PD: Dubious (so i'm told) and all round Arms Dealer of Mill-en

RL: Ian, maker of fine-ish LARP weapons

www.makai-larp.co.uk

Now providing replica firearms - delivered to every Maelstrom Event!

 

A wee bit more interesting than that though, is that I tapped into the Nerf-warriors scene. They don`t hold the Buzz Bee range in very high regard, due to the typical demands of their hobby. The shell-loading darts, for instance, are way to fuzzy and time-consuming for their wants. They do like Buzz Bee`s Big Blast, the rocket launcher of the series, that comes packed with two rockets instead of the usual darts. Because of the greater power needed to propel a rocket the standard 30ft, it delivers enough 'oomph' to shoot over 100ft when rebarreled for standard darts.
Yes, you read that right. The 30ft range is a kiddie-toy safety power-limit. There`s a whole range of mod-recipees out there, ranging from modding the darts themselves (apparently Hasbro`s are compatible with Buzz Bee`s) to modding the shells for a tighter fit - less air escaping around the dart - as well as the barrel - same reason - to opening the gun and replacing its innards. Heavier springs, pistons, safety valve seals and what not.

One of the more popular guns is the Hasbro Maverick N-Strike Rev-6 (six-shooting revolver) which looks nice enough as-is; just do a little paint job and you`ve got yourself a very acceptable space blaster, with a pump-action mimicking the lock-action of a contemporary pistol. The cylinder comes only partway out of the gun and the darts have to be reloaded one by one from the front.  There`s a simple mod (just remove two catches) that makes the cylinder come out all the way, so you can employ a homemade quick-loader, and even one - called the clip-mod - that detaches the cylinder from the frame after pressing the button to swing it out, so you can simply replace it with a fresh, preloaded cylinder cannibalized from another Maverick.

There`s a mod for the Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Rifle to change its lever-action into a bolt action if that suits your setting better, etc.

Me, I like the whole shell thing. (Buzz Bee also make a revolver, which is loaded in a very oldfashioned way: you load the cartridges one by one through hatch from behind, and after emptying the cylinder, you have to pump out the empty shells through that same hatch.) Slow reload and limited range serve a Zombie game very well, the zombies being notoriously slow and unarmed, after all. I was thinking of modding the Double Shot and the Rapid Fire Rifle - if I can get them - by extending the stock butt (I was thinking PUR foam in an attached mold, like paper wrapped tightly around the existing butt for the first tryout, and wrapping the whole butt in simple bandages and richly applying artificial resin, and then sanding and painting them) just so you can shoulder the weapons decently. If I only ever make the test series, they`ll come in handy in the small scale horror events we`re aiming at. (The zombie thing being a more lighthearted side-event.)

For an SF event I`d recommend using the Mavericks for close-combat sidearms, using paintjobs and allowing reload modifications, single shot small fry for 'concealed firearms' and for the longer ranges more heavily modified bigger guns rebarreled for darts, like the Big Blast, the Titan, and the Big Bad Bow and the X-Bow (remove the arms of the bows and rebarrel). You may want to keep the big mods in-house.

Take note that not all mods are safe. Sealing safety valves never sounds like a good idea, and there`s a dart streamlining mod out there in which they cut off the suction cap and replace it with a thumb nail, that`s a definite no-no.

Check out Buzz Bee`s Ruff Stuff Airblaster range at the company`s site:
http://www.buzzbeetoys.com/
All things Nerf at the Nerfhaven forum:
http://nerfhaven.com/forums/index.php?act=home
and there`s a nice demo of the lever action gun at YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in_CLxTAmGE&feature=related
and of the breach loading shotgun at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEexv9N_m90&feature=related
And a _very_ nice Maverick esthetic mod at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3f7ZEm-0U8&feature=related

Further mods and demoes are just a matter of clicking, but I thought these were interesting too:
A 'fan fiction' mod at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIwZ5yaq_DA&NR=1
A Big Bad Bow mod at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xMnfSfkYfw&NR=1
On 'dartsmithing' at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0jL37pttiE&feature=related
on barrel replacement (very convincing without a word spoken) at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFZ8ZP2H2dE&feature=related

and a complete overhaul of a pump-action foam dart shotgun, including barrel extension (allowing for longer speed build-up), incorporating rear-loading, stronger plunger, stronger trigger spring, improved air seal, 'slightly silenced', and with a sculpted skull added for esthetics, claiming an average range of 115ft at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwymJTwrwy0&NR=1

edit:

And this is something I ran into that I ust had to share :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZaEbSEO4jA&NR=1

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________

IRL: Edwin Hofstra

- mostly crewing at the moment

Update on Buzzbee`s AirBlasters: The Double Shot, the Rapid Fire and the Tommy are all in stock at Smyths. (Or so they claim on their website.) In my country, I can only find the Rapid Fire, so I gues I`ll have some importing to do. I just got the Rapid Fires in today so here`s a short review:

Apart from the diminutive stock, it`s a stout gun , that won`t look disproportional at all. It shouldn`t be too hard to extend the shoulder-stock. The (metal) lever works fine. The transport isn`t perfect, though. The boxmagazine spring may need a little adjusting. The ejector doesn`t always work either, and sometimes the darts don`t leave the barrel on the first try. (You have to shoot them out with the next dart. ) The boxmagazine is reasonably easy to insert, but a pain to remove, so a slick exchange of magazines is out. Also, although it says on the box that the darts are interchangeable with most other brands, Nerf-darts seriously won`t work with this gun, nor will AirBlaster darts work with the Maverick. I also get the impression my Maverick is slightly more powerful.

Analysis: for a shoot-out I`d definitaly prefer the Maverick, but I still feel the AirBlasters will do well in small scale horror/zombie games, and I`ll try to get my hands on some Double Shots. Too bad Smyths don`t seem to ship. (But then, I haven`t asked them nicely, yet.)

Will update again when I`ve tried some modding.

________________________________________________________

IRL: Edwin Hofstra

- mostly crewing at the moment