Board Thread:Off-topic discussion/@comment-39814790-20200221172851/@comment-27306930-20200522000147

Micah has been paying attention 👍  The limits on blaster FPS are based on force and surface area. So if the size of the round decreases, then the velocity can increase.

But the surface area formula is π r²,  so reducing the size by half, reduces the surface area by 75%. So you can't just double the speed. For example, if you half the diameter of a RIVAL round, you could only increase the velocity by 25% and still impart the same force per square inch.

Assuming we use 100 FPS as the average RIVAL benchmark, and the rounds are made of the same material, then half size rounds could safely shoot at ≈125 FPS. Give or take. There's actually some calculus involved because the rounds are squishy spheres, not simple circles, so it's not that straightforward.

But I agree with Amer, Hasbro won't make 200 FPS blasters for many reasons. They won't/don't want to complete in the Airsoft space. They want consumers to think of Nerf blasters as friendly kid's toys, not wannabe real-steel. They don't want Nerf blasters locked in glass cases behind the sporting goods counter. And they don't want to create a huge disparity between blaster lines.

No one is going to show up at a neighborhood Nerf war with a Retaliator if your opponents are showing up with Nerf blasters that perform like Airsoft. Ain't gonna happen. It's bad enough that Elite operators are competing against RIVAL owners.