Vortex Praxis: interesting find?

I've now had a little more time to use the new Vortex Praxis I picked up the other day, and I must say the more I use it, the more I like it. However, I discovered something that the Praxis can do this morning that is a little strange, almost like a "slamfire" function, but not. I found that if you pump the handle back, then forward while holding down the trigger the entire time, it will fire a disc once the handle reaches the forward position. But, this only works once, so you can't just hold the trigger down and slamfire away, you have to lift your finger and squeeze the trigger again, and then you can pump and fire, then repeat, lift finger, pump back, pump forward.

I had to have a picture to go with this post, so, have a bonus picture.

Strange, right? I'm not at all familiar with the internal cycling of these Vortex blasters, but it almost seems like it might be possible to modify it somehow to allow slamfire function. Combine this with the "convenient" placement of an extra screw hole for modding these blasters (mod guide here), the full clip +1 in the chamber trick that Bazookafied discovered, AND tripleBification's proton disc storage trick, and it kind of makes you wonder, did Nerf intend for people to find these things in order to create a product that modders would really want?

Vortex Praxis Mod guide

This mod is essentially the same mod you can do on the three spring powered Vortex blasters, and simply involves reconfiguring the spring to have more pre-load tension. Though, there are already guides on how to do this, this guide is more about how to access the spring in the Praxis easily.

So let's get started! first, disassembly:

First remove the stock and accessories. then have a look at the rear of the blaster and remove the two screws holding the stock adaptor on. Then go ahead and remove the 13 screws in the green part of the shell. You do not need to remove the screws on the barrel or the pump action grip.

You now have access to what you need. Remove the screw from the left side of the plastic plate housing the spring, and also the screw in the picture below, allowing you to pry that plate down. Now lift the cover plate off the pins that hold the firing arm and rubber stopper in place, and slide it left until it is free. The pictures below should help.

Below, you can see the plate is removed and there is clear access to the pins that hold the rubber stopper and firing arm in place. Use a pair of pliers to slide these out and take the firing arm out for now.

Now, all you have to do is unscrew the silver screw and move the spring position around to the left, and screw the silver screw back in there. originally, my Praxis had the spring set in the centre position, and now uses the left-most position to apply more pre-load pressure.

Re-assembly is as simple as reversing the steps to disassemble. you will now have an increase in disc speed and a little more range. Hope this helps!

Review: Nerf Vortex Praxis

After moving in to my new place, I was finally able to get some free time to pick up the new Vortex Praxis by Nerf, and have some fun with it. This blaster has been well known about for quite some time now, and hit store shelves some time before the "official launch date", along with the other Vortex blasters. Nerf seemingly "leaked" info on the whole line prior to the release date in order to create a little hype, but the reception of disc blasters wasn't ALL good, many traditional Nerfers swore by darts in the lead up to these hitting stores, and even I was skeptical when I bought this blaster.

However, after unboxing, I laid eyes on a rather good looking blaster. The grip is comfortable, and the blaster features a tactical rail on top for scopes, sights and lights, and the pump action works great. Also, the stock is less flexible than the comparable N-Strike Recon stock, and fits adult sized shoulders perfectly. The blaster is wider than most N-Strike blasters but doesn't really feel bulky, likewise the tubular magazine isn't huge either. In fact, I'd say that the mags may fit some paintball vests, meaning until Nerf produces Vortex tactical vests, Vortex users could possibly use those.

Performance is the aspect of this blaster that blew my skepticism right out of the water. The range and accuracy of the Praxis straight out of the box is nothing short of incredible. Though the discs do curve slightly at long range even without wind, they still perform way better than streamline darts (which sometimes travel in... "abstract" directions). I would say that claims of 60+ feet are not over-estimating.

Though the Praxis accepts N-Strike accessories, It doesn't look quite right with them...

Attachments are a little limited on the Praxis, for a blaster that is probably aimed to be the Vortex counterpart of the N-Strike Recon. Having an attachment rail on the side wouldn't be a bad thing for this blaster, allowing you to have a light AND a sight. It would go really well with the scope from the Vortex Nitron, but I don't own one just yet to provide an example. Modding is something that hasn't really been touched with the Vortex blasters much, but the Praxis is still spring powered so there is obviously a way to increase the power, but if you were to heavily modify this blaster, it might get a bit... dangerous.

Summing up, the Vortex Praxis is a fantastic blaster, but could have benefited from having slamfire function and some more room for attachments. The great ranges and pinpoint accuracy make it a definite must have, and grants this blaster 9 out of 10 baked potatoes.