First of all, the "barrel" on Elite blasters is significantly wider than a dart, so air just escapes around the dart. In order for a barrel to do anything to a projectile, it must have a snug fit. And even when you DO have a snug fit, the grooves still allow a little bit of air to escape from behind the dart. Rifling is intended for real guns that shoot bullets, which are weighted terribly. Bullets have a fairly uniform weight distribution, which means that they are inherently unstable. They NEED rifling in order to keep the bullet stable. Stefans, when weighted properly, are already stable so they don't even need rifling! Energy that goes into spinning the dart is energy lost for distance.
In conclusion, rifling attempts to solve a problem that never existed--stabilizing a dart. As long as your Stefans have most of their weight in the front, you don't need to worry about spinning them at all! Hopefully this clears up some confusion over one of the biggest Nerf myths.
Check out Btrettel's post about it on his blog.
~T da B
The darts with a very front CG location are unstable too. The tail starts oscillating hardly, while it still goes nose-first it does not follows a straight line anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe axial rotation works well for the darts as it works for real bullets.
Rifling equations, just another lol )) It is clear you never tested actual rifling on nerf...
You're right--I haven't tested it. I don't have a reliable way to accurately rifle darts or barrels. I agree that rifling increases stability--you just won't get your max range. Also, who wants to rifle every single dart they own? If your dart is oscillating it could mean a few things: your weight is not centered, your weight is not heavy enough, or you don't have enough drag in the rear. Improperly centered hot glue can also affect stability.
DeleteI personally think that the rifling in the barrel just lets the air around the dart to escape a little more slower than the previous straight line grooves that can let the dart have more power. The spaces in between the grooves can also help if the blaster is too weak for springers and air compression systems. However, this can also limit the amount of air pushing the darts as the air can go through. Note that it does not really apply to flywheels and if the dart does not have great air seal (or if you are using crappy darts). Please correct me if I am wrong in any way or if there is a better explanation you can offer.
DeleteI have a Nerf Rampage with a 5KG OMW kit and only based on visual testing I can unequivocally state the following facts.
ReplyDelete1. The darts are exiting the barrel with a high rate of spin. They can be visually seen, and audibly heard spinning through the air, and at a very high rate. We are talking 500-600RPM
Only the barrel rifling can be causing this.
2. The spinning darts are more accurate. You don't need math to understand it, because it's common sense. Tiny flaws and imperfections in the dart cause more drag on one side. Ever seen your dart fishtail off into nowhere? That's because of large imperfections that are causing excessive drag on one side. When the dart is spinning the drag is moving around the axis so no side gets more drag for more than a short period.
Once again, this can be visually seen with darts corkscrewing through the air. The faster the spin, the tighter they corkscrew.
If you still believe that the rifling does nothing then you need to experience it for yourself or just shut up. Stop applying gun physics to Nerf blasters because it doesn’t work.
I’m not one that normally likes to believe in “bro-science”, but when the effect is so obvious it makes me wonder how people can use math and charts to try to disprove it.
Ah this gave me a good chuckle!
Delete1. You're telling me you can actually see a dart rotate 10 times/second as it's fired? That's amazing, especially with an upgraded spring.
2. I've already stated my agreement that spin increases accuracy, but I guess you didn't read that far. What you seem to be oblivious to is the law of energy conservation, but that's real science. Let me put it in "bro-science" terms: you can spin your darts all day--and watch as your ranges plummet.