18-round magazine mod!

Sup guys!

I know that I haven't posted a real mod in quite a while, so I'm pleased to bring you a T da B original! This mod is incredibly useful if you own any clip-fed N-Strike blasters and use modified darts (Stefans). If you have ever tried loading a N-Strike magazine full of Stefans, you may have noticed that the darts refuse to stay lined up. They flip over and on top of each other and jam up your blaster pretty quickly, especially with the 18-round mag. This mod serves to eliminate this problem, and without opening up the clip at all!

N-Strike clips are notoriously hard to crack open, since they are solvent welded together. Taking them apart usually means giving them a bath in boiling water and prying like a madman. My mod was entirely based off of Popatachi's reversible Stefan-modded clip, which conveniently does everything from the outside. My mod is not reversible, but makes up for it with simplicity and elegance.

Required Materials:

• 18-round magazine
• 3/16'' brass tubing (1' length)
• 7/32'' brass tubing (1' length)
• 7/32'' drill bit
• J.B. Weld, or similar epoxy that works on metal and plastic
• Needle-nose pliers

Write-up:
In Popatachi's mod, he drilled through both the shell and the dart pusher in one fell swoop. I was too lazy to set up my drill press for something this small, so I decided to drill the dart pusher and shell separately with a hand drill. I clamped the mag in a vise until the dart pusher wouldn't budge. I lined up the right side of the hole with the right side of the 4th "fin" from the left (according to picture above). This allowed just enough clearance to not drill through the nub that the spring rests on under the dart pusher. You can see my first failed attempt on the left, which was from using Popatachi's method. In the end, I got my hole just where I wanted it!

Now do the same for the bottom. Once again, the correct hole is on the right.

Push down the dart pusher a little to get your breech clearance and insert the 3/16'' brass rod all the way through the mag until it pokes through the hole in the dart pusher. Make a mark on the bottom of the rod to designate how far it should be inserted and set it aside. Now take your 7/32'' brass and cut two 1/2'' pieces. Make sure that they are deburred and reamed!

Clamp the mag in the vise again so the dart pusher doesn't move. Put some J.B. Weld on one of the 7/32'' brass pieces and insert it into the dart pusher with needle-nose pliers. This will be the sheath that slides over the 3/16'' rod as the dart pusher moves.

Now take the other piece of 7/32'' brass, epoxy it, and insert it halfway into the other hole. Take your 3/16'' brass and put some epoxy on the bottom part that will be contacting the lower 7/32'' brass piece. Push down the dart pusher and look down through it. Insert your 3/16'' rod up through the bottom and thread it through the upper sheath. Push it in until the mark you made lines up with the end of the 7/32'' piece that is half sticking out. Push them both in until they are flush with the bottom of your mag.

Let the epoxy cure fully, then chop off the end of the brass rod and sand it.

Congratulations! You now have an 18-round clip that works with Stefans.

Final Thoughts:
In a time where wars are dominated by hoppers, the modded N-strike clip still remains a viable alternative. I hope you guys enjoyed another one of my write-ups!
~T