When it comes to AEB (Automatic Electric Blaster) in Nerf dart hobby, one of the blaster that pop up in mind will be the Colonel Wasp's 76 blaster. It's not one of the most well looking but definitely one of the most reliable AEB out there, thanks to it's simple and pure mechanical design. Unlike other AEB, the 76 doesn't have any microchips and rely on simple electrical design similar to a Nerf Stampede. Not only that it's much more reliable, it's easier to maintain and cost much more lesser, at just over $160. Now, we are looking at the 76 successor, the 77 and here is what we knew about it so far.


One of the key issue with 76 is that the pistol grip and mag well is placed further apart and we seen a lot of 3D printed kits trying to solve that issue. Thankfully with 77, Colonel Wasp took that advice and made changes to the design. Although the 77 internally looks similar to the 76 but it's 2 different mechanism. The 76 is a scaled up Airsoft/Gel Blaster mechanism while the 77 is an automated Caliburn (credits to SillyButt). This changes should make it even more reliable than before. Speaking of internal wise, the 77 is now closed breech instead of open breech which translate to instant trigger response. The 77 is now using O-ring on it's plunger rod instead of the rubber skirt that 76 is using. The plunger tube used is same in diameter compared to the 76 but it have a slightly longer travel distance now hence, it might lead to higher FPS performance in the 77. We don't have any data on the blaster's performance yet but it should be doing around 200+ FPS, similar to the 76.




Externally, the 77 have an updated design, shifted mag well and a buffer tube that allows quick spring change. The 77 is now using power stock design where the spring runs all the way  through the buffer tube. This makes priming the blaster easier, which in this case, less load to the motor while delivering top notch FPS. It's now using XT-30 as it's battery connector but sadly, it's still using pistol grip battery design. But as always, for international variant, we will make changes to this and come out with solution so that we can utilize a wider range of batteries that can be easily obtained. The 77 is much more shorter than the 76, thanks to it's power stock design. Sadly, the buffer tube is proprietary hence you can't use any airsoft stock on it.



Price wise, the 77 will be priced slightly higher than the 76 but no exact figure is available yet but hopefully everything will be below $200. The estimated availability date is around end of this year but we can't be sure about this yet, well, because it's Colonel Wasp :P


Overall the 77 is a very promising successor to the 76 and we are looking forward to the release of this blaster. Hopefully the 77 lives up to it's name and be a well worthy successor to the 76. Based on the information we have so far, the 77 will be the blaster to watch out for if you looking to get an AEB for yourself.