Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-32686457-20180425055447/@comment-27306930-20180427062336

No, it's definitely not a gray trigger thing. I was just teasing you (and Pedroh)

With respect to the duds, I think what's happening is the prong on the air restrictor is not engaging the back of the cylinder correctly, and the AR is either partially open or effectively closed. Look, the StrongArm mech is elegantly simple. When you get a dud, the trigger, catch, plunger, and tube are clearly functioning. In my experience the StrongArm sounds and behaves completely normal, other than its obvious failure to fire. That leaves the AR, the plunger tube gasket, the cylinder, and the darts themselves.

Working from the other direction, I've had misfires with good darts and crappy darts, with brand new darts and old ones. I've loaded cylinders with six identical darts, and six randomly selected ones. In my experience the misfires seem to be completely unpredictable. I don't think it has anything to do with the darts themselves.

Prior to a misfire, the cylinder has already rotated, and by all outward appearances it seems to be in the correct firing position. When the plunger hits the end of the tube, the tube slides forward about 2 milimeters and presses the gasket against the back of the cylinder to create an air seal. Mechanically, I'm not sure how you can screw that one up.

So Dr. Watson, that leaves us with just one remaining component. The air restrictor itself. The AR is also a prime candidate because it is one of the few components that can actually affect performance.

At this point many in the NIC have debated completely removing the AR from the StrongArm. We now introduce a new concept - turbulence induced tailspin. Without an AR, the plunger in the StrongArm produces too much airflow for the length of its cylinder. Too much air pressure produces weird results, like tailspins and whirlybirds.

Conclusion: The StrongArm needs a good spring, its original AR, and some decent darts. Please post your individual results. After all, we all grow by sharing, right ?