Review and visual guide: OMW stage 1 Recon mod kit

Orange Mod Works, about a month ago now started taking pre-orders for a kit they had developed that would enhance the power of the good old Nerf Recon blaster, at a reasonable price. They named the kit the Nerf Recon: stage 1 kit. For roughly $23AU delivered, I could not resist, so I ordered a kit, and had to wait a fair while until it was delivered (thanks again, Australia post).

The kit turned up today (finally), so when I got home from work I went right ahead and dug up my Recon from the monstrous pile of boxes I have from moving on the weekend and set myself up to do this swap over of parts. Please note that the Recon in this picture below already has the safety locks removed, the air restrictor drilled out, and it is also left hand bolt modded. For the guide on how to do the bolt mod (the bolt handle mounted on the cocking slide) CLICK HERE. Anyway, below is what I started with.

First of all, it comes packaged in a nice little black box, and inside the parts are protected with bubble wrap and  plastic sleeves. In the stage 1 kit, you receive a short installation guide, metal trigger catch and stronger catch spring, a vastly more powerful main spring, and a metal reinforcement plate that goes in the stock mount. I'm not overly sure of how necessary this plate is, but as far as I can figure out, it might serve a double purpose and act as a spacer to give the stage 2 kit plunger enough room if the back of the plunger is thicker than the original. Installed, it makes your Recon quite powerful. I was surprised at how stiff the spring actually is, and after doing a couple of test fires and losing some darts over the back fence, I am now really excited to use this in a Nerf war.

To install this kit is really simple. If you've modded a Recon before, you won't have any trouble at all. First, remove all the screws (including the two hidden at the front under the cocking slide, take the black stock mount off, and split the top half of the shell from the rest of the blaster. Below, is the internals minus a couple of safety locks. I also had a spring from a Longstrike in there as the main spring, and a plunger from a longstrike since this blaster was originally missing the main spring and had a broken plunger when I first got it.

Take out the stock trigger catch and catch spring, and also the stock spring. keep these as spares if you want, the spring from the Recon can also be used in a Longstrike, Raider, and Alpha Trooper. I wouldn't be surprised if they also fit the Quick 16 and Speedload 6 Dart Tag blasters either. Next, place the new spring on the plunger, then slide the new trigger catch (with the stronger catch spring placed on) over the top, and set it all back in place. Then, place the reinforcement plate in the stock mount, it only goes on way, it will drop straight in if you get it right, if it doesn't, flip it around until it does. It should now look like the picture below.

 Put the shell back on and screw everything back together. Annnd that's it! Installing this kit is really that simple. I haven't yet range tested, but I must be getting 60+ feet. I still need to replace the teflon tape under the O-ring and glue up the air release hole, and I'm still considering whether or not I will pack a spacer on the plunger to add even more compression to the new spring but at the moment I'm going to see how things go.

Summing up, these kits are well worth the money, and do not disappoint. go to www.orangemodworks.com to order yours.