Cylinder

A cylinder, also known as a barrel or drum (the name usually given to cylinders with higher capacities), is a component found on revolver and electronic revolver-style dart blasters.

Details
Cylinders are often integrated into a blaster and are not meant to be removed (with few exceptions or modification). Darts are loaded into them from the front, often through an access spot of some kind. Cylinders are cycled to the next loaded dart either on the prime, the pull of the trigger, or after firing the previous dart, depending on the design of the rotation mechanism.

Some cylinders are considered drop cylinders, as they can be dropped or flipped out for easier reloading with the press of a button.

Other blasters may have multiple cylinders, and some designs allow the cylinders to be cycled between with the pull of a lever. The rotation mechanism for switching cylinders is, as expected, similar to how the cylinders themselves index.

As cylinders take up more space the more ammunition they hold, they are usually limited to a capacity of four to twenty darts, although some cylinders can hold up to forty. Most cylinders hold up to five or six darts.

Cylinders are sometimes referred to as turrets, however, there is a subtle difference between the two. What separates a cylinder from a turret is that cylinders are usually more enclosed, and are covered or obstructed by a front section or barrel of the blaster. Turrets can also be stationary instead of rotating. Apart from that, they are extremely similar to cylinders and the two terms can often be confused.

History
The blaster to popularize the drop cylinder was the 2005 Nerf N-Strike Maverick REV-6. Buzz Bee had a similar blaster following the Maverick's success: the 2013 Air Warriors Tek 5.

The first blaster with multiple cylinders was the 2012 X-Shot Xcess. This design led to the 2015 Zombie Strike FlipFury and Doominator, which improved on the design with the addition of an advancement lever.

Modification
Sometimes cylinders are modified to become removable for faster reloads. This modification is easier to do on drop cylinder blasters as they make it easier to remove the cylinder. There are also aftermarket cylinders with higher capacities that can be swapped out for the stock cylinder. These modifications usually need replacement of the rotation mechanism as well. Some cylinders have their chambers entirely drilled out, removing their dart posts and allowing for the cylinder to be reloaded by inserting darts in the back.

Trivia

 * The Legendfire features removable "Ammo Cartridges" that are loaded into the blaster, similarly to the concept of removable clips or magazines.
 * The Air Zone Quickfire 12 also had similar removable cylinders; one could be stored under the blaster for quick use.
 * The Turbo Advance has a cylinder with 2 layers of 20 darts, holding 40 darts total. The cylinder can also be removable.