Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Nerf Longshot: Xplorer grip overhaul



This is my revamped Nerf Longshot. I've actually had it for a couple of years, with just the paint job, custom barrel and AR removal. Since the paintjob is not suitable for public wars, and it's ranges weren't spectacular, I only ever used it for private wars. I decided to give this battle-worn a bit of an overhaul for a party that I was told to bring a Nerf gun to because the host decided it'd be a fun idea to tell everyone to bring a Nerf gun, and see what unfolds.

Before I get to what unfolded, I'll explain the blaster first. For the internals, I cleaned up the AR removal from the dodgy drilling I did when I was just getting in to modding, improved the plunger seal, re-greased the plunger tube, added plunger padding and also lubricated any moving parts within the internals. Originally, I left the stock spring in because I wanted to keep the priming as light as possible for fast firing, but in the end I opened it back up and put a 6kg OMW recon spring in, which still primes pretty easily anyway.

On the outside, I installed the Xplorer shotgun grip and lubricated it's running track, and I have to say, I am absolutely stunned at how well made the grip is. It fits comfortably in the hand, feels incredibly durable and functions flawlessly. I also did something nifty with the mags. I used duct tape to create something similar to a Magpul, which aids in quick removal, speeding up my frequent reloads.

Duct tape magpul
So, I started out with an under-powered bolt action blaster and managed to create a blaster that can fire off darts almost as fast as a slam-fire blaster with more punch and slightly quickened reload times. Even though I didn't repaint the now quite dirty and worn paint, this is now one of my more favoured blasters. Though it's still not all that powerful when compared to a brass breeched LS with a monster pair of springs, I still feel that for the role overpowering of mid range (50ft or so), it does the job well and could compete with any slamfire blaster in that area.

Aaand it's over the fence... Whoops...
The first battle test was in fact, the party that I attended. I turned up with this blaster, a bandolier, 6 mags and around 50 darts, and was immediately greeted with the comment "Holy hell, you definitely came prepared!". The night started quietly with a few people asking questions about the blaster and a couple of other people with Nerf blasters talking about the new elite blasters. After everyone had a couple of drinks (this is an 18+ event, by the way), someone started popping a few shots of and a few brief shootouts were exchanged. An hour later, everyone had arrived, and about half had Nerf blasters for themselves and a couple to lend out. Soon after, all hell had broken loose and there was foam going EVERYWHERE, and I know I heard one person exclaim, "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TELL PEOPLE TO BRING NERF GUNS!!!!". This was around the point that the host and I had set up a bunker in the living room while I blasted away at anything I saw. I guess it escalated pretty quickly, but after putting hundreds of darts through the blaster and holding back the most ridiculous onslaught of crazy young adults with Nerf guns without  single jam, I came to the conclusion that this blaster passed the test. I spoke to the host the next day and he tells me that he found foam darts in places you couldn't have ever thought of, but overall, he decided it was a pretty damn good night.


So there you have it. My latest addition (or rather, re-addition) to my arsenal. Future mods might include the Orange Mod Works Immortal kit for the Longshot, but that kit has been quite a long time in the making so it's probably more likely to be an Xplorer composite bolt sled, plunger tube support and an 8 or 10kg spring. Time will tell I guess, but in the mean time, I'll have fun with this as it is!

For Xplorer kits and mods, go to: www.xplorersg.com


2 comments:

  1. An 8kg spring would still be pretty easy to prime. I have a stock LS spring and a 5+kg OMW spring in mine and it's really smooth and easy to use (although this may be from practice with said OMW spring in my Longstrike). I don't normally use my shotgun grip either. I imagine with a shotgun grip 8-10kg would be a breeze to use, perhaps even the traditional 14kg.

    From experience, brass breeches are only really effective with Stefans or Heavy Silis with spring loads above probably 10kg. As aforementioned, mine has about 8kgs in it as well as a brass breech, and ranges with Heavy/Lite silis are averaging 30m on a mildly warm day. Streamlines from a stock breech with 8kg were getting 25m or so, which is still significant overkill given I lend my friends stock or lightly modded blasters.

    On a random note, I really like the look of this LS with the exception of the silencer - it doesn't look right to me. Definitely keep it away from public eyes though, or else you might get a visit from the cops...(which would not only be bad for you, but also the entire hobby)

    Would you consider adding my blog, cplnerf.blogspot.com to your links?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey thanks for the feedback! I was actually thinking of doing another longshot with a brass breech and more public friendly paintjob to use at the bng wars. But so far I haven't had the time nor materials to do do it.

      As for adding your blog to the links, sure thing! I'm already following your blog so I thought I already had it in the links. But I'll make sure I fix that up once my router finally turns up, it's almost impossible to do anything with this blog via a phone.

      Delete