Saturday 1 May 2010

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.

7 comments:

  1. Hey, long time no see!

    Very nice mod, might get myself one of these!

    Do you, by any chance, own any 4" sections? I would be interested in buying a couple of those. Also, so you have any 1/2 couplers? would be very interested in those too.

    If so, Prices would be appreciated.

    Thanks, Tom

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  2. Thanks :)

    Yeah I have a few 1ft sticks left, and I could cut it into 4" bits for you. I'd charge £4 for two 4" bits.

    Actually I'm considering setting up a section of the blog dedicated to modding, and I'd sell CPVC through that, but I'm not sure what else to include/what else I could sell. Springs for Nerf blasters are hard(ish) to get in the UK and I'm running low on funds so can't really import any ATM but I might be able to sell them.

    What are you planning on using the CPVC for? 4" is just a bit too much to allow "normal" pushing in streamline darts (which is actually the main reason why the barrels on the Big Salvo aren't longer).

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  3. A Nitefinder, I heard somewhere it was best for that. Interested in the coupler because I love the idea of changeable barrels. Just out of interest, how much for 1 ft?

    Thanks for the speedy reply, Tom.

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  4. Sorry for the double post, but hell!

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lanard-Blast-Bazooka-Foam-Gun/dp/B0017MHKJO/ref=pd_cp_k_h_b_cs_3

    Isn't this the gun that gets 100 ft ranges simply by making it fire normal darts?

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  5. Sorry I don't have any couplers. £5 would be OK for a 12" piece of CPVC.

    Yep that gun can get huge ranges if you single it, but it would take forever to reload (you'd need to ram-rod the darts down the barrel or something similar), might not be allowed in Nerf wars because it would hurt like hell up close, and would be sort of unwieldy because you'd need a 1ft barrel.

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  6. pretty cool I have ordered a lanard speed loader and iI am hoping to either single it or cpvc the barrels.

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  7. I wanted to order a decent dart blaster with a good rate of fire and range, and I think I just found my dart blaster!! thanks so much for the help!

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