Dart post

A dart post, dart peg, or dart stem is a long, usually orange, rod that fits in or under the dart when a dart is loaded into the barrel of a blaster. There are some blasters that don't have dart posts, because the darts aren't manually inserted into the barrel; this often includes flywheel-powered clip system blasters.

Details
The dart posts of a blaster are usually orange, with most posts in older blasters being black, and are the exact length to fit the cylindrical hole in all types of darts. These posts help accuracy by a small margin, because when they are fired, the darts stay stabilized. Blasters that include dart posts are ones such as the Element EX-6, Nite Finder EX-3, Spectre REV-5, and Firefly REV-8.

Some blasters utilize the post as the air delivery, like the Air Tech 1000, SuperMAXX 250, Rocketstorm, SuperMAXX 350, the Titan AS-V.1, and blasters that use ammunition such as the Elite Missile. In these blasters, the post acts as a barrel, with the air only leaving the blaster from the tip of the post. Some blasters that have barrels, however, still utilize the post as the air delivery, like the Warthog. These dart posts are sometimes known as reverse barrels.

Modification
In some blasters, the dart posts are easily removable, such as the Nite-Finder EX-3, which can simply be pulled out by taking out the barrel and plunger assembly, taking off the barrel, and simply clipping it out or poking it out. Shortening or removing the dart post from some N-Strike blasters can allow them to use darts such as Streamline Darts, Stefan darts, and other darts the blaster normally isn't able to use. The main reason Streamlines do not work in some unmodified blasters is because of the longer stem in the head of the Streamlines hitting the end of the dart post, which doesn't allow the dart to seal properly. Removing dart posts can also help to increase air flow slightly.

Trivia

 * Clip system flywheel blasters do not have any dart posts, due to the way the dart is delivered.
 * Early electronic revolver blasters such as the Barricade RV-10 and Stockade also do not have dart posts, which can allow them to shoot Streamline Darts. Later blasters such as the Incisor, however, do feature a dart post.