Nerf Retaliator Mod: Air Restrictor Removal and Barrel Extension

Want a little more *bang* for your buck? Check out this detailed Instructable on air restrictor removal and barrel extension for a great way to revamp your Retaliator Nerf blaster. Removing the air restrictor increases the power and range of your blaster by a noticeable amount. It also makes it much louder when firing, which is very intimidating to others. Extending the barrel will increase the accuracy by a small amount, but will greatly decrease the blasters power because of natural friction on the dart. The barrel extension also adds +10 style points to your Nerf arsenal.

This Instructable requires very few tools and a minimal amount of skill level. Depending on your experience with Nerf blasters, this mod can take a varying amount of time. This was the third time I've removed an air restrictor and it took me about 30 minutes. However, my first experience took me about an hour and a half because of troubleshooting.

CAUTION: Modifying a Nerf product will void any warranty you may have, and will increase your chance of damaging the product. But the result of this instructable is wicked cool, yo. I should also caution you to keep the barrel extension away from water since we will be creating a paper inner barrel.

The materials required are:

• Nerf Retaliator with barrel attachment
• Hammer
• A long screwdriver
• Small philips head screwdriver
• Screw holder (cup or lid works well)
• Printer paper
• Tape

I would also like to direct your attention to www.orangemodworks.com where you can order custom Nerf internal pieces. If you are serious about adding power to your blaster, check this website out.

This is the first step toward the rest of your non-air restricted life. Remove all exterior screws and place them in your screw holder. Conveniently, the screws are all located on the left side of the blaster. The cap on the end of the blaster must be unscrewed and taken off before we can open up the blaster.

Hint: There are two hidden screws underneath the cocking handle. See picture.

Well, there's no turning back now. Slowly open the blaster up by separating the exterior shell. Do not worry if parts jump out, this is natural because of how many springs are used inside. Make a mental note of how all the pieces fit together and use these pictures for reference when you put the blaster back together later on.

Note: There are several pieces shown in the pictures above that are not needed for the operation of the blaster. Because they do not affect the scope of this Instructable, I will not be taking the time to explain their importance. You can decide whether you want to keep them or throw them out.

Remove the spring and piston unit. This should be relatively easy, but be careful to not break anything. As you can see, the air restrictor does a good job of restricting air. It's kind of amazing that any air can pass through at all!

This is where you get to be creative. Take your time with removing the air restrictor because the plastic is relatively fragile. My tools of choice are the long screwdriver and hammer combination. If you have a drill with a long bit, that would work well too. Basically, you want to remove everything within the shaft without damaging the shaft itself.

Trouble? If you do happen to break any of the internals, you can buy new and reinforced internals from Mod Works. http://www.orangemodworks.com/category_s/1845.htm

Put the pieces back in place and screw the blaster shut. Make sure to align the piston back into its grooves. See Step 2 for reference pictures of how the parts fit together. Be careful not to force the exterior shell closed, it should snap together with little difficulty. Pay attention to line up the exterior cocking mechanism with its internal counterpart.

We are now ready to extend the barrel attachment. Extending the barrel on this blaster makes it look much cooler in my opinion. It also makes your weapon look much more unique and will set your blaster apart from others. It's true that this mod will decrease the power of your blaster, but the Retaliator's barrel attachment can be taken off when you need the extra power. Gather the materials shown in the picture and let's get started!

Remove all screws and separate the exterior shell of the barrel. Make sure to keep all of the screws in your holder. The inner barrel comes out very easily and you can see in the pictures where it will be placed once the mod is complete.

The paper barrel does not need to be super exact, you can just eyeball and tear the paper to length. If you are not great with tearing straight lines, grab a pair of scissors for a quick cut. Roll the paper into roughly the same size tube as the inner barrel and tape it in place. See the pictures for how the paper barrel will look and fit into the barrel.

Note: Getting the right paper barrel size may take a few attempts. I recommend reusing old pieces of paper since it can't be seen from the outside.

Close the barrel's exterior and screw it back together. You are now finished with your mod! Go shoot off a few darts to see how your blaster has improved!

Special thanks to Marteen "HH" Alanis (name has been altered for "reasons") for being my third hand in taking pictures.

Comments, questions and recommendations are always appreciated!