Nerf Mods: A Beginner's Guide

Step 9 Barrel Replacements Part 3: Replacing the Barrel

In this step, I will go over the some approaches to replacing the gun's stock barrel with other barrels that yield higher performance. Generally, the barrel replacement is what increases the gun's power the most. The barrel replacement is an essential modification and is the most common Nerf modification performed on Nerf guns.

I will go over the two most common approaches to this:

Simple Replacement (Singled)
Performing a "simple barrel replacement," referred to on Nerf websites as a "singled" gun, is when the new barrel is simply glued in place of the old, stock one. The one drawback of singling a Nerf gun, however, is that it takes longer to load a stefan in the barrel than the coupler setup. If you plan on back-loading stefans, you will have to ram the stefan down to the back of the barrel. In a Nerf war, this is difficult to use, considering the fact that you must carry around a ramrod.

Coupler Setup (Couplered)
When you "coupler" your Nerf gun, it is when you glue a coupler in place of the stock barrel. A 1/2" CPVC coupler, for instance, can be glued in place of a barrel so that 1/2 CPVC barrels can be loaded into the coupler. This way, you can take out a barrel, load a dart into the back of the barrel, and put the barrel in the coupler. This makes for faster loading. A couplered Nerf "Big Bad Bow" can be seen in Pictures 1, 2, and 3.

Additionally, setups like that shown in Picture 4 can be used with couplers. This is a simple flip-around barrel, made from gluing two barrels together. I wrapped this flip-around barrel with electrical tape to make it look cleaner. The arrows on the barrels indicate where the barrel faces when it is inserted in the coupler. Pictures 4, 5, and 6 demonstrate the flip-around barrel.

Comments

[Squirreleo]

How exactly would you create a breech, preferably brass, that shoots streamlines? (kinda new to this, steps and materials if possible)

[geek27]

Now, I'm not quite sure what kind of breech you want. If you are referring to a breech in a Longshot or other mag-fed Nerf blaster, this writeup will be useful.  On the other hand, if you are referring to a brass breech all within a 1/2" PVC barrel, this will definitely help.  However, if you do make a brass breech, you should probably use stefans with it.  streamlines are decent, but they don't fit very well in certain sizes of brass, and you will see lower ranges.

[reconchief]

I think he is talking about a longshot angel breech but still able to shoot stefans and crappy stock darts

[JamesTB13]

I find this, kind of.....weird. I mean, if you have a Nerf gun that feeds from a magazine (like my Longshot), then loading a dart, and then having to cram it farther back in the barrel? Seems like a bit of a waste of time, if not a simple waste of having a magazine-fed rifle. But other than that, you have made yourself one hell of a good Nerf mod guide.

[geek27]

Well, the barrel replacement is mainly for range. In most cases, if a Nerf gun's rate of fire is reduced by a barrel replacement, the greatly-increased range compensates for the rate of fire that is lost. With guns that use breech mechanisms (Nerf guns that are magazine-fed use breech mechanisms), a more-complicated brass breech can be used to replace the stock breech. This maintains the magazine-fed feature of the gun while increasing the range (by replacing the barrel). Of course, some people do single their Longshots rather than fabricate a brass breech assembly. While dramatically reducing the rate of fire, this is the easier alternative to a brass breech if one wishes to do a barrel replacement on a magazine-fed blaster. It pretty much just increases the range of the gun, with the loss of the balster's rate of fire.

[Nerfgenius]

What size is that PVC, and what type of glue did you use ? Also, what are the ranges?

[geek27]

That would be 1/2" CPVC.  All of the glue is hot glue, but the barrel (as well as the coupler) are holding up quite well.  I based it on this mod if you are interested in trying it out.  However, rather than singling it, I cut the CPVC down so a stub was sticking out of the orange piece that holds the barrel.  I then glued on a CPVC coupler.  It really is quite simple, yet very reinforced (with all that hot glue!).

If you are interested in doing that mod, be sure to read the fifth post of the link I provided.  It has an important bit of advice that will make your BBB a lot stronger.

As for ranges, I would approximate that it hits around 80-90 feet.  It's just a rough estimate, but it's a range to expect from a BBB.

Good luck!

[sburns77]

 I feel ridiculous asking this, as I probably should be getting this. But could you explain the purpose/utility of the flip-around barrel.

[geek27]

The flip-around barrel allows easier and quicker loading.  With a normal barrel, you have to fire a shot, remove the barrel, load another dart, put it back in, and fire it again.  However, if both sides of the flip-around barrel are loaded, you can fire a shot, remove the barrel, flip it around, put it back in, then fire it again.  It is a bit faster, although not by that much.  That little bit of quickness, however, can really save you in a Nerf war.  Additionally, it can make loading easier, as you can load one side of the flip-around barrel even when the entire barrel setup is in the coupler. if only the coupler side of the flip-around barrel is loaded (the barrel that is to be fired) then the other side can be loaded by putting a dart facing backwards in the forward-facing end of the barrel.  It's a bit hard to explain, so I can try to make a visual if this doesn't quite make sense.

[sburns77]

 Thank you very much, loved the instructable! Thanks!

[ripstik juggler]

your brilliant