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A barrel extension is an optional and interchangeable accessory that is only compatible with certain Nerf blasters. As their name suggests, they extend the length of the blaster's barrel.

Since 2006, Nerf uses a standardized interchangeable barrel extension accessory point on many of their blasters. This barrel extension type is known colloquially as the N-Strike barrel extension, due to being introduced in the N-Strike series first.

Details[]

Barrel extensions are said to make blasters more accurate, however, this is widely disputed; the popular Elite Dart and previously popular Streamline Dart are known to be inaccurate even with extensions equipped. It can be argued that if a blaster is grossly inaccurate (e.g. the dart immediately swerves off course as soon as it leaves the barrel) a barrel extension may help correct its path for at least the length of the extension, although it would in turn introduce a lot of drag on the dart due to it contacting the sides of the barrel. However, in most cases, the increase in accuracy from a barrel extension is negligible, if there is any.

Barrel extensions almost always cause a decrease in velocity due to two primary reasons. Firstly, the dart may bounce around and hit the walls of the barrel, losing kinetic energy. Secondly, in the confines of a barrel, there is less room for air in front of the dart to escape to, so friction from the air increases. Some barrel extensions may have a wider inner barrel which remedies these issues.

The only types of barrel extensions that increase performance are those that act as compression barrels, such as the Deuce Pro's barrel extension. These barrel extensions prolong the amount of time the dart is in contact with compressed air. Their inner barrels are often made of metal. It's important to note that these types of barrels will only increase performance on blasters that have their own compression barrels, and if there is a seal between the blaster's barrel and the barrel extension's barrel; putting these barrels on any other blaster (which is usually not possible without modification anyway) will actually decrease performance as they would introduce even more friction than a conventional barrel extension.

Due to their negative effect on performance, barrel extensions are mostly used for aesthetics on blasters or provide other features such as added tactical rail space. Some barrel extensions, like the Mega Dart Barrel Extension, double as their own blaster.

Auto centering and rotating barrels[]

A special barrel extension piece found on some homemade/third party blasters are known as String-based auto centering and rotating (SCAR) barrels, Printed centering and rotating (PCAR) barrels, and Bearing-based auto centering and rotating (BCAR) barrels. These barrels use either strings (usually fishing line), plastic channels, or bearing rollers to act as rifling on the dart, increasing accuracy while also decreasing velocity due to added friction. Bearing-based rotation barrels impart less friction on the dart as the bearing rollers do not affect it as much as strings or channels. Due to this, these barrels are usually used on very high velocity blasters.

Why SCAR barrels make a dart fly more accurately has been up to debate, and more research is needed. The widely accepted answer is that the rifling imparts spin on the dart to make it more accurate.[citation needed] However, some Nerfers have also alleged that the design of the barrel allows air to pass uniformly around the dart so that it reduces the expansion of excess air pressure as the dart leaves the muzzle, increasing stability.[citation needed]

Auto centering & rotating barrels are also known as centering & rifling barrels.

History[]

The first blaster to feature and be compatible with the N-Strike barrel extension system was the Longshot CS-6 in 2006.

Initially, with the exception of the Spectre REV-5, all blasters that featured barrel extension compatibility under the N-Strike line were clip system blasters, due to the smaller inner diameter of most barrel extensions that could only accept Streamline Darts (with the exception of the aforementioned Spectre REV-5's barrel extension). It was not until the standardization of Elite Darts with the N-Strike Elite line that more and more non-clip system blasters started to feature barrel extension compatibility.

Nerf barrel extensions[]

Interchangeable barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
1028085 Longshot front blaster 2006
Recon Barrel Extension Recon barrel extension 2008
Longstrike Barrel Extension LongStrike barrel extension 2010
Spectrebarrel Spectre barrel extension 2010
200px-Retaliatorbarrel Retaliator barrel extension 2012
Modulus Barrel Dual-Rail Barrel 2015
Longrangebarrel Long Range Barrel 2015
Nerf Modulus proximity barrel Proximity Barrel 2015
IonFirebarrel IonFire barrel extension 2016
Megadartbarrel Mega Dart Barrel Extension 2016
ReconMKIIbarrel Recon MKII barrel extension 2016
BarrelStrike BarrelStrike 2017
LongBarrelScope Long Barrel Scope 2017
Shortbarrelscope Short Barrel Scope 2017
SwivelHandle Swivel Handle 2017
MediatorBarrel Mediator Barrel 2018
Nerf-shadow-ops-upgrade-kit-asst-wholesale-22659 ChronoBarrel 2018
DeltaTrooperBarrel Delta Trooper barrel extension 2018
Evaderbarrel Evader Barrel 2018
GearReadyBarrel Gear-Ready Barrel 2018
Scravengerbarrelwhite Scravenger barrel extension 2018
ZoomnDoombarrel Extending Barrel 2018
Illuminatorbarrel Illuminator Barrel 2019
SP-L Barrel SP-L barrel extension 2019
Echobarrel Echo barrel extension 2020
Irbarrel IR barrel extension 2020
Nerf go flashlight foregrip Flashlight Foregrip 2021
Smgzestbarrel SMG-Zesty barrel extension 2021
Eaglebarrel Eaglepoint barrel extension 2022
Unknown HR barrel extension 2022

Blaster specific barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
Sawtooth scope Sawtooth scope and barrel extension 1995
SharpFirebarrel SharpFire barrel extension 2015
Beckett barrel Tobias Beckett barrel extension 2018
Mythic barrel Mythic barrel extension 2022

Non-Nerf barrel extensions[]

Dart Zone barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
Qf10barrel Quickfire 10 silencer 2010
Qfsniperbarrel Quickfire Sniper barrel extension 2011
Renegadebarrel Renegade barrel extension 2014
Mk2barrel MK-2 barrel extension 2020
Maxstrykerbarrel Stryker muzzle brake 2021
Unknown Dictator muzzle brake 2022
Unknown Tomcat muzzle brake 2022

Tactical Strike barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
Nexusbarrel Nexus Pro nozzle extension 2020
Conquestbarrel Conquest Pro barrel cap 2021
Unknown Deuce Pro barrel extension 2022

Buzz Bee barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
Snipebarrel Snipe barrel extension 2012
Range Master barrel Range Master barrel extension 2015
Tactical storm barrel Eradicator barrel extension 2017
Agitatorbarrel Agitator barrel extension 2019
Franticfbarrel Frantic Fury barrel extension 2019

X-Shot barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
RegeneratorMedNoz Medium Nozzle Attachment 2017
RegeneratorShortNoz Short Nozzle Attachment 2017

Other barrel extensions[]

Name Year released
Huntsman50barrel Huntsman barrel extension 2013

Compatible blasters[]

For a list of Nerf blasters compatible with barrel extensions, see Category:Barrel extension-compatible blasters.

Trivia[]

  • The Spectre REV-5's barrel has the greatest range due to the fact that the barrel is rather short and is very wide, reducing friction on the barrel. The lowest ranged barrel extension could be the Longstrike CS-6's barrel because it is the longest barrel extension Nerf has.
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