Not to be confused with cylinder.
A drum is a dart clip, disc magazine, or High-Impact Round magazine designed for use with certain blasters.
Details[]
Drums are similar to clips or magazines, but have a cylindrical shape to increase their capacity without compromising much vertical space (although through this, more horizontal space is used). There are three variations of drums with different ammunition types: dart drums, disc drums, and High-Impact Round drums. Dart drums are compatible with clip system blasters. Disc drums are compatible with magazine-fed Vortex blasters. High-Impact Round drums are compatible with magazine-fed RIVAL blasters.
All clip system Nerf dart drums feature a winding knob on the back to release jammed darts manually by turning the knob to reduce tension on the follower.
Drums are normally purchased with blasters. However, they can also be found separately second-hand, such as on internet trading/auction sites like eBay, Craigslist, Kijiji and so on.
The only drum sold new separately was the eighteen dart drum, a Target exclusive like its patron blaster, the Alpha Trooper CS-18.
Some drums are mechanically identical to large cylinders or turrets, storing darts in individual chambers and using a rotation mechanism to index the drum for firing.
History[]
The drum was first introduced with the thirty-five dart drum; at the time of its introduction, it held more ammunition than any other ammunition holding accessory.
In 2010, a patent was filed by Hasbro for a fifty dart drum, meant to be packaged with the Stampede ECS. This drum would have become the first "double drum", fed from two sets of cylinders that house the darts, and much more mechanically complex than other drums. However, the drum was cancelled and never released. Eventually in 2019, a new fifty dart drum was made available with the Titan CS-50, with a nearly identical design.
The first disc-firing drum came with the release of the Pyragon in 2012.
The first High-Impact Round drum was meant to come with the release of the Edge Series Helios XVIII-700 in 2020. A patent for the design of the drum was published on July 4, 2019.[1] It was cancelled alongside its patron blaster and never released.
The first non-Nerf clip system-compatible drum was the thirty dart drum, released with the 2019 Tracker.
In 2021, the Dart Zone Tomahawk 60 released with its own drum. This drum is unique in that it acts much like a cylinder (relying on the blaster's rotation mechanism to index it), however, it also has two layers of darts wound around the circumference, making its capacity very high without compromising much space. Other blasters such as the Adventure Force Alpha Auto 72 and Dart Zone Max Tomcat followed suit with their own drums of a similar design.
Drum variations[]
Nerf[]
Clip system dart drums[]
Name | Year released | |
---|---|---|
Thirty-five dart drum | 2009 | |
Eighteen dart drum | 2010 | |
Twenty-five dart drum | 2012 | |
Thirty dart drum | 2018 | |
Fifty dart drum (N-Strike Elite) | 2019 | |
Fifty dart drum (N-Strike) | Cancelled |
Disc drums[]
Name | Year released | |
---|---|---|
Forty disc drum | 2012 |
High-Impact Round drums[]
Name | Year released | |
---|---|---|
Thirty round drum | Cancelled |
Buzz Bee/Adventure Force[]
Clip system dart drums[]
Name | Year released | |
---|---|---|
Thirty dart drum | 2019 |
Other drums[]
These drums are only compatible with the blaster they were originally packaged in with.
Name | Year | Patron blaster | |
---|---|---|---|
Thirty dart drum | 2013 | Side Winder / Sidewinder (Ultra-Tek) / Firestreak | |
Alpha Auto drum | 2022 | Alpha Auto 72 |
Dart Zone/Adventure Force[]
Name | Year | Patron blaster | |
---|---|---|---|
Magnum drum | 2016 | Magnum | |
Magnum X2 drum | 2020 | Magnum X2 | |
Villainator drum | 2020 | Villainator | |
Tomahawk drum | 2021 | Tomahawk 60 | |
Tomcat drum | 2022 | Tomcat |
X-Shot/Adventure Force[]
Name | Year | Patron blaster | |
---|---|---|---|
Turbo Advance drum | 2017 | Turbo Advance / Fortress / Super Drum |
Trivia[]
- Full-auto and slam firing is often considered to be better served by a drum-fed blaster, due to the larger amount of ammunition that can be held in them.
- However, drums tend to jam more often than normal clips, especially when the blaster is fired quickly.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Hasbro, Inc.; Miller, C.; Victor, R. J.; Bryant, W. J.; Nugent, D. M. (2019-07-04). High Capacity Magazine For Spherical Projectiles (PDF). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved on 2019-11-22.
view • editInterchangeable accessory types | |
---|---|
Blaster accessories | Barrel extension • Bipod • Detachable shoulder stock • Flip-up sight • Grip • Iron sights • Scope • Shield |
Ammunition accessories | Ammo rail • Belt • Chain • Clip (Inline) • Cylinder • Drum • Hopper • Magazine (XLR Disc • High-Impact Round) • Shell • Speedloader |