Nerf Guns

[size=+1]Nerf Guns[/size]​

These things are cool. They're powerful, built to be very sturdy, brightly coloured, powerful and surprisingly accurate. They can be anything from cheapy, tiny pistol to massive beasts of dart death. There's so many varieties to choose from and each can be customised just for you. Whether Nerf supplied that modification or not, these guns are probably one of the most interestingly versatile toys you'll see. Some will mod them to be more powerful or fix flaws in the original design. Others will make them look all pretty. Or pretty badass, one or the other.

But above all, Nerf Guns tend to make you feel like this:

[size=-1]Sunglasses, suits, kick-ass soundtrack and disappointing sequels sold separately.[/size]​

So, I'm going to try and take a look at as many as I can get my grubby paws on.

The Jolt EX-1


This is the very cheapest dart blaster you can buy and it's a bargain! It's frankly amazing how powerful this tiny little thing can deliver so much power and range in one tiny device. The range is long, it's accurate and it fires pretty much anything you like to boot. Whistler darts, Elite Darts, normal ones. It's all brought down by the fact that it's very basic. It only has one barrel to shoot from and it's got nowhere to store more ammo. Although, it being so small and easy to fire, it's frankly worth having as a back-up or a surprise weapon. It's a damn handy starter for anyone.

The Scout IX-3


This one is...well, meh. Nowadays, a single shot Blaster has to be pretty spectacular to be able to compete with the multi-shot boys that today's guns are able to be. This doesn't quite cut it. The accuracy is fine, the range is decent enough and it's a reliable device but it's still one barrel and one shot at a time. Even if you pick up the duel-wielding pack with two of these things in it, The Scout doesn't hold up all that well against other, more advanced guns. It's a decent weapon if you're low on cash but you're not going to be all that formidable.

Plus, mine broke after a while. The only blaster I own to do so.

The Nite Finder EX-3


Like I said, to be a decent choice in this multi-barrelled world we live in today, Blasters with only one barrel are overwhelmed by the more advanced stuff.

Except for the Nite Finder. You can love or leave the targeting whatsimagigger (technical term, I'll have you know) on the front because this thing is for range and accuracy. It's a long range gun for picking off peeps at a distance. Sort of like a mini-cross bow, you just pull back, load and fire. It's even got two slots for extra darts to go, which is handy. The guns also rather light and squat for easy aiming. All in all, rather handy, if you ask me.

Havok Fire EBF-25/Vulcan EBF-25


Have you ever wanted to be The Heavy from Team Fortress 2? Well, sounding like Cthullu passing gas when you speak, being built like a potato with legs and an unhealthy relationship with weaponry is something you'll have to work on your own with but I can help with the minigun.

The Havok (UK Name, known as a Vulcan elsewhere) is the most intimidating thing you'll ever point at anypony your not getting along with. With a large capacity and a reasonably quick firing rate, this monster will spew hot foam all over the place. It's not accurate and its not light but its a minigun, its not what its for.

There's a stand to attach to the gun for when you're standing still and there's a manual fire too if you're ample batteries fail on you. It's just that reloading takes an age and a half and a day. The gun is fed a belt of darts that has to be refilled individually by hand, one by one. It's slow and irritating in a firefight, forcing you to buy another few belts to fill and then replace to reload everything. If you can get over the glacial reload speed, you'll be spraying everything in front of you while crying for the tiny baby-men to run.

Firestrike


Think of the Nite Finder. Got that in your mind? Well, this is from a slightly later series of these guns called N-Strike Elite while the others so far have all been regular old N-Strike. Assumingly, this is just an upgrade of all these guns because the Firestrike is an improvement in every way on the older model.

It's unflappable when it comes to jamming and an even greater range than before. It's just as accurate and, well...It looks like something from Mass Effect. In blue, mind but definitely Mass Effect. That's a bonus to me. The targeting light thing is controlled by a secondary trigger this time rather than a constant switch for easier access. Although, everything else is the same, such as single barrel and two ammo slots. The last one was a decent Blaster but this is an even better weapon.

The Maverick


This is the Classic Nerf gun. That one design everyone seem to recognised and then point to instantly when they think of these things. The exaggerated barrel, the yellow paint job and how it all feels to hold in the hand. It's Blasters like the Maverick that make Nerf guns so handy to designers, movie prop makers and cosplayers all over the place. They just look cool, even when repainted.

Luckily, The Maverick is actually a pretty sweet Blaster. That revolver design isn't just to be showy, apparently. This thing has six darts that can be made to fire cowboy style in rapid succession. It'll fire most micro darts and has a simple little pullback reloader. While it might take a moment to get used to rearming this thing, what's nice is that it can be modified very easily too. It's range is decent and so is it's accuracy. It's a reliable pistol, as long as you can get used to being a little forward heavy.

The Furyfire


This thing is rather strange. OK, imagine the Maverick but now with a larger barrel of darts. On top of that, they added a pump under the longer barrel like a shotgun. So, you get more shots between each reload and a faster fire rate at the cost of range. Of course, you'll be reloading for longer too. Oh! And if you find it new, you'll only find it in a 2-player double pack. So, that's two of these things in one pack with some dart targets and a shed load of ammo. That's a pretty decent deal, I think. Despite the range loss, it's still a really good, comfortable gun.

The Strongarm


And now we've got the very best of the bunch so far. While it wouldn't look out of place in Garrus Vakarian's hand either as it's part of the N-Strike Elite series. They all look like Mass Effect weapons. N-Strike looks like Borderlands though so make of that what you will.

Also, a lot of pistols on this list. Maybe there's some gunslinger appeal there. Anyway...

The Strongarm is basically the Maverick V2.0. The new design goes from Ratchet and Clank to something less cartoony. Then it bumps up the power of the thing, allowing for a better range and accuracy. Reliability is roughly the same but the rate of fire is as fast as you possibly can. Plus, in keeping with the Yosemite Sam School of Marksmanship, you can perform slam-firing to get that rate up to 3 or 4 darts a second.

Oh, err...Slam-firing is when you hold down the trigger and then pull back the arming hammer back until it clicks then letting go. The Strongarm fires on that click because the trigger is down. The Maverick can't do this because the mechanism is different and rotating the barrel is done by pulling the trigger while the click on the Strongarm is rotating the barrel and firing the dart. The Strongarm can be made to fire in a quick succession if you just keep pulling back the hammer with the trigger down like hip firing a revolver.

The capacity is still the same and will fire pretty much anything. It's an improvement in every respect over the Maverick.

Will I get rid of my Maverick for a Strongarm? Nope! This is what my two hands are for!

If you're looking for decent advice, reviews and even suggestions about mods with Nerf Guns, try the Nerf Wiki. Yes, they have a wiki and it's pretty decently detailed too. They're probably more help than I am.