Buzz Bee Big Blast

Only a few years ago, the Buzz Bee Big Blast was the blaster to mod for the NIC. It got excellent ranges and was extremely easy to mod, assuming you dealt with its weak trigger. They were cheap and plentiful and everyone had one.

Then a guy by the name of Broken_SVT took the 4B a step further. You see, if the 4B had a flaw, it was that it was a little too powerful. The problem was that if someone wanted to replace the pump, they effectively had to plug the tank, which would make it reach unsafe pressures. This resulted in a lot of controversy over the use of 4Bs as well as a lot of broken triggers. Plugged 4Bs were generally considered to be too dangerous to be war legal, but the stock pump left much to be desired.

Broken_SVT however developed a method that allowed the pump to be replaced without removing the critical component of an over pressure release valve. His method was incredibly simple and effective, and it changed the way 4Bs could be used in a war. The pressure could even be tweaked to account for the range loss in the new RSCB and hopper systems.

Unfortunately, Broken_SVT eventually faded out of the Nerf scene along with his beloved 4B. He took with him most of the knowledge and skill to create one of his legendaary blasters, and at the present, there are few who still follow his methods.

I am proud to say that I am one of the few. A SVT_4B is a blaster that is still unmatched in terms of power and range in today's NIC. If done correctly, they are one of the most enjoyable blasters to play with, and today, I will share mine with you.

This particular 4B came into my possession in an unusable condition. The pump shaft had snapped at the pump head and it lacked every single one of its body screws. Nevertheless, it had all of its important internals, so I decided that it could and would be saved.

Having never done the mod on an old-style 4B before, I can say that Broken_SVT had it down to an art. Every single piece fits together perfectly. With the exception of the pump, this 4B is an exact replica of his MK II write-up. The front bushing is particularly ingenious; it supports the barrel perfectly and ensures that it is 100% level.

The 4B shell is also one of the most comfortable shells available, and without the stock pump to get in the way it shoulders comfortably. The natural way your face lies on the barrel ensures that you are looking straight down the barrel, making aiming a breeze. The replaced pump also provides a convenient and comfortable grip, ensuring that you are always ready to re-prime the blaster.

Included below is a link to Broken_SVT's original write-up. There is nothing to improve upon for his methods; it is perfection.

http://www.nerfrevolution.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2260

Air Zone Quickfire 12 Review

The Air Zone Quickfire 12 is best described as an off-brand Maverick which someone has taken the liberty of improving. Superficially, the two are very similar, with the Quickfire having a shorter turret and a hand guard. However, that is where the similarities end.

The biggest difference is that the Quickfire 12 comes with two turrets which are interchangeable. Drop clip Mavericks have been popular for a while, so the designers apparently thought that it was a good idea. The turrets are swapped by depressing a button on top and swinging the front half downward. As far as I can tell, the turrets are fairly stable.

The second improvement over the Maverick comes from the Spectre; rotating on the prime rather than the trigger pull. This means a better and more consistent seal which means better ranges and fewer misfires.

The Quickfire 12 is capable of 30' ranges with the darts it includes. The darts have solid and flat rubber heads and fly fairly well. Unlike most Air Zone blasters, the Quickfire 12 can also fire Nerf darts with no modifications.

The only problem with this blasters is how to mod it. The Quickfire 12 has no air restrictors whatsoever, and it already has a decent turret seal. The only way to mod it would be to find a suitable spring replacement, which, if it's anything like the Maverick, will be tough. For a stock blaster though, it's excellent. 

 Quickfire 12 and darts

 Front end open

Quickfire 12 and Maverick

Firing Video

Supa Splat Matrix SS-10 Review and Mod Guide

The Supa Splat Matrix SS-10 is a small caliber paintball gun made by the same company that produces the Pistol Splat and its variants. Since I enjoy the power of the Pistol Splat, I was eager to try out this new blaster, even though it lacked the cool lever-action prime. It claimed 65' out of the box, which was more than enough for me.

Unfortunately, this blaster is a dirty, dirty lie. There is no catch in the blaster at all; the trigger is used solely to reload to load paintballs and to ruin the dreams of children. To fire the blaster, you first load one of the tubular  clips into the top. You then pull and release the trigger to load one paintball. After the paintball is loaded, you pull back the plunger rod and then, release it, firing your paintball an amazing 20'. The paintballs are also of an inferior quality; they burst fine against hard surfaces, but against softer targets (like a person wearing a shirt), they completely fail to splat. 

Even though the blaster was a complete failure, it still had a trigger and a decent draw, so I figured I would mod it and build myself a catch if I had to. To get the thing open, you have to remove 6 screws and cut through the silver piece that holds the clips, the orange front piece that guides the barrel, and two stickers. I finally got it open to find my worst fears had been realized:

 

This blaster is powered entirely by an elastic bungee. There is literally zero way to increase the power or build a catch to utilize the tacticool trigger. However, it did have a decent seal, so I figured I'd at least try and coupler the thing. I've seen similar bungee blasters hit 70'-80', so it was worth a shot. A small stub of 1/2" thinwall PVC fit snugly over the small plastic stub of the plunger tube, and a 1/2" coupler fit onto that.

With some dremeling to fit the coupler inside the shell and allow the barrel to slid in and out easily, the blaster was modded and ready to go. It can now fire darts an amazing 30'-40'. With some luck, a dart may even go 50'.

In summary, don't buy this blaster for any reason. It was a complete waste of money.

Nerf Strikefire Mod Guide

I've been reading the comments on what you guys want to see guides for. Unfortunately, I don't have access to many of the suggestions right now. So while I work on getting them, here is a mod guide for the Nerf Dart Tag Strikefire pistol.

There are 14 screws in the body, most of which are the same size. There are two smaller screws, both of which go into the main body right below the dart holder. There are also two screws hidden under the priming slide. Remove all 14 to take the Strikefire apart.

This mod guide will deal with removing the Air Restrictors and adding some compression to the spring. The AR is located in the barrel at the front. Simply remove the piece and drill/hammer through the AR.

If the back part of the barrel with the O-ring on it popped off like mine did, glue it back on to the barrel. Get out your pennies and check your compression. Two pennies gave me full compression, but the blaster wouldn't prime, so I had to go back down to one. If the Strikefire is anything like Mavericks, the number of pennies you need will change from blaster to blaster, so make sure you check what works best for you.

After that, your Strikefire should be ready to go back together. Make sure you feed the metal bar on the priming handle back through the return spring at the top and make sure you screw in the screws under the priming slide before you put it back together. After everything is screwed back together, your done.

I saw a 5-10' range increase by performing these mods, which is normal for an AR removal. A complementary video tutorial for this guide should be up soon. Feel free to ask questions.

Chat Rules

As you may have noticed, Foam Nation now has a chat box. It's powered by Chat Roll and is very easy to use. 

Now that it's up, I'm going to lay down a few ground rules to ensure that we all have a good time.

1. No Flaming - I know the line between teasing/trolling and flaming. Don't cross it.
2. No Foul Language - Everyone slips up once in a while, but frequent offenders will be banned.
3. No Trolling - I understand the occasional troll comments, but people who log on exclusively to troll will be banned. 
4. If you think you'll be away for more than two hours, log out of the chat - As far as I know, there is a 10 person limit in the chat. If you aren't using it, try to keep it clear.

More rules may be added later, but for now, try to follow these four. You may use the chat for whatever you wish, as long as it doesn't violate any of these rules.

New Blog needs new things

So now that Foam Nation has been officially launched, it's time to start working towards accomplishing some of the goals we laid out. The first order of business for me is to start making some in depth mod guides in written form. Although I have a few specific guides planned, it's time for some questions.
Are there any blasters you guys want written (or video) guides of specifically. The more recent and common the blaster the better, but if there is something a lot of people really want to see, we can work on finding one.

I'd also like to know if there are any things that you guys would like to see on the site itself. I know chats are popular, and there are probably more things that I don't yet know about.

In either case, let me know what you guys want to see in the future.

Hey Guys! It's Drac!

As I announced in my latest video, this will be my new blog home. The co-author here, EOCDragon or Miredthoughts depending upon if you know him form the forums or his youtube, is a nerfer of rare caliber, in that he both competes in the top tier at events we attend together and he makes some of the finest blasters around.

I will be establishing a repor with the readers here in a way that I can no longer manage with those on my channel. So go ahead, make an account, drop me a comment and lets set this new hub of nerfy knowledge off in grand fashion. I sincerely look forward to all of your awesome tips, insight, and opinions over the lifetime of the foam nation.

//The one and only nerf vampire