# Modifying/attaching a new barrel to the wand **URL:** \ **Category:** Proton Packs\ **Created:** [October 16, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465 "2026-10-16T00:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/inkthinker/32/187521_2.png) [@inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/inkthinker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/1 "2026-10-16T00:58:08Z")
Hi all! Old fan, but new to the forums, I recently got pulled down the rabbit hole (started out like many I think, you get a cheap jumpsuit and patches and the next thing you know you have a [Fun.com](http://Fun.com) pack and you’re already adding modifications) and I’m in the process of doing some gentle upgrades to the neutrona wand. Currently I’m adding a new white LED down inside the box so that it shines up through the vents (easy enough), and replacing the short barrel with the acrylic one bought from, of course, the store here at GBfans. Baby steps. 🙂 What I’m mostly curious about is the best way to transfer the existing “grounding trigger” from the old, short barrel, to the new one. I could try and tap new screw holes to match the original tip, but I’m worried about cracking the acrylic. Any advice from some of the more experienced builders here? If I drill out a couple of holes with a rotary tool before inserting the screws, does that seem likely to go well? Otherwise, I’m kinda inclined to go with glue… And has anyone had success yet with building out a way to extend the barrel? The foregrip on the rumble wand is almost entirely hollow, it does seem like it should be possible to work something out in there… At the moment, I’m looking into short drawer slides from the hardware store, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find anything short enough. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/inkthinker/32/187521_2.png) [@inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/inkthinker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 6:15am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/2 "2026-10-17T06:15:12Z")
Heyo, an update for anyone else who finds themselves in a similar postion: I went ahead and skipped trying to rig a pop-tube substitute, for now it’s enough to have the longer barrel locked into the extended position. I was able to use a rotary tool to carve out holes for both the base (which fixed it nicely into place) and for the emitter tip, without cracking the acrylic. It’s possible (probable?) that this was never really a concern, and I’m just learning new things. For instance, I learned that you can end up getting a good bit of melted acrylic chaff in the grooves of your drill bits and carving bits, but it cleans out pretty easily with a knife tip. I also got new white LEDs down in the box, shining up through the grill, and that’s pretty nice… not quite as bright as I had hoped, but still a good effect. One of the reasons I went for the [Fun.com](http://Fun.com) pack over the Spirit (given that they’re the same base price) was the switches and the open grill on the neutrona wand (also the separated [bumper](https://www.gbfans.com/wiki/equipment/proton-pack/bumper) over the [cyclotron](https://www.gbfans.com/wiki/equipment/proton-pack/cyclotron), and the included ALICE frame), and I gotta say… it’s a toy pack, it’s made of cheap plastic, but I think for someone working on a relatively lower budget and without the commitment, time, skills or tools to build a better pack from scratch, print or parts… it’s not a bad starting point. I’ll see how far I can take it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gbrich](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/gbrich/32/139135_2.png) [@gbrich](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/gbrich)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 9:33am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/3 "2026-10-19T09:33:39Z")
I think hot glue is normally pretty good for non-permanent fixings. It’s usually strong enough to hold things in place when you need it to, but it doesn’t usually aggressively bond or change surfaces, so if you want to remove it, it will usually just peel or pull off. For the barrel, I also recently fitted the clear acrylic tube from GBFans to my [Hasrbo 1984 wand](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/hasbro-1984-proton-pack-big-overhaul-and-customisation/219236/79) and used hot glue to fit it to a 3D printed mount within the wand body. For the emitter ring and banjos (the parts that fit externally to the end of the barrel tube, I got these from Mack’s Factory: [https://macksfactory.myshopify.com/collections/neutrona-wand/products/nw124-banjo-fittings](https://macksfactory.myshopify.com/collections/neutrona-wand/products/nw124-banjo-fittings) [https://macksfactory.myshopify.com/collections/neutrona-wand/products/nw123-emitter-retractor-kit](https://macksfactory.myshopify.com/collections/neutrona-wand/products/nw123-emitter-retractor-kit) And I just used the allen grub screw within the emitter ring to hold it in place on the end of the barrel. I did initially try drilling a hole into the barrel tube but I gave up, a) because my drill kept slipping, b) I didn’t want to scratch the tube, and c) I didn’t want to crack the tube either. I then fitted the banjos and just used some red thread lock to hold the screw fittings in place. ---
**Author:** ![inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/inkthinker/32/187521_2.png) [@inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/inkthinker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/4 "2026-10-19T19:28:39Z")
I thought about hot glue for the emitter fittings, but hot glue tends to take up a bit of space and the ring was already sliiiightly too small. Mostly I was just relieved that the acrylic didn’t crack even after I used a rotary carving bit to dig out the hole for the lower fitting (the one inside the grip). I could have used hot glue there as well, but either way I was going to need to either grind out the screw post, or grind a hole in the barrel to fit over the screw post. I ended up doing the latter, and no glue was necessary. I think if I had to, I could still put the old (short) barrel back into place, and there’s still room and potential to fit some kind of pop-tube mechanism in the future (though I will need to grind out the posts if I do that). I saw those Mack’s Factory emitter pieces, they _would_ be much better (ideal, really), but that’d also be another ~$90 down and I’ve already dug this budget hole deep enough for the moment. Did the Hasbro '84 wand not come with the pop-tube mechanism? I’m kinda surprised to hear it, I thought it was one of the selling points. ---
**Author:** ![gbrich](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/gbrich/32/139135_2.png) [@gbrich](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/gbrich)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/5 "2026-10-19T21:37:31Z")
Oh yeah the Hasbro has the pop mechanism, in the photos in my other thread I just have it extended. To fit the new GBFans barrel I had to disassemble the wand body, which was doing anyway with all the other electronics I was fitting, and remove the stock barrel which already had its own mount to the pop mech. The GBFans barrel was longer than the stock one, hence I needed to 3D print a new mount. The Mack’s emitter/banjos are quite expensive, but well worth it. But Redman Studio Workshop also do a set that’s about half the price. They should fit the GBFans barrel as it’s the same size as theirs. They’re not real metal, only resin, but they actually look very realistic. ---
**Author:** ![inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/inkthinker/32/187521_2.png) [@inkthinker](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/inkthinker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/modifying-attaching-a-new-barrel-to-the-wand/219465/6 "2026-10-20T01:07:30Z")
Oh nice, thanks for the tip (ha!). I’ll definitely keep that shop in mind as I look into future upgrades.