When it comes to toy guns for kids, the popularity of Nerf guns is simply unmatched, since they are by far the most famous toy guns in the world. But what makes the Nerf gun so popular?
Simply put, all Nerf guns feature sophisticated mechanisms that allow them to accurately fire their Nerf dart and other projectiles over long distances. What’s even better, their projectiles are completely safe and harmless, regardless of who or what they hit.
Ever wondered however how a Nerf gun works? Well, let’s find out!
A brief history of Nerf
NERF is the name of a product line of indoor toys made out of a special very soft foam by Hasbro, the well known American toy manufacturer. The first Nerf products were released in the 1980s and they were soft balls that children could safely play with indoors. In the early 90s the first nerf gun models were introduced in the market. What made them stand out from other toy guns, was the fact that they fired really soft projectiles. These guns gained immense popularity both because of some very clever marketing campaigns and because they were considered a fun and safe alternative to toy guns that fired much more dangerous and hard projectiles.
- How does the Nerf pump action mechanism work?
All NERF guns fire their projectiles via the power provided by the build-up of air pressure, which is why pretty much all NERF guns feature a manual air pump system. When the user pumps his Nerf gun, compressed air gets pushed into a chamber. The more the user pumps his gun’s pumping mechanism, the bigger the air pressure inside the chamber becomes, which results in great firing power. Some of the earlier NERF guns featured a firing system system that fired a projectile each time the user pumped the gun, newer guns however have ditched that firing system. Newer Nerf toy guns come equipped with an air pressure chamber that is connected to their trigger mechanisms. When the trigger is pulled, a short burst of fast-moving air gets released from the air chamber and makes its way to the firing area of the gun and then it leaves the barrel, taking the dart that is in there with it.
- How do Nerf pop guns work?
Some of the less sophisticated and cheaper NERF gun models fire foam balls hey do so by employing pretty much the same principle as old fashioned cork guns. A ball made of dense but really soft foam is placed at the mouth of a their barrel. When the high-pressure air moves from its chamber into the barrel,it does so with enough power to take out and launch away the ball that is essentially blocking its path. The wholes process might sound a bit complicated, but it only takes a fraction of a second to be completed.
- How do Nerf dart guns work?
The most common type of Nerf gun is the dart gun. Those guns use a pretty sophisticated system to shoot their Nerf darts. Nerf darts are light and cylindrical wit a hole in their middle and they are made from a special and very soft foam. What makes NERF darts stand out from other darts fired by toy guns for kids, is the fact that they may be soft but their air-filled chambers are sealed. This is an essential feature because it would be impossible for the darts to be fired if the air couldn’t pass through them. When a NERF dart gun is getting ready to be fired, it is threaded through a hollow rod which releases a burst of compressed air when the trigger gets pulled. This burst of air launched the dart out of the gun. Those Nerf guns are the quickest to fire, because there needs to be very little buildup of pressure inside the dart’s inner chamber for it to be launched out of the gun.
If you are looking for a really cool and high tech Nerf gun, then the Nerf Vulcan, which is known in the UK as the Nerf Havok Fire, is definitely the right choice for you. It is a fully automatic Nerf machine gun, that comes with a specially designed electronic firing system that will provide you with an insanely huge rate of fire.
