18 Shot Nerf Maverick

In this instructable, I'm going to show you how to make a Nerf Maverick, with a rotating barrel mechanism to shoot 16 Darts. I made this gun for my brother, admittedly he is 22 years old, but can you ever be to old for Nerf guns? 

Thanks to this mechanism, you can not only load more darts, but also reload them faster.
 
To get a better idea, watch the video:



Thanks to Instructables member ballisticjoe I found out, that I'm not the first one, to attempt this mod. You can find an other version, of this gun here.

Step 1: What you need

Materials

    • three NERF Mavericks (e.g. on amazon.com)
    • fine grid sanding paper
    • two M4 screws, 4 nuts (two locknuts are even better) and two washers
    • self tapping screw
    • strong glue
    • 6 mm acrylic, or plywood and a way to cut them to the shape shown in step three (e.g. laser cutter,
      scroll saw, fretsaw...)
    • optional: email paint, paint brushes, epoxy putty

Tools

    • hack saw
    • cross slot screwdriver
    • claw hammer (if you don't have one, don't worry a slotted screwdriver will work as well)
    • drill
    • drill bits: 2 mm, 4.2 mm

Step 2: Take them apart

We will start by disassembling the gun. Make sure, that when you take the pull back mechanism apart, that you don't loose the spring and small orange part (see the second picture). Underneath it is an other screw.
Carefully pull the two big yellow plastic pieces apart. Take the barrel out and carefully use a claw hammer to pry out the metal rod. Be careful, not to loose the spring. Remove the three screws in the back (black part) of the barrel and gently slide the top of the barrel of.
Take the air restrictors out and remove the inside and the springs, you wont need them anymore. I've seen people cutting of the spikes off, tried it myself and didn't really notice a difference (so you are free to do it, but don't expect any wonders).
Remove the two screws in the middle, to get rid of the grey piece in the back. Do this for all three guns.

Step 3: Cut the connectors

In the first picture you can see the measurement you need, to build the connector pieces. The final shape is up to you. I was in the lucky position of being able to use a laser cutter. If you don't have one, you should be able to use a scroll saw, or even a fret saw.
I cut the pieces out of clear acrylic (5.8 mm), but plywood should work as well.

UPDATE: I've been asked by quite a few people, to send them the vector files, that's why I've uploaded them here.

Step 4: Make room for the barrels

To fit the barrels, you will have to remove the parts, that I've coloured blue in the pictures. I started by using a Dremel, but noticed, that a hacksaw actually works better. Don't forget to round the corners in the front (with either a file or sand paper).

The fourth picture shows, where you will have to carefully cut the grey pieces, that hold the front barrel in place. Make very sure, not to remove all of the inside, as shown in the fifth picture.

Step 5: Stabilizing

I decided to enforce the front of the gun with an extra screw, by filling the already existing tube with Milliput and drilling a hole into it, once it was dried.
To give the gun a smooth finish, I used the Milliput to fill the holes, as shown in the pictures.
Mark the middle holes of the connector pieces, by holding them in place with one barrel attached to them. Due to the lack of an angle drill, I drilled the holes, with an 4.2 mm drill by hand (after drilling a smaller hole at an angle).

Step 6: Assembling

If you would like to paint the gun you should do so, before assembling it. I used Revell email paints and dry brushed them later.
To stabilize the plastic, glue one washer to the back of each hole, as shown in the first picture. Then secure the connector pieces with a screw and two nuts each.
Reassemble the gun, if you are having trouble on finding the correct spot for every piece, check out the picture in step 2. If you would like to make your gun stronger, add two or three washers at the back of the spring.
Once, you are done, you will have to reassemble the barrel. Instead of using the small grey front piece, use the front connector piece, as shown in the third picture. Don't forget the spring and hammer the metal rod back into the barrel. Once you finished one barrel, turn the mechanism and attach the next one. 

Comments

[sgruenke]

Would this work with a 3d printer? My scool will be renting one soon.

[Pippodippo]

Thank you really helps, i'll go check now
And thanks again for the great design and quick replies

[Pippodippo]

Hey nice work, im going to use this style but what are the names of the colours you used and are they Revel?
Thanks

[BrittLiv]

Hi, I think it is 90, 92 and 8, but I'm not a 100% sure, because I left the colours in the UK

[modded]

As you can see, I went for a laser effect on mine. For the Nite-Finder, I realised it's significantly harder to paint than the Maverick, due to it's shape, it's less flowing. I thought of trying a rust effect on the Nite-Finder, however I didn't have the paint. Finally, what paint do you use? I personally use Citadel, as I also paint models, figures etc. But I must say, they are incredibly (For want of a better word) resilient. I let my little sister play with both of the guns, and the paint is still on, and not showing any signs of flaking off.

[BrittLiv]

They look nice, I really like the combination of black and orange! I used Revell paint.

[modded]

I haven't heard of Revell, but I presume your from the states, so that would explain it. The metallic look goes really well on yours, but as javajunkie1976 said, you could put how you did the paint in the steampunk section. I'd say it's good enough to have an instructable just on the painting.

[BrittLiv]

Actually I'm from Germany and made the gun during an internship in the UK. I ordered the paint here: http://www.emodels.co.uk

[modded]

Ah. Two things: I may sound like an idiot, but what's an internship?, And I'm learning German! I'm appalling though, the only thing's I can remember are like 'Ich habe eine Hund, und eine katze'

[BrittLiv]

It is a supervised practical training, usually you don't get paid or very little, but you learn a lot. I know German is hard, the sentence is good, though.

[modded]

Have you ever thought of selling painted and modded Nerf guns? There aren't many people that wpould buy them, but the ones that would, would probably pay a lot?

[BrittLiv]

Hi, a lot of people asked me that about my paintings, too, but sadly I don't have enough time. Most of the time, I give what ever I make away to friend and family.

[modded]

Fair enough. I always try to give mine to my family, but they don't want them :( more for me though :D Have you ever tried painting figures though?

[Ojsmudge]

i pianted mine silver black and green looks awesome both maverick and nite finder in the same paint scheme

[Maverick Master]

I found some dude at yard sale sellin six mavericks second hand for £1 each
n i made 2 of these there awsome n there too fun to duel wield if add a motorised system to your mavericks before modding into the tripple style thanks mil for this instructables

[BrittLiv]

Sorry, I some how missed your comment I'm assuming, that the problems occur with the back of the barrel. Sadly I didn't take any good pictures. I've attached one, that I hope is good enough. As you can see the hexahedron is loosely placed in the connector piece (I had to sand the piece and prime it again, because as you can see the paint didn't stick properly).

[12beav]

I'm curious, if it would be possible for you to put up pictures on how the barrels went back together? I'm looking at the pictures to understand that. and I am not seeing anything that references how they go back together.

[maker345]

EPIC!! wow i never thought of doing that thanks mate

[barcadude847]

it just didnt stay. i spent a months allowance on it an when it finally went it wouldnt cock or keep ammo in the barrel

[BrittLiv]

Can you take a picture, so that I might be able to help you?

[barcadude847]

i tried this mod but it didnt work

[BrittLiv]

Can you please be more specific on what didn't work?

[TheSquibDyePacker]

Is it possible to add another cylinder for 24 darts?

[BrittLiv]

Yes, 4 barrels should work.

[parrster]

Simply brilliant. Now to find some cheap mavericks.

[dgannon1]

garage sales and flea markets

[Kanein Encanto]

Don't know if you have any in your area, but Mavricks are regularly showing up at my local Savers thrift shop, usually only a few dollars each, think I grabbed one for $2. Also picked up a pair of Vulcans for $9 each, though neither had the ammo box and only one had the belt.

Might see if you have any similar thrift stores in the area too.

[BrittLiv]

I've gotten mine for £6.70 on amazon.co.uk (they were restricted, you could only buy two per account). But they seem to have gotten a lot more expensive during Christmas.

[techman26]

you make a new template, i cant rlly read this and possible make it inches because i would like to print it on paper and trace it out to make it easier

[BrittLiv]

Hi, just download inkscape and you will be able to print the file

[techman26]

How do I pull it up

[h8864]

like the paint job but it will take longer to load everything at once.
maybe try having 3 shoot at once or even adding an auto spinning mechanism to auto change the drums.

[BrittLiv]

Go ahead and build it, I would love to see it.

[builderv]

sweet!!

[woodstockbirdy]

Finally, a forumable post. Good job.

[eklios]

how did you secure the coupling on the back side of the rotating cylinder so it did not slide out when not the cylinder actively loaded in the gun

[BrittLiv]

Hi, I didn't if you take a look at the fourth picture of the intro step, you can see, that it moves slightly, but the construction is to tight for it to fall out.

[eklios]

i thought as much. i made one of these but with a slightly diferent method. thank you for the responce.

[alien960]

Cutting the spike off allows modified darts or stefans to be shot.

[Draconian1]

I got about 12 different nerf guns for christmas. how do you mod the belts so they stick together? plus, could you you make a maverick belt fed from a vulcan belt?