Well... i found No-Brand blasters which offer a glimpse at how semi-auto firing can be possible in a compact spring plunger blaster.
This No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster has internal mechanisms similar to a Nerf Maverick, it has the requisite 6-dart capacity with an auto advancing barrel, using a spring powered reverse plunger. It is compatible with most Nerf foam darts too.
But the big difference lies in the fact that it does not require any separate priming action to pull back the spring plunger, it does this by incorporating the priming action into the trigger pull.
This action is controlled by a "rocker-catch" component in the trigger that pulls back the spring plunger when the trigger is pulled and releases it when the trigger reaches the end of its travel, at the same time the barrel advances to the next dart in time to fire it.
As expected, the plunger and spring is smaller than usual (for ease of trigger pull), therefore its firing range averages just around 10-15 ft.
It is possible to increase firing range by putting in stronger springs, but then the big question would be: How strong are your trigger fingers? :)
Still... with 2 of these semi-auto blasters, players can finally dual wield "pistols" for close quarter office cubicle Nerf games!
Watch a video of how the internal mechanism works Here.
Review:
No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster - Side Profile
No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster - Scale Comparison with Nerf Maverick
No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster - Internals Comparison with Nerf Maverick
No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster - Internals
No-Brand Semi-Auto Blaster - Test Fire Video
Yup... i'm sure many of you modders out there can get some ideas from this blaster's semi-auto mechanism design. :)
Yup... i'm sure many of you modders out there can get some ideas from this blaster's semi-auto mechanism design. :)