Setups: Gear Up Recon

Before I get back in to the action here on this blog, I'll need to do an announcement. The reason why I've been away from this blog lately is a very special reason; on the 7th of November 2012, my long time partner and I became first time parents to a beautiful baby girl. I know that most of my readership probably aren't parents, but those who are will definitely understand that Nerfing becomes a back seat project when you become a parent, but you do learn to balance all aspects of your life eventually. Perhaps one day we'll share the same interests (my dad and I are both motor racing fans and well in to bicycles) but for now, her priorities are firmly set on eating, sleeping and burping (tough life much?).

But don't fear! For I am still here. Today I bring a setup to the floor, my personal Gear Up Recon. Over time, this has seen a few different changes but with Slydev 3D products starting to gather steam, the options are ever expanding and it's now possible to have enough accessories on a Recon to sink a ship.

For this set up I have here, I've used a Slydev triple Nerf rail adapter on the lower rail of the Longstrike barrel to be able to mount both a light and a foregrip, as well as anything else I want on the other side (Jolt connector perhaps?). Top side I've got a Slydev phone mount on the slide rail. This piece can be bought with an Iphone 4 case already glued on, or bought separately to glue your own phone case on. You can then record footage from your phone as a gun mounted camera, or if you're really keen, use it for communication between team mates (send a photo of the opponent's base back to your team?). Moving back, You'll notice the duct tape mag pouch, an adaptation of HDingo's YouTube tutorial. Top all that off with an N-Strike bandolier and a 12 dart elite mag in the blaster, and that is how you load the Nerf Recon like a pack-horse. hope you enjoy! -Rolley

Nerf "gear up" Recon review

The brightly coloured "Gear Up" series of Nerf N-Strike blasters are *Finally* hitting Australian stores, so the other day I went and picked up a Recon and a Maverick, which were the only two available locally that I've heard of so far. I've been meaning to get this review done for a few days, but the main camera lens I use to take decent quality photos for this blog was stolen on friday afternoon, and I can't replace it for some time. In the meantime, I've cleaned up an old Pentax lens and used an adapter ring to fit it to my camera body, so I apologize if the quality isn't up to standard, but it's all I've got.

The first thing I can say about this gear up Recon, is that it is orange. And by orange, I mean the kind of orange that's so bright it'll burn the retinas of your enemies. I have seen photos of these before and just thought they were over-saturated, but no, it's REALLY orange. But, I think it looks pretty good. These photos just don't do it justice.

Of course, the Nerf Recon has been around since the very early times of the N-strike series and has stayed available the whole time, which it's worthy of. It's the blaster that can be customized in so many different combinations it's hard to decide what you want it to look like! Thanks to having both a barrel adapter AND a stock adapter, you can put and Nerf barrel or stock on, so it can be a sniper rifle, a sub machine gun, an assault rifle, even a pistol. And on top of all that, there's 2 rails on the barrel, one on the cocking slide to attach scopes, lights, sights and foregrips, even a Nerf strikefire blaster under the barrel, AND an extra clip can be stored in the stock. That's a serious amount of stuff you can do with it straight out of the box! Unfortunately, not much will suit the bright orange colours, so if you don't like painting then you're probably better off with a standard Recon. If you do, most Nerf gear has some orange or black on it already, so it's just a case of painting everything else black (longstrike barrels work well).

Alright, so what about performance? Well, out of the box you can expect 30 foot ranges, nothing spectacular, and until recently modding was mostly cosmetic as there isn't much you could do with a reverse plunger style mechanism inside. But, Orange Mod Works has come to the rescue and started developing mod kits to get great performance out of the Recon, once again giving it more appeal. Cosmetic mods are also something that this blaster is a great platform for, I've seen the Recon turned in to an M4A1, a pulse rifle, small pistol and integrated in to other blasters, so you might say the word "versatile" is an understatement.

Honestly, I love the Nerf Recon. It's clip fed, can be anything you want it to be, can now be modded easily with a simple drop in mod kit by Orang Mod Works, and usually pops up at the price of $23AU quite often. There is so little I can fault about the Nerf Recon, about the only thing that stops it from being a perfect 10, is the fact that it's a little awkward cocking this blaster, but that can be solved with a mod to add a bolt handle. So, this blaster gets a 9.5/10 flying potatoes.

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.

Orange Mod Works Recon mod kit 2 pre-order

Ever wanted bullet proof strength internals for your Nerf Recon? Well, over at wwworangemodworks.com you can now pre-order the stage 2 mod kit for your Recon!

"Our stage 2 kit replaces the original breech and bolt carrier group with our own Orange Breech, aluminum bolt sled, and plunger. The Orange Breech is unique in that it gives you the advantage of precision-cut metal tubing while preserving the original function of the blaster. With the dart to breech fit being a near perfect seal, distance and accuracy are greatly increased."

Coupled with the stage 1 kit (which already yields ranges of 65ft flat), I wouldn't doubt that getting over 75ft ranges is possible. I can tell you, that makes the good old Nerf Recon much more valuable!

price for the stage 1 kit from the website is US$16.99 +shipping, and the stage 2 kit is US$24.99 +shipping, so for well under 50 bucks plus shipping, you have yourself a pretty damn epic Nerf blaster!

-Rolley

Quick mod: Nerf Recon bolt handle

The Nerf Recon cs-6 is a favourite blaster among a ton of people, including myself. There is one problem with this blaster that I find to be quite annoying, and that is that the way you cock is to pull back on the top then push it forward again. Not a big issue if you have nothing attached to the top rail, but if you have a scope or light on the top it gets pretty awkward. My solution is to give it a bolt handle on the side, which if you have experience it taking apart a recon, a spare bolt handle from a longstrike or longshot, a small nut and bolt and a drill, is extremely easy!

the nut and bolt, and the nerf bolt. make sure the head of the bolt is small so that it doesn't rub on the sides of the groove in the yellow casing.

Start by taking the case off the recon, but leae the slide part on for the moment. also undo the 2 screws on the bolt you plan to use and take the centre out. Make a mark where to drill, it needs to be in the groove where the plastic peg of the grey case already slides. Take the grey case off and drill the hole very close to the same size as the bolt. Next sand down the top of the inside part of the nerf bolt. The amount you sand it down is slightly less than the thickness of the nut you're using. The When you put the nerf bolt back together, slide the bolt you're using through the inner part, wind your nut on and then screw the nerf bolt back together, then unscrew the bolt. the idea is that when you put the bolt back together it will compress down on the nut and hold it in place so that you can screw the bolt in from the other side of the grey case. If you sand down too far, you can use a washer.

Now, poke the bolt through the hole you drilled, and thread the modified nerf bolt on until finger tight. flip the case over and tighten the bolt with the appropriate tool while holding the nerf bolt, until very tight. Reassemble your new bolt action recon and test. If it is jammed or not smooth enough, take apart again and grind the head of the bolt down or use a smaller headed bolt. And that's it!

(Somehow i neglected to take a photo of the assembled blaster, but i will add that at a later date.)