The joy (and pain) of Nerf modding

20 November, 2023

I first got into nerf modding after getting a 3d printer and building Captain Slug's Caliburn V4. While I loved the experience of building my own custom blaster, I often prefer the look and design of the official blasters. Eventually, I decided it would be fun to mod my stock blasters to at least match the power of some of my custom blasters, and some of my super-stock Dart Zone and similar blasters.

Where it started

After I built my Caliburn, I decided that the first blaster I would mod would be one of my first blasters: a Retaliator that I got almost 10 years ago now. I thought that it would be fun to take one of my earliest blasters, one that, at the time, was the best performing one that I owned, and bring it up to the new standard that I was creating with the Caliburn and some newer non-Hasbro blasters. So I started by buying a spring of of the mod site Out of Darts. However, I ended up with more problems than I originally thought

The pain

From the moment I took out the first screw, I knew that this project would end up being a pain. While it isn't the most complex blaster out there, the slide action made the disassembly more complicated, because the slide first has to come apart before the blaster can be split apart. Once the blaster was taken apart, the plunger mechanism had to be removed, and the new spring put in. Once the new spring was installed, the blaster had to be reassembled. The first problem came with re-aligning the slide with the bolt sled. Once that was figured out, the spring needed to be coerced into staying in the shell. Once that was done, the final step was to test the blaster. However, after what seemed to be a fairly straightforward project that went mostly smoothly, I found that the plunger would not catch with the newer, much more powerful spring. After some research, I found that I would most likely need to buy a new metal catch and a stiffer catch spring. Until I find the time and energy to install a new catch and spring, the Retaliator mod is a failed project.

A second attempt

Recently, I came into possesion of an original Longshot CS-6. The longshot has one of my favourite shells, so I decided that I would try to mod another blaster. After buying another mod kit from Out of Darts, I tore apart the Longshot and started modding it. This time, the disassembly went much easier, both because the Longshot is simpler, and because I've gained some more experience from reparing some other blasters. With the new kit, the modification went smoothly, until I went to install the spring. As usual, none of my modding can go to plan. I ended up having to cut the spring because the one from the kit was too long for me to fit into the plunger. After a few failed attempts, I needed to take a break and put the project on hold. This is where I'm at at this point - a disassembled blaster sitting on a shelf for me to finish at a later date.

What's next?

At this point, I've kind of given up on the Longshot project. Between work and school wrapping up for the quarter I've been too busy to work on a project of that scale. Maybe over winter break, I'll finish the Longshot. For some future-proofing, I would like to get a metal plunger and tube. The added strength would help to reinforce the much stronger spring, and the current plastic plunger tube is already starting to crack. The Longshot also needs some major cleaning, or a new paint job, both of which are huge time sinks that I just can't do right now. In any case, I'll be sure to post an update with the final build!

Thanks so much for reading!

I hope to start posting more often, but as I mentioned I've been busy with work and school. With any luck, I'll have a new post at the beginning of the new year. Hope to see you then! Thanks for reading.