Friday, January 18, 2013

Nerf N-Strike Elite Stryfe: says no to Firefly..

 

One of the 'features' of the Nerf N-Strike Elite Stryfe is it's 'intelligent' sensor bars inside the magazine well that detects if there's a clip fed with darts in there or not. Basically if it can't detect a clip, it won't allow you to activate the flywheels, and if the clip is detected as empty, the trigger will lock up. I'm assuming it's a safety thing, but it seems to be independent to just the Stryfe (do correct me if I'm wrong here)


It's a feature that can be kinda annoying for anyone who wants to use a non-Elite clip with their Stryfe (including the larger capacity drums) as they seem to be weaker in how they push the dart into position to fire, rendering the Stryfe to 'think' the clip is empty. I personally haven't used a non-Elite clip with the Stryfe to date so it wasn't really an issue that affected me- till today:P More after the jump...




It turns out the new N-Strike Elite Rayven CS-18's bright green Firefly clip is pretty much the same as the original beige coloured one in build and design, so much so that it causes the same issue with the Stryfe as all non-Elite clips do. I was locking up all over the place and had to continue to open the jam door and push the dart back in place to fire, only to have to repeat this constantly. It's interesting because obviously for OTHER N-Strike Elite blasters (including the updated Rayven) this isn't a problem and they fire older clips fine.

The solution most people have been doing is just popping open their Stryfe's and manually removing these 'sensor' bars, or if you don't want to do that, the trick of just pushing some tape down the clip well and taping the bar down does well too (what I ended up doing). Now my Stryfe fires non-Elite clips fine, and more importantly, can take the new Elite Rayven's Firefly clip.


I do think it's a bit weird though that Nerf haven't considered this holistically- the Rayven CS-18 is now an Elite blaster, it comes with Elite darts, but it's clip has compatibility issues with one of its Elite brothers? More so that some of the images of the Firefly clip we've seen clearly state it's supposed to be compatible with the Stryfe!

20 comments:

  1. i always thought that the rayven was better than the stryfe and this is yet another reason why.

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    1. Not a problem at all for modders like me. =P

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    2. simply use a 4 cm bit of duck tape approx 1.2cm wide to hold the dart sensor in place and al your troubles are gone, you can now use all n-strike mags and drums altough i find that the 18 dart drum has issues, elite darts tend to get stuck alot of times with this drum but the rest works fine greetz from the netherlands(adult fan of nerf):D signing out Eric

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  2. I think this is more a safety mechanism to avoid a full auto blaster. With the chamber lock hammer removed, you still need to spam the trugger, but you can empty a 18 clip in 5-8 seconds flat Stock. Otherwise its a long cycle of fire stop fire stop etc.

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  3. I believe one reason, at least, that they did this is to allow for the use of normal glow darts in the magazines; if you don't look for the foam type they look almost identical and 18-rd elite magazines, in my experience, will forcibly eject non-elite darts that are loaded into them due to the slightly softer, less-dense foam, just as some older magazines won't load elite darts properly due to their denser foam and different internal construction (I've found my Raider drums to have the most problems with elite darts, though they also have the same problems albeit much less frequently with streamlines). Most of the older magazines were designed with relatively soft foam in the darts and a much longer internal nub in mind, and as such when using older magazines loaded with elite darts in my Longshot I occasionally get slightly damaged darts from the tip getting pushed on by the end of the dart tongue. Elite magazines, it would appear, have a pusher that stays level regardless of what you do to it as long as there are darts in them, which completely removes this problem. The older magazines not working with the Stryfe is a direct result of it being designed for elite magazines, which will not push the tip of the dart up higher than the back end of the dart unless broken. Older magazines are designed to simply make sure that there's a dart where the chamber goes, and not to need to apply pressure to any safety that comes in direct contact with the dart.

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  4. i know why! the rayven clip wasnt remade it was repainted and isnt like the normal elite clips

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    1. ... Are you serious? Do you not see the wall of text I put up there explaining exactly why and how it doesn't work with the Stryfe?

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    2. We all thought you were just trying to show us how important you think you are

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    3. Spot on explanation, concise and accurate. The even pressure applied by the Elite magazine versus the front pressure from the older clips is exactly the reason for the issues with jamming. IMO, opening up the blaster and removing the spring loaded safety is the easiest fix.

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    4. It isn't just a repaint, the interior of the magazine(or clip), features stronger LED lights inside, then the original Firefly clip. IMO, the New Firefly Mags are truely "Elite" Firefly Tech Clips(Mags).

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  5. Honestly, if you look at the external indicators of the Firefly Clip, it appears to have been built to Elite spec for the original Rayven.

    Having used the clip in my Stryfe, I haven't run into these problems...yet. Now you got me curious.

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  6. That trigger lock was the most idiotic thing that they have done on a blaster in a long time (probably since the exposed plunger tube on the first Recons). The problem ISN'T just with non-Elite clips either, I've had the save trouble with my 12-dart clip from the Retaliator and with an Elite 18-dart clip. Basically, anything other than a 6-dart Elite clip like the one that comes with it will occasionally not press the darts up against the sensor hard enough. 1 inch of tape cures it. I'm not sure why so many people are so opposed to doing that simple fix.

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  7. Not that I think you guys are overreacting or anything, but all you need to do is take out a few screws and take out the tab. All it is, happens to be a spring loaded tab that covers the mechanism that pushes the darts through the flywheels. The simple explanation is that the old N-Strike clips, drum mags, and firefly clip(Due to weight added by the battery compartment) Are simply too heavy in the mag well to allow the darts to touch the sensor. If you need to see this for yourself put an old drum mag or firefly clip in the stryfe and you'll notice when you push the mag and hold it in the gun it fires normally, now release your grip on the mag. It drops out of the gun a few centimeters. Not allowing the darts to touch the sensor tab. So really just open your gun and throw away the sensor tab (Its not attached to anything else) And your problem should be solved. Me and my friends have already done so and the stryfe now fires any clip put into it fairly seamlessly. :)

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  8. i have monly modded one of my guns and i dont really feel all that comfortable risking immobilising it..

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  9. I originally taped the dart sensor up as soon as I bought the blaster in late December as I like using the straight 18 round clips. Since then I have disassembled the Stryfe and took out the dart sensor. Both solutions to the problem seem equally effective, but the tape option is definitely the easiest :) .

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  10. This is unrelated to this post, but on another blogspot, there is a post of a UK magazine showing an Elite Alpha Trooper and Dart Tag Stinger. Link: http://basicnerf.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/agros-uk-catalog-reveals-n-strike-elite-alpha-trooper-dart-tag-stinger-photos/

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  11. I just got myself a Nerf Stryfe today. ordered through Amazon. i put in the clip from my old Rayven and it worked just fine. so maybe it is only some Stryfes

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  12. Hi there

    Can I ask what the black tactical rail accessory is in the second picture? (under the barrel extension)

    Thanks

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