2025-10-12 (Su) BonfireLaserTag X-Shot gun switches added

The X-Shot dart gun was next on my completion list. I wanted to convert this toy because it was similar to Airsoft units, as it used Weaver-compatible rails. In fact, the toy company made the rails to surprisingly tight tolerances, even if they had a seam in the middle. The gun was a pump-action and entirely mechanical, so I needed to add switches. I wanted to make the pump handle activate the auxiliary switch. I needed to buy a slim Phillips-head screwdriver to reach the bottom of some screw wells because they were narrower than the NERF guns. The mechanisms in the gun were less bulky than those in the other gun I opened, and that extra space made running wires easier. I considered a handful of inexpensive tactile switches but settled on the microswitches used in industrial machinery and arcade pushbuttons. They could be mounted with 3mm bolts, so I did not have to resort to adhesives. The switch on the pump mechanism required a few washers to maintain the correct level. I installed it so that the curved rod would activate the switch as it moved over, rather than reaching a limit and pressing into the switch. The trigger switch sat below a rod that lowered when an operator pulled the trigger. I was worried the external screw heads would interfere with the handling or be uncomfortable, but they sat low enough that they were comfortable.

Switches for the trigger and pump

The rest of the posts for this project have been arranged by date.
First time here?

Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Completed projects from year 7
Completed projects from year 8
Completed projects from year 9
Completed projects from year 10
Completed projects from year 11
Completed projects from year 12

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2025-09-20