 Rapid-fire Fun |
| Review Date: December 15, 2004 |
| Reviewer: erugifog, Seattle, WA USA |
I bought three of these from Toys R Us as Christmas gifts for my kids. I decided to open one up one night to test out its performance and make sure I was getting what I thought I was getting.
The gun is fairly good sized, and smaller children (three to four years old) might find it a little unwieldy to pump and tote around, although weight isn't too prohibitive even for that age group. It takes 23 pumps to fully pump the gun up. There must be a release valve somewhere because you can hear it let the extra air out if you continue pumping after it's fully pumped up. This is probably a built-in safety device to keep dart velocity at a safe level.
There is a selector switch on the side that allows you to switch between fully automatic and semi-automatic. Actually, the semi-auto setting is sort of a slow automatic as, if you keep the trigger pulled, the gun will continue firing at a rate of about two shots per second. On the full-auto setting, the rate of fire is surprisingly fast for a toy--about seven or eight rounds per second. That means you can empty the gun of all 20 "micro darts" in about three seconds. It was enough to put a smile on this big kid's face. I quickly began scouting my house for targets and found a large-screen TV makes a great one as the darts have suction cups on the end and will stick to a smooth, flat surface such as a screen.
Darts are loaded one at a time into their individual launch tubes on the end. When firing, the end rotates in a circle the way a Gatling gun does. The gun produces a very audible noise each time it fires and releases pumped up air. It isn't excessively loud, though, and I actually found it a welcome sound effect that added to the fun of shooting. In fact, kids could play with this toy without any darts and still have some fun with just the sound it produces (which it does even when no darts are loaded).
Firing straight and level, the darts go about 15 feet before they run out of gas and hit the ground. If you angle them up a little, they'll go about 20 to 25 feet. The previous reviewer who claimed this has a range of 30 to 40 feet either has an exceptional gun or is just mistaken. Frankly, I think he's mistaken as the velocity required to launch a dart that far (especially if firing straight and level) might make safety an issue. As it is, I don't think the darts have enough velocity to do damage if they hit a kid in the eye at close range, but it wouldn't exactly feel good, either. The darts are made of flexible styrofoam and have soft rubber suction cups on the ends. I don't see the need for any kind of eye protection with this toy, but I'll still remind my kids not to aim for the face.
Build quality seems fairly sturdy as long as kids don't drop the gun a lot. If anything were to break, I think it would be the pump, but it should hold up pretty well with normal use.
I'd clasify this as an 'indoor' toy since kids will probably lose the small darts quickly if they shoot them outside. Even indoors, you'll probably be finding darts in cracks and crevices every time you vacuum. You can buy bags of 10 darts from Toys R Us, but they're $5 per bag.
Bottom line--I had a lot of fun just testing this thing out by myself. I'm confident my kids will get a kick out of shooting it out with Dad around the house on Christmas day and for some time to come. |
Awsome gun-review and matience tips
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| Review Date: November 5, 2004 |
| Reviewer: , |
The fastest dart gun Ive ever seen. easy to Aim goes really far and hits hard (not to mention it sounds cool, like a real machine gun). definitely worth the money.
Heres some tips for making the gun last longer.
1. never keep it loaded when not using! this streches out the bullets and lets pressure escape causing less range.
2. never over pump the gun or keep it pumped up for long periods of time. this could cause leaks in the air tank.
3. dont crush-bend the bullets. they will get worn out
4. store without weight on the gun to stop it from bieng crushed. |
A great little Nerf machine gun!
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| Review Date: November 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Gooch, Dallas, TX USA |
| Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R316RJVXCRMF2D I timed this in the video window of Quicktime. I didn't speed it up at all. This shoots so fast you need to plan your target area or you'll lose darts! It is a blast to use every time. Don't shoot at your cat! (If you can help it. At least point away from the head!) |
Excellent for adults, perhaps not as good for kids.
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| Review Date: December 11, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Mark M. Smith, Manhattan, KS |
I'm 24 and an avid Nerf fan since I was a child and quite frankly this is one of the few Nerf guns I've been looking for my entire life: great capacity, excellent rate of fire, good reliability and a dirt-cheap price.
The gun holds 20 darts and has the choice of either firing them all off in one quick burst or with one-at-a-time automatic fire. The sheer shock and awe of the full burst was enough to make my friends instantly want a chance to try it and give me a strong urge to watch Rambo movies. The single-shot automatic mode is far more useful allowing you to actually aim, track your shots, and yes, even fire off only a single dart or two.
Now to the downsides. For one the darts have an unpleasant tendency to lose their suction cup. With the Nerf mini darts this makes them totally useless as there is not a firm layer of glue, but rather a small rod and a bit of glue holding the two parts together. Without the suction cup you simply have a tube that won't fire. This is not specific to this model though, all Nerf mini darts have this problem and pretty much always have. Replacements are cheap, but expect to lose at least a few darts to this.
The other problem IS specific to this model. This is a pumpable, compressed-air gun. As such it is possible to over-pump it which will break the gun if you routinely do this. Also the long pump rod can be a bit fragile if you insist on pumping it very hard and fast. For (most) adults this isn't a problem. Just be careful, count out around 20 pumps (enough for the full magazine) and treat the pump gently. Unfortunately many children are not quite so careful. Personally I've been using it for about 8 months without a problem.
Basically if your kids are the sort who will have all of their action figures in perfect condition with all of the accessories by the time they grow up this should be fine for them, if they're the sort who have a string of broken toys and missing parts then you might want to pass on this or wait until they get a bit older and learn how to take care of their things.
Adults? Be prepared to become the undisputed warlord of cube-ville... at least, until you run through your ammo supply. |
This one's Differant
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| Review Date: April 20, 2002 |
| Reviewer: , |
| ...it looks better in person than online. you have low hopes for this gun when you see it online. So, when I got it I was very suprised at the performance. If it seems too good to be true, well it's not. Lets talk about the gun. it shoots 20 darts rapid fire in about 2 seconds. -I didn't beleave it eather, but I'm telling from first hand experienace- the singal fire is a slower rapid fire and doesn't really mater. The darts go on avreage about 30-35 feet. The only problem with this gun is that it takes a long time to load and pump, and the pump and handal are kinda flimsy. It hasn't broken. this gun is the best gun out there. If you buy it, I think you'll see really how good it is... |
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