Recon Slide Bolt

A great addition to your recon is a horizontal bolt on the slide. Horizontal bolts are featured on many real firearms, as well as many replica airsoft guns. Why not then build one yourself for your Nerf blaster? A horizontal bolt is any mechanism attached to the slide of your blaster that will be strong enough to move the slide.

Bolts are awesome on Recons for two reasons.

1) You can keep attachments on the slide such as flashlights or optics and still cock the blaster.

2) The horizontal bolt can act as a lever to push back your slide using a spare magazine. 

The bolt on this Recon was created using one standard 3M hook, one 3M strip, a Maverick flash-hider and a bit of duct tape. First, I attached the 3M hook to the left side of my Recon slide, with the hook facing forwards. Then, I placed an orange Maverick flash-hider (which pop right out of Mavericks when you open them up) over the hook. Using some black duct tape, I attached the two and covered the rest of the hook.

Now, I can still cycle the slide of my Recon without taking optics off the rail, and without putting my hand in my line of sight while aiming. The bolt is very sturdy and can handle being pushed back and forth endlessly. However, for more durability you may wish to fill the Maverick flash-hider with hot glue around the 3M hook, or use epoxy between the hook and slide. If you have invested in an Orange Mod Works upgrade kit or a stronger spring, you'll definitely need a stronger bolt, possibly built out of high density plastic or metal to handle the increased spring tension.

Another awesome feature of having a horizontal bolt is a decrease in reload time. Instead of cycling the slide with your hand, grabbing a spare magazine, putting it in the blaster and closing the bolt, you can keep an 18 round magazine in your left hand and use that to push back the slide. With your right hand releasing the empty magazine, you can slam the new magazine into the blaster right away, then flick the slide shut using your left thumb. (Just reverse the hands and bolt location if you're a lefty.)
With a little bit of practice, you'll be able to switch out your magazines in under 2 seconds.

If you are looking for a cheap, simple way to speed up your reload time, while adding a bit of realism to your Recon, I highly recommend throwing a horizontal bolt on the slide. Although it may look a bit bulky or unfinished at first, your friends shooting darts at you or the Zombies running your way will be flabbergasted when you have a new magazine in your blaster faster than they realize you're out of darts.