It isn't every day that you get excited when the postman calls but recently the usual utility bills and take-away menus served to cushion the fall of a large parcel.
My good friends over at Blasterparts sent me a parcel containing some exciting new products. The first of which was their shiny new 7kg MEGA Magnus spring.
We all know that the 'Orange Trigger' variant available in the US is superior to the 'Grey Trigger' version here in Europe, but how much better could it be with a little bit of love from the modding community? When Blasterparts told me that they were developing a 7kg spring for the Magnus, I jumped at the chance to review one.
Anybody who has opened up a Magnus will tell you that it's a doddle to do. The plunger assembly simply lifts out and the new spring is a straight swap.
Once you're ready to go again, you notice the difference the new spring makes straight away. It is a considerably heavier prime but crucially, not too heavy. It's still easy to pull the slide back and there is no worrying crunching or creaking from the plastic.
Firing the blaster, you can really see, hear and feel the extra ommph. The darts hit the wall with an almighty THWACK! and you can actually feel a bit of kick in your hand. It was clear from the start that this spring is a massive improvement. I spent the rest of the day playing with my new 7kg Magnus and it did not fail to deliver. I liked the Magnus before but with the addition of this spring, it just puts a massive smile on your face.
The story doesn't end there... I was curious to know just how much harder the 7kg Magnus hits. It was time for some science!
Enter OldNoob from the BritNerf community and the wonderful service he provides. 'Foam Data Services' offer nerfers the opportunity to test their blasters over a very expensive and properly calibrated chronograph. This ballistic 'chrony' gives you a very accurate measurement of dart velocity which is the best way to measure blaster performance. Firing a blaster through the chrony several times gives us a very reliable set of data. Foam Data Services even provide you with a spreadsheet and graph for the test, along with a video (via their YouTube channel) so you can see how the test was conducted.
Below is a graph showing the Blasterparts 7kg MEGA Magnus vs. a stock Orange Trigger Magnus. The raw data can be found here.
As you can see, there is a massive improvement over the stock blaster and this was an 'Orange Trigger' variant so it was already pretty punchy. OldNoob also said that this was the most consistent and reliable upgrade spring he had ever tested. Pretty high praise indeed!
Conclusion
This spring turns the MEGA Magnus into the hand cannon it was born to be. Nothing in my arsenal puts a smile on my face quite like this. The inherent accuracy of the MEGA dart, coupled with the additional force provided by the Blasterparts spring make this a very formiddable blaster indeed. It hits hard and flies far. You really wouldn't want to be hit by this at close range.
Finally the MEGA line can come in from the cold and actually be useful in battle. Clip mod the Magnus with this spring in it and you will have a pistol that is capable of being a good primary.
Thanks to Blasterparts.de for sending me this package. More on the contents coming soon so stay tuned.
It was a lot of fun to test, the satisfyingly clunky firing noise and the fact that it shot almost identically every shot was cool. I suspect that any well sized and specified spring (which Blasterparts generally are) with a good spring rate would have a similar effect, the internals of the Magnus are super sweet. Now if we can get a UK made one or they can ship stuff cheaper.....
ReplyDeleteGreat review, thank you guys!
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