets early retirement party for overbuying and we are also celebrating?!

So go clean house folks, there's like 11 items on sale.

I'll See You In Disneyland

--Cartaya

...When a company actually starts making Stefan length darts and mags for the people.

It's about time, nobody really offers Stefans darts fully assembled. Many in the NIC make them, but consistency always suffers.  The advantages of Orange Mod Works making these is consistency of a Stefan made by a machine.  I made my new domes, doesn't really count as a stefan from scratch, they work great but lets face it, if made in longer runs by machine, they would be better.  Even the Xplorer X-Darts need to be assembled with silicone glue, but I have heard great things.

I don't know why Hasbro didn't do this from day one with the Elite line.  Less dart, smaller packaging, less foam, same price, maybe they aren't that greedy....Maybe.

Meanwhile, they are having a koosh dart fire sale, Have you heard of this?  Check that link and look at the mad fucking price, holy shit!   We're drinking Glenlivet this month.  Now not only is this a scoop, but is it a sign to come fellow campers? If the darts aren't good this may happen, especially the indoors one.  Advice OMW?  If we are going to shoot indoors, we will just drop down to stock blasters because this...

...may...suffer...the...same...FATE!  So if the koosh darts are a hint, AND I WOULD TAKE IT OMW DESIGNERS!  Lose this design^^^^

It's like no matter what, a blaster like this, hurts, no getting around it.

Now that^^^! that is crazy^^^, what kind of Psycho mods a stage 3 kit? umm.....a discerning one....ME! 

And this is Crazy me shooting it....

...and the darts are crazy.  I have to shoot elites, but have no fear this is what OMW is coming out with also!

Give me a HELL YEAH!  possibly the best thing they came up with yet!  With a genius double stack system this will sell.  But if your solid Stefans suck, man don't bother.  If you don't have a steady flow of darts for this, you will have sales, but not as great as they can be.

Good Luck OMW, wish you would let me R&D some stuff for you, like I did with the Stage 3 Barrel on my own curiosity and my friend's suggestion and help.  Offer still stands to make you one if you ship me a kit.

See You In Disneyland.

--Cartaya

New Dart Development.

130's-150-s in the wind, and really accurate out of the wind, that's right campers I finally started playing around with darts. My NIC friend Castiel Angel traded me some stefans of all colors, INCLUDING that bitching HMA foam. They were all felt head darts but they game me ideas about a better dart to use with the Ultra Match type pistols. But honestly, I am looking for a shooting system, dart and blaster, people have stated to think that I believe I am playing the Nerf version of Death Race 2000.

 I am no Frankenstein, but it is all for the betterment of the sport of Nerf and my upperhand while I send Via airmail a package my opponent's will never forget. On thing I thought was wouldn't these suction cup darts work better if they had domes on them?

So I went to Home depot and got some 3/8th domes and went to work.  I then aquired 12 suction cup elite darts and it was off with their heads, made a flat surface with them, glued the dome on and presto, the future is murder!

Yes the music, a little loud but you get the drift of it, crazy domed darts.  But that wasn't enough, I had to test the fuckers outside in the heavy sea wind on a day that stock elites got knocked right out of the sky, did I dare? did I? DID I?  Hell yeah I did.

Wow! look at the power! indoors it's just over 18 parking spaces with an 8 foot clearance.

You may just want them, just may....

--Cartaya

Pistol Packing Madman! The Price Of Success.

So I have been working Hard on my Single shot pistols lately, much to some people's terror, Jealousy, bafflement why they cost so much and just plain dumb human fear. Now I can understand stock blaster, stock plunger tube, that much power, fits in a glove box or pocket you know what I mean, "fear"! ("Don't let johnny have that, He'll shoot his eye out!")

No i'm not touting my own horn here, sorta bringing up a notion that is putting the single shot pistol back behind everything else.  Behind the Stampedes, Rapidstrikes, Longshots, Stryfes, Retaliators and airguns like the Panther and the 3k.  Just saturate the playground with 1000 rounds of darts at once, that seems to be the direction of half the Nerf meets I go to. It's just not the way I play and pretty soon, if not more of the single shooters that are not rifles like pullbows are not better supported and easier to make pull 100+ flat typically, the Nerf battle field might see pistols diminishing soon.

Sorry guys, my nickname is indeed "Sharpshooter"  Hell my 18 Kg R-Spec Ultra Match Firestrike is in the Glove box of my car!  I am the worst offender of the no bystanders rule outside of Nerf battles at the request of game organizers. I have shot at Theme park employees, in movie theaters, former rival High School Principals, Snipe birds, raccoons and some chick who threw a sparkler rod at me 2-4th of July's ago.  Lets face facts, I am an Assassin, and a mighty single shot pistol that can clear 130 feet or better of flat ground is the key to being one and getting away unnoticed.  Even If I miss, it really makes people jump, especially when you have enough power to clear across Marina Del Rey from the slips to Chace Park and nobody knows where the dart came from!

I don't advise others to do so, teenagers, hell most teens can't even draw an 18 Kg Firestrike, my own father could barely draw the Bird Of Prey today, built in childproof, gotta love it!

What major company will make a better plunger rod? Other than Ve nom of the NIC? maybe nobody? The Rebelle line seems to have a pretty good plunger rod, and I never ever needed Polycarb as a trigger catch, but honestly I think many people are missing the boat at the major mod parts companies.  So I asked em, Dninja Heng of Xplorer had most of the vision, gave me the most serious of consideration of anybody, hell he bought 2 of them, more than fair, but that's where it sat after that.  Orange Mod Works tried to pass it off their forum as "Oh yeah, basic modder project."  It is far from it, let me explain why....

Even an in depth revolutionary mod project like the first open breach Retaliator that can shoot 110 flat is nowhere near as hard.  People couldn't believe it, or maybe they did but for some reason they hated it.  So many arguments online, when does anyone ever not argue with me about something? And I can't say some of them weren't my fault.  Some people are welcome and constructive, and some just have some flea in their ass.  But here in this quest, at least I had reinforced parts like the lovely Xplorer composite plunger's and metal catches made by Orange Mod Works.

But a Firestrike, much more limited? You have a Plunger cap that once it is glued in place, you can't remove it (put in your springs wrong, your catch wrong and you are fucked!).  You have a plunger rod so soft, they were made probably from old recycled JEM dolls.  You could use PVC as barrel, but I have fear of cracking and popping the barrel off during firing sending the plunger head crashing into the coupler. This is because a friend heavy in math skills said to me one day that the 16 Kg probably approaches 135 PSI and that a 18 Kg might go as high as 165.  I don't know if he was right, but since it's low air volume, all you can do is increase the pressure, so probably close.

So you have to be good with brass, really good as in no burrs, no bends, no kinks and no pipe cutters except the back of the brass tube. I protect my barrels with a 9/16th's barrel sleeve. You have to cut the damn thing with a file and then get it perfectly round the same length and get a perfect air volume of the brass tube, which increases for every increase in power I go to use the power effectively.  Oh but that's not the best part, you have to make a spring catch/separator in the back or it eats the catch on the already soft plunger rod, boy it is so fun drilling a hole and filing a perfect rectangle in that $.89 piece of thin steel that I just want to top it!

So why not make these parts premade?  My guess? These blasters are made for crazy playboys like me and widespread fears that parents will throw a trombone if their kids had it is probably the reason.  But I make them, You can buy them at my store, they are not cheap, but neither is anything else that is fun.

If I worked on what everyone else does, that wouldn't be progress would it?  Lots of people get great results, and I mean really fucking great with how/what they build, but I like to be different.  I mean a longshot for example, everyone has modded one if I went and done it, it would be nothing special, besides I think the best is already built, and I didn't build it.

Have A Day.


--Cartaya

Pre-orders Open On the Bird Of Prey 21 Kg Crossbow.

Here's a Video look at this crazy beast!

Derived from the Ultra Match Firestrikes, The Bird Of Prey carries a 21 Kg springload largely in part because of the Rebelle series blasters having a stronger plunger rod.

If you buy this blaster, I suggest you eat your wheaties.  The draw is heavy, so if you don't like blasters with an extreme draw, don't go for this one, I make blasters for a lot less money with less draw.

 The blaster shoots 130-140 average with 150's being typical with elite darts.  Strongly recommended are stephan darts made for 17/32nd inch wide brass, which is about a half inch in diameter.

The price is $119.99usd plus $10.99usd for shipping in the lower 48, International customers, inquire within.

It is important to know that I only plan on making 10 of these this year, in comparison to the Super Veloce' Retaliator which I will probably sell 50-60.  The rest of the R-Spec is still for sale and they are surprisingly great blasters and there will be a cpvc coupler version of the 16 Kg Ultra Match Firestrike soon Price TBA, but probably slightly cheaper than a standard 16kg Ultra Match.

So how does it shoot? well.......

With that kind of potential for power, how can you pass it up!  Should take about a month after pre-order is arranged to build and ship out.

--Cartaya

Selling My Brand New In Box Blue Nerf Longshot On Ebay.

Selling my sealed brand new in box blue Nerf Longshot on Ebay.  It's rare, not cheap, but I need it to Get my projects moving.  I figure I have 2 others if I were to get an Xplorer kit one day.

Here is the Linkage.  If you buy it, I will have many more projects to come.  Or you can always .....

To help me make new machines of dart blaster terror!!!!

--Cartaya

Who Needs A Triadstrike When You Got One Of These ;)

Yes, it is beautiful, and many amusement park patrons and cast members have felt it's wrath!

I don't bring this up to start a Triad contest of who built what first, but My Friend and member of the NIC Trent Augunas came up with the original concept of the Triadstrike as long as before I have been building Ultra Match pistols months back.  It is a twin stock spring Firestrike using epoxy to mount it to a Firestrike plunger tube. I so have been waiting for a chance to see it fire when out of the blue.

A very good modder named Andu Mijomiee's built this inline design which is all over the net.  Which is also very streamline and cool looking.

Do we see a trend here? People want the size of the firestrike with Repeat-ability of a Triad.  What should Hasbro do?  Make one thats 4 barrels and send me a promo copy for once.  Oh but we can't do that, He's Chris Cartaya :)

Peace out.

--Cartaya

Really Guy's? Really?

The new Nerf Cam 12, what is the big deal?

My first question? Why the trend for lower capacity magazines?  The demolisher only has a 10 round mag, Damn brady bill has finally hit our Nerf guns?  In my league right now, half the people fight with Rapidstrikes, that means they want flat 18's or better.  So do they want us to buy more 18's? Shit, they even make a Rapidstrike with 2-18 round mags.

Next off, the tiny ass screen, I don't know the native resolution of the cam on the blaster, but if it is not at LEAST 1080p, forget it, much better with a smartphone app.  Could this be too little too late?  I am sure it is cool, but is it cool enough for current markets, especially Asian markets?  I think maybe not.

And then the firing system, I noticed it may be somewhat different than the current Stryfe, Rapidstrike, Stampede systems we have come to love. So would throwing trustfires on this help, and if you up the voltage, would it mess up the cam and screen, one can only wonder.

See you in Disneyland.


--Cartaya