Tactical rail



A tactical rail is a feature found on most modern Nerf blasters.

Details
Tactical rails can be used to attach compatible accessories to a blaster; this includes scopes, shields, flip-up sights, grips, ammo rails, and more. On some blasters, a tactical rail can also act as a crude form of iron sights.

Locking system
Tactical rails have a locking tooth that keeps attachments and accessories in place. Older blasters feature locking teeth that have a small spring or flexible piece of plastic underneath; these are pressed down and pushed back up when things are attached to them. This design would later be replaced by a new tooth design with a solid piece of sloped plastic, omitting the spring, most likely for simplicity's sake. Some new blasters feature the tooth molded directly into the tactical rail, making the tooth no longer a separate piece.

Inverse tactical rail
The tabs that compliment this locking system, as seen on tactical rail accessories, have been featured on a few blasters, which are designed to be attached to another blaster, such as the N-Strike Titan AS-V.1 to the Scout IX-3. These are referred to as reverse or inverse tactical rails. The tabs latch onto the rail by sliding in the attachment from the front; they can also be snapped on one lip at a time, though this is not recommended.

Most attachments have tabs that are also spring assisted with a torsion spring to allow them to clamp tightly onto the rail, as well as a notch between the tabs that mates with the lacking tooth. However, some attachments have fixed tabs, such as with N-Strike Modulus Stunner clips.

History
The first tactical rail was found on the 2003 Scout IX-3. Originally, the tactical rail was designed and intended just as a way to attach the Scout onto the Titan AS-V.1 to form the full Unity Power System blaster. The following year, it would be seen again on the N-Strike Nite Finder EX-3 and the Dart Tag Hyperfire.

In 2014, around the release of the N-Strike Elite Demolisher 2-In-1, the design of the locking teeth was updated to omit the spring. Instead, the locking tooth was a single piece of plastic with two bendable "legs" that provide the flexibility needed for the locking teeth to spring back up. Externally, it and the previous design are identical, although one may feel slightly different to the touch.

In fall of 2015, with the release of the Modulus ECS-10 and other blasters, the locking teeth design was once again updated, this time replaced with sloped, solid plastic teeth instead of the previous two's spring-assisted design. These have been used on all blasters with tactical rails since, with the exception of rails on some re-releases of older blasters.

In 2020, with the release of the Elite 2.0 series, the locking tooth design was updated yet again, with the tooth being molded directly into the rail instead of being a separate piece, most likely as a cost cutting measure.

Trivia

 * The Nerf tactical rail seems to be styled similarly to the Picatinny rail system commonly found on real/BB/airsoft guns. The two are not compatible and Picatinny-based gear can only be mounted on a Nerf blaster with an adapter or modification of the rail.
 * The Picatinny rail would later see use with dart blasters under the Dart Zone Pro and Adventure Force Tactical Strike series, as well as within the 3D printing homemade blaster community.
 * The Stampede ECS currently has the greatest number of tactical rails found on any Nerf blaster: six.
 * The Modulus ECS-10, the RapidStrike CS-18, the Tracker ECS-10, and the Phoenix CS-6 tie for having the second-most tactical rails on one blaster: five.