As stated in the Concept Thread, I recently came across a $6 pump on ebay that seemed like a good deal for an obvious knock-off of higher quality bike pumps. After ordering one Tuesday and receiving it on Saturday, fairly quick shipping on the seller's part, I've now had a chance to look at it and somewhat evaluate it's place in Nerf modding and homemades.

As it looked fresh out of packaging.

Not too shabby looking, obviously a visual knock-off of higher quality bike pumps. In it's closed state it's 12.5" long, and 20.5" fully open, giving us 8" of stroke with a 1" diameter tube, netting us approximately .785ft² of pump volume.

The handle, while feeling pretty comfy for my large hands, is actually flimsy and comes apart by simply removing the red pin. The entire handle can also be unscrewed from the pump shaft, which I'm happy to report is metal. This means that any number of different handles are possible to use, provided it uses a standard thread. If not, then it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to simply cut new threads that are standard.

Here I have the top cap removed to take off the piece used to keep the hose in place. A word of advice, avoid removing the pump head from the tube. The o-ring is a snug fit to the tube, so it's quite the challenge getting it back in.

At the bottom end, you have the hose connector that can be unscrewed easily. The bottom end of the hose is firmly attached to a piece of plastic within the cap there, so I don't see it being feasible to use that cap and adapter. You could cut that hose, shove another piece of hose in the elbow there and epoxy it in, then put the cap over it to ensure an even tighter fit, but that seems like a least-effort choice.

This is it in it's currently stripped-down state. I haven't gotten the end off yet, but I'll wait and get a friend to hold one end of it. Seeing as the tube is just over an inch in diameter, it should be easy to shove it into a 3/4" fitting or piece of 1" PVC, then have plenty of connectivity options. Also, the holder that comes with the pump appears to be a snug enough fit to hold the pump to something, but I'll have to test it while pumping up something to be certain. Overall, I can see this as being a versatile and useful pump for the $6 price tag. I'd definitely prefer this over my McGregor pump I used for my EPVAT; the tube is smaller, making higher pressures easier to pump, and it feels overall more stable to use, probably due to a 1/4" thick pump shaft.

Me neither, just found them while looking for a source of beveled washers on Amazon as it's become my new go-to for almost anything.

On a related note, I noticed an old thread on NH where BuffDaddy was using the same 5/8L beveled washer I use for a front seal as the rear seal on an air tank using a 1/4" "pin" just like mine does. I had noticed they were a snug fit on the threaded portion of the bolt that I used, but I had never slid it further down. This basically means that I could "mirror" my front seal using the beveled washer and o-ring to the back of my EPVAT, thus eliminating the need for the brass bits on the back, reducing both size and price of the entire tank/valve assembly. It's almost ironic because I had begun sourcing polypropylene 1/2" x 1/8" adapters to replace most of the brass, but this is a much cheaper solution.

Now, for the unrelated note, I found and bought a fairly cheap bike pump that I think has the potential to be versatile enough to be useful. The handle is threaded on meaning I just need to find the thread size and I can use whatever I want for it, and the top has a cap, so if the handle rod seems too flimsy, it should be fairly easy to replace. I guarantee that the tube unscrews from that base, so I should be able to just glue it into a bushing and have connectivity options. Lastly, even without needing to modify it, you have a decently long hose that can just connect to either schrader or presta valves, 1/4" threaded versions of which are readily available, meaning this should be able to just be zip-tied onto anything and work with minimal effort.

Decided to get this thread rolling again since school gives me more time to think than it does to actually work on S**T. Considering some of these to see how they work verses faucet washers in a new version of my EPVAT. Seeing as my EPVAT seal was a conical surface touching an o-ring, the sharper angle on the cone should offer a similar, if not better, seal.

I'm not sure, but from the look of the darts, they appear to actually be 3/4" fbr, which, currently, no one has used for darts.

My profile

Game list, for shiggles


Edit: I can't figure out a collapsible list after being awake this long, I'll fix it later.

Edit 2: Ok, fixed it. Good enough.

So, anyone else here play Magic? I just got started fall semester, but so far I've been to quite a few tourney's, and have amassed quite the collection so far.

Well, seeing as the barrel is sized for larger-than-normal darts, making it shoot normal ones should be as easy as wrapping tubing in tape and shoving it in. Getting it to work with clips/mags will be another beast altogether. I might look into getting one when I get my financial aid refund fall semester.
It's been awhile, hasn't it? College had me pretty swamped. Besides actually having somewhat of a social life(shudder), classes were pretty much mugging my mind. All's well now, I'm out til mid-august. I might actually get to work on something Nerf before I go, but I've got some stuff back-logged to upload here.

It's been reported on several sites that this will indeed be real. I personally can't wait to see the modding potential.

Let me add one to the times someone's said that, lol.

Figured it's about time. I know of many blogs, and they seem to be a pretty fun endeavor. So, linky linky. I just started, so there won't be too much relevant content, but I plan on posting about lots of stuff, lots of nerf included. If you guys want to see posts on particular subjects, go ahead and send pm's to me here. And I'll be linking here, so free publicity for here, if many people visit the blog.

Pretty much, they're slightly better streamlines, and blue. When shot from my Element, they have almost no accuracy, even shooting cans off a ping-pong table 10' away. They work decent with the Retaliator though, will be able to tell you tomorrow if they work any good with the Rampage.

Also, I have yet to acquire a Jolt. I've seen one a non-nerfing friend has, just for amusement, and find it funny they're so good, and yet so tiny. I want one. Once my 200 whistlers get here, I'll have decent darts to shoot.

Figured I needed to add my stuff I've recently acquired, mainly through sketchy interactions with previously unknown individuals in random locations.

First, 174 elite darts.


Next, Stampede, acquired for $20.


Full Stock Blue Longshot, $20.


Raider, came with Drum, $14.


Mags acquired various methods.

Alrighty, it's been awhile since I've posted a mod, but some recent purchases have allowed me access to some blasters I haven't had before. For this mod, I just remove the ARs and plug some air release holes.

First, the Element Ex-6


I've wanted one for awhile now, even though it's the same as a NF internally, I find the overall shape and size more appealing, seeing as it's slightly larger than the NF, but it's still kinda small for me.


Anyway, on to the mod. First things first, open it up.

The screws are a kinda weird size, so I ended up coming pretty close to stripping them.

This is the internals.

Pretty much the same as the NF. Funny thing is, in all the internal shots I've seen before, it has a black plungertube, while mine was white. Probably older or newer or something.

Next, take out the pt screws, and remove the whole assembly.

Notice those holes by the muzzle.

Next, let everything fall apart.

Literally, the shell is all holding the assembly together.

Now, focus on the peg piece.


Clean it out like this, probably a little more would be better.


Now, on to the AR rest.


Make it look like this.


Now, reassemble, making sure to cover the aforementioned holes, and you're good to go.
 

Now, I have no methods of measurement yet, but with elite darts, it does shoot about 15' further.

How well does it fire? It seems to me that having the plunger attached to the crank would slow down the, for lack of a better term, 'plunging'.

They're underprivileged, and feel entitled to take advantage of America.

Has anyone ever made a nerf gun bigger than themselves, and successfully shot it?