In my quest for lesser known blasters, i came across these babies
Just to get it out of the way, yes, it is very realistic looking which some of you may not like. The guns are very comfortable to hold though, light and well balanced. Also pretty damn sturdy for some no name manufacturer.
They fire about 20' stock* and include a dozen suction darts of pretty nice quality. They cock using the slide on top as would be expected, and has a dart holder in the grip.
They're also pretty cheap at $12 including shipping from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/high-quality-dart-pistol-darts/dp/B002NWG3CWNow on to the fun part. This is an extremely quick and easy mod and only takes about 10 minutes.
First, remove the 2 screws holding the slide together and pull it off.
Remove the rest of the screws and gently separate the shell. It may feel like it's glued, but it's just all the pegs holding it together
It does use a reverse plunger, but there is really no dead space so this isn't a huge problem.
Notice the ridges on the end of the barrel. This is what actually keeps it held in place. Keep that in mind if you decide tho pick up a set as without the ridge the barrel will just pop out every time you fire.
The spring is pretty nice so we're going to leave that alone. It fully compresses when cocked as well.
The barrel and plunger head
The main thing hindering the guns performance is the peg, which also limits the air output. Two small holes at the tip of the peg is the only source of air flow. You can choose to CAREFULLY remove the peg and widen the hole, or, since the barrel is the same OD as 1/2" cpvc, just replace the whole thing.
Cut a piece of 1/2" cpvc the same length as the barrel. as you can also see the plunger head is easily removed.
Glue the plunger head to the new barrel. The smaller opening on it will also help keep darts from being pushed to far in.
Next step is to cut a small ring of 1/2" pvc, about 1/4" thick, and tap that on to the end of your new barrel. Use a file to round of the inside edge a bit to help it slip over a bit easier.
Put the plunger/barrel back in the gun, and use a small amount of glue to hold the pvc to the shell. That will keep it from popping out of the gun as i mentioned earlier. Only glue it to half of the shell so you can easily open it back up if needed.
Close her back up and you're good to go. Now do the same to the second gun and you got yourself a nice pair of side arms.
Paint the pvc rings a nice bright orange if you want, or just paint the whole gun hot pink.
That simple barrel replacement ups the range to ~50' flat*. They compact, light, durable and pretty accurate, overall a nice find.
size comparison with other pistols
* I am 6' tall and firing at shoulder height which obviously affects distance before the dart hits the ground, so YMMV slightly with ranges.
