Nerf Longshot Modifications

Extreme Modification Of A Nerf Longshot

Why?

I hope for this to be an exemplar project of the interest I have in this blog.  No grand or noble idea is being tested in a rigorous scientific method.  Rather, the idea is noble in it’s simplicity.  What is the maximal possible distance a Nerf Longshot can fire with the least amount overhaul on the basic design of the gun.  Perhaps the “Why?” is as simple as that the Longshot looks as if it deserves to shoot further.  From the factory it manages a mere 30-40 feet.  But with my redesign I hope to achieve 50 yards or more with a simple reworking of the internal components.

The Plan.

The operation of the Longshot is incredibly straightforward and fairly well designed.  Particularly impressive are the breech and magazine features, modeled after any real gun, but accepting the non-structural foam darts with ease.  Also due to the sheer size of the gun, a lot of room is available to make extreme modifications without damaging the gun thoroughly.

To fire a round from the gun the following sequence takes place:

1. The bolt sled is retracted via the external bolt handle.  This carries the bolt itself backwards, which presses against the plunger inside the air chamber

2. The bolt is fully retracted.  The plunger catches on the trigger “sear” and remains locked in place.

3. As the bolt is pressed forwards, the chamber fills with air.  The bolt catches the spring fed round from the magazine and forms a tight seal inside the bolt on an internal carrier.  The entire bolt and dart combination slide into the breech of the barrel and formed a locked and sealed chamber.

4. Trigger depression releases the sear, releasing the plunger, compressing the air though the bolt and propelling the loaded dart out the barrel.

In all considerations, the Longshot models a real rifle quite well and serves as a great model.  However, the failure comes in the form of what must be safety concerns on Nerf’s engineers.  First, the bolt features an air restrictor directly out of the air chamber, severely reducing flow.  Second, a small pressure release hole is present on the side of the bolt.  Third, the spring is much too light for any real power.  Fourth, the barrel is an extremely loose fit for the standard rounds.  Now fixing all of these standard problems has been successfully accomplished by many an adventurous modder, achieving acceptable ranges of 100 feet or more.  Despite this incredible gain, I see great room for improvement.

For a proper redesign of my Longshot, I will utilize the unused space located in the extendable stock of the rifle to extend the air chamber.  As this will require manufacture of a new air chamber and plunger, the opportunity to utilize metals will be used to the highest order to implement much heavier duty springs in the plunger.  To accommodate the heavier load of these springs, a new trigger sear will be implemented as well.  What this means is that in conjuncture with the removal of all air restriction the larger air chamber and heavy springs create more gas moving at a higher pressure into the dart.  With a snugly fitting brass barrel insert placed inside the standard barrel, the dart will achieve much greater acceleration and have much greater accuracy than, well, any other Nerf Gun I’ve seen.

With so many variables being simultaneously changed, it is hard to predict what the possible range increase will be, but the redesign will be by no means in vain.

Implementation

In Progress!  Stay Tuned!