UK Dart Tag Tournament

Nerf4Hire is holding the first large unofficial Dart Tag tournament in the UK this year. Here's what's going on:

On the 3rd of July we will be starting the qualifying rounds for the UK's first dart tag tournament. We are looking for teams of 4 Aged 8-15 to battle it out for the UK champion title and a £400 cash prize. The final will be held on the 4th September 2011 .

Parents may stay to watch the tournament, go home, or there is a lovely tearoom next door. There will be food, drink and nerf guns for sale all at reasonable prices. If you can't get a team together contact us anyway and we will try and find a team for you to join. All players are welcome no matter there ability. So please send us an entry form, take a look at the schedule and terms and conditions.

More qualifying rounds will be held between July and September 2011, entry for the qualifying rounds will open around March but there are three ways of making sure you get a place:

1. Subscribe to our Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Nerf4hire

2. Click "attending" the Nerf event on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100138913391453&num

3. Email the Nerf4hire Team at Nerf4hire@hotmail.co.uk and we will happily put you on the list of possible contestants.

4. Call the Nerf4hire team on: 07833 223 596

(Original page) 

Nerf Stampede!

First of all, anyone who followed the blog in the past will (hopefully) be glad to know, I'm back!

Nerf have released the Stampede! One of the most expensive and complex Nerf blasters ever made. The Stampede is the first fully automatic clip fed Nerf blaster, the first Nerf gun to come with more than 2 clips and is probably the most anticipated product Nerf has ever created. The blaster comes with one 6-dart clip, THREE 18-dart extended clips (it can also take 36-dart drum mags), a removable "shield" and a pop-out bi-pod/grip.

Like the Nerf Vulcan/Havok Fire, the blaster uses a 6 D-type battery compartment for its power, which can easily take alternative batteries to produce higher rate of fire.

Unlike the Nerf Vulcan, the Stampede is able to fire reliably from any angle, and is lighter and more maneuverable.

For a great review of the blaster go here
For increasing RoF information and videos go here and here
For internal pictures and mod guide go here
Very, very big thanks to Sgnerf for all of this information.

The best place to BUY the Stampede is at Play.com for £48.97.

Keep checking here for more Stampede info as I come across it.

Deploy CS-6 and Flip Clip, coming to the UK soon!

Thanks to an anonymous poster on my UK Stocklist page, I have discovered that the Deploy CS-6 and Flip Clip accessory are being released in the UK far sooner than expected. I consider this important enough news, that it gets its own post!

The Deploy CS-6 is due to be released on Play.com on the 28th of May and costs £17.99. It comes with a carry strap (a first for a Nerf blaster, a welcome change in my opinion) and has a torch which requires 3 AAA batteries. Here is a great review by SG Nerf of the blaster.

The Flip Clip is being released on Play.com on the 11th of June and costs £11.99. It comes with two standard 6-dart magazines, a flip clip section, and 30 Streamline darts. This product makes clip-system Nerf guns far more cost-effective in the UK, as before there was no way to get multiple clips other than to buy several Nerf blasters.

Big Salvo Foam Rocket Launcher Mod - Get it firing normal darts!

Here is great way to get a decent dart blaster with a good rate of fire and range - fully pumped between around 40ft and 60ft flat, depending on what darts you use. It will also still be able to fire the stock ROCKETS, without any range loss or switching of parts. Note that you can pump the gun less to speed up reload times and make the gun more suitable for indoor wars.
This is a very simple mod, which involves 100% no unscrewing, gluing, or anything else which may be considered life-threatening complicated.

You will need:
Lanard Big salvo
Pliers
Sticky (Sellotape) or electrical tape.
And the magic ingredient, 4 sections of 3" long 1/2" CPVC

Now I bet your thinking either "what on earth is CPVC, and where do I get it?" or "I've read about CPVC on NerfHaven, but where do I get it?" if it's the second of those two, then skip straight to the next paragraph. CPVC is piping usually used for specialist jobs like handling corrosive materials. Most importantly though, it has a perfect (tight) fit for stock Nerf darts. Also it has thick walls which is good for this modification as it helps keep the new barrels in the correct place.

Unfortunately 1/2" CPVC is tricky to get hold of in the UK. However I've imported some from the USA and I am selling it in pre-cut sections for £10 for four 3" length pieces, with free P&P. I have now sold out of CPVC, but may purchase more if requested. These pieces are exactly the right size for the mod and have one slightly rounded end, to allow darts to be pressed in more easily.

First, get your big salvo and shoot or pull off the rockets. This will expose the black posts your going to turn into barrels. Tear, cut, ply, rip (etc.) off the "air restrictors" that are on the ends of the posts, I used pliers and quite a bit of levering on mine.

 

Next, grab your 3" sections of CPVC. Wrap the middle in a couple of layers of sellotape, or one layer of electrical tape, then shove them into the black posts (smoother looking end outwards obviously). The CPVC should be a tight fit, so that you can push it in, but is a struggle to take it back out. Add or remove tape depending on the fit.

 

Here it is finished! With (left to right) a streamline dart, stock rocket, fully pushed in streamline dart (improves range and accuracy a bit), and a whistler dart.

My Nerf Armoury Vol.3 - Raider CS-35

In my opinion the Raider is an awesome gun. It's range isn't anything like modded Nitefinders (or my Big Salvo, which will be in my next post) however what it lacks in power, it easily makes up in rate of fire and ammo capacity.

Here is a picture-filled Raider review by SG Nerf

Disclaimer: Modifications may wear out or damage your blaster, I take no responsibility for people trying to do the same as me and breaking any part of their blaster.

I did a few mods to my Raider, the first was an Air Restrictor (AR) removal, by using the "pipe-cutter" method. I found that cutting slightly closer to the dip achieved a better result as the inside section then had more pipe to glue to (ask if your performing the mod and your not sure what I mean). I did not put any padding to protect the plunger tube.

I took off the safety catch which only lets you prime the blaster if there is a magazine in it, it was quite obvious what it was and was simple to remove. This lets me load darts into the gun by hand, by doing this I can push the darts in further than they would otherwise go.

I did a "power stock" mod for the blaster. This mod makes the blaster harder to prime but adds around 10' to the range. I used a maverick spring and ended up gluing it to the plunger tube to improve reliability. The mod involves cutting the end of the plunger tube cover off, gluing a short plastic piece to the plunger and putting a spring in between the plunger and inside of the stock (again if you have questions please ask). Here is a picture of what it looks like when I take the stock off and prime the blaster:
 

 

The stock streamlines used to tend to swerve at around 20' making the gun useless at any range above that, however they are now accurate to around 30', or 35' if I load the darts singly.

I will probably add to this post after I have some more Nerf war experience with the blaster.

Blog Updates

In case it isn't obvious enough already, I would like to point out three new additions to this website. The two pages can be accessed by the links under the "UK NERF" heading at the left of the blog. They will be updated and improved regularly.

First off is the UK Nerf stocklist, which is extremely useful if your considering buying a blaster, as it shows where to get the best deals on Nerf products.

Secondly, I have created a map to contain information about where "nerfers" in the UK are, where shops to buy Nerf products are, and other Nerf related things. This map is called the UK Nerf Location Database (or UKNLD for short). It can be edited by anyone, and I would appreciate it if you, yes you (unless you don't live in the UK, then not you), could contribute to it, at least with your location.

Another new thing is the search box on the right. This can not only search this blog, but also other Nerf blogs and Nerf forums. Go on, give it a go.

PS. I am selling a Raider CS-35 stock.

My Nerf Armoury Vol.2 - Mavericks

First off is my black, gold and "leather" Maverick. Yes, I painted over the orange tip. I do not plan on even taking this gun out of my house, so I'm not going to get arrested or shot. This has had its air restrictors removed and a couple of flat (run out of power and flat dimension-wise) batteries put in behind the spring. It is freaking noisy, but has been fired hundreds of times and not broken.

Here is my Girlfriends orange Maverick that I painted for her :D Completely stock internals, and it is colourful enough to use outside. The "wood" grip looks awesome in sunlight, quite proud of it really.

I also have a non-painted Maverick which I use more in games. It's had its air restrictors removed, the spring "stretched", and the rotating clip now swings out further.

My Nerf Armoury Vol.1 - Nitefinder

Over the next few weeks (or maybe months if I'm slow), I will be "showing off" my Nerf blasters, one by one on the blog. First off is my smallest, slowest firing, but my most modded and most powerful gun, my Nitefinder.

After getting the gun and putting a couple of batteries in it, you will find that the "red light beam" is awful. I found a simple free way to improve it, all you need is a couple of centimeters of tin foil:

For a bit more information about the mod, click here.

After using this a bit, I found that it was still almost useless. This is because I rarely used it to help aim, as usually I just point the blaster in the general direction of the enemy and fire, and also the lens in the front of the gun moved out of place every time the blaster was put down (If asked I'll explain in more detail).

To make use of space left after I took the "targeter" assembly out, I put in a small single AAA LED torch. This fitted extremely well with only a bit of sanding to get it to fit. I then soldered some new wires in to get everything working. And yes, I am now using 2 AA batteries to power a AAA torch, it is now very bright, and I am confident it is not going to blow the LEDs.

I added a Nerf Firefly spring to the gun which fits brilliantly and has given it significantly more power. (Its the smaller one on the inside in the picture).

I also did an air restrictor removal type procedure, where I used boiling water, a sharp craft knife, and a flat head screwdriver to melt the glue and take out a large section of the firing mechanism. I then replaced that part with a (heavily glued in to make airtight) thick rubber pad with a 5(ish)mm whole drilled through the middle. This mod allows more air to go through to push the dart out, increasing range. It also allows the plunger to travel slightly further into the gun, and the rubber cushions the impact.

Did you notice the metal bar in the picture of the gun with the light on? Well it's a magnet, so I can do this:

As you will have noticed, there is also a large rubber band on the gun, this increases ranges by I'm guessing another 10ft. I will measure exact ranges if there is enough requests. I think I have given the gun the most power it can handle without a barrel replacement, which I don't currently have supplies for. Unfortunately the accuracy of this gun isn't great, as every so often one of the darts fired will fishtail/spin awkwardly in the air.

If you participate in outdoor Nerf wars, or like "sniping" (I use that term extremely loosely) I would recommend this over the maverick because it can achieve twice as good range with just some rubber bands attached, or over three times the range - like mine - with internal mods as well. However if you play in very confined spaces or with small children then the Maverick would be a better choice, because its significantly faster rate of fire will be much more important than power.

Under new administration.

From now on, the main contributor of this blog will be me, burntcustard!
SomethingMeaningfull quit nerfing recently, and I have persuaded him to go through the overcomplicated process of giving me control of the blog. So big thanks to him, and I hope I can keep up or better the quality of the site.

***NEW COMING SOON!***

• Current best places to buy Nerf (and possibly other brand) blasters, online and in store. ***DONE! Check the "Nerf UK Stocklist" page***
• Dates/news of new blasters and when they (for example the Deploy CS-6) will be available in the UK.
• I WILL be organizing a Nerf war IN THE UK when there is enough interest. So look out for that!

Nerf Longstrike CS-6 : Review!

(Ok heres another review from my friend ILiekNerf. Thanks ILN!)

Something all you have been waiting for..(referring to the Nerfers)

I present, the Longstrike CS-6!

The Longstrike CS-6 is known as the longest Nerf blaster in the N-Strike line, it's longer than a Longshot with its Front Gun attached to it by 1 inches+, measuring over 3 feet long. Out of the box, you get 1 clip, the main blaster(disassembled), barrel extension, the butt stock, 1 flip-up sight, priming handle/knob, 6 darts, and instructions.

To many others' displeasure, the Longstrike has internals similar to to the Raider and Recon, otherwise known as a Reverse-plunger, which delivers lesser air to the dart to make it propel further compared to that of a Longshot(Direct plungers deliver larger amount of air to the dart, so the dart flies further).

Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Box Front.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Box Back.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Contents.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Gun and Box.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Gun Overview.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Comparison Disassembled.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Comparison Assembled.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Clip Storage in Stock.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Sight/Scope.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Sight/Scope Close up.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Sight/Scope Folded.


Nerf Longstrike CS-6 - Fire Test.



Nevertheless, its a great blaster, in terms of its looks. Sniper on the loose!

Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6 - Preview!

Another surprise find from nerfhaven user kevinericon who was originally looking for the longstrike, which he also got.

Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6 - Box front.


Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6 - Box back.


Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6 - Main gun.


Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6 - Demo video



Not my video this comes from Uin13 (ice) on YouTube.

I don't know when this will come to the UK but i will be posting when i have more information about this gun. Thanks for reading!