Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-26431461-20171103015139/@comment-29595756-20171103034436

Most blasters I've seen on the inside use the plunger rod to keep the plunger aligned properly, like LeTelsa said. It usually passes through a hole that is roughly the same size as the plunger rod to keep it from twisting/becoming crooked while compressing the spring at the same time. Another reason is to secure the catch or in some cases it is the catch. It is also used as a priming handle on certain blasters, mostly smaller single shots, to make the internals simpler or smaller. I would agree they aren't always necessary on some blaster like the Retaliator but most blasters use the plunger rod as part of the catch (I'm thinking about most direct plunger single shots like the Nite Finder that have a little notch in the plunger tube that the catch connects with, plus I think the Longshot does this too). So yeah, I don't know why they put them on Retaliators. Maybe just for the priming indicator?