The first step to modifying a spring-activated Nerf gun is to take it apart and examine the internal components. The housing of most guns is two plastic halves held together by Philips-head screws. Larger guns will have more screws, but the smaller hand-held pistol style blasters will sometimes have as few as three.









Remove the screws with your screwdriver and set them aside. Pull the two halves of the gun together to reveal the internal components. One side should just be a shell, and all the parts should be attached to the other side.
 If you're modifying a Maverick (the easiest way to start), the most common beginner mod is to remove the air restrictors and the barrel posts, which keep you from being able to use stefans, and which decrease the power behind each shot. To do this, you need to pull the cylinder loose, where the darts are kept before they're fired.









The cylinder that holds the darts should pull out without having to pull very hard. Just grab it in your hand firmly and pull it back out away from the shell of the gun. With it should come a gray or beige plastic endplate, which you'll need to remove.
Usually the endplate is attached with a little orange cap you can pop off using the flat end of a screwdriver, or just using your fingers. Don't lose this cap, or you won't be able to reassemble the blaster.
 Nerf-brand darts are hollow, and slide onto a post in each barrel of the blaster. For a long time, this kept people from being able to make your own darts. Fortunately, you can just clip them off. Remove the end cap with the barrel post from each cylinder and use wire-clipper or some other type of lopper to cut them off, as close to the endplate as possible.









If you want, you can sand up the nub that you leave with some sand-paper to clean up the end. It's not necessary, but it'll be cleaner.
Reassemble the cylinder by attaching the orange plastic end caps to each of the cylinders and putting the cylinder chamber back together. You're ready to turn your attention to the end plates.
 Remove the gray plastic plate from the end of the cylinder, if you haven't already and find the little arc-shaped plastic nub on the side of it. This is used to stop the cylinder from spinning freely, so you can rotate the chamber in the gun like you're Jesse James. This won't make the gun shoot any differently, but it looks awesome.


If you want to complete this mod, file off the nub using a metal file, or a Dremel drill. Smooth it up as much as possible to make the plastic flat, so the chamber won't catch on it. If it doesn't, it won't spin right. Make sure you get help and permissions if you're using a power tool.
Reattach the end plates to the blaster and put the cylinder back in the gun. If you wanted about 5–10 feet (1.5–3.0 m) more distance out of your gun and the ability to spin the chamber, you're done. Put the housing back together.
 If you want more power out of your gun, upgrade to a stronger spring. Examine the firing components of the gun, pulling the spring loose. It's a cheap, flimsy piece of metal, that you can easily upgrade with a trip to the hardware store. Take the spring with you to look for a spring that matches the width and length, and buy one made of a higher quality material.


Sometimes, replacing the spring will leave you with a little gap at the back of the gun, where the spring won't go flush with the plastic. To remedy this, you can use a small stack of pennies–three or four should do–to slot in and give the spring something to rest against. The pennies should fit into the chamber perfectly.
 Some really power-obsessed modders like to cut the barrel off the end of the blaster and replace it with a length of PVC pipe that matches the width of their stefans. Keeping a tighter seal and increasing the pressure of the spring can make the darts go much farther and faster.


If you want to do this, cut off the barrel of the gun just where it meets the "body" of the gun, and discard it. Cut a length of half-inch diameter PVC pipe that matches the rough length of the barrel, and hot-glue it into place carefully, holding it to complete the seal. It's best to glue around the outside, to avoid little nubs of glue on the inside.
If you like the way the gun looks, don't do this. Barrel replacements look pretty bootleg, and you'll gain a little power, but make your gun look kind of ridiculous.
Remove all the screws holding the housing together.
Remove the cylinder and unscrew the cap.
Clip off the barrel posts.
File the nubs off the end plates for the "Russian roulette" mod.
Upgrade the spring.
Consider replacing the barrel.
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