Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't replied for awhile. I can't find my old version of code that had the machine gun pulse so I will have to resurrect my little lab to sample the pulse.
I just saw something today that explained why I was getting (relatively) crappy range on my IR firing. I had the IR LED directly connected to the DIY arduino so that it was limited to Arduino power (20 mA). I should've using a transistor and ground/power to amplify the pulse like this example: http://www.instructables.com/id/Duino-Tagger/step4/Transmitter/
Also I saw this cool flamethrower pumpkin http://www.instructables.com/id/Flamethrowing-Jack-O-Lantern/and I think it would make an awesome addition to the battlefield. But instead of a pumpkin we will put it inside a plastic building!
What do you think?