Introduction: 18 Shot Nerf Maverick

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About: My name is Britt Michelsen. I am a chemical engineer from Germany especially interested in computational fluid dynamics. To balance all the theoretical work, I like to make stuff in my free time

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.

Attachments

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. 

Toy Challenge 2

Second Prize in the
Toy Challenge 2