From the Armory: Nerf Vortex Line Mods

In my last article I mentioned that the Nerf Nitron is a bit of a pointless gun out of the box. But I feel that it has mod potential. The beautiful thing about electrically powered weapons is that the easiest way to improve it is to up the voltage. For a gun like the Stampede, simply upping the voltage from 9v to 12v takes its rate of fire, with a stock spring, from 180 rounds per minute to a blistering 300 rounds per minute, almost double! The same principle can apply to the Nitron. Upping the voltage on the fly wheels will increase the already impressive range, and doing the same to the motor that feeds the disks will increase the rate of fire. Suddenly the gun becomes sounds a little more useful doesn’t it?

The Nitron, Vigilon, and Praxis are all powered by the same system: a long arm propelled by a torsion spring which simply whacks the disk in the back, pushing it out of the breach. The simplest way to modify the power system for greater range is to relocate spring hard point, which puts the spring under greater tension. Here’s a convenient photo to illustrate that.

Note the screw which holds the bottom portion of the spring in place. By moving that screw over to the hole that the arrow is pointing to and hooking the spring around it, you put more tension on the spring, so that when its pulled around, there is greater potential energy, and therefore more power when you fire it.

Now be warned, when up the tension on these springs, which are already pretty dern stiff, you have to reinforce the catch spring which holds the throwing arm back or the thing won’t catch, and the gun will fire as soon as you take your hand off the cocking mechanism. I did this mod on my Proton, which I bought as a plaything, and I’m STILL trying to balance the catch spring properly. When I have managed to get the thing to catch though, the performance is BRILLIANT. It goes up from around 40-50 ft. flat, to around 60, and that in a pump action weapon like the Praxis is just brilliant.

More detailed write ups to come.

From the Armory: Nerf Vortex Vigilon

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!

Last time we talked about the Proton and the single shot guns, now its time to move into the multi-shot realm and the Nerf Vortex Vigilon. Now when we say Multi-Shot we refer to guns that can fire multiple shots without have to reload. This is not to be confused with automatic weapons. Automatic weapons can fire multiple shots without having to reload or re-prime (cock), while multi-shots generally refer to weapons which must be primed (cocked) before each shot. The venerable Maverick is one such weapon, a six round revolver known for its awesome styling, natural feel, and horrendous reliability.

Yee olde Vigilon is essentially the Vortex version of the Maverick, using an integrated magazine which holds six rounds. Now the reliability issues which plagued the Maverick is due to a weak spring in the ratchet which turns the barrels (called a turret). The Vigilon dodges the problem by having the rounds stacked in a chamber inside the gun, called an integrated magazine. You access the magazine by flicking a switch located near your thumb, like last weeks gun, and then slotting a stack of six in by hand. This makes reloading very straight forward, and allows one to top off ammo easily.

Like the Maverick, the Vigiolon primed by a slider located on the top read side of the weapon. The action is light allowing one to prime it quickly. Also, since there is no turret to deal with (I’ll explain this in more detail in a later review) the trigger pull is light and can be pulled quickly, so rate of fire is good for a weapon of this type, and in an unmodded head to head challenge, can outperform the Maverick.

Range and Accuracy? Well, once again we’re dealing with the new vortex disks, using a similar propulsion system from the Proton, meaning it gives good range out of the box, and can be modded for better. You’re looking at 40-50 ft. out of box flat. Accuracy is limited by the ammunition itself, and is rather good at close to mid range, but can slew to one side at longer ranges.

The weapon is a bit taller than than a Maverick, but similar in length. With most of the weight concentrated towards the front, it feels very natural to aim, and doesn’t feel bulky or unwieldy. It follows the standard Vortex styling of green and white paint job, with Sci-Fi details molded into the outer shell. It still maintains the N-Strike tactical rail on the upper part of the weapon, giving a solid sighting surface and a dock for all standard Nerf rail attachments. It also continues the Vortext trend of quality, as the feel of the plastics is heavier and more well built than the N-Strike line.

Short and sweet his week, but its short and sweet kind of gun. A good allrounder with good range and accuracy figures to complement a good rate of fire and magazine capacity. An allrounder means a gun that works well in most any situation, and this gun epitomizes it. It has the range to work in longer engagements, while being small enough to maneuver in tight spaces, and a rate of fire to deal with running fights. Its a just works kind of gun, and comes highly recommended to any first time Nerfer. Overall, the Vigilon rates 4 out of 5 disks, for good feel and ranges, but lower accuracy.